Top Projects of 2010

The lovely Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is hosting her annual "Top Projects" party. It's fun to look at the year in review, isn't it?

A few of my favorite projects:

Family picture wall clock

Custom wall art

Decoupaged candles

Barstool transformation

Styrofoam-cooler-turned-ottoman

Inexpensive, real-life pantry organization (and it's still organized!)

Under $10 Under 1 hour table

Pottery Barn-inspired pillow

Guest room re-do

And the biggest of all:

Celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary!

2010 has been a wonderful year for our family. How about yours?

Christmas fun with big kids

You know how much fun it is to watch little kids as they open their gifts on Christmas morning? Well, little kids get to be big kids very quickly. Believe me, you should take lots of pictures and savor the moments when they're little.

But big kids are fun, too.

Snickers is wondering what might be in the big blue box. She gives Will a kiss to encourage him to open it.

It's a big-boy toy.

Preston proudly shows Will his UNC ornament. Will's blood is Duke-blue, but Preston loves Carolina. (Preston's currently waiting to hear from all the colleges to which he applied, and UNC is one of his top choices.)

Lee's (LegoLee329, that is) Christmas list consisted solely of Lego products. No surprise there. The big surprise was that Lee's Christmas gift to Dad was a Lego set that Dad's always admired!

Of course Cocoa had to watch over the Christmas fun:

And the icing on the cake (get it? icing?) was that we had a beautiful snow that started on the evening of Christmas Day. Boxing Day at our house was a winter wonderland:

How about you? Did you have a lovely Christmas? I hope so!

Mary, did you know?

"Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day walk on water?"*

Why, yes. She knew.

She knew he would. Of course she knew. She knew because she was a mama.

And just as a mama knows how to rock a baby to sleep

and how to take a child's temperature by kissing his forehead

and how to fold fitted sheets

and how to make gravy,

a mama knows that her baby is special. Her baby is the greatest gift God has ever given.

A mama knows. She just knows.

What was different about Mary was that her baby boy was, in fact, the greatest gift God has ever given. Not just to her, but to the whole world.

And though the story of Mary and her baby has been told and re-told for 2000 years, it hasn't grown old.

That's because Mary's baby was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

May you be blessed with the light of His precious love this Christmas.

*"Mary, Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene

Peanut butter fudge

Yesterday I shared my fudge recipe--Mamie Eisenhower's recipe, actually. If you haven't seen that post, click here. Believe me, you can make this fudge. No special equipment required. It's easy to make and it's absolutely delicious.

Now, Mamie's Fudge is chocolate fudge. It's a delectable blend of semi-sweet and German chocolate. It's to die for. But many years ago, my mother came up with a variation on Mamie's Fudge. It's a recipe for peanut butter fudge--but it's not like any other peanut butter fudge you've ever tasted, I promise. Why? Because there's no peanut butter in it. Instead, it's made with Reese's Peanut Butter Chips. Oh, my goodness--this fudge gives Mamie's Fudge a run for its money. And here's the recipe for you:

Peanut Butter Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

pinch of salt

2 Tablespoons butter

12 ounce can evaporated milk

24 ounces Reese's peanut butter chips (4 cups, which is about 2 1/2 packages)

2 7-ounce jars marshmallow creme

2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Butter a pan for the fudge. A 9 x 13 pan works well for thick fudge; a small sheet pan is good for slightly thinner fudge.

Place peanut butter chips, marshmallow creme, and chopped nuts into bowl. Set aside.

Combine sugar, salt, butter, and milk in heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, set a timer for six minutes. Boil, continuing to stir, for exactly six minutes. Remove from heat and pour immediately over other ingredients. Stir until all the peanut butter chips are dissolved.

Pour into buttered pan. If you can bear to wait, let stand one hour before cutting.

Both the chocolate fudge and the peanut butter fudge recipes make six pounds of fudge, so you'll have plenty to eat and plenty to share. And believe me, the people you share with will be very, very grateful.

What Christmas treats are you making this week?

The world's best fudge

Okay, okay. I know it's a bit much to claim that one of my recipes is the "world's best." But if I were going to claim that about anything I make, it would probably be about my fudge. This is one of those things that my sons ask about every year. By the time December rolls around, a frequent question is "When are we going to make fudge??"

My fudge recipe is special, I think. My mother's family has lived in Kansas for many generations, and I inherited a few old Kansas cookbooks. My fudge recipe comes from one of those cookbooks. The body of the cookbook is long since lost, so I don't know the name of the book; all I have is one yellowed and tattered page.

The name of the recipe is Mamie's Fudge, and under the recipe name is this note: "She made this to woo Ike." It's true--this recipe originated with Mamie Eisenhower. President Eisenhower was from Abilene, Kansas, and this old cookbook was from his hometown. The Eisenhowers were married in 1916, and this recipe includes marshmallow creme, so I imagine Mamie used this particular recipe after they were married. Mamie Eisenhower was a beloved woman because she did exactly what so many of us tried to do--she made a home for her husband and family no matter where they living.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it's simple. It requires no special equipment, not even a candy thermometer. If you've never made candy before, this would be a great place for you to start.

My boys' favorite thing about this fudge is that the recipe make six pounds. Yes, you read that right. Believe me, you'll have plenty of fudge to share!

Mamie's Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

pinch of salt

2 Tablespoons butter

12 ounce can evaporated milk

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

12 ounces (3 bars) German sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

2 7-ounce jars marshmallow creme

2 cups chopped nuts

Butter a pan for the fudge. A 9 x 13 pan works well for thick fudge; a small sheet pan is good for slightly thinner fudge.

Place semi-sweet chocolate, German sweet chocolate, marshmallow creme, and chopped nuts into bowl. Set aside.

Combine sugar, salt, butter, and milk in heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, set a timer for six minutes. Boil, continuing to stir, for exactly six minutes. Remove from heat and pour immediately over chocolate mixture. Stir until all the chocolate bits are dissolved.

The mixture will look pretty disgusting for a moment, but you'll soon be rewarded with the delectable aroma of those chocolates and the look of smooth, satiny fudge. Pour into buttered pan. If you can bear to wait, let stand one hour before cutting.

I keep a eye out at thrift stores for containers for my fudge, such as pretty gift boxes, tins, or ceramics.

My favorite presentation of all is simply to put some fudge on a plate, cover it in plastic wrap, tie a bow with some pretty ribbon, and attach an ornament. (I found this ornament at Hobby Lobby.)

Do you make candy at Christmastime? Got a recipe you'd like to share? Please do!

**I'm joining Karianne at Thistlewood Farms for her Holiday Recipes party.**

A little more Christmas

Julia from Hooked on Houses is having a Holiday House Tour today. I love Julia's parties! Today I'll show you a bit of my kitchen all dressed up for Christmas. If you'd like to see more of my kitchen, click here. And now for some of our Christmas touches in the kitchen.

When my boys were babies, we lived in Michigan, where we had lots of snowmen. When we moved back to the South, some good friends gave us these snowman plates:

I get them out every Christmas, and they set the tone for our kitchen decor.

I love to put snowmen on my antique dough cabinet

and over in my Mom Corner.

This year I added a garland to the stair railing

complete with rusty snowmen:

The table centerpiece, compliments of my youngest son, includes a whole snow scene made of Lego bricks:

There's even a cute snowman sled on the door leading out to my screened porch:

Here, you can see him better in this photo:

One of my favorite things about my kitchen is that the screened porch is adjacent to it. I don't go to much trouble to decorate the porch, but I do add a few things to make it festive.

There are a few things you can't see in these photos. . . like the pile of ornaments that have NOT been made into ornament wreaths. Yet. Or maybe ever.

Or this kind of monkey business that goes along with Christmas baking:

Do you think Snickers the beagle is standing guard, or just waiting her turn?

Thanks for joining me for a look at my Christmas kitchen!