Pomp and Circumstance…and Chocolate

     It’s been a quick three and a half years.  I feel about a hundred years older.  I have met some of the most wonderful people and the one I’ll be spending the rest of my life with.  I’ve accrued twice the amount of stuff.

But.

I GRADUATED.

     Saturday, I graduated college.  I expected to be really emotional during the ceremony, but I was much more controlled…and so happy.  To be quite honest, I don’t feel all that different yet.  It doesn’t feel very real…I expect that will come when I get a big girl job.  I’ve been sending applications and interviewing but haven’t heard back yet (hopefully soon).

     According to our pre-Christmas calendar meeting, my mother, sister, and I had decided to do our annual chocolate-covering day the afternoon of graduation.  In spite of total exhaustion, we each had a Coke, hopped into our pajamas, and toughened up.  The rest of our night looked something like this:

120 mini Rice Krispies
5 packages of Oreos
5 packages of Candy Kwik
2 bags of pretzels
and 1 go-pack of mini Oreos

(From top left: candy bark, close up, rice krispies, close up, our stash of goodies to give away)

     We tried to come up with some new ideas this year since we do tend to give these to the same people each year.  The candy bark was so simple and turned out so cute. 
     Recipe?  Melt chocolate.  Pour it on parchment paper on to the counter.  Spread until fairly thin.  Cover with whatever you want.  Cut.
     Even though 120 may be a little excessive, the rice krispies might be one of my favorites this year.  They’re different from what we usually do, and they give a little break from the chocolate overload.
     Recipe?  Buy mini rice krispies (they come in a box of 40).  You could make them…but we didn’t.  Dip in chocolate.  Dip in sprinkles.
     We also did big oreos – tradition, and I did a go-pack of mini oreos because Keith said he likes those better…  We did one bag of pretzel twists, which is a definite downscale from last year (…I think we did four then).  All told, we made 12 plastic containers, about 30 treat bags, 1 assorted tray, and had plenty left over.

We tend to go overboard.

     This is one of my favorite things to do for Christmas!  These little tins (or plastic containers) are the perfect thing for Sunday school teachers, coworkers, your hairdresser…everybody.  What’s great about these is that we aren’t giving cookies (which can go stale) or huge portions of anything.  It’s just a sweet little snack that doesn’t take a lot of time to do.

I hope your houses are filled with delicious Christmas goodies…
and if they aren’t
please take some of the million rice krispies of my hands (before I eat every single one of them)!

Strawberry Season

     I don’t know all that much about crops and seasons, but I do know that it’s strawberry season.  I love strawberries (or as Della calls them “strawbabies”), and they are just delish right now!  

Aren’t they pretty?

     

     For our inaugural summer dessert, we (and by “we” I mean my daddy) made shortcake, and we topped it with strawberries and Cool Whip.  I’ll let you in on the deliciousness…

You will need
2 c. plain flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
(This can all be substituted for self-rising flower)
1/2 c. shortening
1 egg
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. milk

     Combine all ingredients.  Note: the dough will be very sticky (sometimes we’ll add a tablespoon of water at a time to thin it).  We form ours into balls so that it cooks more thoroughly.

Before.

     

     Bake in a preheated oven at 450 for 12 – 15 minutes.  Optional: Lift top after baking and add butter.

After.

     

     Top with strawberries (ours had been cut and covered in sugar and refrigerated so they were syrupy) and Cool Whip.

Yum.

     

     So good.  I’m thinking maybe someday when I’m good at planting and growing things…I might try my hand at strawberries.  Enjoy!  I’ll be back in a few days with what we had for dinner a few days ago.  Yum!

Twas the Day Before Christmas

erry Christmas Eve!  

I hope all of you are having an incredible Christmas so far.  I know I promised that I would tell all about the Christmas goodies that I made with my mother and sister, so here goes.

Every year, we set aside two days to make all of our Christmas treats.  One of the days is "Fruitcake Day," and my mother and Nana use my great-grandmother's recipe to make (at least) four cakes.
The other day is "Chocolate Covering Day."  We clear off the kitchen counters, put wax paper down on everything, and cover anything not nailed down in chocolate.

The pretzels are always a big hit!

So are the Oreos.

I know this isn't technically "chocolate covered," but I LOVE peppermint bark.

Normally on a post like this I would give a recipe or tutorial...but it's just chocolate.  We bought Kroger brand Kandy Kwik, melted it, and slung it all over everything.  Then we added sprinkles!

The peppermint bark has a few more steps.  For that we used actual bakers chocolate and Andes brand soft peppermint pieces for the top.  After we melted the chocolate we mixed 1/4 tsp. of peppermint extract in (both layers).  It is incredible, and the Andes brand  peppermint pieces are soft so everything is really melty.

It's all incredible...and mostly gone.  My very favorite part of making all of this is giving it away.  We filled 16 tins and 2 trays totally full to give as gifts! 
This kind of stuff is just perfect for coworkers, bosses, friends...pretty much everybody.

I hope y'all are all enjoying your Christmas as much as I am!  Make some goodies, eat some goodies, and have a WONDERFUL weekend!