Tis The Season...And Recipes

I'm feeling so good about my Christmas accomplishments this year! I am almost completely ready to just sit back and enjoy the season. It's a beautiful thing!

And guess what? It snowed a lot today. I loved it!
Guess what else? I bought a bag of Cutie Mandarin Oranges today. They are my first ones of the season...totally juicy and delicious! I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to Cuties. I can't get enough of them. While preggers with Cameron I think I ate about 10 Cuties a day for the entire month of December! Ahhhhhhhh, memories.....

Speaking of Cuties....
In church yesterday Parker says, in a pretty loud whisper, "MOM, I have to poop! Right now!"
Ummmm, okay.....Sam's up on the stand, and I'm holding down the fort (or pew, as it were) with 3 kiddos. I say to Carson "Please go with Parker and stay by the bathroom until he is done and then bring him back into the chapel." They leave.

They are gone for 15 minutes or so (it's a guy thing) and then just Parker walks back in. Again, in a not-so-quiet whisper, he says "I can't find Carson anywhere!". Oh goody.

I was sitting towards the front of the chapel so I mouthed the words to Sam, "I don't know where Carson is. Can you see him?" Sam scans the congregation and then subtly nods his head 'no'. I'm imagining all sorts of chaos in the hallways and that chaos begins with "Car" and ends in "son". So, I decide to go find him and let him really have it!

I walk into the hallway to find him sitting in the foyer, quietly reading The Friend magazine! When he saw me, he said "Hi Mom, I'm just waiting for Parker." FREEZE! I wanted to stop time and just remember this moment.

You have to remember, I'm the mother of 3 boys. It's a life full of chaos, potty talk, stitches, broken bones, goose eggs, and burps. I rarely get these quiet moments of reverence. I was so happy and relieved that he wasn't causing trouble. I was feeling pretty good until we walked back in the chapel and as I sat down, Parker declares "I just farted!" and all three boys giggled. Well, it was good while it lasted...

Hey guess what Carson got to do for Pack meeting the other day? Go ice skating! Carson could RUN with skates on, as long as he was on the rubber floor. Put him on the ice and he was pretty shaky. Poor buddy.




He fell pretty hard a few times. A guy in our ward said to him after one fall: Can I laugh yet or does it still hurt? I'm proud of him for even trying to skate after the first few falls. I would have sat down and stayed I think!




Sam took some pictures of the boys playing in a skiff of snow the other day. The only downside to playing in the snow: It takes 1/2 hour to get all the snow gear on, and then the kids only play for about 20 minutes. What's left for momma? Piles and piles of soggy, freezing cold, clothes! Crazy kids.




I've had a few people ask for recipes of some of the Christmas candy I make every year. In case you are interested, here we go:

Toffee:
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb real butter
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
2 cups chopped almonds, toasted

Line cookie sheet with foil and sprinkle with 1 cup of the nuts. Combine sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla in medium size saucepan. Bring to boil, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to 310 degrees (if it's below 310 and it starts smoking like it's about to burn, consider it done!). Poor over nuts, spreading evenly with a spoon. Sprinkle with chocolate. Wait 1 to 2 minutes. Spread chocolate. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Press nuts into chocolate with back of a knife. Allow to harden. Break into pieces and store in airtight container.
**I have learned I can't make this on my stove because I have a smooth top stove and the toffee always burns. When I make it at my parents house, they have a gas stove and with the air circulating under the pan, it doesn't burn.

White Chocolate Popcorn, or Paradise Popcorn:
Sam's co-workers dubbed this stuff "Paradise Popcorn" I just call it So-Good-I-Want-To-Marry-It!

Popped popcorn (on the stove or air popped)
White Chocolate
Christmas M&M's
Dry Roasted Peanuts
Mini Marshmallows

Pop the popcorn (as much as you want).
Melt the white chocolate (as much as you want) and pour over popcorn, be sure to coat every single piece of popcorn.
Now throw in handfuls of M&M's, marshmallows, and peanuts. Stir to coat and combine.

While still warm, I fill up Christmas Cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon

Nougat:
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups White Corn Syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 egg whites
1-2 cups peanuts
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tblsp butter, melted
2 tsp flour

Cook sugar, corn syrup, and salt to 235 degrees. While syrup is cooking, beat egg whites in a heavy duty mixer until stiff. With mixer still going, add about one-third of the hot syrup.
Continue beating and put the rest of the syrup back on the stove. Cook to 268 (if it goes to 270 that's okay). Add hot syrup slowly to egg mixture. Beat for a few minutes.
Pour half the melted butter and one teaspoon of flour onto candy and mix in. Add rest of butter and flour to candy and mix again. Add nuts and vanilla.
Pour into a WELL-BUTTERED 9X13 pan and cool. Cut and wrap in wax paper.

Sometimes my nougat turns out perfect. Sometimes it's too hard or soft....but no matter what, it always tastes so good, just like a Big Hunk candy bar!

My nougat recipe has two big splotches of vanilla on it. I did that while making nougat at Fern's one day. Fern looked at it and said "NOW it looks like real, tried and true recipe!" Isn't that the truth!?!