Merry Christmas Eve

Christmas is such a wonderful holiday filled with so much love, family, and remembrance of our Savior.  No matter how much Christmas has been PC-friendly-nized, it is still Christ-mas.  So until they change the name of the holiday (like how the White House now calls Christmas trees holiday trees which is so lame btw), it's still a religious holiday!

In the midst of the religious holiday, I've said it before, and I'll say it again.. it has never been as big of a deal in my life now as it has ever pre-religious me.  Yet despite how much bigger of a deal it is now, it is so much more special now and that I can't deny.  The story of Jesus, the love for Jesus, the love for such a sacrifice - it all is so beautiful and precious and makes this day of giving (even when it is a lot of giving) so much more special!

I'm always hesitant when it comes to spending a lot of money on material items or traditions that might seem like recurring actions that are just for show, but I've come to appreciate the beauty of finding gifts that people really do value and appreciate and traditions that bring us closer or help enhance the spirit of Christmas.  It has been a wonderful journey and though it's still easy for me (no pressure, nothing to compare to.. never had a mom or dad who did anything big for Christmas so no traditions to place the bar high) in my humble opinion having no prior expectations, I can easily see how over the years, with more children and a larger family.. it will become harder.

I really wanted to do a few things this Christmas like a Christmas card and chex mix for our friends.  None of that happened because of timing, other to do items that had higher priority, and what not.  But that doesn't mean we can't have a New Year card or chex mix later!  So here's my gift to all of you - the best dang chex mix recipe in the world from my dear friend Sara (it's a Hawaii original hehe).

The Best Party Mix Ever

Ingredients

½ bag     pretzel sticks

1 box      Corn or Rice Chex

½ box     Crispix

½ box     Honey Comb

Syrup

½ c.          margarine or butter

½ c.          Karo light syrup

3 T.          sugar

1-2           drops of vanilla

                 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In microwave oven, heat syrup ingredients for about 1-1.5 minutes.  Remove from microwave and mix well.

Put cereals and pretzel sticks in a 10x14 roasting pan.  Mix gently.

Spread one-third to a half of the heated mixture over cereal mix.  Mix cereal with rubber spatula to spread sauce evenly.  Repeat until all the sauce is used.

Bake for 1 hour, mixing cereal every 15 minutes.

Cool, but continue to mix so cereal does not stick to pan.

When completely cool, store in plastic bags.

*I'll post photos later.