I have 11 hours and 58 minutes of Music on my Spotify playlist… Christmas. It is basically impossible for me to narrow my favourite songs down to less than that really lol. I love Christmas music. Not only for the day, but for the WHOLE season. To pick a narrow list of 20??? It all depends on what day it is, what the weather is, what’s for dinner, what daily holiday activity is planned or what I feel like in that moment lol. I have songs from my childhood that mean so much to me, new songs that are catchy and stick in my head, songs that I can’t wait to hear after a 10 month break and songs that I forgot about but can sing along to as soon as they are heard again. So here goes… 20 of my favourite Christmas songs, 2024 Version!
Christmas is Coming * Vince Guaraldi Trio
Snowflake * Sia
Christmas Tree Farm * Taylor Swift
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas * Pretenders
Maybe This Christmas * Ron Sexsmith
Evergreen * Pentatonix
Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy * Bing Crosby & David Bowie
The Greatest Gift of All * Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
Christmas Calling * Norah Jones
Santa Claus is Coming to Town * The Pointer Sisters
White Christmas * Michael Buble & Shania Twain
Please Come Home for Christmas * Jon Bon Jovi
Mary’s Boy Child * Boney M.
Holiday Rock * Neon Trees
Cheer * Bishop Briggs
December, Darling * Meg & Dia
River * Sarah McLachlan
Somewhere in my Memory * John Williams & the Boston Pops
Fairytale of New York * The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl
Hard Candy Christmas * Dolly Parton
We celebrated Oliver‘s third Gotcha Day last week! 3 years ago Ninja picked him up from the Seattle airport after he was rescued from the streets of Mexico and we were lucky enough to adopt him. He’s a big fan of homemade dog cookies lol. For his Gotcha Day/Christmas, I made him Christmas Mint Dog Treats that not only does he love, but help freshen his breath too! These are easy and the perfect present for your precious Pup!
Since I have put out my post on fabulous Christmas Cocktails, we have tried a few more! This Partridge In A Pear Tree Cocktail tastes delicious, and is stunning! This would be a perfect cocktail for Christmas or to bring in the New Year’s!
SBean had a holiday party to attend last week and it was a potluck! She really wanted to bring a dessert that was similar to the Pumpkin Lush her and her Besty made for Halloween, so we came up with this delicious Christmas Lush. We separated it into 2 pans instead of one so so we could enjoy some of this dessert at home and let SBean take the other one to her party! You could use crushed up peppermint candy canes or like we did, crushed up cherry candy canes for this was a festive holiday treat that looks and tastes, amazing!
Ninja likes to try his hand at baking every once in a while. His Mom is a fabulous baker and it obviously rubbed off on him! On a chilly winter evening, we made soup and this stunning Garlic Herb Bread Wreath to accompany it. Delicious! Although we loved this bread, we used unsalted butter and found it a little bland. I would definitely use salted butter next time!
We like to make the Kids fancy drinks on special occasions. While we were setting up the Christmas tree, we made them Christmas Hot Cocoa! Hot cocoa on the stove with whipped cream and sprinkles while Michael Bublé is spinning on the record player and snow is lightly falling… Picture perfect!
I put out my winter reading list a while back, but a few of my library holds just came in and I don’t want to save them for next Christmas so I have to let you know about this super fun Christmas series that I started last year. A Christmas Notch Series by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone. This is a cute little holiday romance trilogy that is spicy! Each book follows one member of former boy band INK. The first book is about Nolan, the second, Kallum and the third focusses on Isaac. All 3 former boy band members are all grown up and living normal lives when they get pulled into filming sexy Christmas movies for the Hope channel’s, new division, Hope After Dark! These sexy holiday romcoms are cute, body positive, hot, and festive! I read the first book last year and really enjoyed it. When I realized the third one came out this Christmas, I went back and read the second. I enjoyed all 3 of the male leads and very much enjoyed all 3 of the female leads as well.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 cup water (more as needed)
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
Directions
Preheat your oven to 325°F.
Grind oats into a coarse flour in your Ultimate Chopper.
Add parsley, mint, and coconut oil, and pulse until combined.
Slowly add water until a thick dough forms.
Roll out and cut into shapes.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until crisp.
Cool thoroughly before storing.
Ingredients
3 oz gin
1 oz cinnamon ginger simple syrup
1 oz lime juice
6 oz sparkling pear juice
Garnish: 2 spins of thyme & 2 slices of pear
- Cinnamon Ginger Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 inch fresh ginger
1 slice pear
Directions
Add the honey and water in a saucepan, then add in the cinnamon sticks, a slice of pear, and fresh ginger. Simmer until the honey has melted, about 5-10 minutes.
Strain the syrup into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator.
Add the lime juice, simple syrup, and gin into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds.
Strain the cocktail into coupe glasses and top with chilled sparkling pear juice. Serve garnished with a thyme sprig and a pear slice.
Ingredients
1 box Red Velvet Cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
2 blocks cream cheese
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup candy canes, crushed
2 3/4 cups milk, divided
16 ounces Cool Whip
2 5.1 ounce boxes vanilla instant pudding
green gel food colouring
Garnish: Christmas sprinkles
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9 pan.
In a large bowl, mix cake mix, butter and egg.
Press red velvet dough into the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
Beat cream cheese and sugar together and add 1/4 cup milk. Fold in 8 oz of Cool Whip and the crushed candy canes.
Spread evenly over the cooled brownie layer and place in refrigerator.
In a large bowl, mix the milk and the pudding mixes together and add green gel colour.
Pour the pudding over the cream cheese layer and place back into the refrigerator to set up at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, top with the rest of the Cool Whip and top with sprinkles.
Ingredients
4 cups flour
3/4 cup milk, lukewarm
1 package yeast fast acting dry
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
3 eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons salted butter, softened plus additional butter to brush the surface
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup parsley fresh, finely chopped
2 tablespoons basil fresh, finely chopped
1 tablespoon thyme fresh, finely chopped
Directions
In your standing mixer bowl, whisk the yeast, honey, and warm milk together. Whisk in the eggs.
Add one cup of flour, whisk. Add 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Add another cup of flour, and salt, then whisk until all the flour is incorporated. Continue adding flour, a bit at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl when stirred. Takes between 3.5 to 4 cups, so add gradually. Knead with dough hook for about 5 to 8 minutes, until a smooth dough forms.
Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in size.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Finely chop the herbs. In a small bowl, combine the remaining butter, garlic, herbs, and parmesan.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead for a short while. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Spread the herb butter over the top.
Roll up the dough tightly to form a log. Using a sharp knife, cut the log longwise, leaving the last inch of the dough intact on one end.
Twist the two strands around themselves, then form a wreath. Pinch ends to seal. Carefully transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the wreath loosely with plastic, then let it stand until soft and nearly doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Brush the top of the bread with butter.
Ingredients
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup water
3 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Garnish: whipped cream & Christmas sprinkles
Directions
Whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until just heated through.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream & sprinkles.
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #408 Made in Canada
This week, we get together on a snow day to discuss: Canadian hockey, Covid, vaccinations, High School formal, answering machine, our Winery, Icebreaker, SOW, and music lessons.
On a different noteI am happy to announce that my December Meal Plan was featured on the blog, Days Filled with Joy
What. A. Week.
SBean had her band concert at school, I kicked Ninja’s butt in the weekly hockey pool, Oliver celebrated his third Gotcha Day with our family, and Ninja and HBear delivered toys to the annual toy drive. HBear wore my grad dress from 1997 to her winter formal this week! She looked beautiful! My Mom would be so happy to know that that expensive dress got a second wear!
We wrapped, watched Christmas movies, enjoyed a tour and tasting at Haywire Winery, had the family over for dinner, SBean had her first gymnastics competition of the season, and afterwards everybody went to Winter Wonderland to support JoeAnna’s House! One week left before Christmas holidays officially begin!
1 thought on “A Holiday Playlist & Christmas Treats”
Thank you for sharing and participating at SSPS 341 Kristin. See you at #342, Jan 6. Merry Christmas/Happy Festive Season.