December Newsletter 2019
Throwing a party for New Year’s Eve but not sure what to do? Here are some fun ideas for your NYE celebration:
Set Up A Champagne Bar. Champagne is the point of NYE, right? Set up a champagne bar and your guests will love you forever -OR-
Have A Sangria Bar. Missing summer hard? Skip the champagne and set up a tropical-inspired sangria bar. Everyone will be dreaming of the beach.
Take Fancy Foods Bite-Sized. No one wants to knife-and-fork it on NYE, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick to dips and crudité platters. These steak frite bites are sure to be a hit.
Play Games. New Year’s Eve doesn’t necessarily need to involve sequins, glitter, and a wild night out. Invite your friends and family over for a cozy night in, complete with festive winter decor and plenty of board games and card games to cycle through.
Make Photo Props. These photo props are super easy to make, but provide hours of fun for all your guests.
Spike Your Sweets. Make these mimosa floats for a sweet start to the new year.
Make Jumbo Confetti Poppers. Poppers are classic, but they’re totally next-level when they’re life size. Confetti for days.
Christmas Crock Pot Dishes
Christmas dinner doesn’t have to mean spending hours over a hot oven, not when you have a slow cooker to help you prepare the meal! These crockpot recipes are a great way to reduce the amount of time you spend in the kitchen during the holidays while still delivering an impressive meal.
Simple Crock Pot Turkey Breast and Stuffing. Yes, you can make delicious turkey and stuffing in your slow cooker! This perfect for Christmas, all-in-one turkey and stuffing meal requires only four ingredients, making it one of the simplest holiday recipes ever.
Crock Pot Pineapple Glazed Ham. No Christmas dinner would be complete without a Christmas ham and this one simply calls for reheating a fully cooked one into your crockpot. The ham slowly simmers with crushed pineapple, apple jelly, and a few warming spices to create a juicy, meaty, and fruity holiday main.
Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes With Ham. These creamy, cheesy spuds are prepared in the slow cooker with mushrooms and ham, making them especially convenient when you’ve got other dishes taking up space in your oven.
Crock Pot Broccoli Casserole. Cheesy broccoli casserole makes a great side dish for your Christmas table. Combine broccoli, condensed cream soup, cheese, and a buttery cracker crumb topping right into your slow cooker and let it do all the work.
Slow Cooker Mulled Wine. This fragrant holiday crockpot recipe delivers hot, spiced wine for a sweet ending to your Christmas meal.
Crock Pot Apple Brown Betty Dessert. Homey and comforting, this crockpot apple brown Betty is a true holiday winner.
Crock Pot Chocolate Pudding Cake. This gooey pudding cake is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser and it’s simple to mix and prep in the slow cooker.
2019’s Best Omaha-Area Neighborhoods to See Holiday Lights
If you’re looking for the best local areas to see holiday lights this year, here is 2019’s best of the Omaha area. My family had such a great time exploring some of these locations the other night! Listed below are only a few larger neighborhoods, follow this link to see the full list including individual homes!
Omaha’s Holiday Lights Festival, which is celebrating its 20th year! The downtown lighting display moved from Gene Leahy Mall to the Old Market and continues along 24th Street through North and South Omaha.
Season of Lights in Turner Park, located near Midtown Crossing at 31st Avenue and Farnam Street. The Turner Park trees are lit for the season through Feb. 14.
Lights of Aksarben at Aksarben Village, 67th and Center Streets. In addition to lights and a tree, the area also has a heated tent, carriage rides, music, activities and more.
Village Pointe Shopping Center, 168th Street and West Dodge Road. The outdoor shopping mall is decorated with lots of lights, including a brightly-lit Christmas tree.
Washington Park, 20th Avenue and Franklin Street in Bellevue. The lights here are synced to the music of 91.9 every night through Jan. 6. Hours are 6 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Shadow Lake Towne Center, 7775 Olson Dr. in Papillion, is decorated for the season and includes a spectacularly lit tree.
