Sugar & Spice: This Momma Wants To Eat!

So after everything had settled down from Christmas morning, it was time for Landon to take his afternoon nap. What did that mean for me? Time to cook! I had 2 hours to get everything ready to take over to my brothers house for Christmas lunch. Now, let me further explain the title of this post. Every year either my family or Josh's has the traditional holiday feast...but not this year. I was totally bummed. We missed Thanksgiving because of Pneumonia, and now Josh's family wanted to do finger foods for dinner? No thank you. And, to top it off, my family only wanted to do hors d'oeuvres! No no no, this just isn't right. The last time that I will truly be able to indulge is some good 'ole chicken and dressing and no one wants to eat it but me? Well, just leave it up to me to pitch a little hissy fit :) And that I did! After discussing my concerns with my brother, he agreed that it would be fine to serve a traditional meal, but I would pretty much have to do all of the cooking. I pondered the idea...and thought OKAY! That just means the left overs come home with me!! :)

So once Landon was down for nap I headed straight for the kitchen. I whipped up my famous Chicken & Dressing recipe that I have perfected over the last 4 years, Paula Deen's Green Bean Casserole, Homemade Mac & Cheese (extra creamy and made with GIANT elbow noodles), brown gravy, and last, but certainly not least, I opened a can of jellied cranberry sauce. I have made homemade cranberries before - sorry, just not worth the trouble!...other than the wonderful smell it leaves in your home! Can you believe it only took me 2 hrs to get everything complete?!? I was amazed! We loaded up and headed straight over to my brothers. Of course we were the last ones to arrive, since we had a nap to attend to, but everyone was patiently waiting on Josh's famous sausage balls (that he made the night before) to arrive. They were spicy and delicious! Once we were all settled we said the blessing and dug in! My sis-in-law made a ham and some mashed potatoes to go with our Christmas lunch spread. And for dessert, my pink and blue cupcakes since we hadn't told my family what baby Newbern was yet, and then I also brought a Cherry Cheesecake. Another family member brought a pumpkin pie, so we were set!

My family has just as many kiddo's as Josh's, but only 4 (including Landon) live in Alabama, so there aren't as many children for him to play with. Although, my brother has tons of animals, so that suits Landon just fine. Between his 3 cousins, 4 dogs, and 2 cats he was easily entertained the entire time.

After all was said and done, I'm so glad that I pitched my little hissy fit about our Christmas lunch! It was absolutely delightful, and I can't help but admit that all of the compliments on the food and the guys packing up doggie bags to take home for later made me feel wonderful! Maybe, just maybe, if we ever sell our house and move to a bigger place I will host Christmas at our house next year!!