Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the DeShongs!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!

Rejoicing in this truth and the truth of God's Word this Christmas.

Let the festivities begin!

Christmas Memories

Every year since my kiddos were really little, we have had the tradition of cutting out and decorating sugar cookies. It began as a tradition my sister and I would do together at her house when her kids were still young, and my sister patiently endured the complete and utter mess all the lil-uns would make in the process. Seriously, sprinkles, little decorator balls, and the like could be found weeks later on the floor, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Yeah, that was fun. The point was, the kids loved it so much, and even though their cookies looked more like horror movie characters rather than angels and gingerbread men, it was the making and enjoying traditions that mattered most.

Today, we still do this every year, and the kids get SO excited to this day when they see me place an enormous ball of cookie dough on the table. These days, they can roll out their own dough, cut the shapes, and frost and decorate the cookies with precision care. It is so cute to see their creations, and to see their creativity. For instance, Austin made a "special" hybrid gingerbread man with one missing limb. Uh-huh. Whatever.

Every time we do this, I am reminded that another year has gone by, and I honestly don't know where the time has gone. I say this a lot, but I am at a loss as to where the last, say, 8 years have gone. I have vivid memories of having three toddlers/babies all at once, but once we started school, it all seems to be a blur. Every new school year came and went, and before you know it, your kids are big. Taller than you. Going to drive soon. Waaaaaaaaa!!!!!! I miss my babies! OK, well I don't miss the logistics of having babies, I just miss that they are small and cute. However, I can say with complete honesty that I am enjoying every minute of having older kids even more. To watch them accomplish things on their own, develop talents and abilities, understand spiritual truth and reckon that in their own hearts.....I am so thankful.

Days are still hard in so many ways, as we are in the trenches of homeschooling and everything else that goes with that. Some days I want to throw in the towel and be done. But Dave always reminds me why we do it. To invest in our kids lives and enjoy every moment. It's hard to remember to enjoy every moment when it's so difficult day by day. But sitting on the sidelines and quietly observing my kids decorate sugar cookies somehow brought me to that place...(See you knew I would get back to the cookies somehow).

God has given me so much to be responsible for, yet so much to be overwhelmingly thankful for. God has sent His son into the world to be my Savior! Christmas couldn't be any sweeter than this.

Time Flies.

Our little boys, Christmas 2003. We went from this..............................

To this! In 8 years flat.

Here are our big boys in 2011!!!!

My how things have changed. Loving these big boys.

Salted Caramels were a fail.....

Update to my previous post! I just tried this recipe for Salted Caramels for the first time today. I have always wanted to try caramels, and these with the sea salt on top were calling my name. I glanced at the ingredient list, and since it looked pretty simple, I didn't hesitate. Little did I know when I would go to make them today, that it would take about 50 minutes of standing over the pot stirring until it reached the hard ball stage. I just didn't anticipate it taking that long. The thermometer just crept incredibly slowly towards my target temperature, as I was thinking to myself, "Self, these BETTER be good, and worth all this effort!" It was finally time to pour them in the pan and cool them. Later this afternoon, I pulled them out of the fridge to cut them. Thankfully, to make it easier, you line the pan with foil, and all you need to do it pull the whole thing, foil and all, out of the pan, peel off the foil, and cut into nice tidy little rectangles like the picture. Uh-huh. The moment I went to peel off the foil, I knew it was going to be a disaster. The foil stuck, even though I had greased it like the recipe said. I cut them into nice little pieces which looked great until I tried to pick them up off the cutting board. Apparently the heat in my fingers was optimum temperature for melting the caramels, and they became a sticky gooey mess! I salvaged my un-tidy little rectangles, and placed them in layers in a storage container. They do taste good, and I love the addition of the salt. But, definitely NOT worth the effort. This recipe will go into my virtual trash can.

On another note, I also whipped up my no-fail Peppermint Patties recipe. It is one I know will work every year! However, at the very end of mixing the filling in my trusty KitchenAid Artisan mixer, old Trusty gave in! My heart stopped, as I have grown SO dependent on my mixer, use it ALL the time, and really am quite spoiled to even have it. Today was just the beginning of all my holiday baking, and my mixer quit on me!!!!! I really did think it was the end of it. Sweet Dave decided to take it apart for me to see if it was just a part that needed replacing. He came to me with a greasy broken part on a paper towel, and asked if I could find the part online. Sure enough, a little Googling later, Amazon had the exact part for under $14! Yippee!!!! I was ONE happy Mama. I then proceeded to order the part and whip up my cookie dough truffles by hand. Like with a spoon, by hand. Wow, I really am spoiled, and VERY thankful for my mixer.

So onward with the baking!!! Oh, and here's the recipe for the Peppermint Patties:

Creamy Peppermint Patties

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1 tsp peppermint extract

9 cups powdered sugar

semi-sweet chocolate chips

canola oil

Whip the cream cheese and extract with a mixer. Slowly add and mix powdered sugar a little at a time, until it comes together. It will be VERY stiff. Form into 1 inch balls, roll them in your hands to soften, and then flatten into patties. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate several hours or until firm.

Melt about 12 oz. of chocolate chips with 1-2 tablespoons canola oil in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, until smooth and melted. Dip the patties one at a time, and return to cookie sheet. When finished with all of them, return to refrigerator to harden. Store in refrigerator or freezer in ziplocs or airtight containers.

~Enjoy your holiday season!

Edible Christmas Gift Lineup

Merry Christmas!!!

First of all, I just can't believe Christmas is almost here. The older the boys get, the faster the years go by. This first semester of school has literally flown by, as we have had our busiest year yet. This is our first Christmas back in our house. Last year, we opened presents by the fireplace in our little hotel suite at the Marriott. A little untraditional, yes. But you know what, in some ways we enjoyed the simplicity of it all. I couldn't do my holiday baking and cookie making, we couldn't have a tree, or decorate the house. All that made the season so much less busy!!! But I missed it. My kids missed the annual treats I make that they have come to love, they missed putting their own collections of ornaments on the tree, and we missed our cozy comfortable house. It was so nice to pull out the decorations after not seeing them for two years! We bought our fresh tree last week, and it is fully Christmas around here.

Next week I will begin my annual baking and candy making extravaganza. All my gifts to friends, kids youth group leaders, neighbors, Dave's office coworkers, etc. are homemade food. First of all, it's an inexpensive way to make gifts. Secondly, one batch of each item goes a long way. I just make batch after batch, store them all in the freezer, and then assemble gifts as necessary. I like to use those cute little white Chinese take out containers to give the gifts in. You can buy them in bulk at Smart 'N Final. I wrap the food in tissue and put a bow on the handle. So cute.

So here is my holiday line up this year. Some old favorites, and some attempts at something new!

Toffee - An old favorite I have been making for probably 15 years! I got this recipe from my sister. A hard caramel bottom layer, spread with chocolate and pressed with chopped almonds, then chopped in irregular pieces like a bark. For some reason, this easy recipe really impresses people!

Peppermint Patties -I found this recipe a few years ago, and they are amazing. Just like York, but better! A mint patty dipped in melted dark chocolate.

Bordeaux's - My first attempt to make something like See's famous candy that I love so much...they are maple espresso cremes dipped in chocolate.

Salted Caramels - Another first for this year. Uh, yum.

Cookie Dough Truffles - Balls of cookie dough dipped in melted dark chocolate and embellished with sprinkles or other decorations.

I am planning on posting recipes to follow, and I will keep you posted on how the new recipes work. In the meantime, if you would like any of these recipes to try right now, email me or leave a comment!