Looking Forward to a New Year!

Not a whole lot going on this evening. Just sitting around with the family and playing games.

We did just pop out on the back deck for a few to watch a fireworks display that was put on up at Grandview Park. However, due to the fog and drizzle this is all we could see.

2009 has been a rather unpleasant one for us. We have lost several family members this year which really tugs at our hearts.

Finances have been the lowest ever and I know that they say that money doesn't make the world go around but it sure makes life a bit simpler. You can only stretch that buck so far and trust me it is stretched as thin as it can be.

**Hubby works in the building industry and due to the poor economy people just can't afford to build right now which greatly affects his salary.**

So with that said, I am very much looking forward to a healthier, happier and hopefully more prosperous year.

To all of my "blogging family", I wish you the same.

A Happy New Year... full of good health, happiness and prosperity.

Calling All Tetris Fans

No this isn't a game of Tetris but the playing pieces sure make me think of Tetris.

This was a gift to one of my kids from their Aunt & Uncle and trust me, in the short week that we have had it ~ it has been used more than most games get played in 5 years worth of time.

The name of the game is Blokus. It is a game for 4 players and each player has 21 playing pieces. (the Tetris looking pieces)

The object of the game is to use all 21 playing pieces but the catch is that each of your color pieces must join only at the corners (not side by side).

It starts out real simple but once you get about half ways through it really starts to get tricky.

The good thing is that our whole family can play this game. Because of the wide range of ages in our gang there is usually someone who is totally bored or confused with a game. Either they are too young for a particular game or to old for another.

This works for all!

The picture below is of a game we played the other night. If you look closely you will see that no two same color pieces are touching side by side, only corner to corner. You can however, place your color side by side to another players color. It is very hard to complete the game with at least one person being able to use all their pieces.

The average game usually only lasts about 20 minutes so it's pretty quick. We are a family of five so one person has to sit out each round and if they had to wait much longer then they wouldn't be happy.

I just love finding new activities that entertain our whole family. There are many games out there but few that deliver to the whole audience.

This one definately gets 10 STARS in my book!

A Few Recipe Photos Added

Just a quick note to let you know that I have added a few recipe pictures to some of my older posts.
The first one is for the Christmas Cheeseball that I shared with you earlier this month.
The other was for one of my very first blog posts. It is for My Favorite Sloppy Joes Recipe. This is an all time favorite of mine and one that I have been asked many times to share with others.
That's all for today but I'm back in the kitchen cooking today so I hope to have some good food to share with you later. I can also share a few of the Christmas presents that I had been working on and tell you a bit about some of our new favorite games that the kids received for Christmas. So be sure to stop back in tomorrow!
Have a great day!

Snow Pals

It snowed a little bit last night and off and on throughout today. Not much more than a dusting but Katie was determined to go out and play with whatever was there.

She started out on the sled then I peeked out a bit later to see her and Cowboy sitting together with Daddy in the background so I went to fetch my camera.

Daddy got cold and came in but Katie stayed out a little longer. This is her sandbox where she pretends to cook us many meals throughout the summer months. She has pots & pans as well as cups and plates. Who needs a kitchen playset when you have a sandbox? :0)

I'm thinking that her menu for today was ice cream sundaes or milkshakes!
Indoors, we have packed away the Christmas decor for another year. In it's place sits a table for jigsaw puzzles to be worked on through the winter months.
I know I have said it several times now but I am truly enjoying this quiet time of the year. No schedules...just relaxing time spent playing games with the kids, working puzzles and playing on the computer. I know it won't last long but I will feel so refreshed after this week off that I will be ready to begin the New Year.
Hope you all are cozy and warm!

Christmas Day at Grandma & Pap's

Well Christmas has come and gone and now we are all resting and enjoying the week together.

I have been taking it easy and enjoying having everyone at home.

The kids are all on Christmas break from school and my husband always takes the week off from work so there is no particular bedtime and no alarm clock going off in the mornings.

Ah...what a wonderful feeling!

The above picture is of my kids and my nephew on Christmas day when we all gathered at my parents house. They look pretty calm in this picture but don't let it fool you. They were anxious as could be to dig into the presents under the tree.

This year seemed to be the year for games.

There were board games, video games, mind games, find and seek games and more. A few have turned into my new favorites and we have spent many evenings this week playing all together around the kitchen table. I'll have to share some of my favorites in another post later.

Hope you all continue to enjoy what is left of 2009.

I may be MIA here and there but I promise to get back in the saddle soon.

C-ya!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to All

Getting ready for bed so that Santa will come but first I wanted to drop in to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas from Our house to Yours!

May you all have a wonderful holiday season surrounded by family and friends.

Our Winter Wonderland

We finally got some snow!

I was hoping Santa brought us some snow for Christmas but this is better.

The icy roads make it tough to travel, well I shouldn't really say tough but they make me worry when I know loved ones are out and about on them.

So being that it was a Saturday, everyone was home and off the roads so I didn't have to worry about them all day.

Plus the snow makes it feel more Christmasy. :)

Is that even a word?

It's been a busy day ~ still trying to get the last minute things done before Jolly Old Saint Nick arrives.

Here's just a tiny peak at our day.

The photo above is taken from my 2nd story porch looking down our street when I first got up this morning.

Below is my husband just starting to shovel our sidewalk.

We always shovel our sidewalk as well as a few of the neighbors. We started out with shovels then finally put the blade on the tractor and finished it with that. Or shall I say He finished it.

While he rode the tractor I headed back indoors and baked a few more cookies and our evening was spent getting all the packages wrapped.

Now we should be just about done.

Just a few more cookies to be made and the last minute cleaning and then we can sit back and enjoy....and breathe. :)

This last picture is looking out my back door.

The trees were so pretty today all weighted down with the white fluff. Speaking of fluff, I think I'm gonna go fluff my pillow and get a good nights rest.

Nighty Night!

Another Cookie Favorite

I'm more of a sugar cookie or snickerdoodle type of gal but the rest of my family really likes these. If you enjoy all the extras in your dough then you might give this one a try.

Treasure Cookies

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/3 cup coconut

12 oz. bag of chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

In medium bowl, mix the graham crumbs, flour and baking powder.

In a large bowl, beat milk and butter together.

Add crumb mixture to butter.

Stir in coconut, nuts & chocolate chips.

Drop by tsp. onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375° for 9-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Well I better get started. I've got plans for baking all day. I'm going to give Carmen's Heavenly Holiday Cookie Balls a try as well as some peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies, sugar cookies and maybe try a new recipe for brown sugar cookies.

Not sure if I will get it all done today but I'm gonna try.

Happy Baking...Shopping...Wrapping or whatever it is you may be doing today!

Toffee Biscotti and a Morning Latte

Yesterday I finished 4 of the stitcheries that I have been working on all month so I can mark that off my list.

However, there is still plenty of baking to be done, presents to be wrapped, one more gift to be purchased, cleaning and we still have several more days of school lessons to finish before we can officially be "off" for Christmas.

So much to do and so few days left till Christmas.

Ah...the joy of Christmas! :)

Before I start my day I thought I'd see what all of you have been up to and share this recipe that I found. I have made Biscotti before in flavors of chocolate, almond and so forth but this one now tops my list. One of my favorite candies is Heath bar and this recipe uses a whole bag of the bits. Yummo!

Butter Brickle Biscotti

(Heath Bar Biscotti)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (7-8 oz.) Heath toffee bits

Cream butter and sugars till fluffy.

Add eggs & vanilla and mix well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Gradually add this to creamed mixture & mix well.

Stir in toffee bits.

Divide dough in half.

On a greased cookie sheet, shape each dough portion into a 10 X 3" rectangle.

Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour.

Remove plastic wrap and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.

Let cool for 10-15 minutes and then cut it in 1/2 " slices.

Place these slices on another cookie sheet, cut side down.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Flip slices over and bake another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Store in an airtight container.

Nut Horns or Nut Rolls

I'm not sure which name is correct. I guess it just depends on who you ask.

It's a new cookie for me this year. One that I have eaten many times before but had never made myself.

This is a simple recipe with basic ingredients. It just takes a little bit of time to work with the dough but well worth the time.

When I mixed the dough I wondered how I would ever be able to roll it out. It was a sticky mess.

No problem though, just refrigerate it overnight and it's ready to work with the next morning.

I do have a question though for anyone else that makes these. I looked through many a recipes and all of them called for sour cream but I was wondering if anyone has a recipe that you don't have to use sour cream. If you do please let me know.

Now on to the recipe.

Nut Rolls

2 cups flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup cold butter

1 egg, seperated

2/3 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

In large bowl, combine flour and salt.

Cut in butter till you have course crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk, sour cream and vanilla.

Add egg mix to the crumbs and mix well.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Divide dough into 3 pieces.

*Work with one piece at a time and leave the others in the fridge.*

Sprinkle your work surface with flour and if you don't do it well enough this dough WILL stick and be impossible to roll up. Trust ME!

Roll each piece into a 10 inch circle.

In a small bowl, mix walnuts, sugar & cinnamon.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar/cinnamon mixture over the dough.

Take hand and gently press the mixture into the dough.

Now cut each circle into 12 wedges. (Like a pizza)

Roll each wedge from the wide end into the tiny center point.

Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet.

Repeat with remaining dough till all 3 pieces are used.

Whisk egg white in a small bowl till foamy.

Brush egg white over each roll.

Sprinkle the remaining sugar/cinnamon/nut mixture over the tops of the rolls.

Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or till lightly browned.

Remove from pans and let cool.

Store in airtight container.

*I placed mine in freezer Ziploc bags and placed them in the freezer till closer to Christmas.*

Oh, almost forgot... the pictures make everything look yellow. Just overlook that. It was evening time and the lighting wasn't the greatest.*

Hope you have a great day!

Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

Here is the roll recipe that I talked about the other night.

It's a dinner roll but it is made with pineapple juice so it's got some sweetness to it.

I found this recipe several years ago and have just now gotten around to actually trying it. I thought it was a bit odd to add the yeast after mixing the dough but in the end it worked.

They remind me of the Hawaiian rolls that you can buy in an orange bag. I can't think of the brand name but I usually find them sitting in front of the deli case.

Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

3 cups flour

1 egg

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 pkg. yeast

1/2 stick butter, melted

Beat the egg.

Add pineapple juice, sugar, vanilla and butter to the egg.

Add flour and mix.

Next add the yeast & mix well.

Leave dough in bowl and cover it with a towel.

Place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour.

Remove towel and punch dough down.

Pinch off small amounts of dough and gently roll into balls.

*I made 13 rolls in total.*

Place rolls in a greased 13 X 9.

Cover again with a towel and place in a warm spot for another hour.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

I didn't have pineapple juice but I did have a can of pineapple tidbits so here is what I did.

I drained the pineapple juice from the tidbits and got exactly one cup of juice that I used in the rolls.

I used the remaining pineapple and mixed it with a few things that I had on hand and came up with a pineapple fluff.

Quick Pineapple Fluff

2 (8oz.) cream cheese, softened

20 oz. pineapple tidbits, drained

3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Mix all together enjoy!

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.

I'm tired from shopping all day so I'm heading to the couch to watch a bit of tv and sew a little before bedtime.

I'll be back on Monday with a few more cookie recipes.

Birthday Wishes!

This little basket baby is my daughter at just a few days old.

I just love this picture. She looks so cuddly, soft and pink.

She was in the laundry basket because we were visiting my Mom & Dad and we needed a safe place to put her while she slept. Since her two older brothers were running around as well as Ted the dog I thought it was safer to place her in this basket and set her on top of the dining room table where we could watch her.

Time sure has flown by and she is no longer a baby but a little girl who turns 6 today.

Happy Birthday Katiebug!

If you see Santa....

....could you give him a message?

This is the most snow that we have received so far.

Everytime there is snow around it always misses us.

We either sit just a bit north or a bit south of the snow or worse yet, in between the snow systems.

So if any of you out there happen to see Santa please tell him all I want for Christmas is some SNOW!

Well that's all for now. I'm off here and heading to the kitchen to bake some Christmas cookies.

Hope you all are enjoying your day and staying warm.

If you've got snow then get out there and enjoy it but bundle up!

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

Pork is soooo plain.

Or at least it is to me.

But here is a new marinade that I made today and it was pretty tasty. My youngest son who rarely eats meat actually chowed down on this and said, " Wow, this is pretty good."

That says something!

This one is going straight to my recipe file as a keeper.

Before I get started let me tell you first that this is made with soy sauce which makes the sauce very salty. I used the drippings to make a thin sauce to pour lightly over the meat. I did not make it with the intentions to use as a gravy to smother everything with.

That would spell sodium OVERDOSE.

Teriyaki Pork Loin

1 lb. pork loin

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp. ketchup

Place pork loin in a ziploc bag.

Mix soy sauce, sugar & ketchup in small bowl.

Pour mixture into the bag with the pork loin.

Let set in the refrigerator overnight.

Now you can cook this however you choose whether it be baked, boiled or roasted. I took mine and browned it on all sides in a hot pan with just a splash of olive oil.

Once browned I added a bit of water and scraped the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the good stuff off of the bottom.

I then added the leftover marinade to my pan with the pork.

I added more water * enough to cover the roast * and let it simmer on top of the stove all day.

As the water boiled down I just added more water.

In the end I had a well cooked roast with lots of flavor and enough drippings to make a thin sauce to drizzle over the top.

Add some mashed potatoes, green beans and Hawaiin dinner rolls and we are now quite stuffed.

I'll share the roll recipe with you later. They were pretty darn good!

Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying your evening!

Tea Tassies

Here is yet another of our favorite cookies without a photo to show.

(I'll be posting a picture soon!)

If you are like me then you want to see what they look like before you try something new. No sense in wasting the time to make something if it looks bad from the start! :)

Well, I can tell you these little babies are yummy!

They are like little nut cups and when you bite into them the syrupy nut filling oozes from them.

A little more hassle than a drop cookie but so worth it.

Tea Tassies

2 cups flour

10 2/3 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup sugar

6 oz. cream cheese

4 eggs

2 cups chopped walnuts

2 cups brown sugar

4 tsp. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 pinch salt

Blend flour, 10 2/3 tsp. butter, 1/2 cup sugar and cream cheese.

Take about a tsp. or a little more of the dough and roll it into a ball.

Place in a tart tin and mold it up the sides of each cup.

Set aside.

In a saucepan, melt butter over low heat.

Remove from heat and add eggs, chopped nuts, brown sugar, vanilla and salt.

Now fill each dough-lined tart cup about 3/4 of the way full with the nut filling.

Bake at 350° till filling is well set and crust is brown.

*I don't have an exact time to tell you. I just always check them to see if the nut filling has formed a crust like topping and the dough edges have browned.*

Once cooled they will look like mini pecan pies but when you bite into them they will have a gooey nut filling.

Hope you Enjoy!

A Christmas Cheeseball

This graphic is perfect- not for presents but for the holiday treats that I make for Christmas. I make a good many cookies and treats to share with family and friends during the holiday season and I struggle to keep my family out of them till Christmas arrives. I have been yelling at the kids all week to get out of the peanut butter balls that I have stored in the freezer.

Next will be this cheese ball. I like to make it ahead of time so that the flavors have plenty of time to mingle all together.

My mother-in-law made this each year at Christmas time. She received the recipe from her friend Betty, hence the name. I'm not sure if Betty is the original creator but she is who I will always associate it with. It is a hit with all of our family and one that is expected each year.

Betty's Cheese Ball

2 small packages dried beef

4 small green onions

2 (8oz.) cream cheese

1 pkg. Good Seasons salad dressing mix

Let the cream cheese soften.

Chop onions and beef fine.

Take 1/2 of dried beef & mix it with the onions, cheese and seasonings.

Blend well and then roll it into a ball.

Roll cheese ball in the remaining beef to coat the outside.

Refrigerate and Enjoy!

**You can use the dried beef (Armour) that comes in a jar or the packets (like Carl Buddig) that are located in the meat dept. **

I will be making this soon and when I do I will add a photo of it to this post.

Homemade Light Table

I have talked a lot lately about the stitching projects that I have been working on for Christmas. Some of them are from the great doodlers here in blogland that so nicely share their talents with us all and a few that I have designed myself. Now don't get all excited because an artist I AM NOT!

However, it is fairly simple to create a quick doodle of something to stitch, especially if it's a bit prim because the more "imperfect" it looks, the better it is.

And trust me, mine are pretty imperfect.

I had a problem though when I drew my patterns.

I used heavy graph paper so that I could keep my words in a straight line.

Next step was to trace it out onto a plain sheet of paper and get it ready to put to the fabric. However, I couldn't even see my pencil marks.

So to save the day... I used scotch tape and taped the graph paper with my pattern on it to my back door where the sun was coming through. I then taped my clean sheet of paper, cut to the size that I wanted my stitchery to be and centered it over top and taped it down.

Problem solved!

I could easily see my pencil marks now that the sun was shining through.

No need for a fancy smancy light table.

Just use what you got!

Just be sure to pick a nice sunny day to do it on! :)

My Stitchin' Buddy

This is Snickers, our petite little Siamese. As soon as she hears me getting my sewing box out she comes a running and settles in beside me.

She watches as I pull every stitch through the fabric and waits to pounce on it at just the right moment.

After a short while she realizes that it is MY thread, not hers, and goes off to curl up at my feet for a nights sleep.

Oh, what a life lil' kitties have!