Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Music

Singing in the Christmas Program

Singing in the Christmas Program

John's Christmas Piano Recital

Christmas Cookies

The boys and I made Sugar cookie cutouts today.  I think they turned out great.

An easy way to make them is to use sugar cookie refrigerator dough or one of those prepackaged mixes.  It was a lot easier to get to the fun part, decorating.

Christmas breakfast recipe

I must admit when I first read this recipe, I did not think it was a good combination.  Since it had a high rating, I tried it.  The results was wonderful and fast became my favorite blueberry muffin.   As for most of my recipes, I got it on allrecipes.com.  I love the website.  You can search by name, category, or ingredients.  Each recipe has a rating so you know if it's good or not and commits for tweaking.  I have only tried a couple things that we didn't care for. 

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (fresh are best, but you can use frozen)
• Topping:
• 1/2 cup white sugar (use white sugar,  I tried brown sugar and it makes a mess)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. (In my oven, it takes 19 minutes.)

I beg your parsnips

This is something my dad always use to say to me growing up.
Speaking of parsnips, has anyone ever tried them?  We did tonight for supper.  They have a very perfumey taste.  Needless to say, no one in our house liked them including me.   That's coming from the one who likes Lima beans and Brussels sprouts.

It is good to try new things though.  You never know.  You might just like them.

Another simple recipe for a great Christmas snack or a gift to someone you love!

Chex® Muddy Buddies®

9	cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2	cup peanut butter
1/4	cup butter or margarine
1	teaspoon vanilla
1  1/2	cups powdered sugar

	Print these coupons...
	$1.00 off 2 bags of HERSHEY'S KISSES Chocolate Plus 47 more...
	About Concordance™

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Cool Clothespin Crafts

I was looking around on the internet and found these really cute clothespin crafts.  If you don't want to paint them you could use wrapping paper or makers.  I think kids would love to make these. 

Clothespin Santa Ornament

Clothespin Snowman Ornament

Close up of the Snowman's Face

Christmas Gift Idea!

 Homemade gifts can be really easy to make and lots of fun to give. This is a really good recipe.  It tastes so much better than what you can buy. 

My Amish Friend's Caramel Corn

• 7 quarts plain popped popcorn (I used 4 regular bags of microwave popcorn)
• 2 cups dry roasted peanuts (optional)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.
Recipe is from allrecipes.com

Happy National Cookie Day!

Great Homemade Gift Idea

Pecan Snack

Ingredients

• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 pound pecans
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, beat egg white with water until frothy. Stir in pecans and mix to coat. Combine sugar, cinnamon and salt and stir into pecan mixture. Spread on a baking sheet.
3. Bake in preheated oven 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container. 

Snowflake Craft

To make this craft, you need:

White foam sheets (I got mine at Wal-Mart in the craft section)

Glitter

Exacto knife

Pattern

Draw your pattern on the foam sheet, cut with Exacto knife and decorate with glitter.

It does take awhile to cut out the snowflake, but it is worth it.

You can also make white doves or snowman.

Have fun!!

Easy Christmas Treat

 

CHOCOLATE DIPPED RITZ PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1610,134191-248199,00.html Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. Ritz Crackers peanut butter milk chocolate or white chocolate (white chocolate is my favorite) Sandwich 1 teaspoon peanut butter between two Ritz crackers. Make as many as you want and set aside.Melt chocolate in a double boiler or micorwave. Dip the sandwiched crackers in the chocolate with tongs. Place on wax paper until cool.  Decorate with your choice of sprinkles while chocolate is still warm.

This may sound really weird but they are so good.  The sweet and salty mix is a wonderful combination.

  Enjoy!