MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday and I hope you all have an abundance of Christmas in your heart! I wanted to send you our Christmas card and share with you what I’ll be serving on Christmas day when my parents, my in laws, and some dear friends come to have lunch with us. This year, we’re also sending lunch to a family we’re friends with who just welcomed a new baby into their family yesterday!

I’m smoking a turkey and baking a ham for the entrees. The rest of my menu is a broad mix made up of everyone’s special requests! I’m also listing some additional ideas at the bottom in case you are looking for that one extra dish to add.

Please have a wonderful Christmas and remember, it’s not about what is under the tree, but the people around it  

My Christmas Day Menu for 2012

• Smoked Turkey – I’m making this in my electric Masterbuilt Smoker, recipe here
• Baked Ham with Easy Peasy Glaze
• Easy Cream Corn in Butter Sauce
• Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows (Other options are: Grandmama’s Sweet Potato Casserole and Sweet Potato Creme Brulee)
• Mama’s Creamy Macaroni and Cheese  
• Cornbread Dressing in the Slow Cooker 
• Jordan Rolls 
• Grandma Lucy’s Chocolate Pie (Recipe is in my cookbook)
• Green Velvet Cake (Recipe is in my cookbook)
• Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole 
• Sweet and Sour Green Beans
• Rhyming Broccoli Salad

My Desserts for 2012:

• Grandmama’s Holiday Fruit Salad
• Daddy’s Coconut Cake
• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Cut Out Cookies for Santa

 Here are some more ideas for ya, with links to the recipes if they’re on SouthernPlate.com!

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Main Meal Ideas

If you’re looking for a copy of my cookbook, click here to get it at over 50% off on Amazon.com

Cornbread Dressing, Jordan Rolls, Grandmama’s Sweet Potato Casserole, Frozen Cranberry Banana Salads

• Buttermilk Congealed Salad -  (Cookbook p. 66)
• Fried Apples (Cookbook p.106)
• Cornbread Dressing (easy and moist) (Cookbook variation p.128) - also listed above
• Lucy’s Sweet Potato Casserole (Cookbook p. 117) – also listed above
• Green Bean and Shoepeg Corn Casserole (Cookbook only p. 226)
• Jordan Rolls (Cookbook p.16) – also listed above
• Preston Rolls (Cookbook only p.230)
• Cranberry Relish
• Candied Baby Carrots
• Last Minute Green Beans
• Fried Cabbage
• Grandmama’s Tex Mex Dip (Cookbook only p.173) – no idea why we have this at Christmas but we’d all boycott the holiday without it!
• English Pea Pimento Casserole
• Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad (Cookbook only p.42)
• Fried Okra (Cookbook p.224)
• Butter Stewed Potatoes
• Kid Friendly Relish Tray
• Corn Casserole (Cookbook p.23)
• Deviled Eggs (Cookbook p.24)
• MeMe’s Mashed Potatoes (Cookbook p.35)
• Garlic Mozzarella Mashed Potatoes
• Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole (Cookbook p.33) – also listed above
• Sour Cream Hash Brown Casserole (Cookbook only p. 32)
• Watergate Salad (Cookbook only p.218)
• Cornbread Salad
• Corn Salad
• Roasted Asparagus
• Pecan Pie Muffins (Cookbook p.169)
• Streusal Pumpkin Spice Muffins (Cookbook p. 129)
• Frozen Cranberry Banana Salads (Cookbook p.188)

Pies

Faux Pecan Pie

• Faux Pecan Pie
• Buttermilk Peach Pie
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pie
• Lucy’s Chocolate Pie (Cookbook only p. 146) – also listed above
• Aunt Sue’s Fried Chocolate Pies (Cookbook only p.146)
• German Chocolate Pie (Cookbook only p.246)
• Perfect Pecan Pie (Cookbook p.120)
• Honey Punkin Cream Cheese Pie
• Coconut Meringue Pie
• Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Pie
• Ashley Mac’s Caramel Pie
• Buttermilk Pie
• Sawdust Pie
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Lemon Meringue Pie (Cookbook p.192)

Cakes

• Phenomenal Red Velvet Cupcakes (this recipe can be made in a 9×13 pan or 2 – 8″ Round cake pans as well.
• Good N Easy Apple Cake with Homemade Whipped Cream (Cookbook p.107)
• Chocolate Velvet Cake (Cookbook p.142)
• Quick Gingerbread Party Cupcakes/Muffins
• Green Velvet Cake (Cookbook only p.170) – also listed above
• Aunt Sue’s Pound Cake (Cookbook only p.8)
• Mama’s Custard Sauce – to go over pound cake (Cookbook only p.10)
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Apple Dapple Cake (Cookbook p.118)
• Mandarin Orange Cake (Cookbook p.14)
• Butterfinger Cake (Cookbook p.22)
• Fruit Cocktail Cake (Cookbook p.39)
• Yellow Cake with Peanut Butter Icing (Cookbook p.258)
• Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze (Cookbook p.100)
• Pumpkin Crumb Cake (Cookbook p.130)
  
• Granny’s Sheath Cake (Cookbook only p.31)
• Holiday Fruit Salad (Cookbook p.164)
• Homemade Caramel Corn (Cookbook p.91)

Looking for Christmas Cookie recipes? Click here

Looking for Christmas Candy and Gift Mix Recipes? Click here

Call into the Southern Plate Story Line for a special Christmas Story!

Details below

Last night I debuted the SouthernPlate Storyline with a recording of me reading “The Night Before Christmas”!

Kids of all ages can call 256-270-0270 and hear a new story read to them each week by myself or my mother.

Regular calling rates will apply but no special charges. It will just be like calling up a friend in Alabama – which is what you’re really doing

The line can take four calls at once and is programmed to pick up on the first ring if a line is available, so if it rings and rings and rings, just give it just a few minutes and please try again. Mama and I are so excited about this!
**Please share if you know someone who might enjoy this. Thank you for letting me have so much fun!!**

Wishing you all the best blessings of Christmas!

I’d love to hear back from you in the comments below.

Feel free to share Christmas wishes with the whole Southern Plate Family!

Gratefully,

Christy

This is our Christmas card from 2010, oh how the kids have grown!

For many people, Christmas conjures up thoughts of shopping and presents, decorating and special television shows. For me, though, one of my fondest memories from my childhood and the thing I can’t wait to get to each year, is baking with my mother.

Since this is one of my favorite memories, it’s one I look forward to passing down most each year now that I have children of my own. I love to get them into the kitchen with me and help them to make cookies, cakes, and candies for everyone on their list. We usually sit down together beforehand and make out a list of who they’d like to give gifts to and then we go over our recipes and decide what all we’ll make.Sometimes people ask me what my earliest cooking memory was and I remember like it was yesterday. I was three years old, making peach crisp with my mother. When it comes to my kids, I started them out even younger!

I’ve been doing holiday baking with my kids since my son was five months old! He was so small that he couldn’t even sit up on his own, but I just couldn’t wait to make Christmas cookies with him and since it was his first Christmas, I was determined to include him somehow! So I had my husband hold my son while he sat on the kitchen counter (my son sat on the counter, not my husband) and watched me roll out the cookie dough. Then, I’d put a cookie cutter in place and gently take my son’s hand to have him press down on it to cut the cookie out. He had no idea what he was doing but he just giggled with delight each and every time!

Now that my kids are 8 and 13, there isn’t much they can’t do in terms of baking. I still handle putting the cookie sheets in and out of the oven but they have both gotten really good at gathering ingredients, measuring them out, and working the stand mixer. My daughter is a wiz with the rolling pin and wouldn’t you know it, even at 13 my son still loves to cut out the cookies. Having the two of them in the kitchen with me just fills my heart with joy, and knowing that I’m teaching them how to put their hearts into gifts, instead of just buying something from a random store, is the icing on the cookie!

I love just about everything about Christmas, even though it is a LOT of work for me. Between helping Santa, shopping and wrapping gifts, decorating the house, running all of the errands for the kids to be ready for their school Christmas programs, going to the Christmas programs, working on my favorite charity projects, getting ready and entertaining holiday company, and baking more than any other time of year, I’m most assuredly the one who works the most to bring the holiday about in our family, but I still enjoy it every bit as much.

Still, a little break in the midst of it all with the company of my friends who are also running the rat race never hurts. That’s where a girlfriends cookie exchange comes in.

We get to have a little time for ourselves, away from our family, but since we’re bringing back goodies for everyone, they’re happy to see us go!

Hint to husbands: This is a perfect time to take the kids shopping for your wife. You know, that person whose spent the last several weeks shopping for everyone else .

To help you plan a cookie exchange party, here are a few of my tips and tricks.

 Party Planning tips:

Decide on a date as soon as possible.

-The holiday season is the busiest time of year for many people so you want to give your guests as much notice as you can about your party, at least two weeks.

Consider a weeknight or weekend afternoon.

A cookie exchange party doesn’t have to be very long. A simple hour and a half of visiting, coffee, and exchanging cookies can be lively and fun. Having your party on a week night might allow more of your girlfriends to come, and choosing a Saturday afternoon still gives them Saturday evening for family activities.

Stock up for a great coffee bar.

- Holiday creamers, hot coffee, sugar, sugar alternatives, and perhaps hot cider as another alternative. By having your cookie exchange between lunch and supper, there is no need to cook since a nice afternoon coffee pick me up works just fine. When guests arrive, arrange the platters of cookies on a table and take a few from each platter to put on a sampling tray that is set by the coffee station. Ask everyone to help themselves to coffee, cookie samples, and chatting.

What kind of cookies?

Don’t limit your exchange to just cookies! Let your guests know that they are welcome to bring cookies, brownies, and candies like fudge, haystacks, and divinity (just some examples). The point of a cookie exchange is to get together with friends and leave with a variety of holiday treats!

How much do I bake?

This is going to depend on how many guests you plan on inviting. I generally like to allow 1/2 dozen of each type of cookie per guest. Try to consider how much baking time each guest will have to commit to and try to keep your list small with this in mind. I’d try not to invite more than 8-10 people, so everyone can bake about 4 dozen cookies or so.

Don’t forget the Cookie Platters!

There are all sorts of cute holiday cookie platters this time of year, but my favorites to use are inexpensive food safe holiday chargers.

Classic Molasses Cookies

Triple Chocolate Deluxe Cookies

Over bake to fill in the gaps

As the hostess of a cookie party, I always make more than one type of cookie and try to have an extra two or three dozen above what everyone else brings to fill in the gaps. Classic Molasses Cookies are easy to whip up and I love using Crisco baking sticks to make them even easier! Another party pleaser would be the Deluxe Triple Chocolate Cookies, which use hot cocoa mix to add even more chocolate punch to the batter!

You can find these great recipes and more by clicking here.

You can even create your own board of recipes, so have fun with it!

*Note: If you don’t bake often, make sure your baking ingredients are fresh. You might want to pick up a bag of Pillsbury’s Best All Purpose Flour to help ensure baking success. Outdated baking ingredients can ruin a cookie pretty quick. 

Keep it fun by making it easy! 

Let your guests know that if they are pinched for time, buying ready made cookie dough such as Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, and baking it at home is still a fine option and everyone will enjoy their addition. There are all sorts of ways to get creative with store bought cookie dough, too! Make colored icing, get creative with cookie dough by adding sprinkles, or by making peanut butter kiss cookies by gently pressing a hershey’s kiss in the middle of a peanut butter cookie right as it comes out of the oven. Buy sugar cookie dough and roll it out to cut into christmas shapes, etc. Some cookie exchanges prefer from scratch cookies but for me, the focus is on getting in the kitchen to enjoy baking and having some fun together afterward.

I know how busy things get and store bought cookie dough is perfectly fine with me – the last thing I want to do is make busy folks feel guilty for taking a shortcut .

 Once the guests arrive, have a coffee bar and hot chocolate bar set up.

If you have a Christmas tree or other holiday lights in your house, make sure they’re on, too! While guests are mingling and eating, I take everyone’s tray and go play elf as I divide the cookies up so that each tray holds a selection from the entire party, then I wrap them in clear cling wrap and place a big Christmas bow on top! This can also be done as a group activity, with everyone going around the table with their empty cookie platter and filling it, taking one or two cookies from each platter at a time, until all of the cookies are gone.

Great Party Favors! 

Have guests bring enough copies of their recipes for everyone,  printed out on 8×10 sheets of paper. Before the party, I buy red and green three prong folders. When everyone arrives, we can lay out the recipes in stacks on a table along with a stack of folders and a three hole punch so that everyone can take home a mini cookbook of the party’s recipes!

When you have all of this squared away in your mind, be sure and share these instructions with your guests:

• BRING TWO PLATTERS – one with your cookies on it, and an empty one to fill with cookies to take home (your cookie platter will be the empty one when you leave the party).
• Copies of your cookie recipe for everyone printed out on an 8 x 10 sheet of paper.
• 6 cookies per person. Let your guests know how many people you are inviting, preferably no more than ten. This amount will allow enough cookies to be sampled and shared on cookie platters going home. Keep in mind that as the hostess, you will probably want to bake an extra two dozen or so of different varieties to fill in the gaps and allow for more party munching.
• Using ready made cookie dough, such as Pillsbury, is just fine! Have fun and get creative with it! In fact, you could host a cookie exchange exclusively with cookies made from store bought cookie dough and give out prizes to most creative use, most unique flavor, etc.

NOTE: So many children have very dangerous food allergies. If you have a girlfriend coming and you know one of her children is allergic to nuts, please let all of the guests know before they start their baking. 

Now a question for you: Have you ever taken part in a cookie exchange?

Do you have any tips or tricks to share? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below! 

 HAVE A HAPPY COOKIE EXCHANGE AND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Visit the rest of my friends for this wonderful Holiday Cookie Baking Week!

• Leslie from the Hungry Housewife shares great cookie and coffee pairings (I can get into cookies and coffee!)
• Shelly of Cookies and Cups talks Christmas Morning cookies
• Erin from $5 Dinners talks Christmas Cookies on a Budget
• Toni from the Happy Housewife talks Cookies on Christmas Eve

For even more great recipes and ideas, be sure and visit our Holiday Baking Pinterest Board! 

Disclosure: This Holiday Cookies Campaign is sponsored by the J.M. SMUCKER COMPANY, ©/® THE J.M. SMUCKER COMPANY. Opinions are my own and I have a VERY high opinion of cookies! 

If you have Pinterest or Facebook and could use one of the buttons above I’d really appreciate it!

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I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading all of your precious comments on the story I wrote for my Tiger Butter post, thank you! I’ve answered many of them and hope to have time to sit and answer all them soon. For now though, I’m buzzing around doing Mama and Christmas things and I wanted to take a break long enough to show you how to make Mama and Aunt Sue’s Divinity.

Last year around Christmas I had to go to New York to do some television appearances and I took Mama with me. On those appearances I was talking about Southern foods and gifting food as presents. One of those foods was divinity and we had the hardest time explaining to news anchors around the world during each of the broadcasts what divinity was! One of the people on set finally told folks who didn’t understand it that it was kind of like a fluffy white fudge. While that really isn’t how I’d describe it, I guess it is as close as I can come to describing it if I don’t have the option of popping a piece in your mouth for you to see for yourself, so fluffy white fudge ended up being the description to all 14 cities I broadcast to that day.

Divinity gets a bad rap as being overly difficult to make but it really isn’t. This is an old fashioned recipe that will taste like what you grew up with (or like what I grew up with if you have never had it) but we add a little shortcut to the cooking process by using the microwave. This cuts out the need for a thermometer and also leaves you free to beat the egg whites and prepare the pan so you end up with only about ten minutes of actual prep and work on your part.

You’ll need: Light corn syrup, salt, eggs, sugar, clear vanilla, pecan halves (optional), and water.

I know, I know, some folks are all fired up about corn syrup killin’ ya and all that. I think meanness will send you the grave a lot quicker than corn syrup so as long as you try to be a kind and sweet person, have a little corn syrup now and again coz you got extra years comin’ to ya

Measure out your water and corn syrup.

I put my water in a measuring cup first and then add my corn syrup. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of each so it’s easy to measure them out in the same cup. The benefit of doing this is that when you put your water in first the corn syrup doesn’t stick to the cup as bad. This entire section here is kinda useless information so take it or leave it

So in a large microwave safe bowl, place sugar, water, salt, and corn syrup.

Make sure this is a good microwave safe bowl. This one is called a batter bowl and that spout there is going to make it a LOT easier to add my hot liquid to my egg whites later.

Note: This is going to get hot because we’re going to cook it. If you have ever been tempted to sue McDonald’s because they served you coffee that was hot, you should really stay away from this recipe. I also don’t suggest having kids help with this one. It is really easy, but an advanced level of common sense is required.

Stir this up a bit and place in the microwave for four minutes on high.

Stir, and microwave for 9 minutes.

This is not a type-o.

9 Minutes.

I know that cooking this for 9 minutes in the microwave may seem scary, but so is reality tv and look how many folks embrace that?

Give me 9 minutes with some microwave technology any day.

NOTE: See notes at bottom of this post for important cooking tips based on your microwave

While that is cooking….

Separate your eggs, whites from yolks.

We’re only going to use whites in this recipe so you can do something else with those yolks – put them in a pudding, scramble them for you, etc. I would never advocate tossing them out because that causes email flurries from disgruntled people so if you decide to toss them you might want to keep that to yourself Speaking from experience here.

I know my rambling is odd in this post. I mean, I always ramble, but I usually ramble because my thoughts are just filled with things I want to tell you. The difference in this rambling is that it is coming from sleep deprivation. This is why I try not to write posts in the evenings. Because I’ve been up about 15 hours and I get loopy. Wouldn’t it be neat if we got to go to bed after we had been awake 12 hours? I’d get to go to bed at 4:30 pm just about every day! WOOHOO!

Place your egg whites in a very, very, very clean mixing bowl.

An electric mixer is IDEAL for this because you really need both hands when making divinity. This is also one of those recipes that you really don’t want to start if you are alone with very young children who are going to want you to stop every five seconds to get them something to drink, fix their toy, take them potty, change the channel, wipe their nose, find out what they are doing to cause the dog to yelp, or just discover the purpose behind random screams of “Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!”. Obviously, I speak from experience here, too Maybe divinity gets its name from how divine it is to come up with ten uninterrupted minutes to make it….

Okay now while our syrup is a cookin’ in that ole microwave, we wanna beat the living mess out of our egg whites. Until stiff peak forms,like this. That means basically, that you beat it holds it’s shape.

Egg White Hints

1. Make sure your bowl is very very clean. If there is any greasy residue, your egg whites won’t whip properly.

2. Make sure you don’t get any yolks in with your whites because that will also prevent them from whipping properly. I just separate my eggs by breaking it in two and gently tipping the white out of the shell while keeping the yolk in the shell BUT there are little egg white separators out there you can buy for a dollar or two. Another way to do it is to break the egg into the palm of your hand and hold your hand over a bowl, gently spread your fingers apart just a bit and tip your hand so that the white goes through your fingers into the bowl but the yolk stays in your hand (it won’t go through your fingers if you don’t spread them much).

Once these are whipped and stiff, set aside until your syrup is done.

Here is our syrup, just got done cooking in the microwave.

I got it out with a dish towel wrapped around the handle and sat it down on a hot pad. Notice it’s still boiling?

Public service announcement: Cooked things are hot. Boiling things are really hot.

Turn your mixer on high and pour a very thin stream really slowly into your egg whites while your mixer is going.

Shortly after doing this you’ll notice an immediate texture change in your egg whites. They’ll go from feeling like meringue to feeling almost like a dough of sorts, albeit a very sticky dough.

As soon as you get it all poured in, add your vanilla, keeping the mixer going the whole time.

Now continue to beat for 4 or five minutes until it loses it’s gloss and looks like this.

Quickly drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

I use two spoons and scoop a spoonful out with one and scrape it off onto the paper with the other.

As soon as I’m done getting them all on there I go back and shape them into balls with my hands but you’ve got to work fast here.

Press a pecan half into the top of each one, if’n ya want to.

You can skip the pecans, too. It’s a free country (but pecans are expensive).

Some people put little candied cherries on top in place of the pecans. Not the maraschino ones but the candied ones like you use in fruitcakes.

Allow to cool completely (this will happen fast) and then store in an airtight container.

Enjoy your perfectly divine divinity!

“Your children will become who you are, so be who you want them to be.”

~Unknown

Submitted by Jackie. Thanks Jackie! Click here if you’d like to add a quote to our collection or just read more.

IMPORTANT NOTE:I have a 1000w microwave. This recipe has never failed myself, my mother, or my Aunt Sue. Please check the wattage of your microwave before attempting. If you have a much older model of microwave or a higher wattage, you can use this same recipe and cook your syrup on the stovetop until it reaches a temp of 260 on a candy thermometer.

Special thanks to Tom and Sue, who emailed me and told me what they did to make this recipe work in their higher wattage microwave. Tom has a 1300 watt microwave and he cut the cooking time in half and the recipe turned out perfectly Please check the power of your microwave and adjust accordingly.

If you’re on Pinterest or Facebook and could use one of the buttons above, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks!

Today’s recipe for Tiger Butter is a form of almond bark that my children absolutely love. We first had it at Swiss Pantry in Belvedere, Tennessee (If you’re ever near there, stop and buy anything at all and it will taste wonderful!). This bark isn’t quite as sweet as regular bark and really ends up with a peanut butter infused flavor that my entire family gets excited about. You can make this for gifts in easily less than five minutes, too, so it’s great for this time of year! Before I show you how easy it is to make this, though, I wanted to share my heart with you a bit and thank you in advance for indulging me.

We’re in the home stretch leading up to Christmas and I know this is a time where anxieties grow more anxious, tempers have tendencies to flare, and a lot of folks begin to feel like a string stretched so tight you could pluck it and play a tune.

Been there, done that, and start down that road every year but manage to stop and turn around before it’s too late

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, how this year is even more stressful than normal for our country. With many people out of work (I imagine if you are blessed to have a job you still know folks who don’t and simply can’t find one) and the prices of everything skyrocketing, it’s disheartening to say the least to try to come up with additional money to purchase gifts. We’ve all cut corners. Most everyone I know isn’t sending Christmas Cards in order to save that money. My mother and I have made a lot of gifts together this year. We usually do that for friends and staff at the kid’s schools but this year we’ve made many gifts for the kids and grandkids as well.

Mama and I have talked about how Christmas used to be versus how it has become and we’ve worked to bring it back to a happy medium once more. Still, I know there is a great deal of anxiety and worry. I know a lot of parents will be concerned that Santa might not bring enough.

But you know what? There is nothing new under the sun. We’re not the first people to feel this anxiety and we certainly won’t be the last.

My parents struggled all year long when we were little, just to be able to provide Christmas for us. Back then, “refunding” was common. Mama would save UPC codes and receipts all year long, scouring newspaper inserts for offers to send them in in exchange for items she could use as gifts. She’d get us dolls, clothes, even a calculator once that we all shared after opening it on Christmas morning. Daddy always worked at least one or two extra jobs but when the holidays rolled around he’d add an additional one, barely leaving time to sleep. They scraped, the worked, they fretted, and they hoped we’d not be disappointed come Christmas morning.

You know what’s crazy though? Knowing how hard they worked and how much they worried, I only remember three of the Christmas gifts from my childhood – and one of those was Dr Pepper flavored Chapstick! Oh, rest assured I got far more than that, but what I’m saying is that with all of their fretting, it’s not the gifts that stand out in my memories.

It’s the things we did together as a family that I remember when I look back. Mama letting us help her make Christmas cookies. Decorating the tree together. Driving around looking at Christmas lights. Special dinners at our grandparents houses. Learning to wrap presents all by myself. Singing Christmas songs at school. Making ornaments out of construction paper and glitter and glue and having Mama ooh and ahh over how beautiful they were when I gave them to her.

Christnas has always held a magical quality, but if you think about it, what do you remember most? The gift of Christmas itself, the memories that remain long after the paper and ribbons have been thrown away.

This is the time of year where we’re all searching for just the right gift. Where we’re budgeting and shopping sales and trying to come up with just one more little thing to make the picture underneath the tree seem perfect.

But we already have so much.

I always wanted a family, for as long as I can remember. I wanted to get married, I wanted to be a Mama. I remember when I was a teenager thinking “I wonder if I’ll ever have my own house?” and here I sit, in my own chair in my living room, looking at the tree that my husband and I decorated with our son and daughter. I wondered if I’d ever have someone love me unconditionally, and here it is Christmas, the birth of someone who loved me enough to die for me.

Just thinking about it all in that perspective fills me with so much joy my heart aches close to bursting.

This year there will be fewer presents under a lot of trees, but those won’t be remembered anyway. Rather than spending more money on the gifts that fade I’m going to spend more time on the gifts that will stay clear and warm in the hearts of my family for the rest of their lives.

You know, I can honestly walk into a store and not need a single thing on the shelves because everything I could ever hope for is right here around me.

I’ve already have my Christmas.

 I hope you took a moment to let that sink in before diving into tiger butter because I’m ADHD so I go from life changing moment to “OH LOOK! A SQUIRREL” faster than you can blink.

I made my point, I shared my heart, and now I’m digging in the pantry wanting to cook something with you.

You’ll need: vanilla almond bark*, Crunchy peanut butter, and chocolate chips.

*Almond bark doesn’t have any nuts in it, that is just a generic name for a chocolate-like candy coating that is commonly used in candymaking.   I say this because I always get several folks asking each year and I like to try to answer questions before folks have to ask them . However, if you have a nut allergy in your family, the peanut butter is going to be a problem of course. I suggest trying SunButter, which is a substitute that my friend HodgePodge Mom uses a lot.

 Oh! Did I mention you’re going to need a rimmed baking sheet lined in waxed paper?

Well now ya know

I have these wonderful baking sheets I love that I got from Sam’s Club. When we were doing photos for my book a few weeks ago, the food stylist came bearing a whole passel of the same ones and we talked about how much we loved them.

Break up your almond bark into a large mixing bowl.

Breaking it up is optional and dependent on my mood. Sometimes I just throw the whole thing in there.

It’s gonna melt either way so just do whatever cranks your tractor.

 Place bowl in microwave for about one minute. Stir well.

Microwave at 30-45 second intervals, stirring after each, until bark is melted and smooth.

Add in peanut butter.

Stir until peanut butter is melted and well blended.

Spread onto waxed paper lined sheet.

Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and melt the same way you did the almond bark.

Drop dollops onto your peanut butter mixture.

Kinda swirl it a little bit with a butter knife until it looks good from ten yards on a galloping horse.

My standards of perfection are pretty low but I stay a whole lot happier a whole lot longer that way!

Place in the refrigerator to harden or, if you’re one of those patient people I’ve heard folks speak of in legends, allow it to sit out on your countertop at room temperature until fully hardened. If it’s cold where you live, you can also just put it outside

Once it’s hardened, break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!

For more quick and easy recipes using almond bark, see below.

Holly Jollies – with endless variations, this is one of the most popular recipes on Southern Plate and a must do for Christmas gifts!

Double Layer Peppermint Bark – this beautiful bark sells in stores for a small fortune, but you can make it at home for just a few dollars.

“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.

In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” 

~Larry Wilde

On Thursdays, I usually post a thankful status on my Facebook page, asking folks to tell me at least three things they’re grateful for right now. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy reading all of the responses because they’re evidence of the true state of our heart and often remind me of new things to be grateful for that I hadn’t even thought about before!

Well, since this is Thursday and an unusually busy one at that, let me tell you that today I’m going to be grateful for dentists who are good with kids and take emergency appointments, optometrists, veterinarians, teachers who taught me how to spell veterinarians, my daughter’s Christmas program at her school, a car and gas to take me to all of these places today in a span of about four hours, and grace that is given to me on a repeated basis to remain grateful, even when I feel a little frazzled on the outside. Most of all, I’m thankful for God hand picking every single member of my family and putting us together.

I’m also going ot be grateful for these sugar and spice pecans when I come home tonight.

Oh how I love these! Some people call them Candied Pecans, some call them sugared or cinnamon pecans, either way this recipe is one that I look forward to making every year because it is just the right blend of sweet, cinnamon, with a hint of salt to set it all off to perfection.

The only problem with making it is the price of pecans. Of course, I’m saying this as two giant pecan trees sit in my yard. For the past three years though, I’ve harvested a grand total of three pecans. Three. However, all is not lost as apparently I am the overseer of the Fat N’ Happy Squirrel Refuge!  If pecans are a little out of your budget, feel free to make this recipe with other nuts as well. Peanuts, Cashews, and even Almonds would be great prepared this way.

Or, you can just come and shake down some of my squirrels…

Trust me, they’ve got plenty!

The ingredients for this are as simple as can be!

Sugar, egg, cinnamon, salt, and pecan halves.

*As I said before, you can use other nuts such as peanuts, cashews, or even almonds in this recipe.

Combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.

Stir that up real good.

In a mixing bowl, place your egg white and 1 tablespoon of water.

Save the yolk for something else if you like, but you won’t need it for this recipe.

Beat that egg white with an electric mixer until it is frothy.

Throw your pecan into the bowl with the frothy egg white. 

That would be a good name for a music band made up of Moms. The Frothy Egg Whites!

~thinks~

But then again, when would a group of moms have time to form  a band or…er…have a social life?

Stir them up until they’re coated pretty well.

Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Taking a few pecans at a time, toss them into your bowl of sugar mixture and flip them around a bit with your hand to coat and place on baking sheet.

Repeat until all pecans are coated.

Place this in a 325 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Don’t cook them any longer than this and keep an eye on them in case your oven cooks hot and they get done faster.

They will lightly brown, but you don’t want them to get dark brown.

Remove from oven, stir again, and allow to cool.

Store in gift bags or airtight containers.

These make wonderful gifts, but I never get around to gifting them because we eat every last one! lol

 See more Christmas Candy and Gift ideas by clicking here.

Now tell me at least three things you’re grateful for right now in the comments below!

Ready….set….GO!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:

the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/11/sugar-and-spice-pecans.html/feed 80 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/11/sweet-potato-creme-brulee.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/11/sweet-potato-creme-brulee.html#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:59:14 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21268

If you’re on Pinterest, don’t forget to use that little button above so you can find this recipe easily later!

Every now and then I surprise y’all with a short and sweet post, where I don’t go on and on about life, happiness, learning to find joy, or surviving raising kids. Every now and then. If you enjoy those posts or if you just like to get to cooking, today is your lucky day because I’m trying to clean my house for Thanksgiving so I don’t have the time I’d like to visit with you all proper-like.

I just had to bring you this dish though. Diehard Sweet Potato fans will fall in love when their standard dish is topped with a decadent brûlée, and single guys and gals who make this will end the meal with a marriage proposal, possibly more than one!

This recipe is going to seem long and drawn out, especially compared to my usual ones, but it really is simple if you just look at the steps. I make this a day ahead of time and then just sprinkle the topping on and put it under the broiler just before serving, so it’s even easier.

…and don’t ask me how I know this, but if there is just a smidgeon left, it makes a great breakfast eaten cold right from the baking dish. A little birdie told me  

You’ll need: Two large sweet baked sweet potatoes, melted butter, vanilla, cinnamon, light brown sugar, whipping cream, sugar, and eggs. 

You won’t need this many eggs but they’d made friends in the fridge and I hated to separate them until I absolutely had to. Some of these eggs spent their last moments together. ~sniff~ 

I bake my sweet potatoes a day or so ahead of time and stick in the fridge. Doing it that way, the skin just pulls right off easily and sweet potatoes that are baked in the oven, in their skins, have more flavor than when you peel and slice them and cook them in water..

Either way, get the skin off and place in a large mixing bowl with cinnamon, sugar, melted butter, and two eggs. 

If you just got done cooking your sweet potatoes before this step, make sure they’re cool because if they are  really hot when you do this, they’ll cook the eggs.

 Mix that up really good with an electric mixer until well combined and no longer lumpy. 

Spread into the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish and set aside. 

 Combine your egg yolks, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a medium heavy sauce pot. 

Note: You’ll have some egg whites left over from this recipe. I just put those in a mason jar and stick it in the fridge because if you’re making Thanksgiving dinner you’re sure to need them to make meringue on a pie

I suggest Lemon Meringue Pie or Peanut Butter Pie. 

Whisk your ingredients together really well until combined and smooth.

Place this post over medium low heat and whisk constantly just until warmed and your sugar is dissolved, about five minutes.

Or, as I always say, until you’re tired of fooling with it. 

It will look like this and still be very very runny.

 Using a measuring cup, gently scoop and pour the cream mixture over your sweet potatoes. 

Place your 8×8 in a larger dish and fill it with water until it is at least one inch deep. 

*You can use a metal 9×13 inch pan for the larger dish or any type of oven proof pan that is big enough to accommodate your 8×8 pan and an inch or so of water.

Bake this at 325 for about an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean. This won’t be set in the center by then, but most of the dish will be set except for the middle, meaning there will just be a little bit of a jiggle in the center. 

Carefully remove from oven and allow to cool by placing dish on heavy dish towels or a wire rack. 

Once cool, cover with foil and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. 

I make this the day before Thanksgiving.

*I always get compliments when I use these dishes so I’ma go ahead and tell ya that I got them at Sam’s Club for $19.99. The set came with a 9×13, 8×8, and a loaf pan. Some places still have them but mine was sold out last time I went there. They featured them in their Christmas flyer though, so they may be getting more in.

About half an hour before your meal, remove from fridge and let sit on your counter for about 30 minutes. 

Turn your oven to low broil and sprinkle brown sugar over the top. 

Place in oven, about 5 inches from your broiler, for 5-7 minutes, or until most of the sugar is melted. 

Watch this constantly as different ovens cook at different speeds on broil but it will always go faster than you think!

 Allow to sit for five minutes before serving to allow sugar to harden. Enjoy!! I sure do! 

Please read my Thanksgiving message

to the Southern Plate family by clicking here.

Every day is a holiday, every meal is a banquet!

~unknown, submitted by John (thanks, John!)

Share your favorite motivational or uplifting quotes by clicking here.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/11/sweet-potato-creme-brulee.html/feed 66 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/11/easy-candied-sweet-potatoes.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/11/easy-candied-sweet-potatoes.html#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2012 01:22:50 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21241 If you’re looking for Grandmama’s Sweet Potato Casserole, please click here. 

Hey Everyone!

This is Christy’s Mama. She’s having a photo shoot today and tomorrow at her house so I thought I’d chime in with one of my recipes while she works on that. If you
are looking for a wonderful, old-fashioned, mouth watering, easy and quick Thanksgiving side, look no further!  Here it is and so easy. The best part, no one will believe you are not a top chef in your kitchen.  

hold against her is that she calls some of us magnolia mouths because of our southern drawl. But she is so sweet when she says it, you just want to hug her!  We all want to grow up to be Susie.

Whenever I am with Susie for any length of time, the conversation always goes to new recipes.  We talk back and forth and then promise to email the ones everyone wants. A lot of these exchanges have given me some of my new go to dishes. This is one of those. I bet you are wondering when I am going to tell you what the recipe is….. This is known as the buildup for the suspense.  Your mouth should be watering about now. Mine sure is!

Are you ready?

Hold onto your seat!

Drum roll please….candied sweet potatoes!!!!

From a can!

Cooked in the oven!

So easy!

Delicious!

Makes you want to slap yo mama good!!!

Note: Sweet potatoes are a vegetable, no matter how you prepare them, so you can serve them with the meal and then have dessert too!  

Now I want you to try these if you are hosting Thanksgiving or need to take a dish to share. Leave your comments and let me know how everyone likes them.  If you don’t want to tell everyone how easy they are to make, just smile and say it’s a family recipe handed down through the generations. It’s the truth!  You are a part of the Southern Plate family. It was handed down from Susie to me (Mama), then to Christy and then to you, three generations! I’ll make sure Susie reads the comments and you will put a song in her heart. Enjoy! And remember Mama wishes you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.

You’ll need: Butter, sugar, canned sweet potatoes, and cinnamon.  

Christy’s Note: most canned sweet potatoes are labeled yams so just buy those. This is one of those things that drives me slightly bat crazy, because they’re not yams, they’re sweet potatoes. Seriously, if you look on the ingredients of Canned Yams, it says “Sweet potatoes”. But, there are worse things in this world than the continual mislabeling of sweet potatoes so I’ve learned to internalize my annoyance

Drain sweet potatoes and pour into oven proof casserole dish.

This is a round casserole dish but it holds the equivalent of an 8×8 baking dish.

Sprinkle sugar over sweet potatoes.

Cut up butter and put on top.   

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Place in oven for 35-40 minutes or until syrupy.

Enjoy!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Thank God for dirty dishes.
They have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry,
Thank you, God,
We’re eating well.

 ~Unknown

Submitted by Rebecca Orr, thanks Rebecca!. Click here to submit your quote.

 MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday and I hope you all have an abundance of Christmas in your heart! I wanted to send you our Christmas card and share with you what I’ll be serving on Christmas day when my parents, my in laws, and some dear friends come to have lunch with us.

I’m smoking a pork loin as the entree – so that part is taken care of. The rest of my menu is a broad mix made up of everyone’s special requests! I’m also listing some additional ideas at the bottom in case you are looking for that one extra dish to add.

Please have a wonderful Christmas and remember, it’s not about what is under the tree, but the people around it  

Joy To The World! 

My Christmas Day Menu for 2011

Smoked Pork Loin – I’m making this in my electric Masterbuilt Smoker

Buttermilk Congealed Salad

Squash Casserole

Grandmama’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Mama’s Creamy Macaroni and Cheese  

Cornbread Dressing in the Slow Cooker 

Jordan Rolls 

Grandma Lucy’s Chocolate Pie (Recipe is in my cookbook)

Green Velvet Cake (Recipe is in my cookbook)

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole 

Roasted Asparagus – Place fresh asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400 for twenty minutes.

Sweet and Sour Green Beans

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are some more ideas!

Main Meal

If you’re looking for a copy of my cookbook, click here to get it at 43% off on Amazon.com

• Buttermilk Congealed Salad - also listed above (Cookbook p. 66)
• Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes
• Fried Apples (Cookbook p.106)

• Cornbread Dressing (easy and moist) (Cookbook variation p.128) - also listed above
• Lucy’s Sweet Potato Casserole (Cookbook p. 117) – also listed above
• Green Bean and Shoepeg Corn Casserole (Cookbook only p. 226)
• Jordan Rolls (Cookbook p.16) – also listed above
• Preston Rolls (Cookbook only p.230)
• Cranberry Relish
• Candied Baby Carrots
• Fried Cabbage
• Grandmama’s Tex Mex Dip (Cookbook only p.173) – no idea why we have this at Thanksgiving but we’d all boycott the holiday without it!
• English Pea Pimento Casserole
• Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad (Cookbook only p.42)
• Fried Okra (Cookbook p.224)
• Butter Stewed Potatoes
• Sweet and Sour Green Beans (Cookbook p.40) – also listed above
• Kid Friendly Relish Tray
• Corn Casserole (Cookbook p.23)
• Creamy Macaroni and Cheese (Cookbook p.200) – also listed above
• Deviled Eggs (Cookbook p.24)
• MeMe’s Mashed Potatoes (Cookbook p.35)
• Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole (Cookbook p.33) – also listed above
• Sour Cream Hash Brown Casserole (Cookbook only p. 32)
• Watergate Salad (Cookbook only p.218)
• Pecan Pie Muffins (Cookbook p.169)
• Streusal Pumpkin Spice Muffins (Cookbook p. 129)
• Frozen Cranberry Banana Salads (Cookbook p.188)

Pies

• Faux Pecan Pie
• Lucy’s Chocolate Pie (Cookbook only p. 146) – also listed above
• Aunt Sue’s Fried Chocolate Pies (Cookbook only p.146)
• German Chocolate Pie (Cookbook only p.246)
• Perfect Pecan Pie (Cookbook p.120)
• Honey Punkin Cream Cheese Pie
• Coconut Meringue Pie
• Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Pie
• Ashley Mac’s Caramel Pie
• Buttermilk Pie
• Sawdust Pie
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Lemon Meringue Pie (Cookbook p.192)

Cakes

• Good N Easy Apple Cake with Homemade Whipped Cream (Cookbook p.107)
• Chocolate Velvet Cake (Cookbook p.142)
• Green Velvet Cake (Cookbook only p.170) – also listed above
• Aunt Sue’s Pound Cake (Cookbook only p.8)
• Mama’s Custard Sauce – to go over pound cake (Cookbook only p.10)
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Daddy’s Coconut Cake (Cookbook p.154)
• Apple Dapple Cake (Cookbook p.118)
• Mandarin Orange Cake (Cookbook p.14)
• Butterfinger Cake (Cookbook p.22)
• Fruit Cocktail Cake (Cookbook p.39)
• Yellow Cake with Peanut Butter Icing (Cookbook p.258)
• Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze (Cookbook p.100)
• Pumpkin Crumb Cake (Cookbook p.130)
  
• Granny’s Sheath Cake (Cookbook only p.31)
• Holiday Fruit Salad (Cookbook p.164)
• Homemade Caramel Corn (Cookbook p.91)

There has been only one Christmas – the rest are anniversaries.

~W.J. Cameron

Wishing you all the best blessings of Christmas!

Gratefully,

Christy

I’m doing my last minute running around before both of my kids are out of school and so my friend, Stacey, offered to share one of his recipes with you to give me a little more time to get my Christmas ducks in a row. This is his special Christmas story and I know you’ll enjoy it! Be sure and head on over to read My family’s Christmas story when you’re done, the Seven Cakes of Christmas (I have a free little ebook for you there, too!).

And I also want to share with you my Good Morning message that I posted on the Southern Plate Family Facebook page this morning if you’ll indulge me. Each morning I post a positive or uplifting message to get our day started right and today’s was a little more special to me.

“We’re in the home stretch with Christmas right around the corner! Don’t sweat the small stuff this week – seriously. I know this is the time where we all run around fretting and driving ourselves bat crazy over the tiniest details, doing everything we possibly can to make Christmas “perfect” for our families and those we love. But guess what? No matter what we do, how beautifully presents are wrapped, how much food is cooked, or what is beneath the tree – *You* and *I* will never be able to make Christmas perfect. God already did that  
Now breathe in..exhale…and enjoy this beautiful season. GOOD MORNING!!! ~Christy” 

Gratefully, 

Christy

Now take it away, Stacey! 

Once again, Christy has asked me to share one of my family’s favorite recipes with the Southern Plate family.  It’s a pleasure to do this every day over on Southern Bite, but I’m always humbled and overwhelmed when I get asked to share my food on what is arguably the BEST food blog on the net.  When Christy asked me to post something that was holiday themed, I knew exactly what it had to be.   But if you know me, then you know that no special post comes without a story…

My grandmother grew up poor.  But just as Christy would say, she was rich in every way that mattered.  And her story to me about her favorite Christmas was perfect evidence of that.  She was one of six children.  Out of necessity, both her parents worked to make ends meet and she was raised by her older siblings, as was so common in those days.  Her father was a night watchman at a saw mill and her mother worked at a plant nursery.  When Christmas would roll around though, poverty took nothing away from them in the way of magic and excitement.  Every year, each child would be presented with one toy, an outfit their mother had made, and a small assortment of fruit, nuts, and peppermint candies.  It was always her father’s job to go out and hunt the perfect Christmas tree.  That was his big contribution to the celebration and he took great pride in presenting the perfect cedar tree for trimming.

 Of course, running down to the tree lot was out of the budget, so he would set out in the woods to track down a prime specimen.  One year in particular, they were living in Bay Minette and after several trips, he wasn’t able to find a cedar tree to suit.  In a last ditch effort to provide something, he cut down a holly bush he found.  He brought it back to the house and feeling a little embarrassed with his haul, set out to make it a little more special.  Finding a can of silver paint, he painstakingly brushed every single prickly holly leaf with a shiny coat.   The result, as my grandmother would put it, was the most beautiful, amazing Christmas tree she’s ever had.  The love he put into that tree made it beautiful.   They added the few ornaments they had and one small strand of bubble lights (that’s all they could afford).  That tree went down in history with her and her family.  And something that he thought inadequate, became the main focus of one of the most fond Christmases they ever shared.

As a child myself, I remember trying to figure how someone could be so excited about a silver bush and only one toy for Christmas.  I mean she would reflect on Christmases past with the same starry-eyed look that I’m sure she had when they first happened.  Today, as an adult with my own child, I have a much better understanding of the importance of a simple, but impactful holiday.

So often we get caught up in the holiday season that we fail to realize the simple things that make it so special.  We focus our attention on buying the best gifts and decorating the perfect tree, when the real  importance of the holiday lies in sharing the time with our loved ones.  I grew up pretty poor myself and it’s one of the things in my life that I am most thankful for.  Thankful for being poor, you ask?  Yep!   When you’ve had little, it help you appreciate when you have more and keeps you pretty grounded.

This holiday season, I hope that you’ll take the time to pay attention to the simple things.  For one day, you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.

This recipe is one of those simple things that have always made holidays special in our family.  Every Thanksgiving and Christmas would find this on my grandmother’s table.  And now, I get the opportunity to share her recipe with y’all.

You’ll need: graham crackers, pecans, maraschino cherries, shredded coconut, raisins, mini marshmallows (yeah, I know I totally left them out of the picture – sorry), sweetened condensed milk

Crush entire box of graham crackers.

I used my food processor but you can also pop those crackers in a zip top bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Coarsely chop pecans and cherries (saving the cherry juice).

Combine everything in a large bowl.  Mix well.

You may have to use your hands for this – it’s messy but you get to lick your fingers afterwards so it’s totally worth it.

Add three tablespoons of the leftover cherry juice and mix well.

(You can add more if it seems too stiff.)

Turn out into a lightly buttered 9X13 pan and press flat.  Chill at least 6 hours.

Remember, if you don’t have Christmas in your heart, you won’t find it under a tree.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/12/icebox-fruitcake.html/feed 49 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/12/big-old-list-of-christmas-candies-gift-mixes-on-southern-plate.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/12/big-old-list-of-christmas-candies-gift-mixes-on-southern-plate.html#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:21:30 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17715

There are around 500 recipes so far on SouthernPlate.com so it can get a bit overwhelming at times.

Today I thought I’d pick out a few of my Christmas Candy and Gift Mix posts to make your holidays a bit easier. Feel free to browse through the entire index of recipes on Southern Plate my clicking here. 

Candies and Christmas Snacks 

Microwave Chex Mix

Holly Jollies - One of the most popular posts of all time on Southern Plate. Click to see why!

Double Layer Peppermint Bark

Brady’s Butterscotch Chow Mein Candy - Some folks call these haystacks. I just call them yummy

Homemade Caramels – You’ll be spoiled! 

Homemade Caramel Corn - This makes great gifts!

Quick, Easy, and Delicious Homemade Turtles  - Ever made turtles out of pretzels, rolos, and pecans? They sure are good!

 Want to give a gift from the kitchen but short on time? 

Below are some of the gift mix recipes on SouthernPlate.com and each comes with printable tags as well! 

Fruit Crisp Mix

Pecan Pie Muffin Mix

Chocolate Gravy Mix

S’more’s Kits - great to hand out to classmates or co-workers!

Snowman Soup - another classroom favorite! I actually got this recipe from my First Grade teacher  

 Sugar Free Cappuccino Mix 

FUN Crafts for your little ones (and you!)

Easy Reindeer Shirt – and fun Reindeer gift ideas for Grandparents!

Christmas Mice with Candy Cane Tales (Includes printable template)

Click here to see my favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes! 

 ”Appreciate what you have before it becomes what you had.”

Submitted by Mona Hickey. Contribute to our collection of inspiring and uplifting quotes by clicking here.