Blog Challenge Day 13

The Christmas challenge is almost finished.  Today's topic: Favorite Cookie Recipe.  I love to bake so it was really hard for me to narrow it down to one recipe.  This recipe is one I make frequently at Christmas and is always a hit.

I wish I could say that I invented this recipe, but I did not.  It comes directly from the Eagle Brand Cookies & Treats cookbook my mama gave me years ago.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Double Delicious Cookie Bars

via

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14-oz) can condensed milk
2 cups (12-oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips*
1 cup (6-oz) peanut butter chips*

(*Any flavor of chips can be substituted in any combination; I always use butterscotch chips instead of peanut butter and have substituted white chocolate chips too)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for glass dish).  In 13x9-inch baking pan, melt butter in oven.

2. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over butter; pour condensed milk over crumbs.  Top with remaining ingredients (chips) and press down firmly.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely and cut into bars.  Store covered at room temperature.  Makes 24 to 36 bars.

(* These are incredibly rich so I recommend cutting them into small squares.  A little bit goes a long ways!)

Blog Challenge Day 12

It's Day 12 of the Blog Challenge: Show Us Your Decorations.  I'm so excited to see how everyone else decorates for the holidays!

I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to holiday decor.  I tend to stick with the classic red, green, and white color scheme.  Don't get me wrong, I have seen some absolutely gorgeous holiday decor in a variety of colors.  I think the more classic style appeals to me because it takes me back to my childhood Christmases.

Our Christmas tree.  I prefer having white lights on the tree instead of the multi-colored lights so that the ornaments are showcased.  Notice my cute wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby!

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments:

Ballet slippers.  Abby and I got this at the Nutcracker last year.  So pretty!

Cloisonne cardinal.  I got this at an ornament exchange years ago, and I just love it.  A red bird on the Christmas tree is supposed to bring good luck.

Angel.  I love this one because it was a gift from someone special and the little blonde-headed girl reminds me of my Abby.

Cookie ornaments.  I bought several of these from Kohl's recently with various sayings like "HoHoHo", "Believe", and  "T" for our family monogram.  They were inexpensive and fit right in with my decor!

Our mantle.  We don't have an actual fireplace but we do have this lovely antique mantle that was passed to us from my husband's great-aunt.  After seeing Aly's craft post,  I added a few coffee bean filled vases to the mantle.  I love the extra glow it adds!

  
Dining room chandelier.  I just wrapped it with a white poinsettia garland and embellished with some little bird ornaments from the dollar spot at Michael's.

A close up of a bird.  They are different colors and patterns.

Christmas dishes.  These is a really inexpensive set I got at Wal-Mart a few years ago, but it looks really festive in my hutch.

A little snowman vingette on my coffee table.

A matching snowman decoration on a side table.

A cute little set in my kitchen.  It includes a napkin holder, toothpick holder, and salt & pepper shakers.

I have a lot of of little festive knick knacks all around the house, plus my Christmas Bath & Body Works handsoaps in the bathrooms.

Outdoor decor: I didn't get any pictures of the outside all lit up.  I fully intended to take some pics and didn't get around to it.  I will take some and post them soon.  Here are a few things I have outside.

Front door wreath.  Nothing fancy.  We have a storm door, so it's hard to fit much in between the two doors.  It gets smashed everytime I close it.

Poinsetta wreath on the house.  It's right near our house address plaque. 

I have a couple of flags outside too, but the wind is blowing like crazy here, so I couldn't get a clear picture.

Small Mary Engelbreit garden flag.  The other flag is a larger house flag and it has Snoopy on it.  My daughter loves it!

I'll try and post some outdoor photos later.  I love it when it's all lit up!

My most precious Christmas "decorations"?  These two cuties!

Blog Challenge Day 11

Today's blog challenge topic: New Year's Resolutions.  I love this topic!  I'm a planner and a goal-setter, so of course I always make resolutions.  They are goals for me to work on throughout the year to better myself and my family. 

(via Google images)

2011 is going to be a year of change for my family.  After 6 years of being a stay-at-home mommy, I am going to start a new career as an elementary teacher.  I know that it will be a year of transitions and joys for us.  Even though I feel a little anxious and apprehensive about my new role, I know that the Lord is in control and will not give us more than we can handle!  Here are my resolutions for 2011:

1.      Spend more time in the Bible.  I do read my Bible a lot, but I really want to strive to be a daily Bible reader.  I want our family to spend more time studying God’s word together.

2.      Lose the “baby” weight.  My youngest child is 2 ½…the gig is up!  I lost it all after my daughter was born so I know that I can do it again.

3.      Simplify my life!  We are truly overscheduled as a family.  I feel like we are constantly running to some activity, meeting, other obligation, etc… I just want to eliminate some of it so we can have some more precious family time together.  I’ve got to learn how to say “NO”!!

4.      Become more organized.  I’m a planner by nature and am pretty organized too.  I just want to make sure all areas of my life are organized and running as smoothly as possible. (Controlling? Who, me?)

5.      Become debt free.  My husband and I really want to get everything paid off except the mortgage.  We have been debating on moving to or building a larger house.  We are big believers in the Dave Ramsey “snowball” program so that’s our plan!

6.      Enjoy life!  I feel like I’m giving some areas of my life up to become a working mother.  The upside: Teachers have summers off!  Plus my husband has lots of vacation days, so we are planning a nice vacation this year.  I just want to make sure we keep up our fun family traditions even if I’m not home as much.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,  “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

                                                                                           Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, as you many have noticed, today is my 31st birthday!  I know it probably seems a little obnoxious to be posting that it's my birthday, but I promise I'm not doing it to try and solicit birthday wishes or anything like that. 

I just had to share what Casey bought me.  It's more of a post to celebrate what a thoughtful person my husband is! ;-)

A while back, the clasp on my flat wallet broke so my wallet hasn't closed properly since.  I've been wanting a new wallet....guess what I got?

A new flat wallet with matching checkbook.  It matches my zebra print purse perfectly! 

I would have been happy with just the wallet, but he had even more surprises for me inside the wallet!

Look at all of these goodies!

Nutcracker Tickets for Abby and me.  I had meant to order these online a month ago and had completely forgot.  He remembered!  (We didn't splurge on really good seats this year...we had some special Christmas gifts to purchase instead.)

Nail Salon Gift Certificate.  Last year on my birthday, I got a Hot Stone Pedicure and it was fabulous!  I might have to get one again this year!

iTunes Gift Card.  I can always use one of these to add some new music to my iPod.

Starbucks Gift Card.  I'll be indulging in a Peppermint Mocha very soon!

Thank you Casey for making my birthday so special.  I love you!



Blog Challenge Day 10

Today's Challenge Topic is Favorite Christmas Songs.  Oh, I love me some Christmas music.  We've been listening to it constantly around our house!

Silver Bells.  My favorite version is by Burl Ives.  

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.  I adore this song.  The version by Josh Groban is just beautiful.

Trans Siberian Orchestra (all CDs).  We listen to this in the Durango constantly.  I think my favorites are Wizards in Winter and Christmas Eve/Sarajevo.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

It's that time agian...WILW!  I'm linking up with Jamie so be sure to check out what everyone else is loving too!

I'm LOVING that today is my sweet nephew Trey's 1st birthday!!  How cute is this curly-headed little chub?

I'm LOVING that tomorrow is my birthday!  I may be turning a few decades older than my nephew, but who doesn't love a birthday?

I'm LOVING that all the gifts I've ordered online recently will be here soon!  Yay for online shopping!

Garnier Anti-Wrinkle Cream.  I'm all about trying to prevent wrinkles at this point in my life.  I've been using this for a while, and it seems to work.  It feels good on the skin.

Rosette Heels by Born.  This heels are just my style and the rosettes add a pretty, feminine touch. 


Have a great Wednesday!

Blog Challenge Day 9

I can't believe it's already Day 9 of the Blog Challenge!  It's going by really fast.  Today's topic is Favorite Holiday Recipe. 

I love baking and making candy for friends and family at the holidays!  This is one of my very favorite recipes.  There are tons of Peppermint Bark recipes out there.  I came up with this one by combining a couple of different recipes until I got the result I wanted.  I usually just eyeball it instead of following a recipe, so I put it into words the best I could!

Chocolate Peppermint Bark

1 (12-oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (16-oz) bag white chocolate chips

¼ tsp. peppermint extract

1 c. peppermint candy, crushed

1)      Place peppermint candy (I used candy canes) in a Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin.  You can use a food processor for a finer texture, but I prefer this method.

2)      Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil or parchment paper.

3)      Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler or microwave (double boiler= better results!).  Spread the melted chocolate in the pan, and allow it to set up for about 20 minutes or so. 

4)      Melt the white chocolate chips using the same method as the semi-sweet chips.  Mix in the peppermint extract and ¼ c. of the crushed peppermint.  Spread on top of the chocolate layer and sprinkle the remaining peppermint candy on top.

5)      Allow the bark to set up completely in the refrigerator, and then break into pieces by hand.   The more rustic looking, the better! 

 (NOTE: This picture was taken from Google Images.  I couldn’t find a picture on my computer, but it should look similar to this!)