Buckeyes, Marthas, Ralphies and Elves

As Christmas nears, we're running out of time to complete all our favorite Christmas traditions. The three weeks leading up to the Big Day are always jam packed, and last weekend was no different!

On Friday we attended a Christmas party whose theme was "Dress as your favorite Christmas character." I'm a pretty big fan of themed parties, especially Christmas themes, so I was all in on this one. And, wouldn't you know it, Eric and I both happened to have Christmassy costumes at our disposal at home - we didn't even need to shop or make anything! 

Eric was everyone's favorite human-come-elf...

And I... well... this was a big moment for me. Really, it was a big moment for our relationship. Sure, Eric may have proposed to me alst year with a beautiful ring, but this year he proved how much he really loves me: He let me wear The Pink Nightmare from "A Christmas Story!"

"She looks like a deranged Easter Bunny...." As you know, Eric is very particular about his Pink Nightmare outfit.... no one else has ever worn it for an extended amount of time. The fact that he trusted me with it for an entire party? That's true love right there, folks.

We were a big hit at the party and we had an absolute blast. But we were just as excited fot the next day, filled with the two of us making our favorite chocolate-dipped Christmas treats!

Now, we make these every year, so it's nothing groundbreaking, but you know it's a good day when it begins with this:

With these ingredients and more, Eric whipped up a batch of his Martha Washingtons.

While I whipped up a batch of my beloved Buckeyes.

And, as tradition goes, when we've got enough leftover chocolate after dipping our treats, it's time to make "Chocolate Christmas Surprise," which, as I've mentioned before, if basically just a mix up of whatever is in our kitchen, dumped into a big pot of leftover chocolate and mixed around.

This year's mix comprised of Rice Chex, Cheerios, pretzels, peanuts, shredded coconut and dried cranberries. We really classes it up this year with the addition of those cranberries.

And of couse, after mixing it all up in some chocolate and then laying it out to harden, no Christmas Surprise would be complete without a fair amount of sprinkles.

And as if all the chocolatey goodness above wasn't enough, I just couldn't stop there. For me, Chrismas just isn't Christmas without frosted sugar cookies. I used my tried-and-true recipe, but this year kept it to trees and stars, in the pretties light pink and mint green icing I could whip up.

I've got to admit, I'm more than a little giddy over these ultra-girly cookies.

Christmas Goody Bonanza is always one of my favorite days of the holiday season... I love making the same treats each year and spending time in the kitchen with Eric. But there's no way I'm stopping here! I've got at least two or three more goodies I'd like to bake before Christmas comes... so stayed tuned. New recipes are on their way!