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.

Wii and Baking with Allie

John and I enjoyed a wonderful visit by his niece, Allison. Allie is 17 and lives in San Mateo - about 40 miles from us. She drove over yesterday after school and went home late afternoon today to study for finals! While she was here, we had a blast playing Wii Resort, munching on chocolate chip cookies, baking sugar cookies, and making/rolling/dipping peanut butter balls.

Here are some pics from our sleepover: I've includes pics of our peanut butter balls, sugar cookies, Allie and her Unkie playing Wii Resort, our Christmas tree, and a tin I decorated with a Merry Christmas message on it. I was really happy with a new rolled sugar cookie recipe I found on the internet....here it is:

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookie

Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt


Directions


1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Here's the link, too.....
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Rolled-Sugar-Cookies/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

It's time for me to go to bed....been a long day.  This Christmas season is filling us with joy and we're sending our love to you all!  Sweet dreams!

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!

Back on Blog

Apologies to those of you who have been coming here to get updates on Lewis and Crockett. I've been very bad at updating the blog....but, I vow to do better! I see that many of my friends post blog updates to Facebook....and I'll admit, Facebook has taken precedence over the blog for most of the year.

More to come....promise!

March Madness - trip to Butler

John and I returned home today after spending a wonderful week in Butler, Missouri....my hometown. Butler is a small town of about 4,000 people....60 miles south of KC. Family flew and drove in from different parts of the country (Washington, Georgia, Texas) and different parts of Missouri/Kansas (KC, Wichita, and the Lake of the Ozarks). I've learned how to make picture collages....here's a collage of a group of us at Aunt Opal's the day Uncle Olin and Aunt Phyllis joined the madness. I just wish I had a few pictures of us playing cards.....

Here are some pics of Charlotte, Mom, Mac, and me with Pat & Janie's cherubs....Marcus, Jack, and Reagan:

Last Saturday night, John and I were treated to dinner at the Umstattd's. We had a wonderful evening with Kris and Kevin....and we were joined by Judie (Kris's mom), Don and JoAnn (Kris's uncle and aunt), and Tamee and Doug(Kris's cousin and her husband). Many memories were shared and we certainly had a glorious time making new ones! I finally remembered my camera by the time we made it to dessert. These pics hardly do justice to the feast set before us.....thank you, Kris and Kevin, for a terrific night!! We're looking forward to your visit to the Bay area!

I was so lucky on this trip to convince JoAnn to share with me her secrets for making her marvelicious sugar cookies.....and to get Aunt Ila to divulge the secrets of Grandma Bock's chocolate meringue pie. Here are a couple of pictures of the final products.....

We've had a long day, so I'll sign off for now. John and I are looking forward to my cousin, Benita, and her daughter, Renata, coming to visit us on Thursday.....most likely will update after they leave next Tuesday. Until then, enjoy your days.....relish in good memories......push yourself to make wonderful new ones! Life is good.....live it!!!

March Madness - trip to b

March Madness

Forgive me, my neglected blog. John and I are back to our very active social life, so updates should be more frequent! Life on Crossridge Road continues to be wonderful!!!

We kicked off our month of March Madness by spending the day in Orinda with Cathy Jensen and her partner, Kathy (sp?); Bill and Claire Jensen; Cathy and David (John's sister and brother-in-law). The Jensens were neighbors of John and Cathy's growing up and they've kept in touch. Here they all are gathered around the fireplace:

We were treated to a wonderful brunch of french toast, grilled sausages, fresh fruits, scones....and these yummy chocolate dipped orange candies (homemade....can you believe it?)....they were marvelicious!!

Oh, before I forget, here was the lovely table before we were seated....note the cute napkin ring holders are bottomed-out miniature clay pots....so darned cute!!! Here are our wonderful hostesses....gracious, generous, and so thoughtful! Thank you so much for a wonderful day!

So, why do I call this March Madness? It's packed with many activities....John and I are headed to Butler for a visit with my family from March 10th - March 17th. Many other "Bock family" members will be meeting us there, so we'll have a fun week of visiting, card playing, eating, drinking, and being merry! March 19th brings a visit from my cousin, Benita, and her daughter, Renata. They are flying out from Colorado and one of the highlights of their trip will be attending (with me, of course) the Scrapbooking Expo at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It's Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st....not sure what to expect, but it should be tons of fun!!! They are staying until the 24th, so we're hoping to take them to Point Reyes one day and then maybe to SF. On March 27th, we're getting together with friends for a wild night of eating, drinking, and playing Bocce Ball in Livermore. There are a couple of other social events, but you get the idea.....madness.....in a good way.

That's it for now....going to make a couple of cards and then call it a night. If you're on Facebook, look me up as I often post photos on my FB account that I don't post here.

Happy days to you, dear friends! Love, Carolyn & John