Dirty Santa Girl's night.

The last 4 years I have hosted a dirty Santa girl's night at my house. It is always lots of fun and the one girl's night that I look forward to every year. This year was bitter sweet for me because this is the last year that I will be hosting the party. I hope when I move I can host one at my new place too. Anyway, everyone always brings yummy treats to eat and we sit around and mingle for a bit. Then when we can no longer take it anymore we let the game began. We have to agree to stay friends when it is all over. Some of the woman can get a little vicious. LOL.  Here are some of the fun pics from that night.

The Loot

Anne Marie opens the most coveted gift of one night of fun with Jaime wearing that!

Stacy trying to figure out what she wants

Sissy admiring her men's body spray collection

Becky's friend modeling her new jacket, which is great for caroling in the 1800's

Becky getting a sneak peak of her night with Jaime

Don't ask?!?

Me modeling my new thong. LOL

Candy Christmas Wreaths

I know that this is the 3rd sweet recipe in a row that I have posted but I couldn't help myself but post this one today. My kids and I made a batch and had a lot of fun. Besides it's Christmas time we are supposed to gorge ourselves with sweets right? I am the youngest of 5 kids. So growing up this is what we would give our teachers at Christmas time. This is an inexpensive yummy treat and present. My kids love to make their own and eat them. I could not find the cinnamon red hots this year so I substituted them with red m&ms.

Indgredients:

1	10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows
1 c	butter (2 sticks)
2 tsp	vanilla extract
7 c	corn flakes
4 tsp	green food coloring ( or till you get the shade you want)
	small red cinnamon candies or red m&ms

Directions:
1)In a large pot melt the butter, then add the marshmallows, melt those.

2)Stir the butter and marshmallows together. Add the vanilla and food coloring till you get the shade of green you want.

3)Pour in the cornflakes and mix well till it is covered pretty good.

4)Grease your hands with butter. drop onto waxed paper and shape. If the kids are working with you make sure you let it cool just a little bit before they work with it. Just don't wait too long or it will harden. This batch makes two 9 in wreaths or several small ones.

Jadas sweet wreath! You can tell she really likes the berries!

Lovin' his wreath

Delish!

Peppermint Marshmallow Popcorn

Doesn't this stuff look GOOOOOOD?!? I tasted this oooeey goooey goodness for the first time courtesy of my best friend Brooke. I told her that I HAD to have the recipe. This stuff is seriously addicting! It's like Christmas in your mouth! It makes a big batch! Anytime I have family in town I make it so I don't eat the whole batch myself. It is the perfect Christmas treat! You can eat it all year long substitute the candy cane for  heath bits, Recesses pieces, m&m's etc.. Watch out now! I bet you can't eat just one bite!

Ingredients: 

1/2 c	butter
1/2 c	margarine
1/2 c	corn syrup, light
1 tsp	vanilla
1	16 oz bag of mini marshmallows ( if you can't find a 16 oz bag just use 1 1/2 bags of the 10.5 oz)
2	gallons of air popped popcorn (or 3 bags of microwave popcorn,use very light butter)
30	miniature candy canes, crushed
1 1/3 c	sugar

	Directions:
	melt butter and margarine in a pot. add the sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. Boil for 5 minutes of med heat. layer the pop corn, candy canes and marshmallows in a large bowl or pot. Pour the sauce over and mix well with a large spoon. It can bet hard to stir this sticky goodness but it is worth it! You can add more popcorn till it is the consistency you want. When you are done mixing pour it onto wax paper and spread it out to cool. You can store it in gallon zip lock bags.

Death By Oreo Cupcakes

I have this new friend that I have made named Debbie Wright. She is a good ole southern girl like me. She is from Louisiana and even though she is an LSU fan I still call her my friend.  I met her through www.Justapinch.com. We were able to meet in person at the last contest ceremony in Nashville were my cumin pork chops were the main course and her death by Oreo Cupcakes  were the dessert. I have to tell ya these bad boys  were sooooo good. If you are an Oreo fan then these are for you! There is an Oreo cookie at the bottom of the cupcake liners and cookies in the cake and icing! Not only do they look cute they taste amazing too. You will feel like you have died and gone to Heaven! So here is her Death by Oreo recipe. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg	oreos, regular size
1 pkg	mini oreos, for decoration
1 pkg	chocolate cake mix/ mix according to directions on box
8 oz	cream cheese, room temperature
8 Tbsp	butter, room temperature
3 3/4 c	powdered sugar
1 tsp	vanilla extract
	cupcake liners

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350

Mix cake according to directions

Line cupcake tins with liner, place an regular size oreo cookie in the bottom of each one

Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins

Bake for 15 min..according to box. While cupcakes are baking make the frosting

Cream togather butter and cream cheese..add vanilla

add powdered slowly until blended well

chop remaing regular sized oreos very fine. Add to frosting

After cupcakes are cool put frosting on and decorate with a few mini oreos on top

Filipino Chicken Adobo

My sister-in-law is Filipino and made this dish one night for dinner for me. I fell in love! The meat just falls off the bone when you eat it! I have tweaked this recipe a bit to my liking and now you can enjoy it too!

3-4 lb	chicken wings and drummets thawed
1 1/2 c	vinegar
1 1/2 c	soy sauce
1/2 c	water
1/2 tsp	ground black pepper
6 Tbsp	brown sugar
8 clove	garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp	ground ginger
5	bay leaves

Directions:
In a large pot combine all the ingredients. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer (med low) for about 45 min.

Take the lid off the pot and let simmer for about 15 minutes longer. Serve over rice (Calrose is my favorite!)

2 Great recipes for the holidays!

I know I'm from the south and I should eat "dressing" but this is what I ate growing up. My mom calls this Yankee stuffing. This is one of my grandmother's recipes. She got it from a 1950's cookbook. This was the one thing I got to help my mom with for Thanksgiving dinner when I was little. I would sit at the table and tear up the bread pieces watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I usually double this recipe for a large crowd.

Fluffy Stuffing

1 c	onion. chopped
1 c	butter or margarine ( i like to use margarine because it doesn't burn as easily as butter)
6 c	soft bread, cubed or just torn
6 c	rice krispies
1 1/2 tsp	poultry seasoning
1/2 c	chicken broth ( you can use canned broth or homemade broth from the turkey giblets)
	salt and pepper to taste

1) tear up or cube the bread. You can use white, whole wheat or a mix. Pour the 6 cups into a large bowl add the 6 cups of Rice Krispies. Toss together. 2) cook onion in butter or margarine until golden and onions are clear. Add poultry seasoning to this a stir. 3) Pour over rice Krispies and bread cubes. . Mix well. 4) Place the mixture in a baking dish. Drizzle the broth over the mixture. 5) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes ( cover if desired soft and uncover for crunchy) TIP: GIBLET BROTH: Boil the neck, liver, and other things stuffed in the turkey when bought. Simmer for about 1 hour. Use 1/2 cup of broth for the stuffing. Discard the rest.  This is my mom's recipe. I have been eating this awesome pie for years. It is easy to make and best served cold. I like to make it the night before and put it in the fridge to chill. I once had a boyfriend that loved this pie so much that he called it Buttermilk dream pie! LOL This recipe makes 2 pies but of course you can half it and make 1. Enjoy! Mama's Buttermilk Pie

1 Cup butter, melted 6 eggs, beaten 2 Tbsp Cornstarch 2 Cups sugar 1 tsp. Salt 1 Cup Buttermilk 1 tsp Vanilla 2 (9in) deep dish unbaked pie shells Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 1)Add butter to eggs 2)Add combined dry ingredients, buttermilk and vanilla. 3)Pour into pie shells evenly. 4)bake for 50mintues to 1 hour. TIP: If you have a pie shield place it on top of crust about 35min into cooking. If you don't you can cover the crust with foil to keep it from burning.

You're Not Alone

I remember listening to this song when I was young. I loved it so much. It has helped me get through a lot of difficult times. I went looking for it today because I just needed to listen to it.