Christmas Crack

I really don't like the name of this sweet treat but it's what it's called on literally hundreds of blogs and I can't remember which one I found it on first.  It was ALL over FB last year and Tina called me and said she had this summer yummy bar "thing" and wondered if I could re-create it.  She couldn't really remember what was in it, that wasn't helpful;)   She knew that she had just never had it so since I had never made this, I gave it a go.  It wasn't it but it was yummy.

Ingredients

• 50 saltine crackers (approx.)
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup soft brown sugar
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup M&M's

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 325°.
2. 9x13 jelly roll pan. Spray with cooking spray and then line pan with saltine crackers.
3. Place butter and sugar in a medium sized pot over low medium/low heat. Stir until butter is melted. Once butter is melted, bring to a boil for exactly 3 minutes. Stir constantly.
4. Once it's nice and bubbly, remove pan from heat and pour evenly over saltine crackers. Spread mixture with a knife... however it doesn't have to be perfect. Try to move fast during this part so the toffee doesn't harden.
5. Place pan in oven and bake for 7-8 minutes. The mixture will spread evenly over the crackers as it bakes.
6. Remove pan from oven and then sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the toffee while it's still hot. Let the chocolate chips melt for a few minutes and then spread all over the toffee with a spatula. Sprinkle M&M's on top and then place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once chocolate has hardened break pieces off the foil and store for up to two weeks in an container.

I didn't count my crackers as you can see and didn't have enough saltines but these other ones filled in fine.

There's the toffee goodness getting started.

Pour over the crackers.  Be careful putting into the oven because I spilled a little on my hand and it didn't feel great.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  I used half milk, half semi-sweet.

Melts fairly quick.  Spread with a spatula.  Throw some mini m&ms on top.

Break into pieces.  YUMMY

Merry Christmas

Max has been bigger than Santa for quite sometime.  But every year we head to Macy's for my favorite tradition and photos. 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!!

2010

Santa never disappoints

Gingerbread houses

Decorating the tree

Nana and her babies

Middle of the chaos, Claire stopped to let Alivia do her hair.

If you think this many kids in a small area is not chaos, come on over, we'll pass you some eggrolls

Love this one of Jordan

Sprinkling the reindeer food. Check out the year of the SNOW!!

Oh wait, my bad...it was the year of the UGGS

Max loves anything you buy

Craig comes over Christmas morning

Christmas 2009

PJ day and cookie baking marathon

Max does a photo every year with a bow on his head

The boys

Most of the girls

What?! A photo with me in it??

All the gifts, all the cookies and hustle. We came home on Christmas Eve to falling snow, the perfect temperature and a sky full of stars. We wasted about one minute before we decided to throw on our snow pants and build a snowman. We were outside laughing and playing until after 11. Both kids saying, "that was a BLAST". And, me giving a smile upward because I was pretty sure my Dad had something to do with the lovely evening and gentle reminder to live in the moment.

Christmas 2008

This was the year Alivia joined the family. What a fun Christmas present she was for all of us. Our last baby of the family to spoil with love.

Decorating the tree

Annual Cookie Baking Tradition

Kids all here

In their fancy dresses

Claire so much fun to watch open presents

Max loving his gifts

It's December

We all know what that means? In 24 days, we'll be waiting for Santa Clause to come down the chimney and leave presents for all the good kids. It also means that for the most part, this month is a month of repeats because I want all of you to make some cookies, my favorite cookies!!

For all my loyal followers, I decided to make this year more fun. I've decided to share some photos of Christmas past because a friend of mine did that last year and I LOVED watching her kids grow up all over again.

This is the annual shot on Christmas Eve before the kids go home to sprinkle Reindeer Food and climb under the covers to wait for Santa.

This one is a tradition photo and it's typically my favorite of the season.

Reindeer Food

Did you know that the reindeer need some help finding your house? Did you know that if you sprinkle Reindeer Food on your front lawn, they can see it from the sky?

Make a little magic for your kids.

What you'll need:

3 C of Oatmeal
Container of Red and Green Sprinkles
Cooking spray

Spread your oatmeal on a cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle, sprinkle and sprinkle some more. Toss and repeat. Toss and repeat.

Let dry for about an hour and then scoop 1/4 - 1/3 C into a snack bag and share with your friends.


Mix it up
Bagged and ready to share

Turtle Bars

My friend Amy sent this recipe to me because she thought it would be a great addition to my blog. I couldn't agree more. Super easy with a very yummy end result. I added some Heath chips, not necessary but loved the extra crunch.

Crust:
2 C Flour
1 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Butter soft
1 C Pecan Halves

Caramel:
1 C Butter
3/4 C Brown Sugar

1/2 bag Heath Pieces ~ found in grocery store by chocolate chips
1/2 bag Chocolate Chips ~ I used Milk Chocolate

Crust: combine four, sugar and butter. Pat firmly into sprayed 13x9 pan. Evenly sprinkle nuts on top of crust.

Caramel: In a small saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar. Stirring well it comes to a boil. Gently boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour caramel evenly over nuts and crust.

Bake 18-22 minutes or until bubbly in 350 degree oven. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle Heath chips and chocolate chips on top. Allow to melt 2-3 minutes, then spread the melted chips to cover. Cool completely before cutting.

Pat your crust into a sprayed 13x9 pan


Sprinkle crust with nuts.Melt your butter and brown sugar together. Stirring almost constantly.It's boiling, see the bubbles on the side. Keep stirring for another minute. Pour on top of nuts and crust.Pour caramel on top and put in a 350 oven about 15 minutes or until bubbly.Bubbly and ready to come out of the oven.

Sprinkle the Heath bar pieces andchips on top and wait about 3 minutes for them to melt. Then swirl with the back of a spoon to spread them out.I should have probably used a few more chips to make them "pretty" but this is plenty with the Heath bar underneath.Couldn't wait until they were completely cool. YUMMY!