Thursday, December 5, 2013

Christmas Truffles

My sister gave me her "secret" Truffle recipe and I'm going to share it. LOL yes, I asked first. But the real secret I'm going to share is dipping those nasty little things. I hate dipping truffles. Every year I try again, and again. It's such a mess, and I can never get them to look good. The chocolate always hardens too fast. 

mix the truffles and roll into balls. 

heat a crockpot of water with a widemouth jar. I used a my dip crock pot but i'm sure you could use the full size one with two jars! (one white and one chocolate?) 

Add your chocolate. I used chocolate chips once and white chocolate melt once. 




it will take a while to melt, but then you will have time to roll more truffles. :-) 








The chocolate will not get too cool and clump so dip away! I like to sprinkle decorating candy or crushed pecans while the chocolate is still hot. Be sure to sprinkle every 4-5 truffles so the don't cool. 


after the truffles are cool, i like to put them each in a x-small muffin cup then wrap or put on a tray. 


here is the double layer tray I put them on for the cookie exchange. 


The white ones are the Oreo Truffles. But are dipped the same way :-) 

Sara's Truffles

1 bag coconut 
1 bag powered sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon flavoring of your choice. 

Mix well with hands or heavy duty Kitchen aide with dough hook.
Roll into balls and dip in chocolate.
Roll in crushed nuts, sugar, coco, candies, or coconut.


Oreo Truffles

1 package of finely crushed Oreos
1 8ox package of softened cream cheese

Mix well and shape into balls, freeze.
Dip in white chocolate and sprinkle with decorating candies.






Thursday, November 28, 2013

Cutting Practice

Learning to use scissors has not been fun. I seriously dislike the tiny paper scraps we end up with all over the house, and they don't seem to get it!
However I ran across a pintrest idea today ~ http://missmancy.com/wp-content/plugins/category-grid-view-gallery/includes/CatGridPost.php?ID=1085

It gave me a the idea to print circles for them to cut. We didnt' have stickers. They LOVE it and did amazing. Yes, I still had tiny papers all over the table & floor. oh well.


He cut each circle twice. 


Lots of practice. hopefully things will only get better.

Find a FREE PRINTABLE HERE and start practice cutting with your little ones. 




Saturday, November 23, 2013

Lost Maples

Lost Maples is 89 miles west of San Antonio and is totally worth the trip! 
We watched the Foliage Report on the Lost Maples web site.

We hiked the East trail, both ends were beautiful. it was a little over 4 miles. we packed a picnic lunch  and ate at one of the overlooks. 




The water was a little low this year but there was still some beautiful spots. 






Saturday, November 16, 2013

My first "House Party"

Houseparty.com is an advertising business that advertises through small parties. (http://blog.houseparty.com/about-the-blog/) My application for the Veggie Tales True Light of Christmas Party was accepted and we hosted our friends today.

We had a LOT of fun and it was really easy.
Here is our food. My sister and I made these fun cookies, really I should say She made these awesome cookies while I watched her. I had a blast! LOL

These are our activities for the party. coloring pages, making (coloring)  ornaments, Eating lots, visiting, and watching "Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas"

Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and I hope to have another houseparty some day.



Thursday, November 14, 2013

3D Christmas Ornament.


Here is a link for the coloring page you start with. 
1. Color the Ornaments 
2. Cut them out. 
3. Then fold each circle in half. 
4. Glue each half circle to the next one.
5. Be sure to add the string to hold it before gluing the final two sides together.








Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Ratatouille

Inspired by a well loved movie Ratatouille

(Image from http://movies.disney.com)

Here is my version of Ratatouille.

1 zucchini 
1 yellow squash
1small eggplant
3-4 tomatoes

1 small can of Tomato paste
2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Italian seasoning 
Salt

Slice all the vegetables thinly. I used the Pampered Chef Mandolin Slicer.

Spread half of the tomato pate in the bottom of a 8x8 pan.

Stack the sliced veggies and stand on end. 

Once the pan is filled tightly,

mix the rest of the paste with enough water to make it the consistency of tomato sauce. 

Top with the tomato sauce and sliced garlic. I love the garlic slicer from Pampered Chef!

Sprinkle Italian seasoning and salt over the top. 


Cover the dish with Foil.

Bake 400 degrees for 20-30 minuets till veggies are tender. 



Had to include my little helper, "the box man" as he called himself.