Christmas at Home & Fancy Drinks

Merry Christmas!  

Hope Ya'all had a fun weekend.  I got to go "home" again to Valparaiso, Indiana.  Even though I have lived in other states for several years and here in Pendleton, Indiana for almost two years now, I still call Valpo my home. It's where I was born and raised.  

Before I left, I made goodies to take with.  Since, my Mom likes raspberries so much, I made up a batch of Raspberry Cordial Syrup, to make everyone fancy drinks.  Oh, did I mention yet, it was Christmas at Mom's?  Yeah, we planned to celebrate it early this year.

The kids and I like pudding.  We have it often as it makes a good low calorie dessert.  I usually don't top it with anything except fruit.  The picture below, however, is fat free chocolate pudding topped with fat free whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.  My favorite pudding combo, is tapioca pudding swirled with red raspberry preserves.

And lookie here, Red Raspberry Preserves!!  These are a by product of making the syrup.  They make a great topping for ice cream and breakfast cereal too. (I'll include the recipe's at the end of this post.)

It snowed a bit on the drive to Valpo.  The roads weren't all that bad, all though, a few accidents were spotted along the way.  

I enjoyed traveling through the snow covered landscape.

Saturday Glenn and Jean were all ready to go to TaeKwonDo.

Grace and Jean both tested for Second Degree Blackbelt.

While they did TaeKwonDo, I got to hang out at Mom's with the kids.  Ahh, Pumpkin Rolls:

My sister Veronica came over and we played the card game Skip-Bo.  She actually won, (trust me it's a big deal, cause poor Roni never wins).  This is her, Yay, I've won expression:

Gladys, invited her friend Jakawawa over to play:

 Later that evening, I went out on the town:

 I met our Taekwondo friends at the China House:

 Grace and Jean posed for a pic:

That night, when I got home, I took a pic of Mom's lil' Christmas tree.  The pic doesn't really do it justice though, cause it's a fiber optic tree and glows really nice.  Still, it's cute:

The next frosty morning, I was trying to photograph deer.  Unfortunately my camera was not quick enough.  This was the view from my bedroom window, minus a half a dozen deer:

Mom is into collecting bears, snowmen, and candles.  Some of the candles she made herself. 

Isn't this a sweet little candle set:

I made a Veggie Pizza Christmas Tree.  I'm planning to include the recipe in separate post soon, it's delicious btw:

Here's what was on my plate for the super yummy Christmas Dinner.  Beginning at noon and going clockwise we have: Ham, glazed sweet taters, mashed taters and gravy, sweet corn, veggie pizza, and of course the dish that it wouldn't be Christmas without-- sugar sprinkled Baked Spaghetti. 

 

 After dinner it was gift time-- Yay!!  Troy gifted his Dad a Pot N' Putt.

 

Yes People, you've heard me correctly.  I have a feeling the lines to the bathroom in our house will now be even longer.  

 Mom got a modern version of the Frustration Ball.

I always liked that game as a kid.  Does anyone remember it?

Jean got a Bocce Ball Set:

Troy got a couple of Motorcycles:

And a drum set-- really Mom.  This must be payback for all those years I used to play drums.  :)

Gladdie and I got some nice gifts too, but Christmas at Mom's was going by faster than my camera could keep up.

Troy hit the jackpot!  Check out how big those eye's of his are:

A visit to Mom's would not be complete unless I go say, "Hi" to the cats.  Mittens was so excited to see me, that she opened one eye:  

 After pestering the cats, it was time for dessert.  Yumm!

The Jean's holding their Fancy Drinks:

 We relaxed, drank Fancy Drinks, and played Phase 10-- a card game I have yet to win.

Mom bought some cute ice creams for the occasion too.  I also, remember having this kind of ice cream as a kid:

 As the day came to an end, Troy practiced being a statue while I packed the truck.

He slept most of the way home.

Fancy Drinks-- the kids thought topping these drinks with whipped cream was the best!

I was surfing the net and found awesome pics of red Italian Sodas.  They required raspberry and vanilla syrups that I could not find.  Then I decided to go all "Annie of Green Gables," and make my own syrup.  Hope you enjoy it!

Fancy Drinks:


Sprite
Whipped Cream
Maraschino Cherries
Raspberry Cordial Syrup (recipe included)

Fill glasses half full of Sprite, fill the rest of the way, to about 1/2" to the top saving room for plenty of whipped cream.  Top with whipped cream and a cherry.

Raspberry Cordial Syrup:
         48 oz. fresh or frozen raspberries (I used red frozen berries.)
          3 cups sugar
          1/4 cup lemon juice
          6 cups water
Bring all ingredients to a boil and then allow to cool completely.  Pour the cordial through a fine mesh sieve to strain.  (Do not press or it will not be very clear.)  Keep cool to store.
Note:  Save the berries that remain in the strainer for a yummy topping.  Delicious on ice cream or in oatmeal, or let your imagination run wild.  :)