Christmas Tree and Pancake Muffins

Here's how I'd like to remember our annual Christmas tree outings.... our family listens to Christmas music really loudly on the way to the Christmas tree farm... we break out into song together as we sing along to "Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling...."  We may even each have our own hot chocolate, topped with a melted marshmallow, of course.  We arrive at the tree farm and hop on a hay ride that takes us over the meadow and through the woods until we come to find the most beautiful tree... and on and on my daydream goes...

Let's snap back to reality.  This year, we were dealing with a sick toddler, a pre-teen who was being disciplined and a 9 year old who was begging to get the tree. So... just Champ and I hopped into the car last week, drove to Lowe's where we picked out a great looking tree.  We got home and put it in the stand realized that it wasn't quite as big as it appeared at Lowe's.  In fact, Matt laughingly referred to it as a shrub.  Yes, a shrub.  But, I love our shrub!  In our defense, with 8 foot ceilings, I chose 7-8 foot tree that was on the shorter side as I wanted to leave room for the star!  In our last house, we had a room with a vaulted ceiling so we were able to pick out a big giant tree every year. 

Now, the above Christmas tree farm story is merely a daydream of mine... let me tell you about one Christmas for which I have the fondest of memories.  When I was in middle school, my parents bought a run down shack of a house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It was nestled in the hills about a mile away from a dude ranch we used to visit every Summer.  My dad, the carpenter that he is, renovated that house (with the help of contractors) to make it the most beautiful little cabin you've ever seen.  Complete with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, it had a cute little kitchen and a family room that overlooked the Grand Tetons.  We really enjoyed being out there in the winter time, but the thing about the winter time was that you couldn't reach the cabin by car or truck because the snow was so thick and abundant.  Snow is so magical, isn't it?  It's so clean and fresh and pure - it covers all the imperfections and makes any surface into a wonderfully beautiful facade. 

So, we'd fly out to Jackson Hole, hop in the suburban and drive about an hour out to the dude ranch where we kept a snowmobile and sled.  We loaded our luggage up onto the sled which was hooked onto the snowmobile, and we'd drive up to the cabin.  My mom would turn up the heat, get some hot chocolate and cookies going and very quickly, the cabin filled with warmth, the smell of sweetness, laughter and good times.  Many times, we would look outside and see a moose or two in the yard.  It truly was like being in a fairy tale.  My mom became a snow cream expert.  You see, there were feet upon feet of snow and seemed like there was fresh snow daily.  My mom could whip up some super sweet and super creamy snow cream with snow, sugar and a little cream.  Lick your lips delicious!

So, back to one Christmas long ago at the cabin.  We all hopped on our snowmobiles one year - my mom, dad, brother and me.  And we went deep into the woods where we happened upon the perfect Christmas tree.  My dad had his saw and he cut that tree down, threw it onto the sled and we drove it back up to the house.  I realize that this is highly illegal and if caught, I'm sure my dad would have seen some jail time or a huge fine, at least.  But, that's my dad (and me) - we are rule breakers sometimes.  In fact, in the wee hours of the morning, I have been known to sneak into neighbors' yards to do a little "pruning" of my own. 

I love Christmas trees - the smell of them, the watering of them, the decorating of them, the tending to them, the traditions that accompany them (when I lived with a German family over in Bonn, Germany many moons ago, they waited until the 24th to decorate their tree and they used real candles!  Seemed a little dangerous to me...)

Here is our tree, taken sort of half way through the ornament process...

Do you see the train track?  My dad came over and set it up with the boys - this has become an annual tradition which they look forward to every year. 

I think all the excitement that surrounds Christmas really got a hold of me last night as it was a restless night's sleep.  I mean come on, I can't hardly contain myself this month!  If I could pack up my family and move to the North Pole and live there year round, I would!  I would happily serve as elf and make toys - perhaps be Mrs. Clause's helper or something... Anyway, back to reality.  After a short jog very early this morning, I decided to make pancakes in muffin tins with toppings - same ol' pancakes but made differently to make them more fun for the kids to eat.  They were super easy, tasty, the kids loved them, and they would be so easy to assemble and bake the night before so that all you have to do on a school morning is heat them up in the microwave.

Simply prepare your favorite pancake mix according to the directions on the box.  My favorite is a whole wheat mix but this morning, it was all about pleasing the kids so I used a white wheat mix I found.  I filled each muffin cup about half full of the pancake mix and then added a few chocolate chips to some and on others, cooked and crumbled sausage.  I think some turkey bacon (or regular) would taste really good, too - that sweet and salty is quite a combination!

 

I served them with a little ramekin full of syrup.  The kids gobbled them up!

The latest Elfcapade?  Champ awoke at 5:30 a.m. (pretty common this time of year as he is so anxious to find Lewis each morning) to find Lewis hanging from the molding sitting on a reindeer.  And... Lewis was donning a new outfit!  Wow!  This is a first for us - Lewis has been a single one man show with one outfit for many years.  It was quite the exciting morning this morning to find him in a fresh new outfit AND sitting on a reindeer!  Wonder what kind of mischief they'll get into tonight....

So here's to you and yours...turn on some Christmas music and feel the joy of the anticipation of Christmas, the wonder and beauty of all the decorations both in your house and everywhere else - treat yourself to a holiday spice latte and soak up the joy!