This and that

Friday, December 21, 2012

Santa's elves Gingerbread house and Bloggers Unite for Sandy Hook

After the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School,

many bloggers got together to show their support

to the families of the victims and the community of Newtown.

Today, December 21st, bloggers are going to unite and bring cookies or a craft.

To find more information about this please go to Your and Mine ARE ours and Crazy for Crafts.

I found this on Tammy's blog ~ Yours and Mine ARE Ours

As I was trying to think of something to make or do to show my support

My thoughts went to making a Gingerbread House.

I loved making Gingerbread Houses with my nieces and nephews over the years,

and I wondered if any of these children that lost their lives had ever made one or

if they were going to be making one this Christmas.

I haven't made a gingerbread house for many years but this year

My gingerbread house is going to be a tribute to all the children and adults that lost their lives

in the senseless tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14th.

This will not bring them back but it is my way of showing support to the families and the loved ones of

these fallen victims.

May God give you the strength and comfort you through these trials.

After cutting out and baking my elves gingerbread house,

I decided to decorate the pieces before putting them together.

the roof

the walls, front and door

After decorating the roof and the walls, it was time to start putting it together

Once the walls together, I knew that I need a bit of support before I put the roof on.

a straw made a good beam

a picture from the side... not the best picture

a close up of the final project from the front..

I will be posting the recipe for the dough that I used for the gingerbread house hopefully this weekend.

I used the leftovers to make cookies..

Here is where I found my pattern.

Linked to Daily Dish Gingerbread competition, Elizabeth's Kitchen Bloghop

Gingerbread House Competition at the Daily Dish (marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com)

The Presidents Remarks On Sandy Hook Elementary School Tragedy (theobamacrat.com)

Cookies and Crafts for Sandy Hook {#BloggersforSandyHook} (doctoratehousewife.com)

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party -12/20/12

Last party of the year...

It has been a great year and I have had lots of fun...

Hope you all did too.

There has been so many great recipes linked up,

I just wish that I would have time to make them all...

Thank you to all of you who have made our parties such a success

If it wasn't for you we wouldn't be able to do this...

This week's giveaway is sponsored by one of our own

Robyn from Robyn's View

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Granola Bars... the most delicious ones yet.

Fri

I love granola bars and my husband eats them like they are going out of style...

and I finally found a bar that works for us...

tastes good, not too sweet

and has fruit..

YUM!

Fruity Granola Bar

adapted from All-recipes.com

2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar*

1/2 cup flax

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup dried fruit (I use cranberries, apricots and mangoes)*

1/2 cup honey

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup coconut oil ( I use Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil) melted

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish generously.

In large bowl mix together rolled oats, brown sugar, flax, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, flour, salt, and dried fruit. Make a well in the center of ingredients. In separate bowl mix honey, egg, coconut oil and vanilla and pour into dry ingredients. With hand mix everything together and pat into baking dish.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until edges start turning brown. Cool for 5 minutes and then cut into bars. Cool the rest of the way. You need to cut them after 5 minutes or they will be too hard to cut.

*I have omitted the brown sugar entirely and they still turn out.

* when using dried fruit the majority is the cranberries and then added cut apricots and mangoes for the rest. Cut in small pieces

** I have also doubled the recipe and still used the 9 X 13 pan.. they are thicker and I cut them into thinner pieces.

Enjoy!

These are great for breakfast and breakfast on the go, and for snacks.

They also would be a good Christmas gift to give for people that are on the go..

Links: Tasty Thursdays, Foodie Friends Friday , Serenity Saturday

Monday, December 17, 2012

Day of Remembrance .

"I am one of the many craft, cooking, lifestyle and DIY bloggers who had posts to share with you today, but the events of Friday's shooting in Connecticut have left us heartbroken. Like you, we cried as news reports poured in and wondered out loud about how something so cruel could hurt the most innocent and tender. We not only grieved for the lives lost and wounded, but for that part of the magic and wonder of this holiday season that was taken from us all. We know that no words, no gifts, no acts of service will ever take away the pain, but we, as bloggers and parents collectively, want those affected by this to know how close to our hearts they are: We love you. We pray for you. We're so heartbroken for your loss. To honor the memory of lives cut short, we choose to step away from our blogs and computers today to celebrate the gift of life and those we love most: our children, families, good friends and community. We're holding our kids a little closer, reaching out to neighbors and giving thanks for the moments we have together. Thank you for stopping by today. We hope you'll join us in remembering, praying, and gathering close. We wish you and your families a safe and blessed holiday."

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Gingerbread Truffles

Like my Candy Cane Fudge Truffles,

my Gingerbread Truffles came from the same way...

I made some Gingerbread Spice cookies and they didn't really turn out...

They tasted wonderfully, but as they wouldn't come off the pan and also were hard..

I couldn't serve them...

So I decided to make the cookies into crumbs,

Add some Cream Cheese and roll them into balls and dip them into white chocolate.

Gingerbread Truffles

3 cups gingerbread cookie crumbs

8 oz cream cheese

white chocolate

ginger candy or sprinkles for garnish

Mix cookie crumbs and cream cheese, I used my kitchen aide to do this. Roll into balls. Put in refrigerator to chill. Once chilled dip into melted white chocolate and garnish if you like with small pieces of ginger candy or sprinkles.

I haven't got the art of dipping into white chocolate ~ The balls wouldn't dip, so I used a knife and spread the white chocolate onto the balls.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas Subway Art.

Subway art is becoming very popular

and I have tried to do my own.

These are all done with some help of the web and searches I have done

Also from pictures I have seen both online and in stores.

You are welcome to use any of these, but they are not available to be used for profit.

They are only available for personal use.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am also going to repeat the links so that you can find them to copy as I sometimes have problems with the links at the beginning of my post. Please let me know if you are having problems finding the links as this is the first time I am doing this and using google doc.

The Most Wonderful Time of theYear

Joy

Luke 2.8

Christmas

A Child Was Born

Candy Cane Fudge Truffles

A while back I made some candy cane fudge, with Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses

Although the fudge tasted great it was very soft.

I am not sure what I did to it that it didn't set properly.

I first thought of rolling it into balls and dipping it into chocolate -

but that didn't pan out as well as I wanted it too, as the fudge melted in the warm melted chocolate.

I didn't want to waste the fudge so decided to mix the fudge with some animal crackers and then roll them

and dip them into chocolate.

Success!

I will give you the recipe that I used to make the fudge.. Maybe it will work out for you.

Candy Cane Fudge

This recipes was adapted from Dawn's Divine Delight - Dove Fudge

3 cups white sugar

3/4 cup butter

1 can evaporated milk (large)

1/2 bag Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses

2- 4 oz Ghirardelli White Chocolate Bars

7 oz Marshmallow Creme - or 1 cup homemade - I use this recipe

Cut chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Bring sugar, butter and evaporated milk to a full rolling boil on medium heat. Boil for 4 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees. Remove from heat and add chocolate and marshmallow creme until mixed. The fudge was very pink, so I added some red food colour and swirled it into the fudge. Place in foil covered 9 x 13. Place in refrigerator until set.

This should have set properly. Mine set but was too soft to cut into bars, so I then had to rethink what I would do it. I decided to make some chocolates. I first thought of dipping as I said, but this didn't work.. My next thought was to use molds. I didn't have any molds but I did have some ice cube trays and thought those could work... They did. I placed a small amount of melted chocolate in the bottom of the ice cube tray and then placed a small amount of the soft fudge mixture onto top of the melted chocolate and then added more melted chocolate above the fudge. Then tapping the ice cube tray to let all the chocolate settle. Place in refrigerator until set.

place small amount of chocolate in bottom
of tray, then small amount of fudge and cover
with more chocolate

Candy Cane Fudge Truffles

3 cups of the above recipe for candy cane fudge

1 cup animal cracker crumbs

melted chocolate.

candy cane crumbs (optional)

Mix candy cane fudge and animal cracker crumbs together. Roll into balls and place in refrigerator until set. Once set, melt chocolate and dip balls into chocolate. Sprinkle candy cane crumbs over chocolate (optional). Let cool.