Merry Christmas

Wanted to show everyone all the Ornaments I made for my babies this year for their Christmas Tree! They turned out better than I had imagined, and now I'm addicted to just making them for everyone!

oh, and lets not forget the fruitcake that's special delivered from Colin Street Bakery in Texas!

mmm. good for cravings!

Reeses Krispies

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Corn Syrup
1 1/3 Creamy Peanut Butter
4 1/4 Cup Rice Krispes
1 Pinch of Salt
4 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
1 Handful Chocolate Chips


In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter until smooth and evenly combined.
Remove from heat.
Quickly add the salt and cereal and stir to combine thoroughly. Add the chocolate chips and stir again. Wait about 1 min and add the candy, quickly folding the mixture together so as to not smash up the candy.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop rounded tablespoons onto the sheet. Let cool and devour! And the best part about these is they are gluten free goodies Jill can enjoy!

Gingerbread Truffles...MMMMm!

Gingerbread Truffles (Gingerbread Cake Balls)

 These are gingerbread cake balls, and I've been dying to try them ever since last year. 'Tis finally the season, so here they are:

You start with gingerbread. From scratch if you'd like, but it really defeats the purpose of making an easy treat. I used 2 of these guys:

They are 14 oz each, a little more than the average cake mix when put together, so they need a little extra time baking. Combine the 2 mixes plus the ingredients specified on the box, and bake in a 9"x13" pan at 350F for about 45 minutes.

Once the cake is done and cooled (same day, next day, whenever), mash it up with a tub of vanilla icing. When it is well-combined, use the #60 scoop to scoop it into balls. Chill these for at least a half hour, if not a full hour.

Now comes the dipping. I'd recommend a variation on vanilla candy melts (the white and colored Wilton melts are all vanilla). Choose your color and one or two contrasting colors if you wish. Melt the main color, thin it with some vegetable shortening, and dip the balls. Wait for this to harden before you drizzle on one or two accent colors. For these, as you can see, I went with white for the main color, with red and green accents.

All in all, I am very pleased with the way these gingerbread truffles turned out. The spicy gingerbread flavor really comes through, they just taste like little bites of Christmas. Plus, not only does the recipe yield over 5 dozen, but they will be okay in the freezer for at least a month, and when they defrost, they don't have to be refrigerated.

If you like gingerbread at this time of year, I highly recommend these truffles, they'll go a lot further than a loaf of gingerbread!

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Someday Thanksgiving will be really special in my house, as I like to decorate for it with fun dishes and create a wonderful Thanksgiving meal without it being gluten free-Sorry Jill!

But on a side note, I'm posting a fun recipe that is truly very good to eat and giving the Turkey a break to move onto The Chicken!

                    Chicken Roll Ups

• 1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)

• 1 pkg crescent rolls (6 ct)
• 2 shredded cooked chicken breasts
• 1.5 C grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 C grated Monterrey Jack
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• bread crumbs
• 1/4 stick melted butter

Combine chicken, cheeses, salt and pepper. Spoon onto crescents. Roll them up making sure they are sealed around the chicken mixture. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. To reheat, just place in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.