Christmas in October?

I'm busy baking Triple Chocolate Sour Cream Brownies and listening to the Christmas Blues on Pandora (you heard me right, Christmas music). It's so relaxing. A few days ago our basement had a slight flood (more on that another time) and we had dishes galore after not being able to use water for a day. And I listened to Christmas music then too. It helped me get the job done with a smile on my face.

Today I was thinking why I am so in the mood for Christmas this early in the year. I wondered if it's the amazingly warm temperatures we've enjoyed throughout October (74 degrees this week). I wondered if it's because we've been moving our Christmas stuff around in the basement trying to organize all our crap precious things.

It was during my prayer time that I realized that I'm just excited about Christmas this year. I'm excited to be in our new home. I'm excited to take out our Christmas decor and deck the halls. I'm excited to shop for my family. I'm excited to work on some extra special crafts to make the holidays more jolly. I'm ready to get out the Advent calendar and plan some special things for our family to do together to remind us of the gift of Jesus. I'm ready and I'm excited.

I think this happiness is oozing from me because last year I just wanted to make it through the holidays. Last year was filled with loss, depression, fights with God, learning hard lessons, rededicating my life to Christ and God's will, being humbled and filled with God's grace and righteousness. And I was hurting a lot last Christmas. I put on my happy face for my boys so that they would still remember Christmas as a happy time. I reluctantly decorated the house but there wasn't any real joy in the process. We skipped our Advent adventures all together last year. I barely got gifts wrapped and under the tree by Christmas. It was just a sad time of year for us.

I'm sure that this Christmas will have it's share of tears - happy and mournful - but there's a bounce to my step that wasn't there last year. I pray that God continues to show me grace as we get closer to Thanksgiving and that it can truly be a time of thanksgiving. And as we approach Christmas, that our Advent days will be filled with the hope of Jesus Christ.

So, if you hear me humming Christmas tunes while shopping for groceries, don't roll your eyes. I'm just ready to celebrate!

Peanut Blossoms

These are the cookies I made for my sister's fiance. They were really yummy which made them a little hard to give away. ;)


Peanut Blossoms
makes about 6 dozen

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
sugar
Chocolate Stars

Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar together. Add egg and vanilla. Blend in flour, baking soda and salt. Shape into balls and roll in sugar (I used colored sugar) and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and place Chocolate Star on each, pressing down so cookie cracks. Return to oven and bake another 3 minutes.

Homemade Christmas Gift

My youngest sister and I decided that we wanted to do a homemade Christmas this year. Her fiance asked for peanut butter and chocolate cookies so I made him Peanut Blossoms. And I made her a blanket. I really wanted to do something with pink and black since she likes that...but I couldn't find two fabrics that I really liked. But I found these two fabrics in thermal fabric and they were really cute together. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I really didn't know what I was doing when I started, but it turned out great! And my stripes are even straight all the way down!She made my husband and me a calendar from Snapfish. It's great because there are pictures that correspond with people's birthdays and anniversaries. Fun!!

I also started sewing a little something for myself. It's supposed to be a table runner, but I didn't want my little people pulling it off the table, so I just made something to use as a center piece. I don't have any batting right now, so I'll have to wait to stitch the batting and backing on, but I really like how it's turning out. I found some fun Christmas fabrics that were on sale. I'm also making a mod log cabin table runner for a friend...don't know who yet, but it's super cute!!

Nibble Mix

This is one of my favorites since I'm more of a salty-snacker than a sweet-tooth. You can easily cut this recipe in half. This is another recipe that's great for summer too because you don't have to use the oven or even the microwave. It's great for car rides and picnic lunches.

Nibble Mix

1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp dill
1/4 to 1/2 tsp garlic powder (I use 1/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp onion powder (opt.)
1 pkg Hidden Valley original ranch dressing seasoning packet
2 (12 oz) pkg oyster crackers

Whisk oil, dill, powders and seasonings. Pour over oyster crackers and mix well. Let stand for at least 1 hour. Store in airtight container.

Microwave Caramel Corn

This recipe reminds me of my sisters. They love caramel corn and this is a great recipe because it's so quick and easy. Last night I brought it to our small group's game night and it was a hit!

Microwave Caramel Corn

1 brown paper grocery bag
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter/margarine
1/4 cup white corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 to 4 quarts popped popcorn (I make my own, but you can buy a bag of plain popcorn at the grocery store)

Combine all ingredients, except baking soda and popcorn, in a microwave-safe 2-quart bowl. Bring to a boil in the microwave, and boil for 2 minutes. Add soda to mixture and stir (it will foam). Pour mixture over popcorn in brown paper bag. Fold top and microwave 1 1/2 minutes. Shake and turn. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes more. (Bag will be VERY hot!) Spread on cookie sheet to cool. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!!

No-Bake Cookies

This is another easy recipe that our family enjoys. We like to store them in the freezer; they're so good when they're cold!

No-Bake Cookies
makes 3 1/2 dozen

2 cups sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup peanut butter (we like chunky)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the sugar, cocoa and milk together, and boil for 4 minutes (stir continuously so it doesn't scorch). Take mixture off heat. Quickly stir in butter, vanilla, peanut butter and oatmeal. Drop by teaspoonful onto waxed paper.

Almond Bark-Covered Pretzels

"Little Women" is one of my favorite winter movies. I'll probably watch it once a month during the winter. It's so great and it reminds me of home. Anyway, I watched "Little Women" (on VHS, no less) as I dipped pretzels.

Almond Bark-Covered Pretzels
makes 6 dozen

5 squares of almond bark
mini twist pretzels

Melt almond bark in microwave until smooth (not too runny). Dip pretzels 6 at a time. Sprinkle with your favorite holiday sprinkles. I used a holiday mix of red sugar, green sugar, Christmas trees, and holly. I usually let my toddler do the sprinkles, but he's napping peacefully.

Salted Nutroll Bars

This is another easy recipe. It's also great for the summer because it doesn't require the use of your oven.

Salted Nutroll Bars

1 (16 oz) jar salted dry-roasted peanuts
3 tbsp butter or margarine
1 (12 oz) pkg peanut butter chips
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (10 oz) pkg mini marshmallows

Grease a 9x13-inch pan. Spread 1/2 of the jar of peanuts on the bottom of the pan. Melt the butter and the peanut butter chips together in the microwave, then add the sweetened condensed milk. Add the marshmallows to this mixture (do not melt these) and stir. Layer this mixture onto the peanuts. Press this mixture down and top with the remaining 1/2 jar of peanuts, pressing them onto the marshmallow mixture. Cool and cut into bars.

Yumm-0!!
Check out my complete Christmas Goodies List here.

Turtles

This is a really simple recipe that I got from my friend, Jess.

Turtles
makes 3 dozen

1 pkg of pecan halves
mini twisted pretzels
1 lg bag of Rollos (chocolate-covered caramels)

1. Open bag of pecan halves and count how many you have. (I had 36 in my bag. You can join broken pieces to make a "whole.") Open same number of Rollos.
2. Put a piece of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet. Place pretzels on the cooking sheet and top with a Rollo.
3. Bake for 2 minutes at 200 degrees.
4. Take out of oven and while warm, press pecans into caramel.

That's it. Yummy!!!
Check out my complete list of Christmas Goodies here.

Christmas Goodies

I've been compiling a list of my favorite (and easy) Christmas treats. I want to make enough to give away and keep some at home to enjoy. Here's my list for this year. I'll get up the recipes as soon as I make the goodies. Most of them are simple recipes so I hope to get them all done this week. It should be fun!!


Salted Nut Roll Bars





Almond Bark Pretzels





Turtles





Nibble Mix





No-Bake Cookies





Microwave Caramel Corn




Party Mix
Peanut Blossoms
Anise Candy? (There's one ingredient in here that may be hard to find so I'll have to see about this one.)
Pebbernodder

Do you have any yummy goodies you like to make at Christmastime?

Gold, Red...and Bright Green?

I've been busy with the boys putting up more Christmas decorations. It was hard last year because our youngest was born four weeks early, the day after Thanksgiving, and we were four hours away from home. This year, we visited family for Thanksgiving and I got a late start to the decorating. I should've been like my friend, Wendi, and started decorating early since we weren't even going to be home for Thanksgiving anyway.

Here are a few pictures of the red and gold Christmas balls I've been hanging on the tree for years. My mom gave me some sparkly fruit to put in a jar for my kitchen, but the fruit didn't really fit my style, but the little green balls were perfect for my Christmas decorations. Again, because I have green in my kitchen I wanted to add some green to my red and gold decorations, so here it is.
Yay! It's nice when you don't have to spend so much on decorations for one month. Although, I just did some shopping to make a garland that was inspired by The Homespun Heart. I'll be working on it this weekend and hopefully get some pictures up by Monday.

Christmas Candy Candle Holder

I really wanted to create a new Christmas look in our home since we painted the living room and kitchen. Since the kitchen is bright green, I wanted to add some bright colors to my Christmas decorating. I have been using red and gold for the last few years so adding some bright green was not too much of a problem. I'm still in the process and hopefully I'll just get some basic items and add more each year.

This candle holder was easy to make because I already had all the items in my home. I was inspired by Monica at The Homespun Heart. I think it looks really cute and it adds the bright colors I wanted. Easy.