A Christmas Story: Part 1

I decided to do some Christmas baking this year. I'm not sure if it was good for my waistline. No, scratch that. I know it wasn't good for my waistline. Here is my baking list: holiday mix, fudge, pecan bars, cookie dough dip, gingerbread men, and peanut butter balls. (I neglected to make peanut brittle, which was on my original list but somehow got forgotten in the shuffle...and I'm sad about that.) And since it's the Christmas season and I'm feeling generous, I will share the recipes with you. I didn't do very well at taking photos of my special treats, but let it be known - they...were...all...DeLiCious.

Steve helped decorate the gingerbread men. I was so impressed with his skills!! All of the fun ones were his. We will definitely make this a tradition.

Ellie was excited about her gingerbread man as well.

And the recipes (along with my own notes, ideas, and suggestions).

Cookie Dough Dip Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 12

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup toffee bits (optional)

Instructions

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Add all remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined.
3. Serve with any of the following: graham crackers, chocolate grahams, honey grahams, Ritz crackers, pretzels or apple wedges.

This was good. Very sweet. To me it tasted like cream cheese cookie dough. We only tried it with pretzels and graham crackers. Definitely better with the grahams. Kind of a fun, new treat.

Aunt Teen's Creamy Chocolate Fudge

(from allrecipes.com) Submitted By: Kelly Phillips Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 48

Ingredients:

1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2/3 cup evaporated milk 1/4 cup butter 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk chocolate chips 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup chopped nuts 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	Line an 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.
2.	In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt. Bring to a full boil, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
3.	Remove from heat and pour in semisweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.

 I've made this twice now. It's smooth and creamy and delicious! I liked it best left out on the counter and a bit softer.

Holiday Mix

½ large box Corn Chex                                         ½ large box Golden Grahams

1 c. coconut                                                           ½ c. peanuts, slivered almonds, chow mein noodles

Put in large bowl and mix well.

Boil for 3 min: 1 c. corn syrup      1 c. sugar        ¾ c. butter or margarine

Pour over mixture and stir until blended.

Oh my goodness. I got this recipe from a friend during my undergrad at BYU. I don't remember the friend but I remember this treat! I've made this every year and passed the recipe around among my family. It is delicious...and addicting. Just remember that. In fact, we made a batch with the intention of giving it away...but we ate it instead. Ha ha. By the time we were ready to make another batch, we had plenty of other treats to pass out. But we sure enjoyed it! PS. It's best (and easiest to eat) while it's soft - I recommend putting it in a bowl with a lid and putting the lid on as soon as you're done munching on it. 

Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.   

To make thicker, softer gingerbread men, this recipe makes about two dozen (give or take). The more cream cheese frosting, the better (in my opinion). If you need a good cream cheese frosting recipe, I have one. 

Buckeye Balls II (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar with hands to form a smooth stiff dough. Shape into balls using 2 teaspoons of dough for each ball. Place on prepared pan, and refrigerate.
3. Melt shortening and chocolate together in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat.
4. Remove balls from refrigerator. Insert a wooden toothpick into a ball, and dip into melted chocolate. Return to wax paper, chocolate side down, and remove toothpick. Repeat with remaining balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set. 

I adore these! My personal preference is to use milk chocolate. But I always prefer that. They were perfect and were a huge hit with the friends we delivered them to.

The Book Nook

You probably already know this about me, but I am an avid reader. Reading is a passion of mine. I have loved it for as long as I can remember.

A few years ago, I blended my passion for books with my new-found love of blogging and created a book blog. *insert excited happy squeal here*

Yep. That's how tickled I was :) If you enjoy reading, or just want some recommendations, or if you have recommendations, check out http://mybooknooksd.blogspot.com/ and let me know what you think!

My Confessions

• We buy salsa and popcorn kernels in bulk. What can I say - we love them.
• I can't stick to one task at a time. I have to have multiple things going on at once. Just ask Steve. Even when I work online, I have to have a dozen different tabs open at once. I usually don't finish one task before I start another. It keeps things interesting to flit from one task to another.
• I keep a to-do list most days. I try to keep it manageable...but I love that feeling of checking things off :) Maybe that makes me a geek, but it's true.
• When I'm "in the groove" of getting things done, I don't like to be interrupted. Case in point: I knew I had about 30 minutes before Ellie woke up from her nap. I wanted to start a load of laundry and clean up the kitchen. By clean up the kitchen, I mean I wanted to get the dishes loaded in the dishwasher and get the counters wiped down. Instead, I "got in the groove" and, even though it's not a priority today (nor is it on my to-do list), I felt an urge to clean the whole kitchen: microwave, stove, and possibly clean out the fridge. In my defense, the bathroom and floors are cleaned each week...so if I'm a day or two behind on that, I think it's for the greater good. The microwave, stove, and fridge don't get nearly the attention the bathroom and floors get. So. My stove and microwave look amazing and I want to go dust the entire house :) 
• Along the same vein, sometimes it's hard to balance my roles of homemaker, housekeeper, and mom. As I cleaned up the kitchen and heard Ellie waking, I pleaded for "just five more minutes". Because Ellie is a perfect baby, she laid in her crib and talked for ten more minutes. 
• I have to do something productive each day - it makes me feel good about myself.
• I have a secret desire to be crafty. This weekend I will attempt to make Ellie a Christmas ornament. What I have planned isn't difficult - but it is crafty, which I am not. Wish me luck.
• I had neglected writing in my journal for the past six months! It's true. I hadn't written in my journal since Ellie was born. And I've always been a phenomenal journal writer. I'm not tooting my own horn here - it's just true. I set a goal this week to start writing again. I'd forgotten how therapeutic journal-writing is for me. I'm happy to be back at it.
• I love being teased. Steve knows this. This morning I was nursing Ellie on the couch after Steve left for work. About 10 minutes later, there was a hard knock at the door and a man outside said, "Maintenance!" (which I'm pretty sure the maintenance men here are supposed to do...). I quickly covered up as I heard my door opening...and in walked Steve. Little trickster. I could've punched him for the scare it gave me.
• I love to cook and bake. If I had a reality show, it would be a cooking show. Sometimes I put ingredients in little dishes as if I'm on a cooking show :) Not too frequently - it makes extra dishes for me when I do that.
• I will be starting up my book-blog again. I have had several people ask about it, and I have some new faves to add to the blog. If you're a reader, I highly suggest you check it out. I enjoy it - and I think I'm pretty funny. Ha ha.
• I ate most of an entire bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Minis in two days. Less than two days. Yum.

Our Little Elf Family

Copy and paste the link into your browser to see what our family has been up to :)

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/ftKpx8P4CtiuHRMA

Happy Christmas

I'm a budding photographer wanna-be photographer. Sometimes I "set up shop" somewhere in our tiny apartment and practice taking pictures. I really really really really really wish I'd been born with that gene people have of taking creative and cute photographs. I don't have it. But since I wish I did, I keep practicing :) Guess who the subject is? Always. Always always always Ellie. Steve isn't home to be subjected to my torture; nor would he allow himself to be. But Ellie-girl, now, she's flexible and malleable and is pretty good about doing whatever I want her to do. Ha ha.

I don't know about you, but I'd much rather look at pictures of Ellie than pictures of me. So most of these are her!

Happy Holidays from the Kansas Thompsons!

Just the Two of Us...and Ellie

December 4, 2009

So happy. So in love. So excited for the future together.

December 4, 2010

Loving our first year together. Loving being pregnant with Ellie. Loving companionship and fun.

December 4, 2011

Much happiness seeing each other as new parents. Much happiness in our evolving relationship. Much happiness being a family.

I think I speak for both of us when I say this. We are so happy and so grateful we found each other. It was worth the wait to marry my best friend. Getting married and starting a family with Steve was the best decision I've ever made. I'm so lucky he chose me :)

Our marriage made us a family. But Ellie is the icing on the cake. She made us a family in another way. She makes us laugh. She makes us think. We are learning things we never learned without her in our lives. She gives our relationship and our life more meaning. Ours is a happy life :)