And here's the actual 2025 cookie list!

 

 I'm sure no one is holding their breath for this list, but I do know there are some folks who are interested in trying some new-to-them cookie recipes on Rudolph Day, so here we go with what we actually baked this year.

Chocolate Mint Crisps

Whipped Shortbread

Raspberry Almond Thumbprints

Chocolate Spritz (updated version here)

 

Blond Brownies

Cookie Dough Brownies

Lemon Shortbread Thumbprints

Lemon Spritz

 Eggnog Log Cookies

Sacher Torte Cookies (updated version here)

Chocolate-Filled Gingerbread Thumbprints

Gingerbread Coffeecake Cookies

Secret Spice Cookies

 

 Chocolate Orange Cookies

Christmas Tree Spritz

 Christmas No-bake Cookies

Maple Thumbprint Cookies

 Peppermint Mocha Cookies

The latter two were new this year, but they both earned a permanent spot in our cookie repertoire! I do intend to write a post about each of them eventually.

So that is our actual list for Christmas 2025.  Many of these were made in double or even triple batches.  Such a sweet tradition for us!

The actual 2025 candy list

 

So now here is the actual candy list from 2025.  I had seven kinds of candy on the tentative list, all of which I have made in years past.

We actually made only four kinds of candy:

Heavenly Delight (chocolate peanut butter fudge, pictured at top of post)

Salted Caramel Fudge

Special Holiday Fudge

Chocolate-Dipped Orange Slice Candy

However, we did make multiple batches of each kind of fudge -- and I think we made 3 or 4 batches of the Heavenly Delight, which is a huge favorite with many people.

That's the actual candy list, complete with links!

The actual kitchen gift list

 

 Regular readers know that in addition to the tentative lists I post before Christmas, I also like to post again after the holiday to share what I actually made for kitchen gifts, cookies, and candy.  So here is my update on the kitchen gifts list.

Recall, this was the tentative list:

So here is what I actually made, with recipe links for those who are interested:

Eggnog Log Cookies
Sacher Torte Cookies (updated version here)
Special Holiday Fudge
Chocolate Mint Crisps
Christmas Granola
Little Apricot Cakes
Barbecue Spiced Pecans

That last one wasn't on my list but I found it in an old magazine and it seemed meant to be.

I also tried out Pecan Pie Bark, but that isn't on my actual list because I didn't make it as a gift, just took some to a game night at church.  I think I would give it as a gift another year, though, as it was delicious.

And so that is 2025's actual kitchen gift list!

It's been fun!

 Yes, it's been a fun month indeed here in my Christmas kitchen!   The collage of grandkids baking cookies in years gone by is a page from my Christmas cookie cookbook and is a great reminder of how much fun can be had in a Christmas kitchen.

I hope to post here much more often in the coming year.  We will see!

Christmas plates from the thrift store

 

We love finding Christmas plates at the thrift store!  Sometimes they are collectibles; other times just inexpensive plastic plates to use in giving away cookies.  Last year I ended up buying a whole new set of Christmas dishes there, after being sure my daughter would be willing to take my other set.

 I recently bought three Christmas plates -- two decorative and one for actual use.  The one at top is a collectible, from Avon in the 1980s, I think.  We just loved the scene.

I bought this plate with the sweet deer back in the fall.  It coordinates with two trays 

 

and some other plates that I have, the Better Homes & Gardens ones from Walmart.  But I hadn't seen this small plate with the deer and I love it.

And then there is this one:

This is such a nostalgic scene!  This is a collectible plate too and not meant for food use, so I am displaying it.  The poem may be a bit dated -- "Never a Christmas morning, Never the old year ends -- But someone thinks of someone -- Old days, old times, old friends" -- but I actually never tire of it.  It's true, so true.  Sometime during the Christmas season, we are bound to look back and remember old days, old times, and old friends -- and, though a few tears may be shed, we can also thank God profusely that we have these dear memories.  I love this scene with the couple making their way toward a cabin in the woods.

Such good deals!  I think the deer plate was $1.50 and the other two were $4 each.  The loveliness they bring to our home is priceless.

Two vintage Christmas cards with a skating theme

 

Below are two very fun vintage Christmas cards. (The one at top is newer and just for fun; this was a card sent us by our younger daughter in the very early 2000s.)

I love the little poem.

My warmest memories of winters past:
A snowman, hot chocolate, and skating fast.

At first glance, these vintage cards below appear as if they might have come out of the same box.    But that guess would be wrong, believe it or not.

 

Both are essentially the same size; I would say both are from the 1950s.  Both feature crowds of people of varying ages and abilities skating on a small pond.  

The topmost pond seems to be in the midst of a village, for there are house close by and even lamps or street lights.  There's a little fire on the shore at the pond's edge.

The pond pictured on the bottom card seems like it's more out in the country.  There are houses and even a church steeple, but they are distant.  There's a mountain in the background.

One of these cards is from the famed Brownie line, by Rust Craft.

The other has only a number and "Made in USA" on the back.

But I think the two cards are equally charming.  I have listed one in my Etsy shop and will list the other soon, probably this week.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing these sweet cards!  We're in the midst of an ice storm up here today, so one could skate pretty much anywhere.  No pond needed!  Mr. T and I have no intention of going out.

Sunday Scripture

 I've been posting  Sunday Scriptures on both of my blogs this December, taken from an Advent study I did in 2013 with Good Morning Girls.  The study, Keeping Our Hearts Focused on Jesus, is still available as a free download.  Scroll down and click on the book-like image, and the pdf should open right up.  More than just a Bible study, this is an ebook that includes recipes, Advent activities, and more.  I think it will be a blessing to you, although you will probably want to save it for next year.  At this point I think I've blogged about every part of that study, so next December I'll be doing something different.  And, in January 2026 I plan to get back to the Fix Your Focus lessons.

I've mentioned before that I like to use the SOAP method of Bible study, and the studies from GMG use a very similar one.  I find this method a real blessing whether I am studying shorter passages or longer ones, so I hope you'll give it a try if you haven't ever done so. Just a reminder that the S is for Scripture -- just write it out -- and the O is for Observation, the A is for Application and the P is for prayer -- concerning how you'll apply this verse or passage,  or praise for what it means to you.

This last week's verses are focused on Peace.  If you downloaded the study and are following along with it, this is the one from December 24.

S= "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

"The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thy enemy; the King of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more."  (Zephaniah 3:14-15)

O= This is obviously prophetic.  As C.I. Scofield says, "That this, and all like passages in the prophets, cannot refer to anything which occurred at the first coming of Christ is clear from the context.  The precise reverse is true."

Scofield has titled this section "Israel's restoration and blessing; the King in the Kingdom."

So when verse 15 states "the King of Israel even the LORD, is in the midst of thee", it is not really referring directly to the Baby in the manger, but pointing forward to a time when He will reign during the millennial kingdom.  In that future time, it could be said that God's people will not "see evil any more."

Still, His presence on earth as a Baby was a cause of great rejoicing -- "behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people."  (Luke 2:10). And He was in the midst of His people, even if not all of them recognized it.

A= I can be glad and rejoice with all my heart as I recall and celebrate the coming of the Savior.  I can rejoice that He is my Savior.  He has taken away my judgments in that there is no condemnation to those  who are in Christ Jesus, who walk after the Spirit and not the flesh (Romans 8:1).  He is in the midst of me in the sense that He dwells within me in the Person of the Holy Spirit.  I have much to be joyful about!

P= "Lord, as much as I have tried this season to focus on You, in many ways I feel I have failed miserably.  I have so often allowed busyness and stress in preparing to celebrate to crowd out my joy to a much greater degree than it should.  

"I thank You though for the snatches of celebratory joy that I have found.  I pray that You will help me in this week to show my joy in Christ's coming to a needy, needy world.  I thank You for the opportunities that You will give!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

There is the Sunday Scripture for this week and the last of our Advent study.  We will get back to Fix Your Focus in January!