Here is another family favorite that my mother used to make for years. When you hear the name, "Fudge Mounds", you may think of a cookie, but what they really are is a delicious cake-like cookie with vanilla frosting that are perfect with cold milk. Growing up, they were my big brother's favorite.
We liked to eat them all year, but I thought it would be fun to dress them up a little for Christmas and put them on plates that we were sharing with friends. When I started to make them I realized that I was all out of shortening! It was because of all of the pie crust I had made during Thanksgiving. So, I substituted butter with equally scrumptuous results, just a little flatter. I even made the butter cream with butter! I think the result was extra rich cookies for the holidays. Then we just added some Christmas sprinkles from my Hot Cocoa Bomb stash. They came out so pretty and we received so many compliments from the people we gave them to.
From a nice chocolate cookie, to a delicious frosted cookie, to a pretty holiday chocolate cookie!
Wondering what we put on those plates that we gave away? Here are the recipes:
Don't forge the milk!
Then, we sprinkled on a few peppermint Hershey Kisses, wrapped up the plates and put on a festive gift tag. It was a nice mix of treats. We have have few more people we would like to give treats to, so I am going to be doing more baking and Cocoa Bomb making, and that is another thing I love about the holidays.
What special treats do you like to give away? Leave a comment and let me know.
Right now Panna Cooking has a 50% off offer! You can give a gift to your budding chef friends to be able to cook online with famous chefs for just $9. 99! What a great gift! Click on the delicious looking picture below for the details.
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At Thanksgiving, one of my sons told me that he only liked the jellied cranberry sauce that comes out in the shape of the can and you slice it and serve it. So, I served a couple of cans of it at our feast, but apparently only 1 or 2 other people liked it and I ended up with more than a full can left over. Well, you know me, I can't stand to let things go to waste. I brainstormed and this very Christmas-like Salad is what I came up with.
I tried to video myself making it, Ha Ha! That didn't work out very well, so you are going to have to put up with my pictures and directions. But, here is the printable recipe:
This recipe makes a lot of salad! Maddy thought it sounded gross when I described my idea to her. She doesn't really like cranberry sauce at all. But after I made it, she was eating it by the bowlful. The Cherry Jello and the cherry pie filling help the cranberry taste to be just a tart hint as you eat it, then every so often you get a nice cherry surprise or a mandarin orange burst of flavor. Now that I have made it, I can see that it might also be good with some tiny apple chunks or marshmallows in it. If you do any experimenting with good results, let me know.
Here is the giant bowlful that this recipe makes. This is definitely a recipe for a crowd.
Another perk is that it looks so pretty in a crystal dish.
I hope you enjoy it!
Minted has some beautiful table linens.
I love this table runner. It would work at Christmas or anytime.
I was just thinking that I could picture this salad as a trifle, layered with angel food cake! Hmm...
I have been trying to do printables again, but didn't quite get this one in the background the way I would like it to share it with you. But, I love that line from "Joy to the World", so I framed this one for my house. "Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room".
It is December 12th and we are halfway to Christmas Eve and halfway through the #LIGHTtheWORLD advent event. How are you doing with it? I have been trying each day to do something, even something very small, to accomplish the goal of the day. Some amazing personal experiences have happened to me because of it.
As you can tell, this is a deeply personal post and I appreciate that you are reading it and listening to it. I have expressed my love of God in other posts, but because of the season and because of my experiences so far with #LIGHTtheWORLD, I have felt a deeper desire to share my feelings.
I have read a lot of blog posts lately about keeping Christ is Chrismas and ways to do it. That is very important to do. As you can see by the Nativities that I have only begun to post, we try to do that at our house. But, one of my favorite Christmas songs, that you may have heard Bing Crosby sing, is called "The Secret of Christmas" and it goes like this:
"It's not the joy you feel when snow apprears,
It's not the Christmas Card you've sent for years, Not the joyful sound when sleighbells ring, Nor the merry sound when children sing. That little gift you send on Christmas Day Will not bring back the friend you've turned away. So may I suggest, the secret of Christmas Is not the things you do at Christmas time, But the Christmas things you do all year through."
To me, the message of that song is that in order to keep Christ in Christmas, we must keep Him in our lives all year. We need to read about Him in the scriptures, ponder his words, teach our children of Him, pray in his name and try to follow his example.
In John 10:27 He said: " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" And also, in John 7:17: "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Another in John, 13:17: "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." One last thought from the Book Of Mormon: Mosiah 4: 10 "...and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them."
I love the scripture that says we will be happy it we live the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that is a true statement. I also know that the only way to keep Christ in Christmas is to keep him in our lives all of the time. What brings me the most happiness is not only knowing that for myself, but also seeing that my own children have grown up and know for themselves where true happiness comes from. You know by now that I am LDS, (or Mormon), but no matter what religion you are, I hope you will remember to live it "all year through".
If you would like to know more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the things that I believe, here are two sources that you can go to to get you started: #LIGHTtheWORLD on mormon.org, and lds.org.
All of that being said, I do love Nativities, and here are some of the favorites that we have around our house at Christmas.
Alicia and her husband Adrian visited his family in Ecuador and brought me back this beauty! I love it!
One of my very favorites is this one that Madalynn painted for me when she was very young. She found this piece of wood and painted it and then had her dad put a hinged piece on the back so it would stand. I cherish this thoughtful gift of love.
If you haven't started doing the #LIGHTtheWORLD activities yet, there are still 12 days to take part. I know that trying to be like Jesus can make a positive change in everyone's lives, just like it has in mine. Merry Christmas!
My oldest son graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism. His first love was radio and his dream to work in it came true for a while when he was able to work for a local radio station, Mix 96. While there, one of the radio pesonalities he worked for was Jan D'Atri. She is a pretty well known radio personality here in the Phoenix area. You can find her on KFYI now. She is a lifestyle specialist, crafter, cook, radio show host, TV show host and producer. My son was able to help produce remote segments that she was the host of that also included her mother and some of her recipes. Since my son loves to cook, he really enjoyed these segments and he often brought home the recipes that they shared on the show. That is where today's recipe comes from. I checked out Jan's website to see if the recipe was included on it, and I found it here!. I also to have the copy that my son came home with so that I can share it with you in a printable form here as well.
These pretzels are addictive! They make great gifts, if you can save any for that, because once you start eating them it is impossible to stop. They are called stinky because they have ingredients like lemon pepper and garlic that will give you really bad breath. (There is a warning about that on the recipe!) Stinky Pretzels are easy to make and your friends and family will request them year after year. During the holidays, they are a nice break from all of the sweets!
Here are a few additional tips on making them:
Because of the popcorn oil, these can be a little pricey to make. That is why they are a seasonal recipe for us. Stinky Pretzels are something that we look forward to each year. Thanks Jan! My son has moved on to Law School now, but he has good memories of these segments and made sure I knew who to give credit to for this fabulous recipe!
Click on the picture above to find lots of really cute cello bags from Oriental Trading to pack your pretzels and other treats in!
You can stock-up on a 6 pack of oil to always have some on had just the case you get the urge for some Stinky Pretzels.
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to fifteen! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! 
Click this link and visit 3WinksDesignShop on Etsy. Find our Hot Cocoa Bomb Idea Book, our For the Love of PIe e-book and more of our creations!
 
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