FIVE QUESTION FRIDAY, Merry Merry Munchies Winner, Arkansas Bloggers and Candy Bar Cookies

ARKANSAS BLOGGERS GROUP FORMING.  LINK UP HERE.

Congratulations to Cheryl at TidyMom who is the winner of the A Christmas Carol game.  Thanks to all who participated in the Merry Merry Munchies blog event.  There were some really delicious entries.  Come back again next year!  Happy New Year to everyone.

 

Today is Five Question Friday hosted by Mama M at My Little Life.  It’s a fun and easy way to share some thoughts about yourself and your family traditions.  Go check it out.  It’s not too late to participate.  Just copy the questions below and link up. 

Remember to come back here next week for Crock Pot Wednesday.  I’ll be looking forward to what you have to share.

1. Do you do a real or fake Christmas tree?

I have to confess that I now use a fake tree, but we never used one until we started travelling over the holiday.  We always gathered our tree from the family farm or purchased one locally from the Kiwanis tree lot.  Also, for many years one of my husband’s clients allowed us to come to his warehouse and select one.  He was a tree wholesaler to places such as K-Mart so it was tree Heaven for us!

  

2. What is your favorite Christmas tradition with your family?

Over the years we have developed so many, but one of the ones that has been a constant is the reading of Barrington Bunny from the book The Way of the Wolf and The Littlest Angel.  My husband still reads these to our Perfect Daughter and, now, our Perfect Babies each Christmas Eve.

 

Of course, Santa has to have his milk and cookies!

3. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in your neck of the woods? And, if so...how many calories do you think you consumed yesterday?

I read somewhere last week that the average person consumes at least 3,000 calories at the Thanksgiving meal.  That is followed by another 1000 to 2000 calories later in the day from snacking on leftovers.  I seriously hope that wasn’t true for me, but it sure was tasty!

This year we were at Perfect Daughter’s house where four families came together to celebrate.  Our meal consisted of fried turkey, beef Wellington, roasted sweet potato casserole, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, Southern cornbread dressing, ginger-apple-cranberry chutney, spinach, blueberry and Mandarin orange salad, blueberry cobbler and apple and peach pies.  We would have had green bean bundles except that I forgot all about them until the meal was over!  Oh well, they are safely frozen away for a tasty addition to another meal.

 4. Have you started decorating for Christmas, yet?

I began last evening preparing the materials to decorate my daughter’s front door.  As for my house, I’ll be working on that later this week. 
I used to decorate every room in my house, but I no longer do that since we are not home and do not have any events planned there this year.

5. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?
While these aren’t necessarily Christmas cookies, I usually make them during the holidays.  Hubby’s cousin, Carole, gave me the recipe in 1977 according to my notes.  It is a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe, but I have no idea from which year.  These are somewhat time consuming to make, but they are so good that you won’t care!

Candy Bar Cookies 

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sifted flour

Cream butter.  Gradually add in the powdered sugar and mix well.  Add the milk, vanilla and salt.  Mix well.  Gradually add in the flour and mix thoroughly.  If necessary, chill for easier handling (I always chill the dough.)

Roll out the dough, half at a time, on a floured surface, making a 12 x 8-inch rectangle.  Trim the sides.  Cut the dough into 3 x 1 1/2-inch rectangles or 2-inch squares.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until lightly browned (about 10-12 minutes).  Cool on a cake rack.

Spread each cookie with 1 teaspoon filling and 1/2 teaspoon of the icing.  Decorate with a toasted pecan half.

Caramel Filling 

Combine in the top of a double boiler:
     1/2 pound Kraft light caramels
     1/2 cup evaporated milk
Heat until the caramels are melted, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and add:
     1/4 cup butter
     1 cup sifted powdered sugar
      1 cup chopped pecans  (I toast mine because I think it improves the taste.)

Chocolate Icing 

Melt 1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate pieces with 1/3 cup evaporated milk over low heat.  Remove from the heat and stir in: 

     2 Tablespoons butter
     1 teaspoon vanilla
     1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
Linked to:
Designs by Gollum “Foodie Friday”
Friday Feasts @ Mom Trends
Woops!  Just a tad bit late posting this:)  The holiday bustle gremlin must have gobbled it up:)