Happy Holidays from the Stone House!

Happy Holidays from Maplecroft Farm! I hope this post finds you in good spirits surrounded with the ones you love. As I reflect back over the holidays, I am often filled with a sense of child-like awe. I recall the excitement of those Christmas days spent with family at Maplecroft Farm celebrating Christ’s birth. It is fun to look at the world through the eyes of little ones. They have so many questions and express wonder in some of the simplest things.

Enjoying the tradition of hot chocolate with marshmallows at the stone house.

This year, my family planned to celebrate Christmas at Maplecroft Farm. Unfortunately for us, we were all struck with the stomach flu & were unable to attend. We did manage to celebrate just a little in our humble state. It didn’t have the fanfare & excitement of most Christmas celebrations, but I am pleased to report that we still executed some of our most precious traditions. We enjoyed our decorations & the kids especially loved the nativity scene. This year we adopted an elf (The Elf on a Shelf) & it was quite a hit! We all were excited to see where the elf would be the next day & what he would be doing. Stockings were hung & cookies/milk set out for Santa. This year, our son sprinkled magic food for the reindeer out on the lawn! It was quite entertaining. 

One of our favorite traditions involves baking cookies. This is a tradition that I remember doing at Maplecroft while I was growing up. My son’s favorite part is putting the sprinkles on the cookies. I think this year he enjoyed tasting the dough almost as much as putting on the sprinkles!  Here is our favorite Sprits cookie recipe:

SPRITS COOKIES

1 C butter                                           2 eggs, unbeaten

1 C sugar                                           3 C sifted flour

1 ½ tsp vanilla                                  ¼ tsp salt

Cream together butter, sugar & vanilla. Add eggs & beat well. Add flour & salt and mix until blended. Press through a cookie press onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Note: I usually put the dough in the refrigerator for a bit before running it through the cookie press.

Making sprits cookies at our home.

What kinds of traditions do you have with your family? Have you added any new ones lately? We’d love to hear your comments! Wishing you good health & great cheer in the new year…here’s to a New Year full of accomplished resolutions!