I had, what I consider to be, idyllic childhood Christmas Days.

For a time, as a young adult…I tried to recapture those.

But, now, as a middle-aged …almost SENIOR adult (how did that happen???), I have found that I absolutely love some of my own traditions along with the memories.

The current traditions have their foundation in the idyllic traditions of my childhood. It is the best of both times!

Yes, my childhood Christmas mornings were about the magic…the gifts, the full stocking…but they were also about a wonderful sweet roll and a scrumptious breakfast.

My sweet this year is kolache dough filled with almond paste (homemade which took about 3 minutes), given the “Christmas Bagel” treatment along with a marachino cherry for color.

I LOVE the sweet kolache dough. It has the flavor of a flaky pastry without the flakes. It worked wonderfully in this Christmas sweet and it is a versatile dough that freezes well.

Color me happy with my 2012 Christmas Sweet!

I made green chile gravy two days ago.

I made red chile gravy yesterday.

I made corn tortillas yesterday.

This morning I made stacked cheese and onion enchiladas with Christmas (red and green) chile gravy.

Southwest tradition would put a fried egg on top of the enchilada stack but I am a poached egg girl so poached it was.

My own refried black beans and sprouted brown rice…slightly off Mex-TexMex, but good!

The day was beautiful for all reasons: the celebration of the birth of the Messiah, a day of good celebratory food, a day shared with Bear and Bob…and sunshine and snow and beauty.

My preferred Christmas Day tradition is to snowshoe through the woods, but the snow was a bit light and Bear is recovering.

Still.

Bear and I hopped in the Jeep and headed down the road. We had a good walk just a bit north, drove through town and returned home…

The Road Home on Christmas Day 2012.

The sun, blue sky, Christmas Day…the front porch called.

But not to Bear :) !

Bob was my front porch buddy.

An eye was kept on Bear via the “baby” monitor.

Photos were taken via wireless remote. …so much fun with gadgets…a part of Christmas Day!!

24F but it felt warmer.

A dear friend gave me a beautiful calendar. The illustrations are Monet-like impressionist style watercolors and the quotes fit me and my life perfectly. I perused the pages this afternoon as I enjoyed a blue cheese-rosemary lavash treat…afternoon delight!

I hope all who venture here have also had a day filled with faith, love and tradition and good food.

Happy, Happy Christmas Day to all.

The video below…I took several snippets of Bear and I walking so that I could look at how things are progressing with his leg. I am happy! It is a little hard to compare the surgery leg to the non-surgery leg as the surgery leg was shaved… But compared to how the surgery knee was bowed out and now it is in alignment…I am happy. It is early days but I think all is going very well.