Prairie Girl Wanna Be

Here’s my last Christmas goodie recipe for the year.  And it’s a doozie! 

I don’t know how this got it’s name but I grew up with it at Christmas time every year.  My mother always made it for my Daddy and he loved it.  He loved anything with Eagle Brand milk:)

It’s very rich and very good.

2 boxes confectioners sugar

1 stick butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

4 cups chopped pecans

1 t. vanillla flavoring

1/2 lb. semi-sweet chocolate squares (or choc. chips)

1 small piece of paraffin ( I use 1/4 of one block - they come four blocks to a box)  - this is what makes it shiny and very pretty.

Combine sugar, butter, milk and vanilla (reserving some sugar to use on hands in rolling out balls).   Beat well till creamy.  Blend in pecans.  Chill about an hour.  Roll into balls the size of walnuts using additional sugar on hands.  Return to refrigerator to chill again.  Melt chocolate and paraffin in microwave till smooth and creamy.  Dip balls into chocolate mixture one piece at a time, holding each with a toothpick.  Place onto waxed paper. 

Here’s the mixture in my bowl.  I tried to roll the balls before chilling the dough and they are not as pretty.   Daisy Danna is a professional candy maker (at least in the Daisy arena) and she told me about chilling before and after rolling and it made all the difference in the world.

When you chill them after rolling they don’t fall apart when they hit that hot chocolate mixture.

I used a spoon to dip these instead of a toothpick.  The toothpick works better to cover the whole ball.

I put mine in little mini muffin cups that were Christmasy and sprinkled them with these Christmas sprinkles.  You can leave this step off completely and believe me  they will still be eaten.

Aren’t they pretty!  I loved doing this!

Bakers tip:  Don’t be in a hurry ~ this takes a little time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

I saw the heart of Christmas this year.  We went to our granddaughter’s Christmas program and this little boy showed I believe exactly what Jesus would want us all to show in our daily lives. 

He gave it his all.  He looked to the right and to the left to see what others were doing, then he did it to the best of his ability. 

He worked extremely hard.  He didn’t half do the motions.  He used everything in him to follow his leader. 

He made a joyful noise unto the Lord.  When they were singing, you could hear him above all the others.  He was joyful, happy and singing for us and for Jesus.

He showed love.  He hugged everyone when it was over.  He was absolutely precious.

This is how I want to be.  I want to do each and everything with my whole heart.  I want to give it my all.  I want to work hard and follow my leader.  I want to be joyful and show love to those around me no matter what their station in life.  I want to be more like Jesus. 

I have bought two new bible study books at the Christian book store.   They are small and the devotions are not long so maybe I will do better at getting something finished.  I want to be more consistent in my bible reading.  I tend to slack off in that area cause I let myself get distracted with everything else. 

One of these is Experiencing God’s Peace by Elizabeth George. The other one is Cappuccino with Colossians.  This woman really had busy women in mind when she wrote this little book.  You can grab it and do it anywhere.  She’s written all the scriptures in the chapters so you don’t even have to have your bible with you. 

My hubby ask me to fix us a corner his daughter’s room where he could read his bible and have his quiet time.  (He is much more disiplined in this area than his wife!)   We already had his mama’s rocker in there so I put a little table beside that with a lamp and he’s got his bible and Sunday School book in there along with some other devotion material.  Let me tell you how neat this is….we find ourselves drawn to this corner now!  He leaves the light on so I will see it and that “reminds” me to stop in the midst of my flying around the house and read, even just 10 or 15 minutes.  That helps tremendously!  I am amazed!  I just think when we’ve been church goers all our lives, when we know we love the Lord and are trying to live by what He would have us do, we sometime think that’s enough and we leave out His Word.  Somebody once told me it was his love letter to us and we should want to read it.  I just know I tend to be more guided by Him when I am reading and studying the bible than when I’m trying to go on my own. 

Sorry, about the sermon.  Didn’t mean to get off on that but I’m thinking about changes for the new year and this is one I want to make.  That and work on feeding my family more healthy.  Oh, yeah and keeping the house cleaner and culling out more junk that I don’t need and losing that 15 pounds that I keep putting  on over and over again! 

Talk to ya later:)

Merry  Christmas my sweet readers!

Yes, I’m posting on Christmas Day but there is a reason!  This is the slowest day I’ve had in a month!  We’re waiting on our gang to arrive cause our Christmas will be tomorrow.  We’ll get up in the morning and exchange our gifts and have stockings and the whole nine yards!  We’ve got two  young’uns here now and are expecting four more to arrive late tonight.

Here’s what I did this afternoon while watching Miracle on 34th Street.  The guys actually stayed in the living room and watched it with me   They even stayed awake and laughed at the appropriate places!  Merry Christmas to me:)

My sister-in-law gave me this platter and I am having to work to keep it because everybody loves it! 

Below is my gingerbread barn that I FINALLY got a chance to work on.  It’s a waste of candy; it actually is not good for anything cause who would want to eat this stuff after it’s set out BUT it sure was fun.  I have always wanted to do this and never have.   I’m a little sloppy but I just listened to Christmas movies and really enjoyed myself.

I truly tried to slow down on some things and enjoy doing them instead of being in such a hurry to get finished.  I seem to always be trying to finish one thing so I can get to the next thing:(  Then I end up not enjoying ANYthing!  I can honestly say this Christmas season has been better this year because of shopping early and because of slowing down in several areas like this. 

I hope your holidays are going well and you are enjoying family and friends and people that you may not see again until next year.  We are missing loved ones in our family that we had last year and never dreamed we would not have this year.  I am so thankful for the years we did have them though.

Have a wonderful holiday season and if you have been unhappy this past year, ponder on what made you unhappy.  What were your priorities?  What were you focused on?  What do you want to change?  Can you make some good changes?  Pray, pray, pray that you will know what you can cull out and what you need to keep.  And pray that this year be the best one yet for you and your family!

Have joy in HIs holy name.  Let the heart of those who look to the Lord be glad.  Look to the Lord and ask for His strength.  Look to Him all the time.                                                 1 Chronicles 16:10-11

Always there comes a moment during this time of year when I am a child again. 

 I am either 5 years old asleep in my pink room when a soft light awakens me and the voice of my older brother is whispering, telling me that Santa has come.  I remember that excitement ~ the butterflies in my stomach ~ the wonder.

Or I am a few years older and Daddy has put records on the record player ~ stacks of records so that I will have music for a long time that hopefully will lull me to sleep.  The first round never worked.  He would have to come back in, look over and see me wide awake, flip all the records to the other side and set the player so they would play one by one again and maybe work this time:)

It may come when I am out shopping, when I hear a song, when I smell cookies baking.  But there is always this gift that I feel God gives to me this time of year of that wonderful, innocent feeling of childhood.

Here’s a little idea we picked up at Bell Buckle, Tennessee.  I’m going to use these for neighbors and friends who I want to remember at this time of  year.   These are  little bags of M&M’s with a little write up.  

I’m using the snack bag size that’s real small and putting about 1/4 cup in each.   Then I printed the following write-up and stuck a label on them to hold the paper on.  The label wished them a Merry Christmas and told who it was from. Then I tied each with a piece of raffia.Presto!  A teeny, tiny treat for all kinds of folks.

The M & M Christmas Story
As you hold these candies in your hand, turn them and you will see.

The M becomes a W, and E and then a 3

They tell the Christmas story; it’s one I’m sure you know.

It took place in a stable a long, long time ago.

The E is for the East where the star shone so bright.

The M is for Manger where baby Jesus slept that night.

The 3 is for the Wisemen bearing gifts they say they came.

W is for Worship, Hallelujah, and Praise His Name.

So as you eat these candies or share them with a friend

Remember the meaning of Christmas ~ It’s a Love story that never ends.

Isn’t that great?  And what a great way to spread the true meaning of Christmas to everyone on your list.  I just love it!

Well I did it and I ain’t doin’ it again! 

I had the bright idea of having a gingerbread house party for my 14 year old and three of his friends.  Now mind you, this is boys.  This is boys that are loud, that still love to play and have a good time. 

The first thing I had to do was get them calmed down so they would be a construction crew and not a demolition crew!  They brought all their airsoft weapons and ammo with them so I didn’t even let them in the house at first.  After two hours of being outside, I had them “cement” their houses ~ the walls and ends and roofs together.  Then they teamed up and played video games while the houses dried.  The construction took two sessions cause they were so “wired”. 

They were hilarious.  Just hearing their conversation, you learn an extreme amount!  They aggravated, made fun of, laughed at each other and just had a good time.  In the middle of all the banter they would break out into Christmas carols ~ singing them in very odd voices:) 

I doubt I will ever do this again.  My child is no longer a child and probably won’t care about this again although he did a great job.  I did not understand what this would entail.  I had to make five batches of dough to get these houses.  I should have begun earlier.  I did the small houses on Monday but ended up waiting till Friday night and worked four hours getting the rest of the pieces rolled out, cut out and baked.  I learned a lot doing this.  I got my info from ultimategingerbread.com and it gave me everything I needed to know.

I am exhausted.  I was in the kitchen almost the entire day making goodies to give and supervising the boys.  I did too much on a foot that is still a little too weak.  But it was fun. 

I remember my brother keeping Christmas fun for me as I got older by doing things like this.  He taught me how to make candles one year and that was such a fun thing to do. 

Christmas is for children ~ little, big, young and old.  At our home we get a stocking if we’re eight or eighty!  I do as my parents before me did  and they did as their parents did.  To me Christmas is two fold.  There is a serious side which is the most important.  It’s about a special night and the mystery of what happened.  God showed us unselfishness - to say the least - and that’s what we are to do. 

It also has a fun side.  I’ve been studying on Santa this past week and I believe that is the perfect word for Santa - unselfish.  When parents give to their children and don’t take the credit ~ that’s unselfish.  When we do something for someone (say give a filled stocking anonymously) that’s being a Santa and being unselfish and causing an excitement in the receiver of that gift. 

I love Christmas!  I’m thankful for this time.  I’m thankful that I still have a child that is trying to keep the magic in Christmas as best as he knows how.  He drives me crazy and I fuss at him and I wonder what he will turn out to be but I love him dearly and am thankful that God put him in my care these past 14 years.  I pray that I be the Mother he needs me to be at this time in his life and that I guide him in the way God would have me guide him.

I hope you are enjoying this very special season:)

One last thing ~ this is what my floor looked like the SECOND TIME I swept it! 

Here’s a recipe I use regularly.  It’s easy and very tasty.  My menfolk love this dish and it freezes beautifully:)

(I don’t know how I got big writing and I can’t seem to get it back to normal ~ sorry!)

PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

1 lb. hamburger            1/8 t. celery salt

½ cup rice                 1/8 t. garlic powder

1/3 cup water          1 t. minced onion

1 t. salt

Mix together and form into small meatballs.  Place in 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Top with sauce. 

For sauce:

1 15 oz. can Tomato sauce     1 cup water

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

Mix and pour over meatballs; bake covered for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Uncover and bake additional 15 minutes.                     

Now is the time for me to educate anyone living above the Mason/Dixon line about southern snow. 

Northerners think we have lost our minds and they very likely could be exactly right.  Here’s how it goes. 

First they predict snow ~ the weather man begins three days ahead telling us it just may be coming.  The grocery stores then begin to overstock their bread and milk shelves because if we get “snowed in” how will we live without bread and milk.  Then there is a run on bread and milk!  I AM NOT KIDDING!!  We southerners go barreling into every grocery store or convenient store or any place that sells bread and milk and we buy it ~ we clean the shelves of bread and milk.  We are prepared.  We may not have heat, we may not have lights, but we will have bread and milk!   Now we are ready.  We are set.  We are waiting.  The schools are  planning on closing.  The government offices are definitely closing.  If it’s a church day, they call off services. 

Then it arrives.  We get the snow!  It’s unbelieveable!  We are amazed!  It really happened.  We drag out the sleds (yes we do have sleds).  We bundle up in layers and layers of clothes cause we don’t know the meaning of a snow suit.  If we don’t live in the country and have farm boots then we wrap trash bags around our feet so we can play in all that snow. 

Oh, how much did we get?  Is that what you are wondering?  What amount are we so excited about ……a whopping… one… full  inch of the beautiful white stuff.  It’s every where.  We take pictures of it in the yard, on the trees and bushes, on the porch and on our vehicles.  We just have a ball!  

We stand out in it so people can see what our home looks like with snow.    BUT we have to take the pictures in the morning before the sun begins to shine because by 10:00 it is gone!  There is none left except in the shady areas.  There is nothing left to show that we had snow except a refrigerater full of milk and a cupboard full of bread. 

Now the explanation of everything closing ~ we can not drive ~ we are so crazy that we will wreck if there is any trace of ice so it is smart for us to stay inside.  So stop making fun of us ~ we love living down here.  We don’t want this white stuff in feet.  We want it in inches.  We don’t want to buy extra clothes and boots.  We love it here.  So now you know the “rest of the story”.  We do have reasons for what we do down here ~ they just may not be normal reasons:)

Here it is!  My all time favorite mix to give at Christmastime to those I love.  I make tons of this stuff and one time I figured it out and it amounted to approximately $1 a bag!  That’s great and it’s fun and it’s pretty and it feels so good giving something  you made.  I’ll give you the recipe first and then show you the steps.

HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

1 20 qt. powdered milk (largest box) (not packets)

1 32oz. Nestle’s Quik

2 boxes confectioners sugar

11 oz. powdered creamer

 Pour all ingredients into huge container. like a large tupperware cake holder.  Blend thoroughtly.  Keep stored in airtight container.  Use 1/2 cup of mix in mug and add boiling water.  Stir and enjoy.  This is a doubled recipe.  It can easily be reduced to half of this amount. 

When I make it to give I use a very large shallow dishpan.  It’s easier to stir that way.  Then I dip it out and pour it into clear bags I buy at the Dollar Tree (20 for $1).  I tie it with a rubber band and then use raffia or ribbon on top of that to make it pretty.  I usually buy some little inexpensive bells or ornaments that I loop onto the ribbon so it hangs down and makes the whole thing look more festive. 

We give these to our church staff for all the work they do all  year, to neighbors, friends, family and co-workers.  It’s a very  nice gift.  I sometimes buy decorated paper bags and place them inside with tissue paper to dress them up even more.  I can get them 4/$1.  You don’t have to do that ~ I just get carried away sometimes.

Have fun and let this put you in the spirit of Christmas ~ it’s about giving ~ it’s about loving ~ it’s about J O Y  ~ Jesus- Others - You!

 Here’s the ingredients.  I don’t usually get a Quik that large - this one was 48 oz. so I didn’t use the whole thing.  I use the total box of milk, the whole 11 oz. of creamer and the whole 32 oz. bag of sugar.

 Here’s the bags.  I always get clear and last year I found these cute snowmen ones at Wal-mart half price after Christmas.  They almost always have them at the Dollar Tree though.

Instead of a shallow dishpan I used a huge soup pot and set it in the sink.  That cut down on hot chocolate “powder” on the counters and it was real easy to stir this way. 

Here’s what it looks like.

A little blurry here but I’m filling the bags now.

Ready to deliver and so fun to give!

We did something new this year ~ we went to a “Cut Your Own Christmas Tree” farm.  

Now we always have a live tree and we’ve gone on kinfolk’s property before and cut our own but the past years we’ve just gone to the any-size-tree-for-$15-place.  Well they started at $12, then went to $15 and now they are $18.  We went as usual this  year and Trent just didn’t like them (neither did I).  He saw this place close to us and wanted to go so bad but it was going to cost more than we wanted to pay so we just decided against it…for that day.  I kept thinking that if this 14 year old boy of mine wanted to cut him a tree I oughta let him.  After all he’s the last one that is home and that is interested in this.   Soooo we headed here Thursday morning and brought home our Christmas tree.  Here’s the pictures of our experience.  It was short, sweet and we love our little overpriced live tree:)

We’re taking our own picture ~ can you tell:)

Here’s our transportation to the trees ~ very nice man with two beautiful black labs named Cypress & Cedar:)  No lie!

Which one will it be???

We found it!

Yes, I’m glad we did this!  Look at that face:)

Going home!