Sold out....

Sold the last of my advent calendars!  I love these advent calendars, and I trust the families they've gone to will too!  I sold one last year, gifted one last year, and have sold 3 more this past month.  That's it, I'm out!  The good news:  I've found all the supplies on sale in the past couple of weeks and have stocked up to make more for next year.
(Go here and click on the calendar link if you're looking for the original post with the directions I used to make these)

BakeFest 2010

I think we just started a new tradition.  A group of us girlfriends decided to get together and do a bunch of Christmas baking.  Some fun facts about our bakefest:

Fact #1 - There were 6 of us.  Each girl picked 2 recipes and provided ingredients for 15 dozen of EACH recipe!

Fact #2 - Heather brought a huge bottle of bubbly

Fact #3 - It was really good bubbly.

Fact #4 - We baked over 2100 cookies that night

Fact #5 - It took us approx 7 hours to do it.  We started at 7pm - yes, you did the math right, we were up until 2 in the morning.  I'm paying for it this week.

Fact #6 - There were 3 workstations, 3 mix masters, 2 ovens running full time, and a fine layer of flour over every surface, including our faces. 

Fact # 6.5 - Elise taught us all kinds of things about feeling true freedom.

Fact #7 - There were 2 adorable little baby girls to snuggle.

Fact #8 - It took me over 3 hours to clean up the next day (they offered to help but I declined)

Fact #9 -  I found cookie batter up the wall and on my curtains over the sink.

Fact #10 - This was one of the most memorable nights I've had with my besties and I'd do it all over in a hearbeat.

Love the memories we created, the food we made, the laughs we had, the youtube clips we watched, the time with these women who are so special in my life.

Here's a picture of my cut of the take:

These are the recipes I made:

Sugar Cookies:
Preheat oven 350-375*
Cream together: 1/2 cup margarine (cold), 1 cup white sugar.
Add: 1 beaten egg, 2 tbsp milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla and beat until fluffy.
Sift together: 1 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and add to wet mixture.
Chill for a few hours as it is very soft dough.
Roll out to approx 1/8" thick, cut desired shapes. 
Bake for 6-8 minutes or until slightly golden on edges.
Ice cookies if you like  ( I combine marg, icing sugar and milk for my icing)

Ting-A-Lings:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
2 cups crisp chow mein noodles
1 cup salted peanuts
Melt both chocolate and butterscotch chips in a double broiler.  Once melted, remove from heat and stir in noodles and peanuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed or parchment paper.  Chill until set.  Store in fridge or freezer.

Who Says Mennonite Boys Can't Dance?

The proof is in the post...

Obviously he takes after his mother father. Obviously.

Crockpot Comfort...

I 'love' my crockpot!  I've done everything from soup to apple cider in it. I use it year round, but this is the time of year that I go back to my guaranteed comfort food recipes!  Olivia knows me so well that she bought me a special recipe book last year that's full of just crockpot recipes.  I tend to use it most on days that are busy, or days that I have to work. One of the recipes I make the most is Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder.  I start it off on the stove, and then let it sit and simmer and finish off all day in the crockpot.  It's a favourite around here.  Whip up a batch of biscuits and call it dinner.  If you're in the market for a new crockpot you may want to head on over to CSN Stores...they sell everything from crockpots to flat screen TV stands!

Here's my Chicken Corn Chowder Recipe:

6 slices of bacon (optional)
1 medium onion
3 tbsp flour
4 cups chicken broth
6-8 cubed red potatoes (with skin)
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp pepper
3-4 cups cubed, cooked chicken breast (I have substituted with cooked farmer sausage in the past - but then omit the bacon)
3 cups milk (I use 2% for creamier soup)
1 package frozen peaches & cream corn

In dutch oven cook bacon. Using slotted spoon remove bacon and set aside.  Add onion to bacon drippings and cook, stirring occasionally until tender.  Stir in flour until smooth (will be thick).  Stir in chicken broth, potatoes, sage and pepper.  If you are going to put your crockpot on high, then you can transfer it all over to the crockpot now, but if you want to leave it on low for the day I would suggest continuing to cook on stove top until potatoes are fork tender (approx 20 min).  Add all remaining ingredients.  Let simmer in crockpot until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Top Secret...for now...

I've got lots going on around here these days.  Trying to fit in dentist appt's with volleyball games, work with babysitters, social visits with evening commitments, piano lessons with grocery shopping, helping with homework when I should be doing housework, I'm sure you all know the drill.  Right now my basement is looking like Santa's workshop.  My work room is full of one project, and I've taken over most of the kids' playroom with another.  I'm having a fun time creating in my santa workshop.  I've got a few new projects on the go, and a few old ones.  I don't get huge blocks of time to accomplish lots, but having it all set out I can go down and do small blocks of time here and there.  In the evenings Rob can watch a movie while I work alongside.  It's a nice time of year to transition to indoor work.  I'm looking forward to switching the decor over from fall to Christmas this weekend, I've got a few gifts bought already and the forecast is calling for snow on the weekend! 
I wanted to share a sneak peek of a project I'm currently working on.  It's a big project, quite an undertaking for me, and I've been working on it for awhile now, but it's getting to the home stretch!  So here's the sneak peek, that's all you get.  For now.

Lest We Forget...

Remembering a beloved Grandpa who served in WW2.  Grandpa Harding was stationed in England as a clerk during the war.  I will always remember my Grandpa as a responsible, hard working man.  He enjoyed the good things in life, family, nature, music, and candy! I am so grateful for his example of a strong, family man, and I am even more grateful that he chose Jesus as his personal saviour.  He is in a better place.  Miss you Grandpa!

Not so scary scarecrow...

The kids had fun this week preparing their costumes for Halloween.  Halloween can be a tricky topic amongst friends.  Some love it, some hate it, and we choose embrace the creative and fun side of it.  We're careful which costumes we choose, careful which houses we go to.  Like any other 'issue' when parenting kids in today's world, we choose to ground our kids in why we celebrate the things we do, what we need to be careful of, and how we need to respect other peoples reasons for doing what they do. 
I have great memories of Halloween as a kid.  My mom had these adorable cardboard cut outs that we hung up every year, I can still picture one of them.  It was a pumpkin that had moveable legs and arms.   We always carved pumpkins.  Growing up, our neighborhood wasn't the prime area for trick or treating.  We had a lot of 'old order' mennonites (for lack of a better term) who defnitiely didn't participate in Halloween.  Every now and then they'd hand out a bag of chocolate chips or a piece of fruit if they forgot to turn out their lights!  But, Mom always has, and still does get a real joy out of seeing kids dressed up and having fun!  She still keeps track every year of how many kids come to her door.  Thanks Mom for creating such great memories!
We carved pumpkins, iced cookies, assembled costumes and had a pizza supper with Dad and Mom, and then met up with friends before canvassing their neighborhood for treats.  Isaac was a little leary at first, but he warmed up quick and got the hang of looking cute in exchange for candy!  He always knocked lightly on the doors and even said a few 'pics-a-peeps' (trick or treats).  He refused to have anyone put candy in his bag...HE had to take the candy from them and put it in his bag.  Uncle 'dude' was a great sport and carried him from house to house on his shoulders.  Olivia was dressed as a French artiste, Abby was a beautiful princess, and little Isaac was an adorable scarecrow.  I made the scarecrow costume for Olivia when she was little and it's served our family well.  I was thinking today how sad I will be to retire it....