Merry Christmas from Guilty Pleasures!!!

DiDi

DiDi’s GUILTY PLEASURES Hot Chocolate

CHRISTMAS!!!  It’s my absolute favorite time of year.  I start getting ready for Christmas by putting our tree up on Thanksgiving and not taking it down until New Year’s Day!

I had my annual Christmas Cookie Day on 12/23, had a great time with my nephews, niece and daughter (aka College Brat).  I am pretty sure my two year old niece got as many sprinkles on the floor as she did on her cookie cake. I will be sweeping sprinkles up for the next 10 years =)

Christmas Eve this year will have been spent visiting with family, starting with a lunch at my Aunt’s house with all kinds of food, including their homemade tamales.  I will actually get to drink what I want this year, because I told College Brat she is my designated driver.  Christmas day, my parents usually come over to watch College Brat open her gifts, then head to my brothers’ homes.  I usually stay home and cook, but we were blessed with my newest nephew this past Monday, so they are staying home instead of heading out with newborn so College Brat and I are going to head to his house to bring Christmas to them =)

Y’ALL have made this Christmas EXTRA SPECIAL!! Y’all,  being the GP readers, authors and reviewers who have shared holiday memories, traditions and recipes with us.   I loved everyone’s posts and comments!  It’s funny how people say you cannot make friends online, they are WRONG, y’all are an amazing group of people I am proud to call friends!  I look forward to getting to know you better in 2012!  

Merry Christmas!!! 
D


DiDi’s GUILTY PLEASURES Hot Chocolate
Large Coffee Mug (If you use a regular coffee mug cut recipe in 1/2)
Mix 2 packages of Hot Chocolate per directions
Add in one – two shots of Pinnacle Whipped Vodka, depending on how strong you want it
Stir it all together
Top with Peppermint Marshmallows
ENJOY RESPONSIBLY!!

KIMBER
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday but over the years the reasons have changed. For a time it was all about the presents and wondering and wishing on things I would get. Then it was about buying presents and finding all the right toys for the kids, assembling, and that magical moment when they would come down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. Now, I’ve grown up, they’ve grown up and things are a lot different than they were even 2-3 years ago. These days it’s about being with the kids and doing stuff with them and them helping with the present buying and wrapping. I still enjoy snuggling up on the couches in front of the fire place, lying around watching Christmas movies eating finger foods on Christmas Eve and I pray we continue that tradition even after they have families of their own.

I will admit this year has been a little strange since I couldn’t get the Christmas spirit moving within me. If it hadn’t been for my 19 year old son being home from college during Thanksgiving and dragging out the tree for me, I’m not sure I would have put it up. Of course, once it was up and decorated I was glad it was there. It’s right outside my office and served as a constant reminder that it was definitely Christmas time even if I couldn’t muster enough enthusiasm for it. Thank goodness my bah humbug attitude took a hike though, because as the big day draws near I’m getting more excited about being with my family, the one I created, the one I was born into, as well as the one I married into.

However you celebrate the holidays I hope and wish for the best of times with your family and friends.

Merry Christmas to our Guilty Pleasure followers, random visitors, and the GP family of awesome ladies!

Love to everyone,
K

I take this dip to all of our holiday get-togethers. It’s easy and delicious.

Kimber’s Caramel Apple Dip
8 oz. cream cheese
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 container caramel dip
Chopped nuts (I use pecans)
2 bags of pre-cut Granny Smith apples
Mix softened cream cheese with powdered sugar. Spread on a plate. Pour dip over cream cheese mixture and top with chopped nuts. Refrigerate until read to serve.
Layer apples around the outside of the plate. Dip apples into mixture and enjoy!

AMANDA
I would like to extend a Merry Christmas wish to all the readers and that I hope you each have a wonderful day with family and friends. I know I’ll be celebrating Christmas for 3 days in a row to cover both sides of the family and my own at home. Drive safely if you have to be on the road and carry a book with you if you are the passenger like me!! 2011 has been a wonderful year and I there is huge hope for 2012. Happy New year everyone!

Amanda

CARYS
The holidays have always meant family to me. I have spent every Christmas morning with my Mom since birth. It’s not even a question of where I’m going to be come Sunday morning. I wake up at my own home, but we go straight to my Mom’s for opening presents. This year will be the same to a point. This year I get to begin my own traditions with my little girl. I will still cherish going to my Mom’s house with my brother and his family, but I will cherish even more waking up to open presents with my little one and then going to Memaw’s house. And I hope in 30 years my daughter rushes to be with me on Christmas morning too. So whatever your traditions are or your beliefs, I hope you have a fantastic holiday! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from my family to yours!

Carys

LEE
I hope all of you have a safe and wonderful holiday with your loved ones. Heres hoping Santa brings you everything you have asked for 🙂

Lots of love.
Lee

RHAYNE
I just wanted to take a few minutes to wish everyone a wonderful, memorable, happy holiday. There is always a special feeling in the air at Christmas time. I wish that feeling could last all year long. I believe in Christmas magic. I love the excitement of decorating and the anticipation of waiting for Santa to arrive. I love the kinder hearts of people who are more generous during this time of year. I love the dazzle of the lights and the twinkle in my children’s eyes. I love the parties and the friendships. I just LOVE Christmas!!

Christmas time at our house is filled with traditions. Some from my family and some from my husband’s family and some we get to make up and carry on for our own family. Twenty years from now, my children won’t remember what was inside the packages they opened Christmas morning, but they will always remember the traditions we celebrated at Christmas time.

I have spent many nights cuddled up with the sprites under a blanket with the Christmas tree lights twinkling watching Charlie Brown, The Grinch, The Christmas Story, or some other Christmas show. To them I’m sure it’s nothing more than a way to pass the time, to me it is a memory that stays close to my heart.
I wish you all lots and lots of good wishes and sexy stories in 2012. Keep a little of the holiday magic inside your heart and cherish it all year long.

I just want to share with you my favorite saying: Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more. ~ Dr. Seuss

Loves & Hugs,
Rhayne

AVA
I love Christmas…. It is THE holiday I get into. As a child I was the first born child, grandchild, great-grandchild times 2. Needless to say, I got a lot of gifts. I went from house to house like on Halloween only to be showered in attention. Four years later my sister came, but I really got the maximum impression of the holidays before she came and stole my thunder. My great-grandma demanded everyone’s presence on Christmas Eve. She had seven daughters, and the only requirement when they got married was they would be home on Christmas Eve, PERIOD. No one dared cross her one line in the sand. Seven daughters, plus their 18 children and spouses, plus their children… really made a full house, and it was easily the loudest house in the neighborhood. I really miss visiting that house on Christmas Eve, but mostly the family and food inside it. Every time I drive past it I get a bit sad. We try to get together now that they’re gone, but it isn’t the same. Of course the great-grandchildren all have children now, so it’s just harder to pull off.

Now I am the anchor for my end of the family and they all show up to my house on Christmas Eve. I’m pretty sure I’ll want that same line in the sand my Mamaw had, because I couldn’t stand not to share Christmas with my children. I certainly spend a lot of time making sure their holiday is as over the top as mine were as a kid. Giving gifts is what makes Christmas so special for me now.

I only bothered to put up one of my trees this year. REALLY holding back. Why? Because my son’s cat is a total tree UN-decorator. I have a house full of animals (my own doing.) Not one even gets near my tree except Phineas. I like to refer to him as my Holiday Nemesis. He’s unwrapped gifts, knocked over ornaments, chewed through light strings. My kids of course find the whole thing hysterical, but I am seriously considering letting him be an outside cat next winter!

~Ava

ANGELINE
I would like to wish all of the friends of Guilty Pleasures a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! For those who celebrate other holidays this time of year, I wish you all the best as well!!

One of my favorite Christmas memories is not from when I was a child, but from when I married and became a part of a new family. We bonded quickly over great food and great wine. My MIL gave me this recipe. It is a wonderful treat that we serve only this time of year. May you all enjoy it as much as my family does.

Enjoy the magic of the season!
Angeline

Angeline’s Sweet Potato Souffle
3 to 4 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
½ cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
½ stick margarine
1 Tbsp. vanilla
Mix above ingredients together and put into buttered baking dish.
Topping: ½ cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ stick margarine
1 cup pecan pieces
Mix topping ingredients together. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.
Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes.

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