New Recipes

As Betsy requested, here are recipes for the new cookies I tried. The first is "Surprise Package Cookies", loosely copied from an email I received from Taste of Home. They were a big hit at the Christmas party last night.

1 c. real butter

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

3 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

65 Andes Mints

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add two eggs and beat. Add vanilla and beat. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Shape a tablespoon of dough around each of 42 mints. Place on greased baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. When cool, melt remaining mints and drizzle over cookies.

The second recipe is the one I got from the lady at the museum, the granddaughter of the folks who built the original Skingley house. (If you look carefully at the picture of the two of us standing in front of the miniature house, you'll see I'm holding a napkin. That's what I wrote the recipe on as she gave it to me.)

1 can Eagle Brand Condensed milk

8 oz. chopped dates

1 c. chopped nuts

50 Ritz crackers

Cream Cheese frosting

Boil milk and dates together for 5 minutes. Add nuts; cool. Place 1 t. mixture on each cracker. Bake 5 minutes. When cool, frost with cream cheese frosting. Yummy!

It's a Marshmallow World

or "Why Many Folks Couldn't Get to Church This Morning".

Actually, we were surprised anyone made it all.

Yep, we got dumped on last night. If you click on the pictures, you will be able to see better.

These pictures were taken in the street.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Come in and visit! The Christmas cookies aren't made yet, but I do have some Candy Cane Lane tea.





I took these pictures with my new Christmas present! Dale figured it would be best to let me have it early so I could know how to use it in time for taking pictures at Christmastime. I heartily agree!

My Honey and Me

Thanksgiving

Betsy's family came up for Thanksgiving and stayed at Kate and Josh's, and Jeff's family arrived back here to stay with us after spending a week and a half at their hunting cabin in the U.P. It was great to have at least half of our kids here for Thanksgiving. We sure enjoyed spending time with them and their children.

The next day, Betsy, Kate, Karen and I all got up early and went shopping. Sure were a lot of nuts like us out early that morning.

Saturday evening, Betsy and Anthony and I put up our Christmas tree. When they left, I put up some of the house decorations. I still have more to do, so will not post pictures of that yet.

Christmas Walk

On November 17, Dale and I went to Grayling's Christmas Walk. We started at the Museum, where we met a granddaughter of the folks who lived in the original Skingley House. She was standing near the model of her grandparents' home. This miniature house was recently featured in The Miniature Collector magazine. There was a copy of the magazine at the museum so I was able to see the article.

The town was decorated beautifully, and there were plenty of refreshments and live music. Dale and I rode the horse-drawn wagon and saw some real reindeer.

Here's a link to the YouTube video of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ZOIHkgWgY

Blessings

The last few days I've had the blessing of hearing some of my small grandchildren recite verses from the Bible that they have memorized. That they are being taught the Word of God means so much to me.

Thanksgiving Potluck

Yesterday we had our annual Thanksgiving Potluck at church. It was absolutely delicious! If you would like to see the chaotic preparation and beginning, click on this YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPYteYadzYI

Unfortunately, the wonderful aromas and tastes don't come across cyberspace, so you'll have to take my word for it. Yummy!

A Preview of Winter!

We had our first snowfall of the season last week. It was so pretty. Sure felt like Christmas was on the way!

Here's what it looked like when I took my walk in the park.

Care Packages for Some Soldiers

Last week, our Ladies Missionary Fellowship put together some care packages to send to soldiers that are related to folks in our church. We had a great time doing it, and I'm sure the recipients will enjoy the contents of their boxes.

Trip Downstate

Dale and I headed downstate yesterday to visit some family members. We had a real nice time. First we went to Golden Corral for lunch to celebrate (belatedly) my dad's 77th birthday. Our group consisted of my folks, our daughter Betsy and her two children, and Dale and me. After we ate, Betsy took the kids home for a nap, and the rest of us went to some thrift shops where we found some 'treasures'. Then we went to my parents' home to visit a while. My dad had an accordion there that belongs to a friend, so he played it a bit for us. It was good to hear. Sure brought back the memories. He used to play a lot when I was a child. Here's a link to YouTube of him playing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkapBxgudtM

After a while, Dale and I headed to Betsy and Anthony's for supper and a nice visit. Betsy is a great cook! It was fun spending time with a couple of our grandchildren. After the kids went to bed, we watched a video, "Facing the Giants", and believe it or not, I managed to stay awake through the whole thing! We hit the sack shortly after midnight, then headed home in the morning. Yep, we did take lots of pictures, but I will not be posting pictures of the young ones because my blog is not private. (Besides, Dale has not brought me a disk with the pictures yet.)

We had a good time; really needed to relax this week.

Couscous

Well, the other day I tried fixing couscous differently than my usual Tomato-Pea-Couscous Salad. Thought I'd go with the fruit approach, so I chopped a couple apples and got out some raisins and cinnamon. Hmmm, what to use for the liquid? Decided on apple cinnamon herbal tea. The stuff turned out okay, but lacked oomph. I think it would have been great if made with cider instead. And I think it would have been better if I'd added the apples the same time I added the couscous, instead of cooking them a bit.

Fun Saturday

Dale and I had a great day last Saturday. In the morning, we went to Wellington Farm, a working farm where it is always 1932--the worst year of the Great Depression. Our favorite part, other than the animals, was the old kitchen. The cook was baking in the old cookstove and we could sample the things she made. She gave me her 'secret' recipe for a tasty popcorn treat.

In the evening, we went to Hartwick Pines for their annual Lantern Walk and Evening in an 1896 Lumber Camp. It sure was an enjoyable day!