So my first batch of peanut butter fudge that I made for my gift baskets turned out really well using a combination of Adams pb & Skippy pb - I didn't want it to have a ton of sugar and revamped a recipe I had to fit my needs. Well I ran out of Skippy and decided since I just use Adams when making pb & honey sandwiches it can't be all bad to use completely for my fudge recipe. I WAS WRONG....it turned out awful! So I ran out and bought some more Skippy - it won't go to waste as it's my Uncle's favorite pb for sandwiches.
I really do like this recipe alot and wanted to share it with you because it's fast and easy to make and tastes ooooh so good.
(click to view larger)
Arya's Peanut Butter Fudge
* 2 cups granulated sugar * 2/3 cup milk * 1 cup marshmallow creme * 1/2 cup Skippy peanut butter (creamy or nutty) * 1/2 cup Adams peanut butter (no stir pb) * 1 teaspoon vanilla
Please note if you like super sweet peanut butter fudge you can forgo the Adams and just use 1 cup of skippy.
DIRECTIONS:
Boil sugar and milk in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, to soft ball stage*, or about 236° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Pour candy into a greased 8x8-inch pan and chill. Cut peanut butter fudge into squares when cool and firm.
*To Test for Soft Ball Stage A small amount of syrup dropped into chilled water forms a ball, but is soft enough to flatten when picked up with fingers (234° to 240°).
I found this website while perusing blogs this morning. It has tons of cookie recipes - some old, some new and all look like fun to make.
This morning while taking the below pictures I was amazed at how quickly Ruth's mood changed - (just take a peek and you will see what I mean). The basket full of goodies are for the cookie exchange. I know not everything in the basket is a cookie but I had leftovers and don't want them to go to waste... (click to view larger)
This past week while trying to get ready for Christmas after cleaning up from Thanksgiving, Aaron asked me about Santa Claus and if he was real or not. I don't believe in sugar coating these types of issues (this includes the tooth fairy, easter bunny and other such fictitious characters). I told him that no Santa Claus is not real but long ago there was a person who did create toys for children but he has since died and now his story has grown and grown into what it is today, but that it's just a story - a nice story - but still a story.
I thought the matter was taken care of until Thursday night when he came home and told me that his teacher wouldn't let him write in his journal about Santa Claus being fake. And he asked me again and I told him that Santa Claus is fake and it's just a story and Christmas is about the birth of Christ not about some fat man riding a sleigh drawn by 9 reindeer who can fly, delivering toys to good boys and girls. I wrote down the word "CHRISTmas" with the CHRIST part in capital letters and told him that Christmas is about celebrating Christ and all he has done for us and how we are blessed because of him and that is what we celebrate. I also told him I would talk to his teacher to find out the real story the next day since I was going to be there anyways volunteering in Sam's class.
Well this is how my visit went with Aaron's teacher - Aaron told all the kids that Santa was fake and DEAD. Of course the other kids said "NU-UH!" and told him I lied to him and he got all mad and said "My mom doesn't lie and Christmas is about Christ, not some FAKE fat man" and when the teacher said that the whole class just needed to drop the subject, Aaron proceeded to draw a Santa Claus with a big "X" drawn across him with the words "Santa is FAKE!" and silently hold it up to the kids pointing at his drawing. Well I told her his behavior was not acceptable and that if she has a problem with him to tell me but to accept the fact that we don't believe Santa is real and it's just a nice story told at this time of the year.
She didn't have to come and get me. So I assume it's all settled now. (at least until I hear about it again, I'm sure)
So onto another topic that's sorta related - I LOVE to browse blogs and especially the mormon mommy blogs (link located in the sidebar) because it has lots of blogs to choose from and the admin just updated their blog lists so it shows the most recent blogs at the top of each section so I don't have to sift as hard. Anywho, while pursuing I came across Musings of Mommy Bee and just loved the you tube video she had of the song by Point of Grace called "One King" (btw one of my favorite songs and can't seem to find it for my playlists...grrr) so I snagged her you tube video so you could hear it too.
(be sure to turn off my playlist at the bottom of the blog before you play the video)
My uncle brought home 3 big boxes of Christmas stuff that belonged to my Grandparents. I now have MY wall hanging that I made in 1986 @ school of Rudolf the red nosed reindeer. I used aluminum foil, saran wrap, permanent marker and glue to create this fun little wall hanging that was up every year for the holidays. I also have their "3 wise men" made from brown bottles (assuming beer or old rootbeer glass bottles) with fabric robes, Styrofoam heads and ornate head gear. (I will have to re-glue the head to one the green one as it fell off when we took it out of the box.) I also found the Mr. & Mrs. Claus candles - they are sooo old, but too cute.
It really is nice to have these items out, it helps to feel as though my grandparents are close by. I really do miss them a lot. Some days it's hard living in the house they lived in and looking at certin places of the house and having all the memories we shared here wash back and knowing they won't be here for another holiday. I mean I know I will see them again - just not until I die. *sigh*
(Ignore me, I am a bit weepy today - it's that time of the month, I'm sick and my grams passed in December - it's just been kinda rough this weekend - memories just keep flooding back from holiday's past)
Anywho, here are the decorations I was rambling on about earlier...(I actually think I will do the project with the aluminum and saran wrap with the kids - it's easy and fun! plus I have lots of supplies on hand for that project.)
A big Thank you to Carla for hosting this portrait party! It was fun and everyone looked great! I still have more images to edit but wanted to share this quick sneak peek to share a few of my favorites from yesterday.
I can't sleep so I thought I would process the images I took earlier this afternoon of the gerbils and of the tree.
Here are the gerbils (1 week and 1 day old).
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Here are some images of our ornaments hanging on our tree. The cats were painted by my Grandpa Leake while he was in the hospital a long time ago. I am glad I have them on my tree now to remember all the wonderful memories I have of him now that he is gone. I have a lot of homemade ornaments on my tree below are a few of my favorite ornaments. The kids and I are going to make some new ones this year - it should be fun (at least I hope it will be - fingers crossed).
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Today I woke up feeling like a freight train had run me over twice and not only was I in pain from my sciatic nerve acting up but I also had a booming headache like you only hear about from those who drink waaaay too much. Because I had promised Sam I would be in his class today I had to go - boy was that a mistake - it made my headache worse because any noise sounded like a stereo up all the way in my head. The kids had fun and I know Sam was happy I was there and so was his teacher because we got a lot done today.
After volunteering Sam & I went home and after lunch Ruth and I layed down for a nap. I could have slept all day long and almost slept right thru the time to pick up Aaron from school. (boy would he have been upset if I had done that)
When Clay got home we went to do our scheduled grocery shopping - note this was at 5:15pm. After going to Costco & Winco after dropping off the Christmas baskets to my Aunt Jeanie & Dad we rolled into the driveway about 10:45pm. We were both tired and sore and hurting before we left and we were exhausted because not only did we do our shopping but we now had loads of groceries to put away....needless to say it's 1:20am and I am beat but because my head is still exploding I can't seem to get any right now.
I was so glad when my friend Carla called to say I didn't have to be there to her place for her portrait party until later in the afternoon because I wanted to sleep in a bit and get some rest so I could do the best job I could for her. Sunday I think I will sleep all day...my alarm won't be going off anytime that day...I really need a bit of sleep - more then I have been getting, that's for sure.
I did get all my cake balls, cookies and fudge done - although I will be doing up another batch of fudge tomorrow evening to put in my goodie basket with all the extra left overs. Everyone liked the balls - My second and third batch I added raspberry flavoring and peppermint flavoring. A nice change to say the least.
Anywho, my pain meds are kickin in - maybe now I can get some rest before my bit photo shoot tomorrow....Night all!
...of the treats, some turned out great, while others didn't (user error and not the recipes I had gotten - just me). Anywho, below are the pictures (sorry such awful snaps but I was trying to do it quick before the kids saw them and tried to eat them all up... (click to view larger)
The cake bon-bons turned out fairly well - next time I will let them chill a bit longer so they look prettier and will dip much better. The peanut butter fudge turned out fairly well but would look a lot prettier if I hadn't moved them while they were still in the cooling stage (note the wrinkles that look just awful but boy does it taste yummy!). The cookies were another story, they are yummy but not sure I like how thin they got (again user error, I am sure I did something wrong - probably over mixed it).
