Monday, November 15, 2010

Day 1 - Mistletoe Make & Bake

Yesterday, Gary and I had the pleasure of touring the Connecticut countryside and a lot of its wonderful shops with quilt shop owners Barbara and Cheryl from The Yankee Quilter in Oxford.

Many of the shops we visited and homes we oohed and aahed over had holly bushes in their lawn decor and I really liked seeing that. I've always loved holly and it's yearly reappearance as a symbol of this season. I was a little curious about the origins of holly being used in decorating for Christmas and did a little reading about it.

The shiny green of holly leaves in the winter and the fact that it bears fruit when everything else is dead or dormant made ancient peoples believe it had magical powers of healing. Holly was often used in the Ancient Roman celebration of the Saturnalia which was a festival held in honor of the god Saturn. Early celebrations of the Christmas holiday were based on Saturnalia. Among the Celts, holly also played a major role in summer and winter solstice observances.

Despite protests from Church Fathers, who regarded their use in decorations as too pagan, holly and other evergreens were adopted by common Christians as Christmas decorations in Roman times. In an effort to bring the pagans to Christianity, many of their symbols and traditions were eventually incorporated into Christian celebrations.

That's interesting enough but, honestly, I just like what it looks like. The deep green leaves and rich red berries of holly look beautiful in our contemporary Christmas decorations, too, and I often use holly in my own designs for the Christmas season.

That's a bit of trivia I thought I'd share and I also have a cookie recipe to share if you'd like to download it by clicking here:

Christmas Cheesecake Cookies If you like my Holly Jolly table toppers pattern, you can find it here.

Be sure to visit the blogs of the other designers/bakers who are participating in the blog hop and I hope your holiday season is off to a Holly Jolly start!

56 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Can't wait to try it.

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  2. I have loved your patterns for years...just know I'll love your cookies as well! Thanks!

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  3. Oh, Mercy!!! Those cookies sound so good and will be perfect for a cookie exchange! Can hardly wait to see what else happens on this bloghop!

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  4. Another new cookie recipe, wow and I thought I had tried most all of them! Thanks

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  5. So much fun to get new cookie recipes. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Great recipe...thanks for sharing.

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  7. Thanks for sharing the cookie recipe.

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  8. Thank you for the recipe ... yum! Love the holly research :) Though love the holly topper more!!

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  9. Your recipe sounds yummy & like the table topper.

    Nancy E

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  10. What is a girl to do, some much to do..so little time to do it. I will put up the good fight. What is 65 bazillion more delicious cookies to make. Thank you for your wonderful patterns and oh yea,,the cookie recipe.

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  11. Thank you for the cookie recipe! I definitely am going to try these! Yummy

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  12. This is my first time on your site..Love your patterns!! Great recipe also!
    Thanks.

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  13. Patrick! Thank you for being a part of this Mistletoe Make and Bake fun!

    Thank you for the Christmas Cheesecake Cookie recipe!

    Hope you are enjoying the trip through New York and all!

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  14. Cookies sound delish - and I'm a sucker for cheesecake! LOL!

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  15. Love, love, love anything with cream cheese in them. These sound delish!

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  16. Oooh, this sounds like a winner! And not the least bit fattening. Thanks, Patrick!

    Leslie S. in MN
    esclante at comcast dot net

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  17. Thanks for the background info on holly! We have it all around our house and it stick my skin when I weed under it! YECHK!! The recipe sounds delish!! Thanks! Polly

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  18. Thanks for the recipe. Love your patterns.

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  19. If it says 'cheesecake' I know I'm going to like it. Thank you.

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  20. Thanks for the yummy recipe and trivia about holly.

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  21. Whatever the reason holly is perfect for the season!

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  22. Love anything with the word "cheesecake" in it!
    Thanks for sharing the holly history as well.

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  23. This is my husbands fav recipe so far.

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  24. Sounds like a great recipe! Thanks so much...

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  25. Having fun on this blog hop! Thanks for being a part of it! Pam

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  26. Thank you for the delicious recipe!

    SheilaC

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  27. What a wonderful blog hop! Thank you for the info, great recipe and your participation. ~Kathleen

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  28. Sounds like a great recipe! I loved the holly trivia! Thanks for sharing!

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  29. Thanks for the delicious cookie recipe. This is going to be a great week!

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  30. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us it sounds wonderful.

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  31. My holiday baking list is getting longer and longer. Thanks for the recipe.

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  32. Thanks for the cookies, love the cheesecake part .

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  33. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I love to bake, especially at Christmas time.

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  34. Cheesecake, in a cookie, what could be better?

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  35. Thanks for the recepie! Mmh! Love your pattern!

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  36. Cookies! Dip! Holly! Quilting! What a wonderful life!

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  37. I'm gaining weight just collecting all the cookie recipes. Your's are my favorite flavors. Can't wait to try them. Thanks sew much!

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  38. Thanks for the great recipe, sure to be a new favorite.

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  39. Yummo! Thanks for the great recipes. Thanks to this hop I found your blog, will follow you from now on. HUGS... and stitches

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  40. What a great bit of information. Thank you. And OH MY! Cheesecake cookies? *drool* My two favorite things in one recipe. YUM! Thank you

    vburr at charter dot net

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  41. I can already taste these cookies!

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  42. Anything that says cheesecake - YUM! Thanks for sharing.

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  43. Thank you for the recipe and the information about holly.

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  44. Wow, a way to get cheesecake in a cookie, who knew? Thanks.

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  45. Love the coasters. This will be our Thanksgiving night craft!

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  46. Thanks for the recipe. We have a lot of wild Florida holly trees in the woods. My Mom has holly shrubs around her old house and the berries are pretty.

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  47. Recipe sounds great . thanks KS

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  48. I think I'm gaining weight just reading the recipes.

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  49. Thanks for the cheesecake cookie recipe.

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  50. Wonderful recipe! I'm enjoying seeing all of your amazing patterns, too! Hugs! ♥

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