Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday! I am 49 years old. One year away from the big 50. My mother had aways embraced her age and told anyone who asked how old she was. She had the philosophy that there wasn't anything you could do about it any way so why not just accept it and go with it. My mother in law on the other hand, never lets her true age be known. In fact, once, my husband and I figure it out by her birth date on his birth certificate. She wouldn't talk to us for a month. It was the best month ever.
But I will let the wee little ones guess my age today. It's aways fun to hear how old they think I am. Their concept of time and age is so darn cute! It's such an ego buster to hear that you are older than their parents and sometimes they'll even say they'll grandparents, YIKES!!!!

What Was I Thinking?

I decided to get a new kitchen and family room floor before Christmas. Right now my house looks like this:

My living room has the family room furniture in it.

And the dinning room has the the breakfast room furniture in it.

Of course Duke had to leave his mark in the self-leveling sub flooring:

My house is a mess but it is slowly coming together. On top of all this, I am painting the spare bedroom too. All this work getting the house ready for Scott to come home. And the tree is still not up. I talked with Scott this morning. His plane didn't come today. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that his plane does come this week and before the snow.

Time For Christmas

I have the outside ready for Christmas:

I still don't have many gifts bought. I don't have my tree up yet but there is a good reason why. Stay tune........

Christmas Cookies

I made Christmas cut out cookies!

Yes Jason, they were included in you Giftmas box of treats.

Buckeyes Aren't Just for Ohio

Liss had asked me what a buckeye was. Well Liss this is a buckeye:

It is a nut from a tree that is common around our area. They are so common that the state of Ohio is known as the buckeye state. Ohio State University's mascot is the buckeye. They're not good for eating but the wildlife love them. Around this time of year, we make a candy named after the buckeye. Once you see it, you'll know why.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of confectionery sugar

4 cups of peanut butter

1 pound of butter

12 ounces of Baker's semi sweet chocolate

2 inch square of paraffin

Mix sugar, peanut butter, and butter till blended. Dough will be very stiff and must be worked with hands. Shape into balls and chill for several hours. Melt chocolate pieces and paraffin in double boiler. dip each ball into the chocolate and place on wax paper. Chill

Looks just like the nut if I say so myself (except for the hole in the middle).

Bourbon Balls

Here in Kentucky, we are known for horses and bourbon. We even have what is called the bourbon trail where you can go and visit the different distilleries in one day. Problem with doing this however is each one offers free samples of there product and by the end of the trail you feel a little tipsy. But a little unknown fact, it can only be called Bourbon if it is made in Kentucky. Any place else, it's whisky. So being from Kentucky, bourbon balls are common site around the holiday seasons. There are two types of bourbon balls. One that is made with crushed vanilla cookies and ones that are made with powder sugar. I prefer the powder sugar type. This recipe is not hard to make, just time consuming. The funny thing about this candy is even the local Baptist women's club will make and sell them this time of the year.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter

3 1/2 cups of powder sugar

4 tablespoons of bourbon

any nut finely chopped

8 squares of Baker's semi sweet chocolate (do not use chocolate chips, for some reason they do not thin out evenly)

2 inch square of paraffin

In a large bowl cream together the butter, powder sugar, bourbon, and nuts. Form into 1 inch balls, and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. Once finish, place into freezer for 2-3 hours.

In a double boiler, place the chocolate squares and paraffin (the paraffin will give the chocolate the shiny look and make it harden). Melt until smooth. Insert toothpicks into each ball. Dip each ball into the chocolate swirl to remove excess chocolate and place onto wax paper (or into mini baking cups as I did above)

A tray of Bourbon balls waiting to be consumed.

A close up of a ball of goodness.

Bake Them Until They Flap

The baking is continuing around here with the making of tree bark. This is another easy, have it done in 20 minute recipe. This taste a lot like a toffee with a hint of saltiness and of course chocolate. I had a parent of a student who would make this for me every Christmas. I asked her for the recipe and she would tell me it was a family secret. Her kid grew, and left along with this candy. Years later I had an assistant who made it for me. I asked her for the recipe, and instead of telling me it was a family secret she gave it to me. Now I'm going to share it with you.

Ingredients:

I sleeve of saltine crackers (around 35-43)

1 cup of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1 package of chocolate chips (12 oz)

1 small package of nuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line crackers on a cookie sheet line with foil and sprayed with Pam spray. Melt butter and sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Pour over crackers. Bake for 6-7 minutes. Crackers should be flapping and syrup be bubbling. Remove from oven.

See they flap so much that they are no longer lined on the sheet. I rearrange them back into order before I do the next step. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top, wait a minute for the heat to melt the chocolate and spread chocolate. Sprinkle nuts on top, Let cool in refrigerator.

I only put nuts on half of this since the sons do not like the nuts. Peel foil and break candy into bite size pieces.