It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas......

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around our house. We had a great weekend celebrating with friends and are looking forward to more of the same for the next couple of weeks!

Friday night, we gathered with friends at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Casa Orozco, here in Dublin. After dinner, we came over to our house for dessert, a little Wii, and chit/chat! Here's a picture of most of us.....

Lou and Paul and in the middle of a big story and you can tell that Kevin, Laurie, and Mary are getting a big chuckle out of what they are saying. John and Kristi pause for a photo, also! John, Paul, Lou, and Kevin went to high school together and have remained friends over the years. We were joined for dinner by John Glenn, another classmate, but he wasn't able to join us at the house. In addition to yummy cookies by Laurie and a lemon creme pie by Kristi, I made marbled cheesecake squares for dessert. Here's the link for the recipe:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=701127
As you might imagine, we all enjoy getting together and hope to do it more often in 2010.

Saturday was a blast with a noon viewing of Avatar in the IMAX 3D theater. Amazing movie! After the show, bunco was on our dance card. We get together with our friends Lou and Mary (she's the cause of my stamping addiction), Connie and Fawaz, Stella and Steve, Susan, and Dina and Jeff. Stella and Steve hosted....and their house was absolutely beautifully decorated for Christmas! So fun and festive. I made a new appetizer and am including the link to the recipe.....it was really good:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=230886. After a yummy dinner and some egg nog, we played bunco. John and I were shocked when I won $25 and he won $15.....our winnings paid for our Avatar tickets!! Woohoooo!!!!

The kitchen was "mission control" for Sunday. I made apricot snow, Seven Layer cookies, Cherry Bars drizzled with chocolate, and biscotti. I've taken pics of some of my creations and in the collage I've also included photos of those who so generously passed along their recipe to me....Mom (with Reagan) for the peanut brittle (made last week), Madonna (with Aunt Ila) for the apricot snow and biscotti, and Aunt Allyne (with Uncle Olin) for the Seven Layer cookies.   Thank you all for sharing your sweet tooth with me! After baking, I arranged some goodies in tins and delivered to friends....wishing them a Merry Christmas.

John paid me the best compliment by saying that the house was starting to smell a lot like Christmas. I think he had no idea how wonderful that made me feel. Christmas is a time when memories are on "high alert" and so many of them are from years of wonderful time spent with family and friends. Growing up, it seemed like Christmas was the entire month of December and we were very lucky because we grew up in the town where my Grandma Bock lived....so we got to visit with and enjoy all the family that came to see Grandma for Christmas. So many laughs, great meals, card games, and jigsaw puzzles!!! While I won't see all of you this Christmas season, know that you are in my heart and I love you very much!!!  As an adult, I spent many a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my second family, Susan and Eddie Wilson and their family.....I'll be with them this year on Christmas Day....so grateful and fortunate!

Peanut Butter Balls

By popular demand, here's the recipe for my mom's Peanut Butter Balls (pic in earlier post):

Peanut Butter Balls (very yummy) - 1999

3 cups Wheaties
2 cups Chunky Peanut-Butter
1 box powdered sugar (or 3 1/2 cups)
1 stick butter or oleo ( I like butter) & I melt in microwave

Crush Wheaties in a zip lock bag until you measure 3 cups

Add butter, peanut-butter and mix ,then adding powered sugar, you
may think this will never mix but it will, just keep mixing.
Shape into the size balls you want, I like very small and this will
make around 65. Put wax paper on cookie sheet & ref. for 2 hrs. or longer
until ready to dip.

In double boiler Melt 2 oz. of Baking Chocolate (Semi-Sweet)plus 6 oz. pkg. of
choc. chips semi-sweet and 1/3 bar of paraffin (slice in thin slices) ( remember to put a
little water in your bouble boiler, so to melt the choc.)

To Dip: I use toothpicks or two forks.  (Carolyn's note:  to allow the dipped balls to dry, I cut a large baking potato in half....place the cut side on waxed paper and then stick the toothpicks in the potato half....silly, but it works like a charm.)

Good Luck.
From:Jane McNabb, Butler, Mo.

Dawn of a New Day

Good morning! It's the dawn of a new day!

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Megan's death. As you know, Megan is John's oldest niece. It's been a long and hard year!

In the true spirit of Megan, we gathered last night at Cathy and David's house and were joined by Moe (neighbor/friend), Russell Peavey (friend/former neighbor), and Julia (Megan's best friend). David made Megan's favorite meal (chicken tetrazinni) and baked a chocolate cake with chocolate icing (and pink writing).....all of Megan's favorites! I certainly felt her spirit with us and she's at peace!

John and I are looking forward to Allison's visit this afternoon. She's coming over to get a lesson in making my mom's famous peanut butter balls (dipped in chocolate) and while she's here, we'll be sure to have a Wii tournament, maybe watch a movie, enjoy some Chinese take-out, and decorate some sugar cookies.....many of Allison's favorites!

As I mention peanut butter balls, last Fall, before Megan's accident, she called me to get the peanut butter ball recipe. I sent it to her and cautioned her that the most difficult part of the recipe for her would be to wait the required time for the balls to chill before dipping in chocolate. Our impatient Megan didn't wait long enough, she was a bit disappointed in how they turned out....but, she was looking forward to trying again. We'll make a few for you tomorrow, sweetie!

Rest in Peace, sweet Megan. We love you so!