Christmas Confections

Photo courtesy of Kitty.

'Tis the Season to be eating.

Last night we got together with our friends Kitty and Dan to enjoy some treats and have a nice visit. We all enjoyed Italian sodas and delicious snickerdoodles. (Dan sure does make a mean snickerdoodle).

The menfolk played chess and we chatted and I admired Kitty's nursery that she is getting ready for her sweet baby who is due to make his appearance at the end of January.

Today I cracked the whip and made my kids get busy cleaning up the messes they have made the last couple of days since they got out of school. I tell them the same thing my Mom told us as kids: "Santa Claus won't come to a dirty house." I tried to catch up on laundry too but I think I have about decided that it is a lost cause. 

Tonight we had a fancy dinner of hors d'oeuvres--crackers, a cheese ball, shrimp cocktail, rolls, Little Smokies in sauce, chips and salsa and fruitcake.Tomorrow night we will have our traditional "Shepherd's dinner". I'll tell you all about that soon.

After the boys were in bed tonight, we left my oldest to babysit and I went with my husband to drop off some plates of the candy I made the other day. The weather had been weirdly warm and extremely humid (though it has cooled off quite a bit), so it was doing things to my candy. I decided not to even try divinity because I know it can be tricky with humidity. Anyway, it all tasted good even though some of it got "sweaty".

I was a little insane and made eleven different kinds of candy with varying degrees of success. I don't know what I was thinking except that I kept remembering other kinds that I wanted to make/try and I had the ingredients on hand so I just went for it.

1. "No Fail" Fudge. (HA! Not really. It tasted fine but it was grainy).

2. Pralines.

3. Homemade Butterfingers. (Pretty good likeness for homemade).

4. Homemade 3 Musketeers. (Good but sticky and hard to deal with. I ended up rolling them in graham cracker crumbs after my attempts at dipping them in chocolate were only semi-successful.)

5. Pecan Brittle.

6. Microwave Peanut Brittle.

7. Peppermint Fudge. (Much better than the first batch though the crushed candy canes I put on top got melty and gross looking from the humidity).

8. Oreo Truffles. 

9. Cinnamon Bear Popcorn. (I did this so we would have something nut free to give our neighbor who is allergic.)

 This stuff is addictive. I think I may make it again as soon as I can get more cinnamon bears...

10. Cornflake Wreaths.

 I love these because they look pretty and festive but they aren't my favorite in terms of taste--kind of like Rice Krispie Treats, only not as good.

11. Cinnamon Spiced Almonds.

Anyway, I am glad that we will have some homemade treats to enjoy on Christmas day and that we had enough to share with some of our neighbors.

After dropping off treats, we went to the lab so my husband could check on his stem cells. I got to have a look too. Science is so rad! We finished up our little impromptu date with a trip to a local book store and then a stop at the grocery store to pick up oranges and apples for the boys' Christmas stockings and some milk and other necessities (like eggnog).

We are all ready. I am getting so excited for Christmas (and yes, more tasty food to come)! I refuse to even think about the calories at this point. That is what January is for. ;)

How about you? Have you made any special Christmas treats? What does your Christmas menu look like?

P.S. I was thinking about posting the Cinnamon Bear Popcorn recipe after I make it next time. Are there any of these other recipes that you are interested in? Let me know.