A Polar Express Christmas

I have always wanted to wear my pajamas on Christmas day. When Emma wore her's to school (Day Two) I was sooo jealous. Our family was small this year so Ben and Ash graciously volunteered to host Christmas and we had "A Polar Express Christmas."

The house was decorated so cute and the food wasn't bad either.

We had a lot of down time, time to relax and rest! Ash isn't pictured above but she had her time also. After lunch we set back to watch a movie and most of us ended up taking a nap.

We all opened gifts! Even Sydney had some things under the tree! Punkin liked the colors and sounds of the paper rattling but the gifts really didn't interested her.

Of course it was ALL about Punkin! She was soo much fun she would laugh and try to talk, then she would get mad at all of us. I think she has the Good's temper? LOL Her favorite thing from us was a bow on one of my gifts from "Sassy Designs"(thanks Natalie). She loved her "Praise Baby" cd and play center from Mom and Dad, they knew just what to buy!

The little Good family, aren't they cute?

And, the big Good family, well excluding the kids, grand-kids, and grand-dogs. Hey we may be older but we still have fun!

I didn't have too cook a lot but I did, we had way more food than we could eat. I started out to make a few things and baked for days. Although it wouldn't be Christmas unless we had tons of food not just Christmas day but everyday through the week. That's part of it you eat, and eat, and eat, and when you are full you eat some more. This is the only time of year that I allow everyone to gorge all week long. Look below for some of the recipes that I used.

I took this from a Southern Living magazine when I was visiting George and Mary and it is wonderful! I used all gluten-free ingredients.

Upside Down Apple Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 lg. Granny Smith Apples, peeled n cut into 1/2-in. thick slices
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
3/4 tsp. gr. cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened & divided
2 tsp. brandy (I omitted the brandy)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 lg. eggs, seperated
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups all-purpose baking mix (I used Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking/Pancake mix)
1/8 tsp. gr. nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted & fragrant, stirring after 5 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 375.
Toss apple slices with lemon juice, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 10-in. cast iron skillet over low heat. Remove from heat; stir in brandy. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
Sprinkle pecans over brown sugar mixture. Arrange apples in 2 concentric circles over pecans.
Beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar and remaining 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add milk, sour cream, & remaining 1 tsp. vanilla, beating just until blended.
Whisk together baking mix, nutmeg, & remaining 1/4 tsp. cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add nutmeg mixture to butter mixture, beating just until blended.
Beat egg whites in a large bowl at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Spread batter over apples in skillet.
Bake at 375 for 50 to 54 minutes until a wooden pick inserted halfway into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in skillet on a wire rack 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of cake to loosen. Invert cake onto a serving plate, replacing any topping that sticks to skillet on cake.

I took this recipe from a blogger I follow, "Gluten-Free Krums" and they were very good. A bit crumbly due to being gluten-free but very good and EASY!!

Click here for Flour-less Peanut Butter Blossoms

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!! I'll share more recipes in the future.