Not only have we made it through another month in 2025, we’ve made it through the whole year! That calls for sharing my December things!
I hope you are having a wonderful, relaxing holiday season. Need another moment to relax? Why not read my December things?
December Things 2025
Food & beverage
It’s food and beverage season, so we have to start off my December things with all the food and beverages I enjoyed this month.
Old Standby – Tacos
Tacos were a staple in my mom’s dinner rotation when I was growing up, and they’re a staple in my house too. They’re probably a common occurrence on your table too. Tacos are a classic example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If everyone in your family loves tacos, keep them coming!
We had tacos a few times this month, including for Christmas dinner! You know I love a non-traditional Christmas dinner. I stepped it up a notch on Christmas, making two types of meat fillings (plain old ground taco meat and salsa chicken), black beans, and rice. I also set out stuff to make hard tacos, soft tacos, or taco salads. It was a fun and delicious Christmas meal!
Favorite New Recipe – Sloppy Joe Sliders
So, I’ll admit, choosing Sloppy Joe sliders for my favorite new recipe of the month is a bit of a cop out. Truth be told, I didn’t really have the bandwidth for many new recipes in December. We ate a lot of easy, brainless crowd pleasers. Sloppy Joes are certainly that in my house, but I switched up the vehicle for eating sloppy Joes this month. Instead of piling the filling on regular hamburger buns, I made sliders. I’ll try new recipes in January, I promise.
Biggest Food Fail – Jalapeno poppers
My husband really likes jalapeno poppers, so when we have a gathering, we typically make them. We had my son’s 6th birthday party at our house at the beginning of the month, which presented a great opportunity for poppers. We made them just like we normally do and popped them on the grill to cook, but we didn’t take the temperature into account. You see, the grill went from cold to insanely hot all at once, which sparked a grease fire. The jalapeno poppers went up in flames. Luckily, my husband was able to get them off the grill and put out the fire. R.I.P. jalapeno poppers.
Dessert – Christmas cookies
What’s a list of December things without Christmas cookies? As I detailed in my 2025 Holiday Baking List post, I kept the Christmas cookie situation simple this year. But just because they were simple doesn’t mean they weren’t delicious! As usual, my favorites were the chocolate crinkles. If you didn’t make these for your Christmas cookie platters this holiday season, give them a try in January! The other favorite in my house were the brown butter sugar cookies. So much easier than cut-outs!
Breakfast – Grits casserole
It’s rare that I include a breakfast item on my monthly wrap-up of food and beverages, but I really want to share a family recipe that I love for gatherings big and small. If you’re not from the South, you might be a little nervous about this grits casserole, but I beg you to give it a try.
What you need
4 C water
1 tsp salt
1 C quick-cooking grits
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
1 C milk
¼ C (4 Tbsp) butter
How to make it
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray.
Bring water and salt to a boil. Slowly stir in grits and cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Stir a small amount of the grits into the beaten eggs. Return the egg mixture to the grits. Add cheese, milk, and butter to the grits mixture.
Pour mixture into the casserole dish. Top with additional cheddar cheese to cover.
Bake 1 hour or until mixture is set.
Beverage – Hot chocolate
I think hot chocolate has a decent argument for most Christmassy beverage. Especially when kids are involved. Although we did consume some hot chocolate in Christmas related settings (during our Christmas lights drive, for example), most of the hot chocolate consumption in my family this month has come from Nonna. She has brought hot chocolate to my son’s hockey practice and my daughter’s ice skating lesson twice a week this month. My children are turning into hot chocolate.
Books
My book slump continues, guys. I’m not proud of it. It just is what it is. My December things is light on books, and especially light on books I really enjoyed. I’m really hoping to turn things around in the new year so I can offer better book content for you.
Not My Favorite – Everything I Never Told You
I read Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere last year and really enjoyed it. Like I often do when I enjoy a book, I sought out Celeste Ng’s other books. In 2025, I read both Our Missing Hearts and Everything I Never Told You, with the latter being the sole book I read in December. I really want to like Celeste Ng’s books, but I just struggle with them. Everything I Never Told You follows a family that loses their teenage daughter. This is a family drama, which I usually love, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
Best Audiobook – Free: My Search for Meaning
I also haven’t been listening to audiobooks as much as I usually do, but I did make it through a few in December. My favorite audiobook of the month was by far Free: My Search for Meaning by Amanda Knox. I am about the same age as Amanda Knox, so her story has terrified me for decades. This memoir focuses not so much on her arrest and false imprisonment, but on her life after exoneration. I’m not sure I would have been able to handle life after being falsely convicted of murder with as much grace as she has. Good for her.
Media
Even though I didn’t consume that much media, my December things in the media category has two entries. One TV and one movie.
TV – Nobody Wants This
Like most of America, I loved the first season of Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. I was so pumped to watch the second season. My verdict? It was cute and enjoyable, but not nearly as good as the first season. Hopefully it’ll rebound in season 3.
Movie – White Christmas
White Christmas has been my favorite Christmas movie for most of my life. I used to watch it with my mom as a kid, and then I watched it by myself when I flew the coop. This year was the first year I watched White Christmas with my kids. I’m happy to report that both kids enjoyed it! My daughter even asked for a repeat viewing! I really hope they’re as hooked as I am.
Clothing
If you live in a cold weather area, you might be interested in my clothing-related December things. Florida friends, feel free to skip this section.
Fleece jacket
A fleece jacket is a necessity if you live in a place that experiences seasons. For the last several years, I’ve been wearing a fleece jacket that I didn’t really love. It snapped up the front and I really wanted a zipper. This month, I found myself a zip-front fleece jacket that I really like, the Eddie Bauer Women’s Mixed Media Fleece Jacket. It’s perfectly roomy enough to pop a sweater underneath, it’s more polished than other fleece jackets I’ve seen, and the subtle pop of pink makes it look just girly enough. I bought mine at Sam’s Club, but Eddie Bauer’s website has a similar version that looks just as great if you’re not a Sam’s Club member.
Ear warmer headband
I hate when my ears are cold in the winter. I also hate the way I look in a winter hat when my hair is in a ponytail. Because I wear my hair in a ponytail quite a bit, this left me in a quandary in the winter. But not anymore! I have found a solution! My trusty ear warmer headband has been a life changer. It keeps my ears warm, but I don’t look bald. It’s the little things.
Christmas plaid shirt
I don’t usually like to buy specific holiday clothing because I find it pretty wasteful to wear an article of clothing only one or two times per year. The exception for me is a Christmas plaid shirt. This thing only gets worn in December, but man does it get worn in December. I wear it, wash it, and wear it again. It’s got to be one of my signature December things. If you don’t have a Christmas plaid shirt, it’s worth the price for the joy it can bring one month each year. I’ve had mine for many, many years.
Products
As usual, my December things in the product category are all over the place. But they’re good ones.
Pop-up stool
Nonna makes another appearance in my December things post, this time to bring a life-saver into my life. If you have kids who ice skate or play hockey, you will know that getting their skates on is no easy feat. You’re either bending over and killing your back or your kneeling on the floor of a hasn’t been clean since 1984 ice arena. Nonna’s solution is this collapsible pop-up stool. It’s the perfect answer to the problem of getting your kids’ ice skates tied. If you have kids who wear ice skates more than just occasionally, this should be an immediate add to cart.
Lip balm
I have reached the age of noticeably losing color in my face. Especially in my lips. I never had the darkest lips on the planet, I’m basically translucent after all, but I did used to have pink lips. As I approach 40, my lips have all but disappeared into the rest of my face. This gives me a washed-out appearance that certainly doesn’t make me look any younger. The obvious solution here is lipstick, but I am not a lipstick person. It’s too in your face, it dries out my lips, and I rarely find a color that compliments my complexion.
When Jessica Braun on YouTube suggested Revlon Glass Shine Balm in the shade Glossed Up Rose as a solution to this very problem, I had to try it. I’m so glad I did! It goes on like a balm and gives the perfect natural wash of color to the lips. Definitely a winner!
Christmas tree
Of course, I need to include a festive product in my December things post. Although I had a few under consideration, I ultimately decided to share my favorite festive item, my Balsam Hill Christmas Tree. I love my pre-lit Balsam Hill 7.5 ft Vermont White Spruce. It’s a show-stopper. The reason I decided to share it in my December things is because the end of December is the best time to buy a Balsam Hill Christmas Tree. They go on major sale right after Christmas!
Experiences
The highlights of my December things were the experiences. That’s always the case, but it’s especially true in December!
Birthday hockey game
Although we had lots of memorable December experiences surrounding my son’s 6th birthday, the top of the list was the hockey game we went to as a family to celebrate. Not only was the game my son’s birthday present, it was also my daughter’s first game. The Penguins blew a 5-1 lead and lost in overtime, but we still had fun!
Snow day
We start having the threat of snow days in December, and we got one earlier this month. It started as a delay but ended up being an old-fashioned snow day. Dad had to go into work, so Mom had to work and facilitate snow day fun. Even though the kids didn’t have as much snow time as they would have liked, we snuck in some sledding, some shoveling, and some snow angels. And I snuck in some work calls. It was a success!
Christmas
For those of us who celebrate, no list of December things is complete without Christmas! This year was extra special because Marmi and Pap came to visit. We haven’t had them for Christmas since my daughter was a baby, so it was a real treat!
True to form, we had a very chill day at home on Christmas. Nonna came over, we had tacos, and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. I love not having to go over the river and through the woods on Christmas day.
Kid stuff
Are you still with me? If you have kids, you should be because I have some really good kid-related December things!
Snow shovel
My kids love to shovel snow. I don’t know why, but they do. My son used to steal the adult-sized shovel so I bought him a kid-sized snow shovel. It’s the best money I’ve ever spent. So good, in fact, that I bought three more for two of my nieces and one of my nephews for Christmas. It was a snow shovel Christmas!
Mini hockey sticks
I struggle (and so do my kids) when it gets so cold and dark that we can’t spend a ton of time outside every day. One indoor activity that has helped is indoor mini hockey. My kids can play for an hour or so down in the basement, shooting foam pucks or hockey balls at one another. If you have active kids and are looking for an indoor activity for the winter, buy a set of mini sticks and thank me later.
Foosketball
My son got a lot of really cool presents for his birthday and Christmas this December, but the one I want to share is a birthday present he received from his new bestie. His friend wanted to give him foosball, but his dad convinced him to choose Foosketball, a tabletop mash-up between foosball and basketball, instead. This thing has gotten some serious play since it entered our lives. My son wants to play before school, after school, before dinner, after dinner. Whenever we have a lull in our day, he suggests we play Foosketball. If you need a gift for a 6-9-year old boy, this is a winner!
Blog posts
If you missed any of my posts this month, you’re in luck – I’m dropping links to the most popular posts from December right here for you for easy clicking!
What were your favorite December things? Share down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason!