The Witches' Yuletide Ball

Today is the day!  If you want to see who else has a party post, click on the banner over there ->.

My tradition is fairly new.  This will be my third Yule as a practicing witch and my goal is to figure out what I want my traditions to be.  My family celebrates Christmas, even though none of us are exactly Christian.  So I will be including the traditions from that here.  





 Our tree is already up.  Generally speaking we usually do the decorating the day after Thanksgiving but lately this has not been the case.  We decorated the tree on December first this year, much to Twinny's displeasure.  Of course another tradition of ours seems to be that the tree looks a mess once it's fully decorated, since we have so many varied ornaments.

So onto plans this year.  I have some pine needles and juniper berries that I will incorporate into an incense of some kind.  Seeing as we have a gas fireplace, I can't have a real yule log.  I could make a log into a centerpiece and put candles in it, but I think I'll try that next year.  This year I want to make a yule log dessert!  I need to go out and buy the proper pan and some of the ingredients, but I'm hoping it will be fun to make and good to eat.  If it is I'll post a picture and the recipe here.  Another thing I want to do is donate some of the things I have that I don't need.  I have a bag full of stuffed animals that have't come out for awhile.  Someone else could be playing with them and enjoying them.  I also have various toys and games that my family and I don't use, so those should go too.  Given that this is the time where a whole bunch of toys are donated, I want to see if I can convince my parents to donate anything else that would be more for adults like unneeded cookware.  I've seen our kitchen and I know we can spare something. 

Now for a recipe!  My family has always made a whole bunch of treats for Christmas so I'm going to share one with you.

Corn flake Wreath Treats
1/2 cup butter
30 large marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla extract
Enough green food coloring to make the color you want
4 cups cornflakes

~OPTIONAL~
cinnamon red hot candies
Twizzlers pull and peel licorice

So this is just like making rice crispy treats with a few differences.  Melt the butter in a large pot over low heat.  Add the marshmallows and stir until melted.  Remove from heat.  Add the vanilla and food coloring and stir until fully mixed.  I don't put a precise amount of food coloring since some people like their wreaths light green and others like it to look piney green.  If that is the case you may need to add a drop or five of blue.

Stir in the cornflakes until combined.  Quickly drop the desired amounts onto wax paper for shaping.  Coat your hands in cooking spray, butter or warm water to keep them from sticking.  Form the mixture into an 'O' shape.  Now you can decorate them with the candies and/or the licorice.  I've used Twizzlers pull and peel, pulled the strands apart and tied them into little bows.  Let cool for 20-30 minutes then enjoy!

Also remember to cook/bake with intent!  For most sweets I try to bake happiness into them, as sugar is good for that.  

You can make these with rice crispies, but the ratio of cereal to marshmallows is different.  The cornflakes are better in my opinion anyway.