HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

THINKING OF SPRING

We’ve got to have the craziest weather, feels like Summer  some days then , here comes the frost & low temps,some have reflected back on what all they’ve done all year, New Years Resolutions, but I figure if I say  I wantta eat better, lose a little weight, ok  a lot LOL, organize the house, sew more bla bla bla, well don’t we say that all year round anyway lol! as I scroll through pictures saved in my eye candy folder I dream of spending more time on the porch 

doesn’t this one just scream tea parties LOL hopefully life will slow down long enough to sit on the porch from time to time & enjoy the view

THERE WAS JUST ONE

 yep just one standing all alone this year LOL it just didn’t seem much like Christmas this year but I did put up a small tree in the guest room for the grand kids when they came to bake cookies, there was one on it’s way  to being assembled in the kitchen but soon unassembled to be put up for the church Christmas party, no Christmas Tour of lights party this year, there’s still a lot of tornado damage to be cleaned up & I sure didn't want to light it up LOL but Spring is coming & there’s much to be done, where there was a carport I hope to replace it with a patio room, if ‘m going to dream I’m gonna dream big LOL! I have a plans  for the inside of the house, lets just say we’ll start with baby steps & a can of paint LOL

anyways, back to my one & only tree that made it up this year ,poor thing didn’t even get finished, the grand's came & went so fast it didn’t matter 

while visiting my brother-n-law in VA. during Thanksgiving I picked up these snowmen pillows, I just love them & had to have them! this room I dare say has been this color for over 15 years, there’s lots of plans in the works for this room

the New year will be full of changes one room at a time

 

 

 

 

HOW CLOSE TO 40?

 

LOL just 3 years to be exact ,today we celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary  

we’ve seen good times, bad times, happy times, sad times & now seeing blessed times with God’s riches, we were one, then became two  joined together  but then realized that it takes three to make a marriage, Jesus' name ends with “US” without Jesus there can be no “us” we are blessed with three grown children whom we are  so very proud how their life has turned out & seven grand babies

our oldest, Tony

our oldest daughter Jamie ,Noah, Kaitlyn, Tracy, Ashlie

our youngest daughter Heather ,Madison) Wes,Hannah,Courtney,Maegan

.

our journey has just begun ,the best is yet to be & oh what a journey it shall be!

SNOWFLAKES 101

I thought I’d try my hand at royal icing  to get a head start on new cookie ideas for next year, I loved that they stayed round lol, loved how the blue turned out ,but my goodness what happened to the snowflakes   oh well, it didn’t keep them from getting eaten  people will eat anything at Christmas !

CHRISTMAS IS SOOOO CLOSE!

Hard to believe, Christmas is less than  two days away, this year really doesn’t seem like Christmas to me this year, we’re still dealing with clean up from the tornado so the outside didn’t get decorated, no need lighting up that mess LOL but there’s been much love & getting together with family , not to mention all the birthdays in this month,

we’re so blessed to still be able to come together with family , we had Christmas with the kids  & grand kids this past weekend,

Christmas day we’ll all gather over at my sisters (Picket) upon cleaning & doing around I came across some love letters, yea that’s right! love letters LOL from way way back when we were dating & I was staying with my sister when they were living in Louisiana, we thought they had been ruined by the storm as there's or should I say “was” a lot of things stored in the shed so Christmas Eve we will sit in the middle of the bed & read to each other & laugh at things we said 36 years ago LOL 

the New Year is fast approaching & already I see new adventures coming our way, lots of new ideas for the house, new traditions  with family & grand kids where ever the New Year takes you be sure to take Christ with you & remember that Jesus is the reason for the season

12 WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES

WEEK 12 COOKIE DELIVERY

Tonight  a friend of mine came over & we baked cookies all night long, got a late start & with taking a break & grabbing a bit to eat it was 1;30 am when she went home LOL, in the morning, if able lol we will deliver to our church family

 

 

 

 

 

    

all boxed up & ready for delivery!

#1 Christmas Candy Cookies

1 1/2 c. self rising flour

1/4 c. cocoa

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

blend flour,cocoa, butter, mix sugars & eggs, knead 1’2 min, dough will be stiff, shape into balls & cool in fridge for about 30 min. preheat oven to 425, bake 10 min, till they slightly rise & begin to crack, transfer to a cooling rack, melt chocolate  chips & dip tops of cookies, sprinkle red/green sugars on top

#2 CANDY CANE KISSES

1 bag candy cane kisses

1/2 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 teas. van

1 egg

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tesp. salt

1/4 teasp.Baking soda

2 Tabsp. milk

red/green colored sugar

preheat oven to 350, beat butter, sugar, van & egg in large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder & salt, add alternately with milk to butter mixture till well blended

shape into 1” balls & roll in colored sugar, bake 8-10 min, place candy in center of each cookie once out of the oven

#3 SNICKERDOODLES

1 1/2 c.plus 2 tabsp. sugar

1 c. butter (2 sticks) softened

2 eggs

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 teasp.cream of tarter

1teasp. baking soda

1/2 teasp. nutmeg

1/2 teasp.cinnamon

pecan halves

combine 1 1/2 c. sugar, butter & eggs beat on med speed, add flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, cover with plastic wrap , chill for 1-2 hours, heat oven 375, in a small bowl combine sugar & cinnamon, roll dough into balls & roll in cinnamon sugar mixtures, press a pecan half into the center of each cookie, bake 10-12 min, let cool 1 min before removing from pan

#4ROCKY ROAD  FUDGE

3c. milk chocolate chips

1 14oz. can condensed milk

1/4 teasp. salt

1 c. nuts (optional)

1 1/2 c. mini marshmallows

melt choc. chips,  salt,condensed milk till smooth, add marshmallows, stir till completely covered, pour into a Pam sprayed pan, ref. till set

#5 SAND TARTS

1 c.butter (2 sticks)

4 tabsp.powered sugar

3 c. plain flour

1 c. chopped pecans

cream butter & P. sugar, gradually add flour to butter mixture, roll & shape into half moons, bake 350 about 20 min, roll in powered sugar while still hot

Hope you have enjoyed the ending to 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies & sweets, I have tried a few new recipes that are not keepers in the recipe box, especially the fudge! LOL

for more recipes visit  http://www.mealplanningmagic.com/

Christmas Cookie Recipes | Taste of Home Recipes

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Holiday---Celebration-Recipes/Christmas-Recipes/Christmas-Cookie-Recipes

It’s time to get to baking! lol all those delicious cookie & candy recipes! yum! Fri  will be here before I know it & it’s the only day I could squeeze in for this years cookie baking, every year I go get my grand daughters & get together with a friend  & her grand daughters & we bake cookies all day then wrap them really cute  & deliver to our church families

do you have a tradition that you do every year, there’s lots to be done before Fri. cleaning to say the least lol  decorating, fluffing the guest room, getting all the ingredients together

SUGAR SCRUB WAS A SUCCESS!

  My first attempt at making a sugar scrub

I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right but was assured it looked right after posting questions on a craft forum I’m a member of

so I jarred some up for a friend that had open house  to her shop this past weekend, she told me today that she showered with it & loved it!

I’m so proud of myself ,lol I actually ventured out & tried something new & did it right! LOL! there is nothing on my calendar for tomorrow, can you believe it! a blank square! whew! so there’ll be lots of  cleaning, decorating & crafting going on whoo hoo! might even get in some reading, a free day oh happy day happy day! LOL

12 WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES

WEEK 11

Can you believe it’s been 11 weeks, how many cookies & goodies have you made? do you have any favorites? any keepers for the recipe box? this week I found a cookie on pinterest, I think it may need a little tweaking lol! my baking sheets are sooo old, so I tried to crop the picture to the best part of the pan LOL LOL

this recipe the cookie really doesn’t spread so I mashed them down just a bit, not sure if I should have but I'm not use to the not spreading out part LOL, anyways as long as you can eat them right? LOL , they’re a little more messy than I would normally  do but I was tired & pooped out when I made them last night as I had been at the church with a few of the ladies baking allllllllll day & I mean allll day up till 8:00 pm lol for orders we’d gotten for Christmas

ok back to the cookies lol I came across this recipe on pinterest  & thought how cute for Christmas, they do make up cute & taste good, just don’t be pooped out when you make them LOL

Chocolate Candy Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 package

vanilla sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Directions

There are two ways : or you rub the flour, cocoa and butter with your fingers or place them in a food-processor and pulse few times

Mix in the sugars and the eggs (pulse few more times)

Place the dough on your working area and knead for 1-2 minutes until it can be easily shaped in a ball.

shape small balls, about 11-12 grams each. I had 38 small balls.

Place the trays in the fridge  for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the oven at 425 F.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes until slightly risen and start to crack.

Transfer them to cooling racks.

Now, to decorate them I used around 6 oz chocolate chips (60%) and some Christmas sugars

Dip the top of the cookie in melted chocolate and sprinkle with some sugar.

I thought the dough would never blend to make a ball but it finally did, probably because  I was tired & did it by hand lol next time I will use my big mixer lol

http://gringarl.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/chocolate

-candy-cookies/

there’s only one more week to go so be sure to visit  http://www.mealplanningmagic.com/ & get in on  all the cookie goodness

 

SHHHHHH DON’T TELL NOBODY!

 

but I believe I see a free day on the calendar lol! this week is full!  I mean full actually the whole month LOL, today is filled with finishing up decorating the church for Christmas, making sugar scrub, drying oranges,  working on decorating the house, getting ready for my tour of lights party, company Christmas dinner tonight & lets don’t leave out those domestic chores LOL rest of the week is filled with baking at the church, we’ve already begun to get loaded with orders, helping   decorate & set up for her grand opening of her business then her open house, supper & cookie baking with the grand kids,  whew!

but behold! I see a blank space on next week  is it true? is it a mirage? LOL could I’d forgotten to pencil something in? LOL  awww how good a solid white block looks on the calendar , a day of good movies, good books to curl up with, crafting awwww I am so there on the …… surely you didn’t think I’d say the date so you’d come up with something  for me to do or somewhere to go did you  so remember shhhhhh! not  a word!

GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS

DAY ONE

Ready or not Christmas is coming lol, I’ve yet to decide when to squeeze in my Tour of Lights party, which tree to put where this year, I planed on starting in the guest room, I did get the tree up only to find  there’s a strand of lights missing so day one’s going kinda slow lol so I’m making a list & checking it twice for a more productive day tomorrow lol on the other hand I did get some DIY’s in over at http://nannasraggedys-n-prims.blogspot.com/ I’ll be going through DIY Christmas projects & all that which today consisted of drying orange slices & preserving holly branches, there’s much decorating to be done,a Christmas party here & there , cookie bake day with the grand kids,craft day with grand kids ,just to name a few sooo it’s back to making  a list & dragging out more Christmas stuff because….

12 WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES & SWEETS

 

http://www.mealplanningmagic.com/

can you believe  we’re into week nine, how many recipes have you tried out, well I tell ya, I had to just stop buying chocolate chips & marshmallows, for I only made rocky road fudge abut 4 times LOL, I came across a recipes on pinterst called twice baked sweet potatoes & thought how sweet ! easy right? wellll maybe LOL, after it was all over & done with I decided to call it ……….WHAT NOT TO DO WITH TWICE BAKED SWEET TATERS LOL

1st you make double sure as to how long the recipe said to bake the sweet potatoes

normally 1-2 hrs but in this case was too much  for this recipe, you’ll see why lol

pretty right? lol the only one  ok ok I’ll show you,

when cut in 1/2 & scoped out you’re left with a boat to refill but when you bake reg. length of time  you get potato skin that has to be mashed into the shape of a boat lol, well we’re in it this far so on with the toppings

a little too heavy on the cinnamon lol, might as well follow through so proceed to melt marshmallows

now although this is still editable lol I would not serve it to company LOL so I scooped out  two & proceed to fix plates for lunch  chicken-n-dumplings, turnip greens & sweet potato casserole??? as  nothing happened LOL

now say you try this recipe  at the last min & company’s knocking at the door & it looks like this humm what to do, all is not lost, you can still save face! you can redeem yourself! you can save your dignity! all is not lost & no one  will be the wiser, scoop out all sweet potatoes & mix all up & place in a pretty serving dish, add fresh marshmallows &place back in the oven 

clean up all the evidence of trying to make twice baked sweet potatoes & smile as though you meant  for it to be sweet potato casserole all along

I don’t like to let my recipes to get the best of me so I’ll be trying this one again lol

recipe can be found at  http://www.laurenslatest.com/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes-with-walnut-streusel/