As 2010 Comes To An End

I want to thank each of you for your visits to my blog this past year and for the wonderful comments you've left.

I want to thank those of you whose blogs I've visited most every single day. Each of you are so very special and I feel as though we have become friends. I've laughed and cried with you and I've prayed with and for you too.

From our Oklahoma home to yours

AD and I want to wish you a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

However you choose to see the old year out and the new year in, please be safe and I'll see you soon!

Christmas Memories

Many bloggers have posted some of their favorite Christmas memories.

Here's some of mine. Sorry, there are no photos because I've just been too busy to find the ones that go along with them.

1. In 1972 one of the local photo shops started taking photos of children with Santa very early - like November 19, which happened to be Son's 2nd birthday. Taking advantage of getting a birthday and Christmas photo at the same time, I put Son in his overalls and a t-shirt (it was warm that year) and off we went. While sitting on Santa's lap, Son had a bit of an accident. The photo is great - there's just this dark blue spot on his overalls.

2. The year Son was in kindergarten and we went to see Santa at one of the shopping centers. Santa asked Son how old he was and if he was in school. Son replied he was in kindergarten and Santa asked what his teacher's name was. When Son told him, Santa said, "Well, you go to Wilson Elementary" and then started talking to Son about the principal of the school among other things. You'd think that would pretty much make a believer out of Son but when we left, as we were walking across the parking lot Son asked me who Santa was. I asked him who he thought Santa was and he paused before saying, "I think he's my dad." I couldn't lie to him and told him he was right but not to say anything to any other children. He thought about that for awhile before saying, "I really like dressing up for Halloween. Let's not tell Dad I know so he can still dress up like Santa at Christmas."

3. The year Daughter was 3 1/2 she was Mary in our church pre-school's program. The shepherds, Mary and Joseph walked down the center aisle to the front of the church. The Wise Men came in from the side and up one level from the manger. Well, our miss Mary decided that one of the Wise Men wasn't doing something right as they were coming in so she hiked up her robes and climbed up to the level the Wise Men were on and proceeded to tell the Wise Man what he was doing wrong. My cheeks could have rivaled Rudolph's nose in color. Years later I can laugh about it.

4. The year G3 walked into the house upon arriving and told me that his dad said my plastic snowmen were "cheesy." One thing led to another with Son saying that they were as bad as "those awful pink flamingos people put in their yard." Now if you've been reading my blog very long you know we have a thing about flamingos here and that's how it all started.

5. Last year's big Christmas snow. That's one I won't soon forget.

#1 through #4 are amusing Christmas memories. #5 - not so much.

Next year and in the years to come I'll remember that this year was the year I was introduced to the following song. It says a lot and has become one of my favorite Christmas songs. If you haven't heard it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. You can read more about the song and how it came to be at here.

Two Candy Recipes

Monday I made a couple of batches of candy. Both are fairly quick and easy to put together if you have a candy thermometer.

The first one I made is Praline Pecans. The list of ingredients are: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon rum extract and 3 cups pecan halves.

In a heavy saucepan combine both sugars, water, honey and cinnamon. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. Insert a candy thermometer into the syrup and heat until the thermometer reads 240 degrees F. (Soft Ball Stage).

Sorry but I didn't get a picture of that last part. 

Remove the pan from the heat and add extracts. Cool to lukewarm without stirring.

When the mixture is lukewarm, beat it with a mixer for 2 to 3 minutes our until creamy. Then stir in pecans until coated. You need to work quickly before the candy hardens too much. Turn onto waxed paper (the mixture will be a bit sticky) and separate into small clumps.

Cool for a few hours or until dry and sugary. Store in an airtight container.

 

The second recipe is for Caramels. My older sister gave me this recipe years ago and people always seem to enjoy it.

The list of ingredients is: 1 cup butter (or margarine), 1 pound brown sugar, dash of salt, 1 cup corn syrup, 1 (15 ounce) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. If desired, chopped pecans can also be added.

First melt the butter in a heavy, large saucepan.

Stir in brown sugar until it's melted.

Add salt, corn syrup and Eagle Brand milk. Stir well.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thermometer reaches 245 to 250 degrees F. (Firm Ball Stage).

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Chopped pecans can be added at this time if desired. I use 1 and 1/2 cups chopped pecans.) 

Pour candy into a buttered 9x13" pan. (I sprayed my pan and lined it with parchment paper so that 2 of the ends extended over the edges. That way I could just take the whole slab of candy out of the pan later.)

Once the candy is cool, cut it into pieces and wrap each in a piece of waxed paper.

It was much easier for me to take the whole slab of candy out of the pan before cutting into pieces.

Enjoy!

Christmas Goats

We do live in the country but we don't have any animals other than our 4 dogs.

I do have several friends though that blog about their various animals and when I saw this YouTube video I knew I wanted to share it with all of you.

Enjoy!