There's No Business Like Snow Business

This one spent about three minutes outside until she got hit with a snowball and she was DONE.

The other two were in it for the long haul, even though the snow was hard and crunchy. 

Sure, he looks innocent enough. 

Time to duck and cover! 

I think I'm in trouble...

They're ganging up on me!

Trying to make a snow angel was impossible. 

All I want for Christmas is my...well, you know how it goes. 

Yes, the blog has been neglected, but for good reason. 

Corn Chowder

I realize I haven't blogged since I went to the airport to pick up my grandchildren (and their mother) over a week and a half ago. I have my priorities, to be sure! We had this soup the other night and if I had not doubled the recipe we would have eaten it all gone, but because it's snowing like a maniac outside, leftovers are not a problem.

You're only one click away from the recipe! You can find it here. It's quick and easy and delicious.

Peppermint Mousse Cake

We had a progressive dinner last week. I was assigned the dessert. This is what I made. The recipe is on the December page of OBB's calendar. If you don't have the calendar, you would have been out of luck because it isn't on their website, but now you can find it in their Savoring the Season cookbook (the new one that just came out).
If you don't have that, and you really want this recipe, leave me a comment and I'll post it for you. Otherwise, just enjoy the photo.
My grandkids are coming TODAY! And they're never going to be far away again. Traveling to Provo, compared to Columbus is "a piece of cake!"

Holiday Jell-O

Last week I commented on Facebook that I got frustrated when I couldn't find something I knew I'd put in a safe place. This recipe was what I was referring to, which I found in the grocery sack with the ingredients. I know that once I blog it, I'll always be able to find it, so now it's REALLY in a safe place.
I served this Jell-O at our Empty Nester's party. It got a ton of comments! I originally got the recipe from the Relief Society meeting in Karen's ward in Arizona. I don't know who Rochelle is, as it was listed as Rochelle's Dessert. Yes, you could serve this as a dessert, but I prefer it with my meal, and since I don't know who Rochelle is, I'm re-naming it Holiday Jell-O.

Jell-O:

1 (6 oz) box cherry Jell-O

2 cups boiling water

1 (14 oz) can whole berry cranberry sauce (not the jellied kind)

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)

1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling

Topping:

1 (3 oz) box instant vanilla pudding

1 cup milk

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip (or to taste)

In a medium bowl, stir the cranberry sauce to break it up. Add the crushed pineapple with juice, and the cherry pie filling. In a separate bowl, stir the Jell-O and boiling water together until the Jell-O is dissolved. Add Jell-O to the fruit mixture and stir to combine. Pour into a 9x13 pan or individual serving dishes. Chill until set, about one hour.

Just before serving, mix vanilla pudding with milk and whisk until thick. Fold in about half to 3/4 of the Cool Whip container and check to see if it is the ratio you prefer, adding more Cool Whip if necessary, then spread it over the set Jell-O.

Note: I thought stiff paper cupcake liners were a good idea, but they became too soggy. The foil liners worked well though.

Crowd-sized portions:

Double the Jell-O ingredients and continue as directed for the instructions. For the topping, use one large box of pudding with 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 containers of Cool Whip. Makes 64 individual servings. 

Suggestions?

I made this for our Empty Nester's white elephant gift. While I'm almost in love with it, I'm not completely in love with it. The colors are a little funny due to the lack of light in my kitchen (it's about to snow, so there wasn't much natural lighting). The words are black, on a red background (and obviously there's the white fill-in). Do you have an idea of what would make this cuter by using different colors?

No Need To Knead

My sister has a friend who posted a bread recipe and she posted it here. However, my sister's friend got it from here and she got it from here. Anyway, it's been around the block a time or two, and with good reason! This bread is ridiculously easy and incredibly delicious!

This bread is crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.

For the best directions and measurements, click on the middle link above, or to make it a little easier for you, I'll put it again right here. Just click. She has great photos and instructions. You don't have to have a cast iron pot to make this. Here's a snippet from Janet's blog post-
Q:  Do I have to use an enamel covered cast iron pan?
A:  NO.  You can use anything that can take the heat.  The following have been used that I know of:
Clay pots with lids, Pizza stone with a bowl to cover the bread, insert from a crockpot, pyrex baking dish with a lid, stainless steel pot with a lid, baking dish covered with aluminum foil, old cast iron dutch oven.

I love this bread! Consider it my gift to you, and Merry Christmas.

Christmas With Caleb

I love this boy! And I miss him too. It was wonderful to see him a few weeks ago. I'll be posting a couple of pictures of our escapades soon.

Merry Christmas! 

This Made Me Smile

Eliot- 18 months old

Agnes- 3 1/2 years old

Showing the love. 

Merry Christmas! 

Just The Boys

Samuel- 13, Danny- 6

My Boys! 

Merry Christmas!

I Remember Them

Samuel- 12, Karen- 9, Laura- 7, Danny- 5. 

The good ol' days. 

Merry Christmas!

A Lullaby

To welcome in the Christmas season, I thought I would share this sweet video of Donny Osmond singing to his son, Don. I love the way Don gets sleepy just at the right time! Merry Christmas to you all.

Apple Dumplings

I've made these twice before, and I guess I never blogged it. Silly me!  Here's the recipe. It comes from P-Dub.

Apple Dumplings (adapted slightly)
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges per apple)
2 (8-ounce) cans crescent roll dough
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (12-ounce) can Sprite (because I don't do the Dew)
ground cinnamon to taste
vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Wrap each apple wedge in a crescent roll, starting at the wide end and rolling it up to the point. Put each roll in a buttered 9x13 (or slightly smaller) baking pan.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the sugar and vanilla and stir for about 30 seconds. The sugar does not need to dissolve. Pour that sugar mixture evenly over the rolls. Pop open the can of Sprite (or 7-Up, or Mountain Dew or Slice...no, I take that back. Not Slice. That stuff is nasty) and pour it right over the top of everything. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the rolls and bake for about 40 minutes or until it's golden brown.
Serve the dumplings with ice cream and spoon some syrup-y goodness over the whole plate of deliciousness.

I'm Thankful

I know it's Thanksgiving, but Caleb is opening up his Christmas present, since I won't be there on Christmas day. I'm thankful for this boy!

Caleb loves Legos and Karen loves games. Win/win. 

After the game was over, Caleb wanted to show off the winning trophy. Scroll down fast, like a flip-book. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. What are YOU thankful for? 

P.S. I'm also beyond thankful that I will soon have grandchildren living in Utah before the end of the year!