Salami, Cheese Balls and Olive Oils, OH MY!!!

Yesterday, my Husband surprised me when he was able to leave work early!  So he and I hit the mall to check a few things out for the Holidays.  When we hit the Hickory Farms store I was in heaven.  Now I wanted to create a meat and cheese tray for Sunday, movies and tree decorating day.  What we found there was better then we imagined!

Of course we picked up the traditional Summer Beef Sausage Stick.  Hello!  That is like a staple from there.  Then we were shown a new product.  Yes I said new and boy was it delicious.  My whole Family, children included, love dry salami.  Once we tried it, both my Husband and I knew we had to buy some.  It was a must and would be perfect for Sunday.  Now the last couple of years I have been trying to hunt down their Swiss Cheese Log.  It has been missing or bought up so fast that I never got a chance to get one.  Of all the crazy cheese ball flavors out there, I just loved the Swiss Cheese Log from Hickory Farms.  This year, I found it but not as a log, a cheese ball!  I really don't care if it is a ball or a log, just as long as it is Swiss Cheesy goodness!  I KNOW this Swiss Cheese Ball with the hard salami will be AMAZING!

I wish I had time to take a better picture of all this yummy goodness but here is a sneak peek!

This was not our only discovery on our trip.  I really enjoy cooking with Balsamics and Olive Oils.  When I find really good ones, I almost want to go crazy and stock up on bottles and bottles and bottles of my favorite flavors.  Well in a kiosk at the mall there was a stand with lots and lots of Balsamic Vinegars and Olive Oils, for you to try and buy!Oh you bet we did some sampling and found a few we really loved.

The place was called Olioteca.  I am happy that I can order from them online, which makes it so much easier.  There were a few flavors at the mall that are not on the website I noticed.  

My favorite Balsamics other then their Traditional, was the Blackberry and Hickory.  My mouth was watering imaging how much more enhanced my meals would be with either of these flavors separate or combined.  I would use it to dip bread and on my salads!  There is just so much you can do!  

Olioteca has a wide variety of olive oils too that will astound you.  From aged olive oils to butter flavored, you name it they have it.  Yes, they do have a bacon infused olive oil too!  Some of my personal favorites, were the garlic, scallion and roasted chili.  Once again, you can cook with these, use them on salads or dip your favorite breads in them!

While I will be enjoying these great finds over the Holidays, these are also great gift ideas.  

I really had no idea what to expect yesterday on my spontaneous trip to our local mall, The Boise Town Square.  I left with no regrets.  After all, I was able to sample lots of tasty treats and purchase a few of them to bring home.

Tradition!

To say that my Family has Holiday Traditions in place, wouldn't be exactly true.  There are things we want to do and haven’t been able to do.  The last few years, my Family and I have been living in limbo away from everyone.  We have had to travel long distance to celebrate the Holidays and not stay in our own home, quite often.  One year we had a baby and ended up in another state staying at a Ronald McDonald house for the Holidays.  So to suggest that we have developed any kind of Traditions yet, would be no.

Last year for Christmas and New Year, we stayed up North and didn't travel and really made the time special with our Kids.  Both of their Birthdays are in the week leading up to Christmas.  This is an additional blessing and challenge.  However this year, we have moved back down close to all of our friends and family and will not have to travel and stay anywhere other than our own home!

This week I am getting our home prepped, scrubbed and ready to decorate for the Holidays.  Thanksgiving is coming upon us and we will be celebrating all through the weekend.  This year I get to actually cook and bring food to the Thanksgiving Dinner.  For me this is special and fun.  I really do love to cook and prepare food for those I love.  I started out only offering to bring one side dish but that has since multiplied to several.

In Boise, this weekend there is the Festival of Trees done by St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.  This event is something to take your family too and enjoy.  There is so much to do and see!.  We try to go every time we have been here in Boise and yes we are going this year.  Last year the line to see Santa was extremely long, and even though they had crafts and games for the Kids while they waited, it was just too long to wait.  So this year, I got an idea to make sure my Kids get to see Santa at this event.  I bought tickets to the Breakfast with Santa event!   Oh everyone is so excited and even Grandparents are coming with us.

 Yes on Black Friday when others are shopping, I will be having Breakfast with Santa and my family!  Afterwards we will spend the day, at the Festival of Tree’s watching performances and seeing all of the beautifully decorated trees.

Later we will have our Day after Thanksgiving Dinner with my Husband’s family where we will sit and feast on a seafood specialty, cioppino.  This has become somewhat of a Tradition and a lot of fun.  Breaking crab legs, dipping bread in the cioppino, laughing and enjoying the special time together as family and the good food is what this time is all about.

Saturday, I plan to try to hit a few stores to do some Christmas Shopping.  I am happy to say that my Husband and I have already been shopping and storing gifts away the last couple of months!  I really just want to hang out at the mall with my Family and see the decorations and pick up a few things that may be on sale.

Sunday is going to be a new Tradition for our Family and one I am very excited about.  First my Kids and Husband love it when we have Sunday Family Movie Day and I set up a veggie tray, a fruit tray and cheese tray with meat of some kind.  So we are combining our Family Movie Day with decorating our Christmas Tree and home!  I will have egg not and hot cocoa too for everyone.  My Husband and I can add in some Southern Comfort to our egg nog. ;)  However this is going to be a special day and a Tradition I hope to start and keep going for us. 

My Husband and I got a cute idea this year and who knows it may evolve into a Tradition we keep.  I had purchased these great fuzzy warm slippers for our Kids recently and put them away for Christmas.  Nathan, my Hubby, thought it might be a good idea to let our children open this gift on Christmas Eve.  I realized that it did sound like a nice idea and this way, the Kids will wake up and have something to put on their feet to keep them warm on Christmas morning.  Plus they are getting to open up a present the night before Christmas.  This isn’t something huge or fancy but it is something special.

On Christmas Eve, the Kids leave cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer, with a note.  When the Kids wake up, the cookies will be gone except for crumbs, the milk will have been drunk and the carrot will have been half eaten.  This is something my Husband’s Parents taught my son and I absolutely love it.  This is a Tradition we have kept up and will do so for as long as our Kids wish.

Then on Christmas morning, we open presents and eat a delicious breakfast.  Yes the Parents are drinking lots of coffee to keep up with the excited Kids.  Later in the day we will head out for Christmas Dinner.  This year we are headed to my Husband’s Parents home for the dinner.  We try to see everyone and split time during the Holidays to see both sides of our Families.  Sometimes we even get everyone together at once. 

There are other Traditions and things we may do.  We have our Kids Birthdays both in December, the week leading up to Christmas.  This adds a whole other dimension to our celebrations.  It isn’t easy finding a balance when I don’t burn myself out trying to keep everyone happy and involved.  My Kids this year will be turning 2yrs old and 7 yrs old.

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, there is a whole lot of celebrating going on in our home.  We have much to be thankful for and much to celebrate.  Though I miss those who have passed away and are no longer with us this Holiday season, I celebrate the Holidays in honor of them knowing it is what they would want.  I know how special this time of year was to all of my Grandparents.  I miss them and cherish each memory.  I hope to pass on such wonderful memories to my own Children and someday Grandchildren too.

We are a young family and developing our own Traditions while bringing in a few of the ones we grew up with.  It can be a lot of fun, if you let it be.  Don’t let missing out on a Tradition bring you down during the Holidays.  Traditions are not supposed to be a burden or something to bring on added stress.  Instead let a Tradition bring back happy memories and the hope and joy of new memories to come.