holiday.goodies

The Christmas holiday is right around the corner and many are traveling to see loved ones, as my husband is. But I'm left at home because it's my year to work the Christmas holiday. So the ones of us who will be working & delivering little miracles into the world have decided to have a Christmas celebration of our own. Everyone will be bring some kind of dish, appetizer or sweets and an ornament to exchange with a coworker. I signed up to bring a cheeseball, but I wanted to do something extra too... [see receipes below]

Cranberry & Cheddar Cheeseball
{adopted from Martha Stewarts cheeseball receipes}

8 oz block of cream cheese
8 oz shredded cheddard cheese
2 tbsp peach chutney
1 1/2 tbsp softened margarine
4 dashes of tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp black pepper
few dashes of salt
1 cup dried cranberries chopped

Mix all above ingredients except cranberries in a medium size mixing bowl. Be sure all ingredients are well blended. If mixture is to soft at this point, let it stand in the refrigerator for an hour. Then roll into ball like form. Roll cheese ball in a bowl full of chopped dried cranberries to form a layer on outer surface of ball. Or be creative and make your cheeseball into something festive using the dried cranberries as decor.

Here's my ornament cheeseball:

 { funny story: my husband thought this was a real ornament when i sent him the picture & he came home looking for it on the tree! }

 

 

Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels

12oz bag of Hersheys Special Dark chocolate morsels (or any you prefer)
5 large candy canes crushed
your preference of pretzels (i like the mini ties)

Add 6 oz of chocolate morsels to a microwavable bowl. Microwave on 60% power for 30 second increments. Each time stir and add an ounce more of morsels. Do this until all morsels have been used and chocolate is smooth. Dip half of pretzel in chocolate, tapping extra off. Then lay on parchment paper. After doing several take time to sprinkle crushed peppermint over chocolate side. Once all pretzels are complete move to refridgerator to harden. Takes about 30 minutes.

Then they're ready to serve! Mmmm!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas Eve & Merry Christmas!!

9th.day.of.giving

on the 9th day of Christmas

:: i gave away these things ::

I've made a large snack basket for a local fire department. I've included various things :: apples, oranges, chex mix, muffins, brownies & hot chocolate. My apartment complex gets a lot of calls from these guys; thankfully not my particular building. Who knows what the people are doing for them to be called, but I figured I would give back to these guys for all their hard work. And maybe they can put in a good word for my brother. He just graduated from the GTCC Fire Academy & now needs a job with a fire department....a full-time job, not volunteer.

8th.day.of.giving

on the 8th day of Christmas

:: i gave away these things ::

So most people live in some kind of community atmosphere, whether it be an apartment complex, a neighborhood, townhouse row, etc. But how many people know their neighbors? Well, when I was growing up, we lived in a neighborhood, and everybody knew everybody. The children would play together, you could go on a walk and feel safe, it was great. Currently I live in an apartment complex. I have several "neighbors." There's a guy who lives in the apartment across from me, sharing the same landing. Then I have a guy living above me who I only see passing on the steps, every now & then. I have a guy who lives beneath me, and across from him is a married couple, of whom I usually only see the husband. He's about the only person I've had a small conversation with. And these are just the people on my side of the buildling. There are three other sides to my building, and who knows who lives in those apartments. So, in essence, I don't know my neighbors, therefore, I do not feel a sense of community. And if I feel that way, I'm sure there are others who share that feeling.

I want to change that....or at least try. So I plan to spread some Christmas cheer and to show that I do care about my neighbors & would like to know them, or at least see their face.

My daughter {step-daughter} and I are going to make cookies for everyone! We're going to make sugar cookies & sugar-free cookies for everyone, and not just one per person...I'm not trying to be stingy in this season, at least to an extent. (Sugar-free in case some are diabetic). And in each bag we're including a small book called The Message of Hope, so this way we can spread the word about Jesus and how he was born on earth during this time to eventually die for us, and save us from our sins! Of course it goes more in-depth and has Bible verses, etc to explain it all. UPDATE:: we did try to make the suger-free cookies, and decided we should taste them just in case they weren't so good.....and it was a good thing we did.....they were straight up nasty! So everyone got sugar cookies!

Then we'll take them door-to-door, with husband in tow as well...you never know who you'll find behind these doors. And hopefully get some people to answer, and get to know them a little. Like I said, we'll just be doing our building. There are six or seven buildings in our apartment complex, and well that's a lot of people....and a lot of cookies!

Maybe you know your neighbors, maybe you don't. But this would be a great way to share with everyone you do or don't know.....And who doesn't like cookies?