Gingerbread Houses

We are doing this on Saturday. The kids can't wait:)

The milk cartons makes it easy enough that even our 3 year old didn't have a problem. Everyone brought toppings to share and you certainly don't need all the choices we offered, we were a bit excessive;).

What you'll need:

Small milk cartons
Graham crackers
Canned Frosting~it seems to hold up better for building

Random toppings, we had
Mini Candy Canes
M&Ms~big and mini
Gum Drops
Marshmallows
Vanilla Wafers
Coconut
Mike and Ikes
Gummy Bears
Red Hots
Licorice
Teddy Grahams
Sprinkles

Put a blob of frosting on the bottom of the milk carton and anchor it to a plate. Make sure you write the name of the child on the bottom of the plate so everyone gets theirs when they leave.

Each child gets 6 graham cracker halves. Frost back of graham cracker and stick to side of carton. Two on the top to make the roof. Use a bit of extra frosting for the roof. We also use mini knives, i.e., cheese knives so they are easier for the kids to handle.
Anchor your milk carton. Frost your graham crackers and get started

House ready to decorate

The 3 year old and 5 year old houses
The older kids finished houses

Bath Salts

The holidays are coming whether we like it or not. It seems like you need a little something for everyone. We made these a couple of years ago and decided that we'll give it a go again this year. Claire was able to do this all by herself at the age of seven so buy the goods and let your kids have fun.

4 C Epsom salts
1 C Sea Salt
6 drops Peppermint Oil (not extract and you better get to the craft store soon, these sell out quick in December)
10 drops Red Food Coloring
peppermint candies or candy cane, for decoration

In one large sized bowl, stir together both salts, and peppermint oil.

Mix until distributed evenly.

Pour half of mixture into separate bowl and add red food coloring and stir well.

Layer each color into your 2 Glass Jars with lids (20 oz size) with alternating layers of each color, making it look like a striped peppermint candy.

Put lid on and decorate jar with peppermint candies or candy canes glued on.

Thanks to food.com for the photo because I didn't have one of the ones we made but they looked pretty close to this and we also used the mini canning jars and made a bunch for the extra people who she has contact with at the school.

Magic Cookie Bars

These are MY favorite.


My FAVORITE bar that I make for the holidays. Step by step will not be until the end of the month but you can handle these without.

1/2 C Butter cut into chunks
1 1/2 C Graham Cracker crumbs
14 oz can Condensed Milk
1 C chopped Walnuts
1/2 -3/4 C Coconut
6 oz Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 350. In 13x9 cake pan, melt your butter in the oven a few minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Sprinkle crumbs over the butter, mix it up and press into the pan with your hand or a fork to form the crust. Pour the condensed milk over the crust making sure it covers the entire crust. Top with coconut, chocolate chips and nuts. Press down a bit. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool, cut and serve.Roll graham crackers into crumbs
Sprinkle graham crackers into butter
Drizzle condensed milk
Coconut
Sprinkle Chocolate chips
Chopped nuts
Done

Chicken and Dumplings

This is a repost but it's one of my ultimate comfort foods and this time of year I think we all need a little extra comfort.

Shopping list...

8 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
3 Chicken Breasts with skin and bone or 3-4 Cup diced cooked chicken
1-2 Potatoes
1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 can Cream of Chicken soup..I use 98% fat free
2 cloves of Garlic minced
1/2 small onion chopped
1 stalk Celery chopped
Pepper
Salt
Garlic Powder
Bisquick
Milk

When I make sticky crockpot chicken, I save the broth and whatever chicken is left in the freezer so when I make this, I throw it in too. The flavor goes up a HUGE notch.

9 C of Water
8 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
3 Chicken Breasts with skin and bone
2 cloves of Garlic minced
1/2 small onion chopped
1 stalk Celery chopped
1 t Pepper
1/2 t Salt
1 t Garlic Powder


Put all of this in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Boil chicken for about 25 minutes until it is cooked through. Remove chicken to cool and turn broth off. When chicken is cool enough to shred, pull it apart with a fork.

Bring broth back to a boil. Add chicken, 1/2 bag of frozen mixed vegetables, 1-2 potatoes chopped a bit thicker, can of Cream Soup, I used 98% fat free chicken.

Now you'll need:
2 C Bisquick
2/3 C Milk

Mix this up to get all the lumps out. The dough is going to be a little sticky.

Now you are going to take a spoon, tablespoon size and drop some of the dough into the boiling broth. Continue until all the dough is gone and don't stack the dumplings on top of each other, give them their own space. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Cover and cook another 10 minutes.

Chop your potato a little thicker
Shred chicken with a fork
Drop by spoonfuls into boiling broth
Reduce heat. Uncovered for 10 minutes
Cover for 10 more minutes
Little bit of comfort in a bowl

Ginger Cookies

These are a little bigger than my cookies and they are missing the red hot but you get the idea. I will download step by step for next year but until then...you get my Aunt Judy's Yummy Ginger Cookie recipe which is easy enough to follow without the photos.

Ginger Cookies

3/4 C Soft Butter
1 C Sugar
4 T Molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 C Flour
2 t Baking Soda
1 t each cinnamon, ginger and cloves

Cream Butter and sugar. Mix in Molasses and Egg. Mix in Flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

Refrigerate couple hours or over night. Roll into small balls (about 1/2 T of dough). Roll in sugar. Put on greased cookie sheet, bake 7-8 minutes at 375. Take out of oven and immediately press red hot into middle.. Cool and store in air tight container, these are fine in container for a week. And, they freeze well.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These are my son's favorite. Hope you like them too.

What you'll need:

Unwrap a bag of Hershey Kisses so they are ready to go.

1/2 C Butter softened
1 Egg
1/2 C Peanut Butter
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar

Cream together. And then add...

1 1/2 C Flour
1/4 t Salt
3/4 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Baking Powder

Roll into small balls about the size of a medium gum ball. That is bigger than the ones that cost a penny and smaller than the quarter size. Basically you are going to have a bite size cookie when it cooks.

Roll in sugar. Put on pan and bake at 375 for about 7 minutes until bottom is lightly browned.

Immediately put on waxed paper and immediately push a Hershey Kiss in the center. You are not going to be able to move these for at least two hours because the kiss melts and will collapse if you move them. They need to completely cool before you package these.

These freeze well.

Hockey

It was a sad day in youth sports last Saturday, December 3. A day that has left me feeling kind of sick.

We were playing a regular game. With 6 minutes left on the clock, tied game, there was a scuffle in front of the net. Whistle blown, opposite team player skates towards his bench. Next thing I see is the referee grab our player by the collar and throw him to the ice.

Our player's helmet came partially off when he hit, he pulled it the rest of the way off. He was rolling on the ground, holding his head and crying out. The arena was silent for a moment.

Our coaches had some words with the three referees and then sent our players off of the ice. A decision I would have also made for the safety of our players and had he not made that decision, I would have pulled Max from the ice myself.

Paramedics were called, as were the police and the end result was our player has a concussion. He will not be allowed back on the ice until a doctor clears him which could be quite awhile from what I understand.

Our coach is now suspended until a hearing can be held because it is against league rules to end a game before the clock runs out.

I don't know what is happening to the referee, who apparently was a "high ranking official" as of now.

What I do know is this...I saw this man grab our player. I saw this man throw him to the ice. There is no doubt in my mind that this was an intentional act. I have watched a LOT of hockey over the years and I have never seen anything as brutal or as blatant as this in regard to a referee.

I am also not that Mom, that crazy, "my kid doesn't do anything wrong" or "the referee's are stupid" kind of Mom. I realize that we are going to encounter questionable calls. That they miss something or make the wrong call. It's part of the game and not only do I accept that, I have taught my kids that what a referee or umpire calls is the last word. Move on with the game.

I further realize that hockey is a full contact sport. Your kid could get hurt. Do I like it? Absolutely not. Would I prefer he play baseball year round? I wouldn't mind it. But Max picked up a stick when he was 2 years old and never looked back. He knows that it's part of the game and he tries to play smart so he doesn't get hurt. He is 14 years old and he knows how to run a hot bath with Epsom Salts and to use a bag of frozen corn for a sore muscle because he wants to skate the next day.

But what brings me to this post??

The local news ran a story about the incident.

And, the comments that were posted made me feel as sick as the day this happened. Several idiots, yes, I said IDIOTS, posting that the kid probably lipped off and basically deserved it.

Here is a direct quote from one such idiot who says that he has been a coach and referee for 45 years, "Refs do not push innocent players around. Now troublemakers who arent repsonding to commands, different story. Especially with 13-14 year old boys".

Really?

When is it ever OK to grab a player and throw him to the ground? I don't care if that kid said something that would make my ears burn, you don't physically throw a child to the ice!

So...we wait and hope that justice is served and that Max never encounters such a thing on the ice because I can pretty much guarantee the headline would be, "Hockey Mom arrested after referee assaults her son".