Christmas baking

I have to admit one of my most favorite things I enjoy about Christmas is doing all the Christmas baking.  As a little girl I couldn't wait to start baking with mom but we did it so different than I'm doing right now. :)  My mom makes almost all the goodies just 2 days before up to the day of Christmas Eve because she likes everything fresh and it really is the best.  But I learned that if I don't want to be a crazy and a very mean mom, I have to do things ahead of time and freeze them.  My problem sometimes is that I have way too many favorite recipes from my childhood for Christmas goodies and to choose just a few is hard.  This year I'm skipping the "honey bars" which is like a pretty layered torte cut into very thin pieces.  I love it but it doesn't turn out as yummy as my mom's so it's hard to keep trying it. :)  I always have to make my favorite and a classic - walnut rolls.  Every Christmas after I make a batch I wonder why I don't make them more often because it's so good with coffee.  But maybe then it wouldn't be so special if I made them all the time.  Our family's favorite must be the Oreo balls - a very American truffle made out of 3 ingredients :).  I have to say they are very good, but also pretty rich which is good because 1 or 2 is plenty at a time.  I like to have one recipe that is so easy to make and everyone loves them.  Another usual that I grew up with are the rum chocolate balls.  I love these even though my mom doesn't make these much and even though I'm pretty much the only one eating them at our house.  For me it is a nice little treat during the day to have with coffee or tea and it's not too rich or sweet.  Another American recipe I make every year are the peanut butter blossom cookies.  Everyone loves those too so they don't last very long at our house.  So I guess I'm making a mixture of Slovak and American recipes and if I could I would probably make a lot more different goodies but really, we don't need it and what I make is always more than plenty for us.

Now I have to get my final grocery list ready for the Christmas meal.  We're having Tilapia fish fillets with a traditional potato salad.  I usually skip the cabbage soup I grew up with because I'm not sure who besides Kason would eat it (he eats any vegetable and eats lettuce like bread).  For dessert (because we don't have enough goodies to eat :)) I'm going to try a Norwegian rice pudding with raspberry topping which is a Christmas tradition for some people here.  I really like it and the kids do too, Ehren not so much but that's ok. :)

That about sums up all about our Christmas food.  Here are some preview goodies pictures and I'll post more pictures of our Christmas later.  Have a blessed Christmas everyone!  

oreo balls

tried something new - linecke.  Very good with tea.

rum balls - almost gone :)

my epic failure this year - walnut bread broke on top.  I knew the dough wasn't quite right and it got too wet to hold it together.  On the bright side - it tastes awesome.  I improved the filling this year with the lemon zest and it's fabulous. :)

peanut butter blossoms