Pecan Cookie Balls

Oh my goodness. Yes, I found another great recipe to try and I love it. I am a sucker for anything that requires powder sugar. They are almost as good as my Moms home-made wedding cookies that she makes every Christmas. I said "Almost".

I wanted to make a trial run on these goodie balls just to see how easy and good they were. I give them an A for easy and an A for tastes.

They are also called Christmas Cookies on the Original recipe and I can see why. I bet Santa will love them. Oh and speaking of Santa and cookies, a great way to leave Santa a note with his cookies and milk this year is to just get a Sharpie and write a message right on the plate. It dries fast so it does not come off on any food or fingers. Don't worry moms, The marker will wash off easily with dish detergent later. However, I would not recommend using your really nice china for this little artsy Idea, even though I'm sure it would wash off of that just as easily.

Now on to the recipe....Note: I freaked out when the recipe called for 1/2 lb. of butter. I wasn't sure how to sink that in my little brain. It sounds like so much...Well, it kinda is but lets just say 2 sticks of butter. That sounds better.

Here goes:

1/2 lb. butter (2- sticks)softened
4 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Cups self-rising flour
2 Cups finely ground pecans
1 tsp. Vanilla

Cream sugar and butter together, then add the remaining ingredients. Make into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. They do not rise much so make them approximately the size you want.
Bake 375 degree until lightly browned (about 10-12 minutes).

Let them cool a bit, then shake into powder sugar just before serving.

They came out light and fluffy. These cookies are not as sweet as other Christmas cookies but just sweet enough. They will absolutely melt in your mouth.  Enjoy.


This Recipe was featured at: baddgoddess.com for pecan-pe-kahn



Ive shared this at:
sweets-for-saturday at sweet as sugar cookies
sunday-show-off-linky-party at twiggstudios
mealtime-monday-recipe-link-up-party at couponingncooking
creatively-tuesday at the rustic pig
recipes-and-wednesdays at adornedfromabove
made-by-me-60-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio
full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage
blog-stalking-thursday at thecraftyblogstalker
showcase-your-talent-thursday at whats cooking love
Farm-girl-blog-fest at fresh-eggs-daily

Christmas Sand Dollar

Every Christmas we get together and decorate the tree and as we decorate we ooh and aah at all the different ornaments that go on the tree. We talk about how we remember when we got this one or that one but a few of our ornament consist of sand dollars we find on the beach each summer.

 

My daughter paints a Christmas picture on them and we will keep them wrapped and bring them out every year to put on the tree.

 

This year while getting out the ornaments, we broke two of the sand dollars. My daughter seemed a little disappointed. It was then that I took on a different approach and the opportunity to tell her about the doves inside each sand dollar.

  

 

She was really amazed and at aw when she saw me break up the already broken sand dollars and the doves flew out. She immediately ran to the computer and found the legend of the sand dollar.

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

There's a lovely little legend
that I would like to tell,
of the birth and death of Jesus,
found in this lowly shell.
If you examine closely,
you'll see that you find here,four nail holes and a fifth one,
made by a Roman's spear.

 

On one side the Easter lily,
its center is the star, that appeared unto the shepherds
and led them from afar.
 

The Christmas Poinsettia
etched on the other side,
reminds us of His birthday,
our happy Christmastide.

Now break the center open,
and here you will release,
the five white doves awaiting,
to spread Good Will and Peace.
 

This simple little symbol,
Christ left for you and me,
to help us spread His Gospel,
through all Eternity.

Author Unknown

 

Ive shared this on:

nifty-thrifty-tuesday at coastalcharm 

Mail from the North Pole

It may be to early to talk about Santa but I just wanted to share this.

The other day I just had to complement a facebook friend on his beautiful singing voice and kind heart. Believe it or not, he goes by Storybook Santa. He is the best Santa around and just happens to spread his love to the children at a department store at a mall in my City. He is well known by everyone (of course). Children line up to tell him everything they want for Christmas. They all have that excited look on there faces as they get to talk with the white bearded, rosy cheek jolly fellow with Mrs. Claus there by his side.

The other day, I go to the mail box and guess what......
There it was.....

A package from yours truly...Official stamp and all.

Included in the package were two CDs, a letter from Mrs. Claus and a picture. I was really excited. I will share the CDs with my Dad who likes Gospel music and I think he will enjoy it.

It makes me happy to know there are good hearted, Christian people still in this world that work hard to spread kindness and bring smiles to everyone they come in contact with. This man does not know me and I dont even know his real name but I can call him a friend and know he and his wife are good people who use themselves as a witness.

Do you believe in Santa? I asked a similar question back in December and then added my thoughts on the subject. You can find it  HERE.

Storybook Santa has a you tube site you can hear him sing HERE. Sound like Elvis to me.
What do you think?

Christmas

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did. It was really busy both Christmas eve and Christmas day.
Following a wonderful Christmas eve church service we headed down to the country for some fun family time with my side of the family.

There were alot of sweet stuff which went well with the already excited, hyped up nephews. They were so wound up with excitement. They could hardly wait for Santa to come that night.

Christmas Day we woke up to lots of presents under the tree and the smell of fresh coffee and sausage balls. (you can find the recipe in my recipe tab)

After Church, we came back home to relax just a little before heading out for some family time with my husbands side of the family. There was so much delicous food, pretty decorations and more cute kids.

This was the first Christmas for my little niece.

Now its time to take all the decorations down and prepare my house and myself for a big New Years dinner that I do every year. I could leave all the Christmas things up but I like to bring the new year in with a different  look.

Gingerbread House and White Trash

With sugar dots and gums drops, my daughter built a gingerbread house! She really took her time and its not as easy as it looks. The icing like glue and gingerbread like brick, it would droop, slide and lean. But with patients and care, she finally got it together.

I think its the cutest thing and adds a special touch as a center piece for the table.

Meanwhile, I was busy making my "white trash" to hand out to friends and neighbors. My mother-in-law used to make it for the holidays. It was one of my favorites.

First you melt butter, chocolate and peanut butter together, vanilla, and a dash of salt

 then pour over Golden Gram cereal, nuts and raisins.

Then you put it in a trash bag after its completely cooled

and shake it up with a box of powdered sugar and....

wah lah! White Trash.

Packed and ready to hand out to my favorite neighbors!

Rustic wrapping and clogs

I'm usually a sucker when it comes that time of year to buy wrapping paper from local school fundraisers. I love all the beautiful selections they have to offer and will take my time to pick the perfect paper to use. This year I thought I'd go a different direction. Yes, I can afford wrapping paper, but why? I decided to go rustic with some of my wrapping this year by using plain craft paper and old ribbon.

Not real sure if I like it better than Christmas wrap or not but it does kind of have a warm cozy look around the tree. Its just something different. You can add decorations to the ribbon or use stamps to print the paper. There is really a lot different ideas and special touches you can give these packages.
Just hoping they like whats inside.

I also put out my favorite little clogs I bought from a consignment shop a few years ago. I think the imperfections give them a special look. I often wonder if they were painted by a child.

Many believe that the Dutch introduced Christmas stockings to America. During the 16th Century children in Holland would leave their clogs by the hearth. They would fill them with straw for the reindeer or "donkey" as the reindeer were called.

Christmas Decorations

I put my Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. It used to be a tradition growing up that we would put the tree up on Thanksgiving night and then daddy would drive us down town to see the Christmas lights down main street. They would be stretched from one side of the road to the other and riding through them was like a Christmas Tunnel. My Husband still takes me for a ride downtown to see the Christmas decorations they have gleaming. I love it and it brings back a little bit of my childhood.

But have you ever wondered what the meaning is for all decorations at Christmas? Well, here is what I found to be a cute explanation behind some of them.

Red Symbolizes the blood of Jesus.

Green is the color of evergreens such as fir and holly. Pine trees, with there needles pointing up to heaven, representing everlasting life.
The Star represents the star followed by the 3 wise men.
Bells both call us to worship, and remind us of the Joyous angelic announcement of Christ's birth to the shepherds.
The Candy Cane represents the Shepherd's crook.
The peppermint flavor of most candy canes tastes like hyssop, a plant in the mint family. It was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice.
Lit Candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.
The Wreath reminds us of the crown of thorns and never ending love of God.

Now here are a few of my favorite ornaments I put out. Me and my sister give each other an ornament every year and this means alot to me and then I usually will buy one that represents something from that year.

Is there such thing as Santa?

If your a parent, you will be faced with this innocent question sooner than you really want to. Once your child is in middle school, he or she probably does not believe in Santa but still hold on to the childlike hope.
If your child is asking this question, they probably already know the answer and just want to hear it from you.

Some parents will choose to never let there child believe in Santa from the day they are born. They consider it a "lie" and the christian thing to do is tell the truth from the beginning. My parents had me believing in Santa until I was about 12 years old. Once I knew the real truth, the thought never crossed my mind that they were telling me a lie or any less of a christian. It was more of a fun tradition to make believe a fat man with reindeer flew across the world delivering toys, However, we were always reminded of the birth of Jesus and this is why we celebrate.
 

 

The way I see it, is if a child cannot believe in something they cannot see, then this could bring doubt in believing in a God they cannot see. Don't get me wrong. I know God is not an imaginary character but looking from the eyes of a child, this could confuse them until they are old enough to understand.

 image I caught with my phone at a local restaurant just last week.

When your child seems to really have the whole Santa thing figured out, then this is a good time to go ahead and tell them the truth.

St. Nicholas was in fact, a real person from years ago. He was a very religious man and would deliver toys to poor children in his village Just like the wise men did when Christ was born. This legend grew into the story we share now. We should be sure to keep the belief that Santa exist in the hearts and souls of all kind and generous people. Once your child has this understanding, he or she may choose to believe in something even greater.

Is there such thing as flying reindeer? No