JUST SIMPLE SOMETHINGS: 2014

DESSERT CHEESE BALL

This is an easy and light dessert recipe for summer or holiday get-togethers:

Ingredients:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
Graham crackers

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy.
Gradually add sugars; beat just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap; shape into a ball. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Just before serving, roll cheese ball in pecans. Serve with regular graham crackers or chocolate grahams, vanilla wafers & macaroons.

Yield: 1 cheese ball (about 2 cups).
16 servings.

Up side down turkey...

I'm hearing all this talk about roasting your Thanksgiving turkey up side down...it keeps the breast meat from drying out because the juice is running DOWN to the breast...

Several years ago, when my husband and I were making one of our first holiday turkeys, we realized that we put it in the roaster, breast down, and felt so embarrassed when we took it out of the oven. What a lucky mistake!

That bird was so juicy that we've been doing it that way ever since. lol... The new recipes say to cook it this way for the first two - thirds of the roasting time then flip it over so that the breast can brown. Can you imagine trying to flip a hot 20 pound bird surrounded by hot juices?

I'm thinking that could be a disaster.

Have a happy, blessed Thanksgiving

AUTUMN SIGHTS...

Uncle Sam...

This Halloween costume has to be at least 50 years old and has had a lot of use. I was made by a friend of mine when her children were small and then passed on to my boys who are in their forties now.

It's all lined and even had sturrips to keep the pants from riding up!

The cotton beard and poster board hat are long gone, but I when I open the cedar chest and see this, It puts a smile on my face....it's one of those "Simple Somethings"

Words for life's journey

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Ralph 
Waldo Emerson (1803-1882);

Reusing the discarded

I seem to have this knack of seeing a new purpose in things that would normally just be thrown away...like this huge Whitman's sampler box. We receive several of these every holiday season at the facility where I work from customers.

This box mesures 24" by 15".
I cut poster board and made section dividers of different sizes to hold my small cutouts for cardmaking.

In a glance, I can choose what I need to make a quick card in just a few minutes. This holiday season, I'll be on the lookout for a few more of these!

BLOOMIN' HYDRANGEA

I never thought that Hydrangea was so easy to grow....and that the blooms would be so massive! My brother retired last year and began starting Hydrangeas in pots from cuttings with great success...in fact, he was over-run with plants last spring. I was delighted!
I planted the one he gave me where it would get morning sun and afternoon shade. It produced only one small bloom last year but lots of foliage, which I expected the first year as it was getting settled in. But this year...what a display!