Woman in Real Life

One of my most-anticipated annual traditions is the Christmas Eve Open House. When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was one of my favourite nights of the year. Mom would make appetizers and sweets and friends would drop in to visit and enjoy tea or drinks. I loved the Christmas tree, the visitors, the tasty goodies and the nearness of Santa's arrival.

I was thrilled when it was once again our turn to host the Christmas Eve Open House this year. Of course, there is a lot of preparation involved - cleaning, planning appetizers and baking cookies. It's always a matter of achieving your goals for the evening without tiring yourself out so much that you won't enjoy your guests. I think we usually manage to finish our list of chores about the time guests are expected at the door. I took this picture of Ace, above, right in that beautiful moment when the house is ready and nobody has arrived yet.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Hard to believe it's over. So much work leading up to Christmas, and then it goes by in a flash.

Here's a What I Ate Wednesday look at some of the food I enjoyed this past week, including on Christmas.

For our Christmas Eve Open House, I made these nuts and bolts, above. If you use the right cereals and pretzels, you can make this gluten-free. I served it in individual Dixie cups.

I’m supposed to be going to the gym right now. But, I find myself thinking about making more cookies instead. After all, tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve has always been my favourite part of Christmas. My mom would make tea and put out a lovely three-tier cookie stand full of various cookies and squares. Friends would drop by for a short visit before heading home to prepare for Christmas Day.

The cookie stand is mine now, and I intend to fill it up for our guests tomorrow night. My kids and my nieces expect it, just as I did when I was a child. I have made four recipes so far, and I have (at least) a couple more planned.