Author: QuiltLady

The packages are all wrapped and those that need to be shipped are on their way.  So, now it’s time to turn to the kitchen and start preparing the plates for the neighbors.

This is truly my favorite holiday to cook for.  I try to add a few new goodies each year that I bake for “Neighbor” plates.

This year I’m adding (I’ll post the recipes as soon as I can after I get pictures):

• Lemon Oatmeal Bars
• 4 Layer caramel crunch nougat brownies
• Chunky Monkeys
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with chocolate.

Here are a few of our favorites from year’s past:

This recipe is sooooooooooooooooo simple, but messy! Have fun making them. They are quite rich though – be forewarned!  The centers will turn to a clear sugary liquid in a day or so.

CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES
1 cup butter, melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 pounds confectioners sugar (about 8 cups)
3-10 ounce jars maraschino cherries(about 120 cherries), really well drained
1-2 pounds milk chocolate candy coating, chopped (I used almond bark)

• Combine butter and milk until smooth.
• Gradually add in confectioner’s sugar until a soft dough forms.
• Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten into 2 inch circles.
• Place a cherry in the center of each one.
• Wrap sides around cherry until cherry is completely covered and roll into a smooth ball.
• Melt chocolate until smooth and dip each ball into the chocolate.
• Place on wax paper until cool and sprinkle with sprinkles.
• Cool well.

2008 Neighbor Plates

OREO CHEESECAKE BALLS – YUM YUM GOOD!
1 regular package Oreos
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Almond Bark
Candy Decorations

• Crush Oreos in food processor
• With hand mixer, mix together the Oreo crumbs and cream cheese
• Roll into small balls.
• Put balls into freezer for 5 minutes.
• Melt Almond bark in small batches.
• Coat each ball in almond bark.
• Immediately decorate.
• Let harden.

Stuffing stockings is one of my favorite things to do.  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 isn’t as good at it, but he tries hard and is getting better every year.

Shhhh don’t tell him, but I can tell you this because I know he doesn’t read my blog. This year so far, he’s getting:

• 2 new Wii U games (Amazon had an awesome Black Friday sale I could do from home in my PJ’s)
• fun snacks – M&Ms, cashews, pistachios and DILL peanuts.
• some camo carbiners
• some camo notepads
• an Army magnet
• new winter gloves
• Mason jar shot glasses so he’ll quit using my REAL mason jars
• a couple of additional watchband choices to accessorize one of his gifts from mom
• .50 caliber pocket knife
• lottery tickets

I thought about this category a lot and decided that since we are still in transition our “local” traditions are still fluid so instead I am going to tell you about a holiday tradition of the locals.

The Festival of Lights is now 20 years old and a great way to kick off the holiday season. It’s ALL Volunteer and NON-Profit.  It began as a fundraiser sponsored by the Rotary Club to help get the city out of debt and then took on a life of its own and now helps with scholarships and special projects. The festival runs every night from Thanksgiving to New Years.  You can drive your own car or take a horse drawn carriage ride through the displays.  They have also coordinated a local radio station to listen to as you view the displays.  The night we went through the fog was moving in early so a few of the pictures look a bit “smoky”.

As of this year they have the world’s tallest (41 feet, 16,000 pounds with  working jaw) nutcracker built by a local company, 500,00 lights, 90 animated displays, 3D displays, horse drawn carriage rides through the displays and a Holiday Village with Santa, hot cider with a bake sale and a synchronized light show in the courtyard.  The displays depict fairy tales, the military, patriotism, the local logging industry, local vineyards, local fishing and the traditional Christmas songs and scenes.  People come from all over to see it. Unfortunately for locals, it doesn’t change much, but is still fun every few years.

Three of my favorite munchkins from next door were coincidentally there the same night we were so had to snap a few pictures of the discussions with Santa.

Even the lights with errors turned out cute.  It was difficult to get great pictures or continuous pictures of the animated scenes since there were so many cars behind us.

This snowman is on a corner in our neighborhood hugging a light standard.

Before I show you my tree, let me just say

A neighboring town always does their tree right in the middle of main street.

Our tree this year – not our best, but it is homey and growing on us.

One of these years I REALLY want to try this:

How I decorate each year changes based on my mood, weather, etc… so it will never be the same twice!

We made the candle yule logs for Advent craft night at church one year and they were a HUGE success and soooooooo easy to do.

These are a few of my new favorites from 2014.

My cousin passed away recently.  She made this ornament for me.  From now it will always be hung by my shooting stars in her honor.

And our new handmade ornament by the Design Chick.  I can show you this now that both DIL’s have received theirs in the mail.

And of course the Christmas cacti decorate themselves.

WOW there are so many! My very first personal desk when I was 9, my aunt coming to visit from Texas around that same time and sitting on the floor in a leather dress playing Barrel of Monkeys with the younger kids or maybe the year I got my first bike, whoops wait that was the birthday before Christmas.

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 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.