Tag Archives: Christmas

Fudge #SundaySupper

Posted on December 23, 2012 | 46 Comments

Holidays are all about family, friends, and tradition. Today, Beate from Galactopdx is hosting this #SundaySupper “Home for the Holidays” event. We are all sharing recipes and traditions from our families.

In my family we have a tradition of making fudge every Christmas Eve. We don’t make it any other day of the year, just the 24th. It has to be one of my all time favorite holiday treats. You can often find me sneaking pieces Christmas morning while we are opening presents. This is the recipe we have been making in my family forever. I believe it was originally from the back of the marshmallow fluff jar, but I am not completely sure. You can easily add nuts if that is your thing, but I am a purist and like it without.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and enjoy your time with family and friends. I am taking a couple days off from the blog, but will be back with lots of appetizer ideas for your New Years parties.

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Posted in Desserts

Tagged candy, chocolate, chocolate fudge, Christmas, cookie exchange, desserts, fudge, holidays, marshmallow fluff, no bake

Heath Toffee Bars

Posted on December 14, 2012 | 16 Comments

There are certain flavors that I associate with the Christmas season; anything mint or peppermint, eggnog, and toffee, to name a few. Toffee is one of my favorite things. I have made it a few times before, and maybe someday I will take pictures and share it with you. But in the mean time, you will have to live with toffee baked goods, like these and Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Today I am joining some other bloggers in the 1st Annual Blogging Buddies Virtual Cookie Exchange. This is a fun group of ladies, and we are all doing a cookie exchange today. Since we can’t do it in person, we are sharing it virtually with you! Check out what everyone brought!

Erin from The Law Student’s Wife made Ginger Molasses Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies
Jess from Portuguese Girl Cooks made Turtle Thumprint Cookies
Ashley from Baker By Nature made Granola and Graham Cracker Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Joan from Chocolate Chocolate and More made Grandma’s Sugar Cookies

I made these bars years ago as part of a cookie exchange, but kind of forgot about them. A friend reminded me of them this year, so I got out the recipe and went to work. My 7 year old and husband loved these. Usually, my husband can stay away from desserts and has amazing will power, but not these. I brought these to a cookie exchange I did on Sunday night. Both my guys said that when I went around the table to pick out cookies at the exchange, I should just pick my own cookies each time.

Trust me, this will be perfect for your holiday tray. Santa might even leave you a few extra presents if you have these out for him Plus they are super easy to throw together. Minimal ingredients, quick baking time, and dump candy on top. Can’t get much better than that.

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Posted in Desserts

Tagged bars, chocolate, Christmas, cookie exchange, desserts, heath bars, heath toffee chips, holiday, shortbread, toffee

Christmas is coming!

Posted on December 23, 2011 | 14 Comments

Christmas is just around the corner. I think I am getting close to being ready. I have a few things left to bake, but then I think I am done! If my 6 year old will agree. He keeps asking for more things. “But Mom, Santa loves fudge, we have to leave him fudge.” How can you say no to that? My in laws arrive today, we are very excited for them to get here. I will be taking a couple days off from posting to enjoy the holidays. In the meantime, if you are looking for a few last minute treats or ideas be sure to check out some of my favorites!

White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Party Mix

Cookie Dough Truffles

Hershey Peppermint Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies

Caramel Cashew Clusters

Andes Mint Cookies

Holly Wreaths

Eggnog Muffins

Cranberry Bread

Peanut Butter Bars

Braunschweiger Dip

I hope you have Merry Christmas!

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Posted in Admin

Tagged Christmas, round up

Santa Mix

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 24 Comments

I am going to go ahead and nominate myself for Mom of the Year after dealing with these. They are super cute, and fun, and they taste good, but they are some work. Word of warning, if you are going to send them to school, make sure homemade snacks are allowed! In Iowa there was never a problem with making snacks or treats to send in. Well, in Colorado that is different!

My son’s first grade class was asked to send in something small to give the class for Christmas. They are teaching about giving and thinking of others on Christmas. A great lesson, especially for young kids. I was browsing Pinterest for inspiration with my 6 year old by my side, and we spotted this snack mix. Perfect! We also made, make your on play-doh kits. You can see instructions for those at Homemade Tip Junkie.

I sent all 22 of these pretty little packages to school to get passed out. A couple days later though, the phone rings. It is my son’s teacher calling. Immediately my heart drops, what happened, what did he do?! I have never gotten a call from a teacher before, I panicked! His poor teacher had spent 2 days trying to figure out a way for the district to allow these treats to be sent home with the kids. But the district has a policy of nothing homemade, and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt so bad, she knew how hard I worked on them, and she knew the kids would love them. At least the play doh kits were allowed!

So now, I have 22 bags of snack mix (plus the extra) sitting on my counter. My husband has taken to going through the bags to pick out the Santa hats to eat, and leaving the rest.

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Posted in Snacks

Tagged chocolate, Christmas, party mix, santa hats

Caramel Cashew Clusters

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 20 Comments

Jen over at The Three Little Piglets is hosting 12 Days of Cookies! How fun does that sound? She shared her Holly Wreaths here last week, and today I get to share with you my Caramel Cashew Clusters!

I was contacted by Oh! Nuts a couple weeks ago to see if I was interested in trying some of their nuts for my holiday baking. I made these great cookies with Macadamia Nuts, and then wanted to do something a little different with the Cashews. This is my version of a childhood favorite we used to get every Christmas. It is super easy to make too!

Please go check it out, and tell Jen that I said Hi!! She also has a great giveaway going on, you won’t want to miss!

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Posted in Desserts

Tagged candy, caramel, cashews, chocolate, Christmas, guest post, nuts

Holly Wreaths for the 12 Days of Christmas

Posted on December 7, 2011 | 43 Comments

Jen at The Three Little Piglets is having a virtual cookie exchange! Jen emailed me to see if I would be interested in taking part of her 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. Of course I would, what a great idea! Today Jen is making for you Holly Wreaths. Next week I will be making a yummy treat to share as well (hint: chocolate and caramel are involved). Make sure you check back each day at The Three Little Piglets for other great recipes from lots of other bloggers. She also has a great Giveaway going on you don’t want to miss.

I’m Jen Matlock, proud Navy wife, mother of three voracious eaters, and culinary student. I write EASY, healthy and delicious budget friendly recipes, with step by step instructions and tips on saving you money on groceries at The Three Little Piglets.

Every year as the holidays approach, it feels like we become more and more pressed for time. Between the shopping, the parties, and the pageants, it’s sometimes easy to lose focus on the most important part of the season – our friends and our families.

Just as important is the food we share with the people we love. Every day I am blessed by the inspiration, support and encouragement of some of the kindest and most talented bloggers, like Erin. I would love to sit down at the table (a very big table) this year and share what we all love so deeply, food.

For me, this is the time of year when I crave the foods that remind me of my childhood, the familiar smells and tastes that make me feel like I’m wrapped up in a cozy blanket, back in my grandmother’s kitchen or rolling out cookies with my mother.

One of the cookies that appears every year in my house, are my grandmother’s spritz cookies. Did you ever notice that as soon as you put the word grandma in front of a recipe it immediately gains stature? It’s like if you know it’s been around that long, then it must be good. It’s quite a marketing gimmick really…