Thank you all so much for entering the mini food processor giveaway! I have found myself reading your holiday memories over and over and OVER again. They are beautiful and make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

In need of a pick-me-up? Head over to the comments section and read the wonderful tributes.

One of my most hilarious holiday memories was a few years ago on Christmas Eve. We always went to Mother Lovett’s house – I could tell stories forever about those Eve’s.

She was meticulous about her home. She couldn’t see the TV, couldn’t make out your face from 2 feet away, couldn’t hear when you screamed in her ear, and often mistaked me for my brother. But she sure as heck could see that miniscule crumb of a cookie, smaller than a pin head and the identical color to the carpet, on her beige floor.

A tradition of ours is to take pictures in our ‘dress-up-clothes’ after church, but before we eat and open presents. We all can’t wait to get into some comfy clothes and relax.

Imagine the chaos that ensued when MY FATHER dropped an entire glass of red wine on her carpet.

Needless to say, there were more pictures taken that night than any other Christmas Eve, and incessant shouting occured while shoving Mother Lovett into as many pictures possible for as long as possible while others furiously scrubbed the carpet and went through an entire bottle of Resolve.

She never found out. Never.

Sometimes the blindness and deafness came in handy. Like the time when my mom managed to bring down every Christmas decoration box from the attic without Mother Lovett noticing we were there or ‘telling her how to do it correctly.’

But that’s another story for another time.

And the random winner is…

Jamie, who said:

‘My favorite holiday memory is the Christmas my mom told my sister (3 years old) and I (6) that not only was Santa bringing us gifts, but an “Elf” was bringing us a special surprise as well. When we were growing up, my parents divorced and my mother worked nights as a waitress so she could stay at home with us during the day. Needless to say, she didn’t have much to work with during holidays. Both of us got dolls from said Elf that we’d been asking for all year (Baby Bubbles and Tiny Tears, anyone?!). We’d wondered who the Elf was and why s/he only came one year to give us gifts. Years later, my mother told us that the “Elf” was a good family friend who’d pitched in and bought us dolls when my mom was broke. It was such a sweet gesture that will never be forgotten by my sister or me.’

Congrats, Jamie!

I hope you enjoy this while making lots of butter-laden, sugar-topped, healthy recipes and think about how I’m doing the same. Well, at least on the butter and sugar part.

Send me your info at merchant.jessica@gmail.com. :)