Winter Wonderland.

We went to bed last night knowing we would likely wake to the beautiful white fluffy blanket of snow.

It's very cold here today. Temp of 21 wind chill of -12.

Carly was VERY excited this morning. We bundled her up and headed out to the bus. She giggled the entire time.

Had I been on the ball this morning at 7:40, I would have taken a picture of Carly dressed in her winter wear from head to toe. Next time!

Cool giveaway.

Hop on over here to enter Kelly's giveaway. Very cool!!

Frosted Pecan Bites

These are Paul's most favorite snacks during Christmas.

1 pound pecan halves
1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1 pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275. Toast pecans for 10 - 15 minutes or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
Fold sugar, salt and pecans into egg whites. Increase your oven temp to 325. Melt butter on a sheet pan. Spread the nut mixture over the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Be sure to stir every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Enjoy!

Whew..

...what a weekend! I've been out of touch with the world wide web for several days. Our internet went out. Thanks to our DOG! He ate the wires that run along the outside of our house. No internet since Sunday morning. He ate that wire after he had already eaten through our cable wire on Friday. Causing us to have no TV all weekend. GRRRRRRRRRRR! Will this puppy stage ever end? For the record. This WILL be our very last puppy. EVER! We've never had a puppy this destructive.

Carmel Corn Recipe

This is another HUGE hit around here.. I make this a couple of times a year. But seem to make it every Christmas. It's a recipe that I got many years ago. Way back when I was in High School taking Home Economics Class.

Oven Carmel Corn:

3 & 3/4 C pop corn (15 cups popped)
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C margarine (or butter)
1/4 C light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 200. Place popped corn on large cookie sheet. (I use 2, 9x13 cake pans). Heat sugar, margarine, corn syrup & salt. Stirring occasionally, until bubbly around the edges. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat add baking soda and stir until foamy. Pour mixture over top of popped corn. (I stir it up a bit to make sure popcorn is coated nicely). Place in heated oven and bake for 1 hour. Stirring every 15 minutes. When done, let popcorn cool a bit and then place it in a large bowl and enjoy!

Ouch!

When I got up and around this morning, I did as I often do. Headed to my computer to check up on all the blogs I follow. :o)

As the morning went on. I found a blog that I follow had a new post. I naturally clicked on the link, anxious to check out her most recent post. I was very surprised to read her very long drawn out letter that she posted to Tiger Woods. I decided to leave a comment. It wasn't at all a nasty, negative comment. It was simply my opinion. Imagine my surprise when I received an email from this blogger. Wow. Let's just say, I had my very first negative experience with a fellow blogger today. Unbelievable.

I wont mention any names, because, well that's just me. I'm very disappointed in this blogger. I have followed her blog for quite some time. Way before I was a blogger myself. This particular blogger has had a sick child born a year ago, with a horrible heart defect. I can so relate to that. Maybe that's what drew me into her blog. Although, I must say, I have enjoyed many of her posts. Actually, most of her posts. Until today.

For some reason, this particular blogger felt the need to write a letter to Tiger Woods. A letter posted on her blog for her many, many followers to view. She left her comment section open. She wanted her followers to leave comments. She even tweeted about it, to draw people to her blog. Now to me, and this is only my opinion, but this is a story that is sure to stir the pot. I read through some of the comments before leaving mine. I let my opinion be known. In a nut shell I said, "shame on you Tiger Woods".

Well.....this blogger emailed me. She let me know she did not like what I had to say. Seriously?!?! Um, she is the one who tweeted, that she wanted to know other peoples take on this letter written by her, to Tiger Woods. A letter that she herself posted on her blog. This blogger preached to me, about how God will forgive Tiger Woods and how it's such a wonderful thing to be able to be forgiven. Yes. It is. I agree. It will be fabulous for Mr Woods to be forgiven. If Mr Woods even knows God. How do we know? We don't. Besides that, if Mr. Woods truly did have extra marital affairs, he should most definitely feel some sort of quilt and shame. Although this blogger disagrees with that. I believe Mr. Woods so much as said, that he did feel some quilt and shame when he released his statement to the media.. Not in those exact words, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to read between the lines. I may be wrong here, and PLEASE correct me if I am. But, isn't one of the 10 commandments Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery? It was when I learned the commandments.

Whatever the case may be regarding Mr. Tiger Woods. It's a very sad situation for all involved. People who are involved are going to be dragged straight into the media for the whole entire world to judge. Sad.

The whole thing is just crazy. Why on earth would anyone post a letter to Tiger Woods about his own private business? As if he's going to read it. Crazy!

As for this fellow blogger. I'm so very disappointed in her response to me. I've prayed for her family and her child many times. Now, I don't know what to think about her. I do feel as if this fellow blogger gave me a 'virtual slap to the face' today. Yes, it still stings. OUCH! ;o)

Christmas candy

Today, I'm sharing with you another family favorite. My kids (the oldest two) have loved these since they were little. This recipe came from my grandmother. She passed away 6 years ago. She had so many recipes. She was always baking and making candies. When I got married, my grandma started giving us a candy dish full to the brim with homemade chocolate covered peanuts each year for Christmas. They were so darn good! Many times she would include this delicious treat too.

Church Windows
Melt together 1 stick of margarine (or butter) and 1 - 12oz pkg., of chocolate chips. Remove from heat and let cool for 1/2hr to 1hr. Once cooled add 1 pkg., of mini colored marshmallows. Stir them until all are covered nicely. Divided the mixture in half. Just eye ball it! Place each mixture on 2 pieces of wax paper. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Form each half to look like a loaf or log by using your hands. Roll up in the waxed paper and store in fridge until chilled. They are then, ready to eat. Slice and enjoy these very yummy treats. And pretty too!

** helpful hint ~ I roll into the log shape and then sprinkle on the powered sugar**

Wordless Wednesday...sort of!

click collage to enlarge.

This little girl just melts my heart!

Christmas candy

During the month of December, I thought I would share a few family favorites. Favorites meaning, recipes for candies and cookies and all kinds of yummy treats. Time seems to really fly from the first of December right up till Christmas Day. Everyone scurrying around looking for all those great deals. Families trying to squeeze in a 'baking day'. Making sure homes are decorated. Kids in front of the TV watching all those holiday shows. Ah...Christmas, a wonderfully crazy time of year.

Since it is a crazy time of year and I too am very busy trying to get things done. I thought I would share some of our family favorites. In terms of yummy candy, cookies and treats. Today I'm sharing a recipe that I got several years ago from my cousin. I call it Heath Bar candy, but the recipe says it's Toffee. Which ever you call it, it's sure to be a big hit around your home. Plus, it's simple!

1 C sugar
1 C water
1 C butter (real butter not margarine)
1 C finely chopped nuts (optional)
1 package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 large cookie sheet (I use a sheet cake pan)
Tin foil

Add sugar, water & butter into heavy pot. Using a candy thermometer, let mixture reach 300 degrees. Make sure to continue to stir often. Once the temp reaches 300, pour in finely chopped nuts and stir till blended. Pour entire mixture onto a tin foil lined cookie sheet. You will want to make sure that you fold all four sides of the tin foil up, forming an edge all the way around. Immediately cover with your package of chocolate chips. Once the chips begin to melt, spread carefully over the top. Let sit until cool. Break into pieces and enjoy!

**helpful hint~I spray my tin foil with butter flavored cooking spray.**

Back into the swing of things. And My menu plan, returns!

It's Monday. Time to get back into the groove of things. We had a great time enjoying our family. My mom and dad did Thanksgiving dinner at their house. As my kids feel is a "tradition". Which it is. But, my parents are getting older. They wear out very easily. Not sure how much longer we can keep this "tradition" up. You know that old saying, "Everything tastes better at Grandma's house". My kids believe that 100%! And I'm a good cook!

The run down of our weekend went something like this: We ate too much. Did some laundry. Watched too much TV. Went shopping on Black Friday. Did TONS of Ashleigh's laundry. Did some online shopping. Did some more of Ashleigh's laundry. Made a couple of batches of Christmas cookies. They weren't the homemade kind though. Paul saw the Pillsbury Sugar Cookies at the store. The one's that have imprints of a Christmas tree and a reindeer and he just knew Carly would love them! She did. But, daddy loved them more! Long weekends are great. But man they really throw me off.

On Saturday, I made a turkey. Paul's boss gave his guys each a turkey the day before Thanksgiving. He purchased them from a turkey farm. So it was a fresh turkey, not frozen. I decided to just to go ahead and make it. That way, Ashleigh would have plenty of left overs to take back to school with her. I must say, that turkey was delicious. The stuffing was yummy. The gravy so tasty. We even had cranberry/orange relish...Mmm! The only real difference in our turkey dinner, and the one we had at my mom and dad's, was in terms of potatoes. My kids requested that I make Hash brown Casserole.

Carly is home from school today. Actually, she was home on Wednesday of last week too. I had gotten a note from her teacher, last Monday, that Carly had been pulling her right ear quite a bit. She also told the teacher it hurt. Although, she didn't seem to be bothered too much by it on Monday night. I sent her to school Tuesday and already had planned on taking her to the doctor Wednesday. By Wednesday Carly had developed a nasty sounding cough with runny nose...Sure enough, she had an ear infection and junky sounding lungs. The doc put her on Omnicef for 10 days. She is doing much better. Still has a nasty sounding deep cough, but the coughing isn't coming as often. I expect she'll be back to school tomorrow.

Now that things are beginning to settle down a bit with the school. I can get back to my menu planning. It really is so much easier to have a menu in place. I've missed it. Although, through the next month, I will only be doing it weekly. Too much going on to plan out that far ahead.

This weeks menu:

Monday Chili and corn muffins

Tuesday Pork chops, wild rice & candied carrots

Wednesday Hot turkey sandwiches

Thursday Potato soup, rolls & salad

Friday PIZZA!!

Saturday Baked beans with franks (hot dogs), fried potatoes & veggies

Sunday Crock pot chicken, oven roasted potatoes & veggies

I leave you with this recipe of my roasted potatoes. Keep in mind. This is my version of roasted potatoes. Meaning it's totally made up, by me. Oh, but it's so good!

Get out your 9X13 baking dish. Spray with Pam, or whatever cooking spray you use. (you can, and I do quite often, use EVOO to 'grease' the baking dish. In stead of cooking spray).Wash several (like I said, I made this up) red baby potatoes. Leaving skins on. Sometimes, I chunk these up. Other times, I leave them be. Dump some EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) into a large plastic Ziploc storage bag. I sprinkle in quite a bit of Sea Salt, (We love the taste of the Sea Salt and EVOO combo) Pepper and Italian seasoning. (I use McCormick) Seal the plastic bag. Shake up contents. Pour into baking dish Sprinkle a bit more Sea Salt, Pepper and Italian seasoning. Place in oven at 325 bake until potatoes are tender. You will need to drizzle a tad bit more EVOO on the potatoes during the baking process. I usually do it a couple of times. Being these are baby potatoes, it doesn't take long for them to bake. These are delicious. I came up with this due to the abundance of these yummy little red potatoes from our garden.

Have a great Monday!