Christmas Goodies Vol. 2

Oreo Balls! If you haven't had these, you haven't lived! I got the recipe from a girl I used to work with. Super easy. Super good.

Here's the recipe:

1 package Oreo cookies

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened

white almond bark (took about 1/2 the package)*

Crush Oreos in a blender (I use a food processor because the last time I used a blender, it broke it. Was it the Oreos? Was it the blender? We'll never know). Add cream cheese. Mix well.
Shape in to balls.
Dip into melted almond bark. I like to put green and red sprinkles on them. It jazzes them up a bit. Place on wax paper to set.

*I use the whole package and use any left over almond bark to dip pretzels. Yum!

There, now that wasn't so hard, was it?

Enjoy!!

Christmas Goodies Vol. 1

I've decided to chronicle my Christmas Baking Extravaganza 2010. I have about 14 treats I'm making this year. I was supposed to start on Monday but we had some other obligations. My start date was pushed back to Thursday. Since I'm going to be gone this weekend and we leave for home next Friday, I have to bake/candy make like mad!

Yesterday I ATTEMPTED my Grandma Rex's fudge recipe. Now I'm a pretty good baker and cook. I'm not afraid to try something difficult or even a little crazy. You're talking to the woman who balanced a 3 tier wedding cake on wine glasses. A little fudge recipe can't scare me!

WRONG! This isn't your average fudge - or at least it hasn't been since the invention of marshmallow fluff. This fudge is old school. The recipe calls for fresh cream for Pete's sake! Since my access to fresh cream ended when I was too old for 4-H, I had to settle for store bought cream.

The recipe was also very vague. I'm not a candy maker so I was unfamiliar with 'medium ball stage', which is apparently essential knowledge. I did my best to educate my self via the Internet and my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. The medium ball stage is really something you have to experience first hand.

Another key factor in candy making...PATIENCE. For those of you who know me well, you'll understand patience is a virtue that I do not possess. In short, I did not cook it long enough. I did not beat it long enough - scratch that - I didn't make TYLER beat it long enough. I did not wind up with Grandma Rex's fudge.

You know that saying, "looks like a rat, smells like a rat, must be a rat"? That doesn't apply to fudge. What I wound up with tastes a lot like fudge. It looks a lot like fudge. It smells like fudge. It's not fudge. It's somewhere between a glorified ice cream topping and fudge.

I learned a lot from this experience. Hopefully enough that the Penoche I'm making next week (to be covered in a future post) WILL turn out the way Grandma's did.

I was so close! Unfortunately, almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Quick Update

So I realize I haven't posted anything in a while. We've been busy! Let's see, what's happened since April 20th?
Tyler got 2 new jobs. The first one was for a lumber company - 6 weeks in, the closed their doors. The second was for a large feed lot in Broken Bow. He Started in early November. So far so good.
Elise has been walking since June/July. She is a busy girl and into everything. She is very sharp. She knows several words and animal noises. She finally hit the 20lb mark in Sept/Oct. She might be pint-sized but she packs a wallop! She loves animals, especially her doggies.
Speaking of doggies, we have 2 now. Buck, our 3 1/2 year old beagle/coon hound we've had for almost 2 years. The newest addition is Jax, or as Tyler has dubbed him - Jackson Barkley Harris. He is a Yorkie - not sure how old. Maybe 2? We inherited him when Tyler's aunt passed away this fall.
Jax is a pretty special dog. He's very clingy and skittish inside. He is my shadow and has to be touching me all the time. If I'm doing the dishes, he's sitting on my feet. If I'm at the table, he's tucked under my chair. Get him outside without a leash and he's a completely different dog! He runs from you and has been known to stay out all night patrolling the town. Not even cheese, his favorite treat, can entice him to come in before he's ready.
Both dogs are great with Elsie. Buck tolerates her and moves if she starts to annoy him. Jax loves her. He is always giving her kisses and playing tag. I'm grateful because in my experience, little dogs do not always do well around curious toddlers.
Let's see...I'm not doing anything spectacular. Just enjoying small town life, the Christmas season and being a wife and mother. I get to stay home with my little girl. We read books, watch movies and bake all day. That's the life! At least it's my life and I'm grateful for it!

I looked out the window and what did I see....

Elsie and I were in her room looking out the window at the horses. All of a sudden, they both spooked! I craned my neck to see what had scared them but couldn't see a thing. I thought maybe it was a snake or something. Jake went back about his business but Whiskey stayed alert. He kept staring south to the driveway. Curious, I put Elsie in her crib, pulled on my boots and went outside to see what the fuss was about.

As I walked toward the fence line, I could see two white-tailed deer, both very young. What a beautiful sight! They were bounding about the yard, obviously frightened and trying to decide where to go. I watched both of them leap over a growing pine tree, about my height, with ease. The disappeared over the hill toward the highway. I waited and hoped they would make it across the highway okay. They did! Across the road from us is open farm land. I could see them bounding across the field to safety.

I love living in the country.



I didn't think to take my camera outside with me. After the deer left, I went and got it and took a picture of the direction I was looking. You can see the horses. Whiskey is in front, Jake behind. The big tree to the right of Whiskey is the one they jumped. The highway is beyond the trees.

I'm baaaack!

Finally! Our new, month old computer is hooked up to the net! I can blog again! Unfortunately, it will have to wait until tomorrow :( But I promise, I'll be back with pictures!!!

My New Year Resolutions

I don't usually do this. Making resolutions isn't my thing. I don't like to fail, I have a short attention span and I don't have a good memory. This makes it difficult to follow through on my goals when they cover a whole year. In fact, I can't remember making resolutions since I was probably about 5 or 6. I'm sure those goals were along the lines of ride a bike, read a chapter book and the like. Good news, I know how to ride a bike, or at least I did when I was 20. I have also read several chapter books in the last 20+ years. Those were probably the last resolutions that I made and kept.



Here we go:



1. Lose my pre - pre baby weight. I already lost my baby weight. All 60 pounds of it. I'm about 20 pounds into this resolution so it's a safe one to make. I've already accomplished it even if I never loose another pound.



2. Move to a nicer house in the country. Again, a safe resolution since it's probably going to happen in a few weeks. We just have to sign the lease.



Now here's where it gets harder. We're getting into the stuff I actually have to work at.



3. Be a better wife. I'm not saying I'm a bad one but we all have room for improvement, right? I'd like my thoughts to revolve more around my husband and a little less around my self. A wise man once told me, "If you are constantly taking care of him and he is constantly taking care of you, you'll both be taken care of." Thanks, Dad! I'd like to add, not only would we be taken care of but we would be much happier, better friends, better sweethearts and better parents.



4. Be a better Mom. I'm sure this will be on my resolution list for the rest of my life. I am constantly trying to be worthy of this wonderful calling of motherhood. What job is there that is of a higher importance? I hate to break it to you, leaders of the free world, doctors, lawyers and rodeo clowns, nothing that you do can compare to or have a bigger impact than raising the next generation. A wonderful Later-Day Saint prophet, David O. McKay, once said, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home." It would stand to reason then, that there is no failure greater or more detrimental than failure in the home. My house will not fail. My house will be a safe haven in a world gone mad.



5. Go to church. Not as easy as it sounds when you have spent years walking the in the other direction. I want my family to be centered on Christ. I want my children to have a firm foundation. This is going to require a lot of effort on my part, and some good old fashioned determination. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:2, 15).



6. Blog more. I enjoy it.



7. Keep a better house. I think that if my house was more orderly, my brain might follow suit.



8. Get pregnant or have another baby. This resolution's completion is contingent on the hubs. I guess we'll see....



9. Entertain more. I like to cook and bake. I also enjoy visiting with friends and family. Why not combine the two?



10. Scrapbook. I have a feeling that if I don't get on top of this now, I never will.



There you have it, folks. My New Year Resolutions. Wish me luck. It looks like my plate is pretty full.