Category: BLOGMAS 2020

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 14 ~ NEIGHBOR PLATES & GIFTS / DELIVERY DRIVERS

I have a station set up just outside the front door in the alcove for delivery drivers with a nice variety of drinks and snacks for them to choose from.  They all seem to enjoy it and our regular drivers have come to know it will always be there. I normally do this, but tried for a bit nicer variety this year so they realize just how much they have become essential in this day and age.

I usually do a large plate of goodies for my neighbors and regular delivery people. But, this year with smaller gatherings and everyone having been home so much and already snacking too much probably, I’m changing it up to make it easier on me, more cost effective for me and more fun too since I’m sans my munchkin baking crew this year because of social distancing.

So, I’m doing gift jars for brownie mixes that can be used whenever they want instead of a plate of goodies that may go bad before they eat them all.

PEANUT BUTTER* BROWNIE MIX
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 cup peanut butter chips*
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup FINELY chopped walnuts

  • In a quart size mason jar, layer the ingredients in the order listed, packing down well between each layer. This is an important step s these ingredients literally fill the jar!
  • Cover tightly. Store in a cool, DRY place up to 6 months.

Include a cute little square of Christmas fabric, some ribbon and tag with the following instructions:
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
2 LARGE eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • In a bowl combine eggs, butter and vanilla with the brownie mix, folding together in as few strokes as possible.
  • Spread into a greased 8×8 baking pan.
  • Bake 25-30 minutes until set.
  • Cool on wire rack.
  • Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
  • Cut into squares.

NOTE: It is easy to change up this flavor by just changing the flavor of chips you use. I’m posting my peanut butter recipe, but you’ll notice the picture is of the jars I made with mint chocolate chips.  This batch of 12 had a variety of peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, caramel chips and mint chocolate chips, LOL 😀 NOT all together  of course!

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 13 ~ ADVENT

There are literally thousands of different advent calendars. These days most are promotional items and come in every form from daily chocolates to beers. You can make your own, find them on ETSY, EBAY… but what do they stand for? What is advent?

Advent itself is Christian followers remembering the birth of Christ in celebration of His birth and the anticipation of His return. Advent originates from Latin meaning “coming” or “arrival. Advent begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas.

This year the first Sunday was November 29th, the second was December 6th and the third one is today. The third one is also known as Gaudette Sunday and is a time of rejoicing that the fast is almost over.

Advent calendars are a cute little way to help kids not only countdown to Christmas, but also learn along the way. Many families offer up a daily scripture or devotional reading to go along with the chocolate treat as a way to stay focused on the reason for the season.

Many families also use an Advent Wreath, burning the candles as they countdown to Christmas. Each week features a different liturgical theme. Traditionally the first week features hope and expectation of the Jewish people as they await the Saviour’s arrival and reminding Christian believers to wait for Jesus’ second coming. The second week focuses on preparation and the third week celebrates the coming of the Messiah while the final week celebrates God’s peace and love.

Both royal purple and Sarum blue are used to symbolize the preparation, penitence and royalty to welcome the new king at Christmas time while purple is also used as the color of suffering during the week of Lent and Holy Week. Most churches have shifted their emphasis to the Sarum blue for Advent and reserving the royal purple for the Easter season. Pink replaces the blue in week 4 as a shift happens to lessen the emphasis of penitence and turn the attention to the celebration of the season.

Red and green derive from old European practices using evergreens and holly to symbolize the ongoing life and hope that Christ’s birth brings to the world. Red and green are NOT actually liturgical colors for the season.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 12 ~ Favorite Christmas Memories

WOW there are so many! One of my earliest favorites was when I was 5 and I got my tea table and chairs – my uncle sure looked silly sitting at that table drinking tea with me 😀

Then when  I was 9 my aunt came to visit from Texas for Christmas and was sitting on the floor in a leather dress playing Barrel of Monkeys with the younger kids.

My grandfather worked for General Electric as an X-ray technician of sorts (he oversaw the installation and calibration of X-ray equipment) and one year he brought home a GE Snow tree and ornaments (I still don’t know the correlation between between being an X-ray technician and Christmas trees). Anyway this tree had a HUGE cardboard base and once the tree was up and decorated you filled this base with thousands of tiny Styrofoam balls and when you turned the switch on, the tree would make it’s own snow.  As a kid I thought it was pretty cool, but as an adult I look back and realize what a MESS it made!! Especially when the wind was blowing and static electricity was high – those damn balls stuck to EVERYTHING!

But wait, that is not my favorite memory.  It turns out that my favorite memory is of trying to stump my dad each year with his gift – it became a mission of sorts to be the first to stump him.  I swear the man was Carnac The Magnificient when it came to knowing what was inside a box. We tried EVERY year to stump him and I don’t remember ever being able to do it.  We tried adding bricks, taping a silver dollar with duct tape to the bottom so it would flip back and forth to make noise when you shook it, adding a pair of shoes… but he ALWAYS guessed!  I don’t know how he did it.

More recent years there was an arctic storm a few years back that blew in and all of a sudden everything turned white. This was our first snowstorm of the season, and just before Christmas.

Hubby made this for me to wake up to in the back yard before the snow got too bad.  The house across the street usually looked horrible, but NOT when it was under a blanket of snow.
Unfortunately, being in a cul-de-sac, delivery trucks leave MANY tire tracks at this time of year to mar the beautiful snow cover.
The first day after he storm was absolutely gorgeous though!
The duck pond behind the neighborhood was truly a work of art.
Obviously we hadn’t gone anywhere – no tire tracks!
The fish ladder was like glass with the cold and ice.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 11 ~ FAVORITE CHRISTMAS COOKIE(S) & TREAT RECIPES

Remembering back to being a kid always seems the same to me.  Dad would buy all sorts of nuts by the pound during the holidays and bring out the nutcrackers. There was always a box (or 2 OR 3) of See’s candies (I just love the milk chocolate Bordeauxs and since there were only 1 or 2 to the box I always tried to be the first to find them) and the tins and tins of butter cookies, snickerdoodles, peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge as well as the sugar cookies that us kids iced and decorated.

One of our new favorites here for Christmas GOOEY CARAMEL TOPPED GINGERSNAPS.  This year though I will probably get around to making sugar cookies, but with no where to go and no one to visit, the remaining recipes just aren’t going to happen. 🙁

Whether you use homemade or store bought these cookies turn out swoon worthy of ANY holiday goodie platter. They are sooooo simple, but look and taste sooooo decadent.

GOOEY CARAMEL TOPPED GINGERSNAPS
42 gingersnap cookies, (homemade or store bought)
14 ounces KRAFT caramels
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup + 1/4 cup finely chopped honey roasted peanuts
12 ounces combination of white and dark chocolate
Sprinkles of choice (I like chocolate for the holidays)

  • Arrange cookies on cooling rack line baking sheet.**
  • In a microwave melt the caramels with the heavy cream, stirring until smooth.
  • Stir in peanuts.
  • Spoon about a teaspoon over each cookie.
  • Refrigerate until set.
  • Alternately melt white and dark chocolates.
  • Coat each cookie halfway with one of the chocolates, return to the rack allowing the excess to drip off.
  • Sprinkle with sprinkles and/or crushed peanuts.
  • Refrigerate until set.

NOTE** Wax paper or parchment paper works well also.

GINGERSNAPS
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup CRISCO
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoons ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
sugar for rolling

  • Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and ground cloves. Set aside.
  • Cream butter and crisco together until smooth.
  • Add sugar and molasses, blending until smooth.
  • Add flour mixture gradually until well blended.
  • Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 375°.
  • Roll dough into small balls
  • Roll balls in sugar and place on cookie sheet.
  • Bake 8 minutes for soft chewy cookies and 12 minutes for crisp cookies.

AND the other is this wonderful no bake recipe:

CHOCOLATE PRETZEL PB SQUARES
2 cups pretzels, crushed into crumbs
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 ¼ cups peanut butter
¾ cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips
½ cup Heath bit pieces

  • Spray 13×9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray!
  • In a large bowl mix together the pretzel crumbs and powdered sugar until well blended.
  • Mix in melted butter and 1 cup of the peanut butter.
  • Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the baking dish.
  • Sprinkle evenly with Heath Bit pieces.
  • In a microwave safe bowl melt combine the remaining peanut butter with the milk chocolate chips. Heat at 30 second intervals, stirring after each until melted and smooth.
  • Spread over the layer in the baking dish.
  • Garnish with Heath bit pieces and broken pretzel bits.
  • Chill at least 1 hour before cutting.
  • Store in airtight container  in the refrigerator.

Then there are the tried and true favorites of the past!

PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE DROPS
2/3 cup HOT water
10 ounces Land of Lakes cocoa mix
2 cups JIF creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 cups C&H powdered sugar, divided 2cups + 1 cup
2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
2 cups crushed ginger snaps
72 Hershey Kisses (I like the cherry cordials)

  • Whisk together the hot water and cocoa mix until smooth.
  • Add peanut butter and corn syrup. Blend until smooth.
  • Add 2 cups powdered sugar and stir until well blended.
  • Stir in cookie crumbs until well blended.
  • Spray wax paper with PURE (these will be sticky so don’t forget this step).
  • Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of dough onto the wax paper.
  • Place the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar in a shallow bowl.
  • Roll each piece of dough into a ball and dredge in powdered sugar.
  • Press your thumb into the center and fill with a Hershey’s kiss.

My great aunt’s corn flake wreaths are not technically cookies, but they are a treat that I try to make often. My great aunt who I only got to see a couple times a year used to make these every year special for me.  My cousins and I would wait out on the front steps for her arrive just to see them, the wreaths that is. She always made them soooooooooo pretty and perfect!  Aunt Louise was just plain crazy it seemed to me.  I can’t pinpoint any one thing that made me think that, but as the years wore she continually proved it.  Let’s just say if the made a movie of her life, Shirley MacLaine would play her part.  Aunt Louise reminds me of Shirley’s character Ouiser Boudreaux in Steel Magnolias.

CRAZY AUNT LOUISE’S HOLIDAY WREATHS  (these are better when they are made a few days ahead)
30 LARGE marshmallows (or 1 jar marshmallow cream)
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon green food color
3 1/2 cups cornflakes
Red Hots

  • Combine marshmallows, butter, vanilla and food color in top of double boiler. Heat and stir frequently until well blended.
  • Gradually stir in cornflakes until well blended.
  • Drop onto wax paper and arrange into wreath shapes. I plop them onto the wax paper and then push out from the center to form the wreaths.
  • Decorate with red hots.
  • Let cool.
  • If your house is warm – chill in refrigerator until set.

Another fun recipe that can be dressed up with colored sanding sugar are SEA SALT & CARAMEL RICE KRISPY TREATS.

SEA SALT & CARAMEL RICE KRISPY TREATS
8 cups Rice Krispies 
50 Kraft caramels  
1 can sweetened condensed milk 
1/4 cup + 1/4 cup unsalted butter 
1 bag mini marshmallows 
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract  
3 teaspoons sea salt flakes
  • In a medium sauce pan over  a low-medium heat stir together the sweetened condensed milk, the caramels and 1/4 cup unsalted butter until smooth.
  • Remove from heat.
  • Line a 9×13 baking dish with foil, extending over the edge.  
  • Spray with non-stick PURE or PAM.
  • Melt butter in large sauce pan.
  • Add marshmallows and stir  until just melted.
  • Add vanilla, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of caramel sauce and stir until smooth.
  • Remove from heat.
  • Stir in rice krispies until evenly coated.
  • Press into pan**.
  • Cool completely.
  • Pour remaining caramel over rice kripy treats and spread even with a spatula.
  • Sprinkle remaining sea salt over top.
  • Enjoy!
  • Store in an airtight container.

NOTES:  **I use a stainless steel spatula that has been sprayed with PURE to keep it from sticking.  It helps to press down firmly to get an even level.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 10 ~ STOCKING STUFFER IDEAS & CHRISTMAS WISHES

This is one of my favorite fun categories! Hubby and I do stockings for each other full of things we each like and are always looking for new ways to surprise each other.  I’m always on the look out for special little items that I tuck away all year long waiting for just this day.  Since the kids are grown hubby gets my FULL attention and he hates it (sort of) because he says he isn’t as good at reciprocating the stocking process.  But, he tries hard and is getting better at it every year.  EVERY year though he complains about having to actually make things ‘fit’ into something stocking shaped. We usually find a way to sneak in a handful of lottery scratchers.

Bailey, our NISSE is watching over the stocking to keep hubby from peeking. 😀 but, here’s a sneak peek of hubby’s stocking for this year. It will have some of his favorite jerky, a few fun bottles of his favorite spirits, some “coal” whiskey stones, a pickle fork, new military themes “masks” as well as a FUN BAH HUMBURG mask for the holiday, various candies, some camo coasters for his drinks…

We also both have “wish” lists, but they are really small as we really don’t need anything so once again we are always looking for the special item that will surprise the other. 😀 My list for this year hasn’t changed much since this last year has been so full of pandemic drama and unanswered questions.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 9 ~ CHRISTMAS PAST

Christmas Past is a COMPLETELY subjective category. LOL 😀 I keep seeing the ghost of Christmas Past from A Christmas Carol roaming through my head.

The older I get, the more I realize that it’s the traditions and the memories that weave our holidays together. It’s little things like the who puts the lights on the tree or the angel on top of it. It’s the favorite recipes that you only make at Christmas time. It’s the laughter of the munchkins each morning as they discover what mischief the Elf has gotten into. It’s a baking day with the munchkins making your favorite traditional recipes to share on Giving plates to the neighbors…

3 years ago was a VERY unusual Christmas for us with my surgery and it’s life altering outcome, but we did follow many of our normal traditions like putting up the tree, Christmas Eve service with our neighbor who attended the same church and Christmas Eve dinner at a friends (even if I couldn’t eat anything 😀 ). Two years was a little more “normal”, whatever that is. And last year I felt like I was getting my “normal” back and looked forward to the traditions and even the stresses of the holiday.  Then there is this year during the pandemic that is changing EVERYTHING! It is also making the PAST seem like a cake walk.

This category for me is also subjective based on where we are living at the time. We are in the cold of the Pacific Northwest, but it’s kinda dry this year.  A couple of my favorite Christmases were when we were in Upper Peninsula, Michigan.  Maybe it was the trees, the water and the snow, but for me it was also the old churches.  There is so much history there. 

These are 2 of my favorite country churches from Michigan.  I took these pictures in 2011 at Christmas time ON THE SAME DAY, just minutes apart. That’s how fast weather changes with lake effect snow!

I JUST LOVE OLD CHURCHES! The bottom 3 pictures are from a REALLY neat old stone church in the middle of town.
But, my favorite country church is from a teeny tiny little town called Mansfield. It was once a growing little town until there was a mine disaster.  Now all that exists is the monument to the disaster, the church and a few random homes.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 8 ~ GIFTS

Today’s prompt is gifts. Homemade, store bought, gift cards… What do you prefer?  What are your thoughts about each? I do buy gifts and have even done gifts cards, but prefer to never do gift cards because they just aren’t personal enough for me.

Over the years I have made everything, and I do mean everything at one time or another to create a handmade Christmas. I’ve made rolls and rolls of butcher paper into wrapping paper, cut grocery bags into handmade tags, made enough fudge, cinnamon rolls, candies and cookies to feed a small country, as well as jams, jellies, soup mixes and Snowman soup!

My award winning jams were requested one year at the Church Christmas Boutique and I ended up selling there for another 10 years before we moved.  Now I make just enough for gifts for neighbors and family.  I started making Snowman Soup about 20 years ago for the girl scouts and it was a HUGE seller at our gift wrap days and later for the Church Boutique.

Several years ago I missed the big Christmas Crafts Festival at the fairgrounds because of an ice storm, but I’ve tried to be at every one since! Alas, it didn’t happen this year because of the pandemic.  I did get some homemade Brownie mixes made for neighbors this year.
For the things I don’t make myself, I am at least buying from local crafters. I did buy several gorgeous handmade wooden spoons this year at a local shop.  They were made by a 94 year old lumberjack. And no, that was not a typo. He’s still traipsing the woods at 94 years old working heavy machinery and then picking up scraps to wood work at home for his side business.  He uses everything from maple to mrytlewood.
As for receiving, I love ANYTHING handmade.  I’m a BIG believer that it’s the thought that counts and that caring action ALWAYS touches my heart though I’m partial to cotton crocheted dishcloths, my brothers photographs, my mom’s quilted totes and ANYTHING food.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 7 ~ REAL or ARTIFICIAL?

Before I start this post, let me just say THESE TREES ARE JUST WRONG!! I saw these several years ago at a store I liked and I just couldn’t get over how ugly they were, at least to me. 😀

I love how a neighboring town always does their tree right in the middle of main street. I haven’t gotten over there yet this year so here’s a picture from a few years back. Carlie and Cady thought it was pretty neat.

How we decorate each year changes based on moods, weather, where we are living, pandemics etc… so it will never be the same twice! So far this year we still haven’t caught the motivation to do anything. We PREFER real trees, but back in 2017 we decided with the remodel and my surgery that we would break down and buy an artificial tree.  SHHH don’t tell hubby, but I really love this tree. We’ve alternated between the artificial and real trees since then. We’ve reached a compromise for future years – an artificial tree with real wreaths and garlands. This is a favorite tree from several years ago.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 6 ~ BIG OR QUIET

Usually the holiday season is an endless list of tasks and errands. BIG or quiet usually depends on where family members are at the time. The last several years though the holiday season has been fairly quiet, many times too quiet.  This year for obvious reasons it will be even quieter. I would PREFER a large, loud family filled Christmas with lots of goodies and partying though.

This list is are things that I usually begin right after Thanksgiving, but I thought it was a good prompt for today. I usually feel guilty that almost ALL of them are accomplished by this time.  As for this year’s prompt I do both homemade and store bought depending on what someone wants and/or needs. #5 and #8 are lacking this year because I’m missing the motivation that I hope to wake up with each day.

 

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 5 ~ DECORATING

When do you decorate for Christmas?  Do you go BIG or keep it simple?  What we’ve done in years past and what we will do this year are entirely different.  I honestly just haven’t “felt” the motivation yet this year! COVID has changed so many things in our lives and I hate to admit it has changed this for me too, but it has. There will be no munchkin baking day or munchkins for Christmas dinner… so until I “feel” it, let me describe Christmas past.

I LOVED our tree last year.  We bought all new LED lights so I worried a lot less about the lights getting too hot and it was full of all our favorite ornaments.  I found a great antique tree topper that I really like. 😀

In reality how I decorate each year changes based on my mood, weather, where we are living, etc… so it will never be the same twice! But, it will at least be the same components.

This is my Snowman Family arranged from 2 different years. They were so muh fun to make out of second hand store finds.  The were also a lot of work.  I only made two families, shipping one to a friend who lives in Florida and never sees snow 😀
We made candle yule logs for Advent craft night at church one year and they were a HUGE success and soooooooo easy to do.  The decorations below are a few of my all time favorites, several of which I’ve made over the years.
The ornaments below are some of our homemade bulbs.  Several years ago I made quite a few and then did them with my girl scout troop also.  Hubby liked them so well that we have now donated all our store bought bulbs and made enough of these for the entire tree.

My cousin that passed away in 2014 made the ornament below for me.  It will always be hung by my shooting stars in her honor even though I’m still mad at her for leaving the mess called A HOUSE FROM HELL for me to deal with.
And our handmade ornament by Design Chick Creations.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 4 ~ CHRISTMAS CARDS & BONUS WRAPPING IDEAS

I try to make my own Christmas cards every year, and I PLANNED to do homemade again this year, but years like this last year full of COVID and the years before full of health issues, surgeries and issues from the HOUSE FROM HELL sometimes finds me sending out box cards. They are pretty cute and I’m glad to be using them up!  I WILL do homemade again next year 😀 I did try an annual letter a few times, but ended up in just doing a few paragraphs eventually hitting the highlights from throughout the year since. I do still send Christmas cards out, but I fear they are becoming a thing of the past unfortunately as I get fewer and fewer each year it seems.

Because I didn’t make homemade cards this year I’m offering up some cute wrapping ideas.  I have been wrapping presents as I go this year and able to spend a little more time decorating.

BLOGMAS 2020 ~ DAY 3 ~ FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Today’s category is an easy one for me. It’s also one that really doesn’t change much from year to year.  I start taping Christmas movies on Lifetime, Hallmark and INSP as soon as they air so I can watch them ALL year long. I’m a sucker for a happy ending and let’s face it, Christmas movies have happy endings.

So this list could be reallllllllllly long, but I will just keep it to the top 5 MUST watch each and every year movies.

It’s a toss up for me about whether White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen and Danny Kaye or It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore and Donna Reed is my absolute favorite, but I think I’m leaning towards It’s a Wonderful life!
Which Miracle on 34th street version (the original with Natalie Wood or the remake with Richard Attenborough) is the best? BOTH versions of course!
The Santa Clause with Tim Allen quickly became a favorite – who could resist visiting the North Pole every year?
Now Home Alone is just silly, as is Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase but, they never fail to make me laugh! A new favorite is the Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.