Cheesy Christmas Trees.....from Arkansas

My bestie, Tinyla...in Arkansas!

"Every year we decorate Christmas cookies as a family and give them away to the kids in our church.  One year we invited the kids over to have a cookie decorating contest, and then let them eat the cookies.  This year we invited the girls to decorate cookes at church  while the boys went out and collected food for the orphanage." (read more about this at My Life at Home Blog)


One tradition our family has that was my {wonderful} husband’s idea is to make Christmas a time of doing for others.  


Every year, since the Christmas before we were married, we have made Christmas cookies for the children in our church.  Every year on Christmas day we go to the care homes in our area and sing and give a little devotion to the elderly and shut-in.


One of my favorite Christmases  was when we invited a single gentleman to our home to have Christmas with us (this was before we had children).   He has since called us and told us that being with us that year  meant A LOT to him.  He was orphaned as a young boy, then adopted; but his adopted parents died.  Later his fiancé was killed in a car accident so the holidays are usually a sad time for him.  


One year on Christmas Eve we made bags filled with Christmas cookies, a Christmas tract, and a Christmas card from our family and went caroling to our neighbors.  After singing we presented them with the goodie bags.   I have to admit that I was the most nervous about caroling to our neighbors because one or two of them were a little “cold” towards us; but it was great.  They warmed up to us a lot after that and it was a great way to share a gospel tract with them. {Most people won’t slam the door in your face when you are trying to do something nice for them and give them cookies at the same time!}   


This year we will be caroling at the care homes; but we also invited the children in our church to decorate cookies that they will be eating at our Christmas party.  

I hope one or more of these ideas inspire you to think of others during this season of remembering the birth of Christ." 

Cheesy Christmas Trees 

½ cup mayonnaise

1 TBS. dry ranch salad dressing mix

1 Cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

12 slices of bread

¼ c. small red bell pepper strips

¼ cup green bell pepper strips

*I realize that some of you dear ladies may not have dry ranch salad dressing mix at your nearest Wal-mart (smile!) so you may use this instead:  1 TBS dried parsley, ½ tsp. dried dill,  ½ tsp garlic powder,  ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp dried basil,  ¼ tsp. pepper,  ¼ tsp. salt.

1.  Preheat broiler.  Combine mayonnaise and salad dressing mix in a medium bowl.  Add cheeses; mix well.
2. Toast bread slices; cut into Christmas tree shapes using large cookie cutter.
3. Spread each tree with about 1 TBS. mayo mixture.  Decorate with red and green bell pepper strips.  Place on baking sheet.  Broil 4 inches from heat 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbling.  Serve warm.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas,