Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a good 2008 and has an even better 2009!! Happy New Year to all my blogging buddies!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging buddies! I hope you all have a wonderful time with family and friends. And I hope you remember who's birthday we are celebrating.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. " John 3:16

Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Cream Pie
2 1/2 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
4 Tblsp. corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup angel flake coconut
3 egg yolks
2 Tblsp. butter or oleo

Meringue: (I like whipped cream instead)
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Mix milk, sugar, egg yolks, salt, vanilla, and oleo in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; add coconut and cornstarch which has been moistened with enough water to be well dissolved. Continue to boil until thick. Pour into baked pie crust. Top with meringue of the beaten 3 egg whites beaten until stiff to form peaks. Add 1/4 cup of white sugar and beat well to be sure sugar is dissolved well. Sprinkle extra coconut on top and brown in 350 degree oven until lightly browned. (If using whipped cream, put pie in refrigerator after pouring in pie crust and then top with whipped cream.)

Christmas baking

My mom and I did some baking today (Isaac "helped"). It was a good day to stay inside since the roads were still pretty bad from the storm last night. So, here's some pictures along with the recipes we used.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1Tbsp. + 1 tsp. milk
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and milk. Beat until light and fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half and wrap tightly in wax paper. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Flour surface lightly. Roll dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut in desired shapes. Sprinkle before baking with colored sugar and candies or leave plain to frost when cool. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove to cooling rack. Yield: 3 dozen (depending on size and shape)


Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat all together on low for 15 seconds and then high for 2 minutes.







Peppermint Bark
1 lb. chocolate (I used dark)
12 oz. white chocolate
3/4 tsp. peppermint extract
10 6-inch candy canes

Bring water to boil in the bottom of a double boiler. There should be some space between the water and the upper portion of the double boiler. In then meantime, line the bottom of an 11x17 or similarly sized cookie sheet with sides with aluminum foil or wax paper. Once the water is boiling remove it from the heat and replace the top of the double boiler. Put about 3/4 of the chocolate in the double boiler first and melt until it is smooth. Add in the rest of the chocolate and 1/2 tsp. of the peppermint extract. Stir until all the chunks have melted. Pour the melted chocolate into the lined cookie sheet and spread so the thickness is just under a quarter of an inch. Let the chocolate sit for a moment so it cools slightly and then place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. While the first layer chills, crush the candy canes. The size of the broken pieces should be about the size of a pea. Take the bottom layer of chocolate out of the refrigerator so it warms slightly before the second layer is applied. Again boil water in the bottom of the double boiler. Clean out the upper portion of the double boiler with hot water only, no soap, and dry thoroughly. Once the water is boiling, remove it from the heat and put the top of the double boiler back on. Place 3/4 of the white chocolate into the double boiler and stir until it is melted. Add the remaining white chocolate and 1/4 tsp. of the peppermint extract
and stir until smooth. Pour this evenly over the first layer of chocolate. This layer will be thinner than the first. Sprinkle the top with the pieces of crushed candy canes. Again let it sit for ten minutes before placing it in the refrigerator to set. After an hour the bark should be ready to be broken into pieces. Store in an airtight container in a cool place or freeze.

* I used the microwave to heat my chocolates -- just be careful not to over cook it!! Read instructions on package on how to heat in the microwave.
** Recipe from Sugar Savvy






Oreo Truffles
1 pkg. oreos
1 8oz. pkg cream cheese
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tblsp. shortening
1 pkg. vanilla almond bark

Crush oreos into bits (food processor works good). Cream together the oreo bits and cream cheese in a heavy duty mixer or use hands and work all together like dough (DO NOT USE HAND MIXER!!). Roll mixture into small balls or use a melon baller. Freeze until solid (about 2 hours). Melt almond bark. Use 2 forks or toothpicks to coat the truffle. Place on waxed paper covered cookie sheet and refrigerate until the almond bark sets. Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 Tblsp. shortening in microwave (30 seconds - stir - 30 seconds). Place in ziploc bag and seal. Trim small triangle off corner and squeeze to drizzle truffles. Makes about 50.

My Bible reading today...

God laid a verse on my heart last night ("What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." Romans 6:1-2). So, for my Bible reading this morning I read all of Romans 6. It just really says alot and I thought I would share it here.

Romans 6
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Early Christmas Presents!!

Jason and I will not have any presents under the tree this year. That is because we have already got our presents. I already wrote about the great deal we got on a Nintendo Wii. So, that is part of our Christmas to each other. That came on Tuesday -- and of course Jason CANNOT wait until Christmas to use it so we have already been playing it. Then we also bought a new Dining room table and chairs and that came on Thursday -- and there is NO WAY of waiting to use that until Chrismas -- we have to put it somewhere. So, that is also now in use!! :-) But it will still be a very fun Christmas -- Isaac is really starting to understand the whole present thing. So, I'm looking forward to Christmas with him.

Goodbye to my buddy Dagen

Well, Jason just left a little while ago to take Dagen to the vet. We are having him put to sleep. The treatments didn't seem to be working and he was getting worse. This morning I couldn't hardly bare to watch him trying to get around and he was peeing all over himself and the house. It was not a good site. So, we just said it's time -- it's not worth putting him through more pain and suffering just so we can have him around a little while longer. But I am going to miss him -- he has been such a good dog and a great friend. Thanks for all the comments and thoughtfulness from everyone!!

Update on Dagen...

Just want you to know that we didn't put Dagen to sleep. Jason took him to the vet today and they want to try steroids one more time. So, we have to give him those and then keep him in his kennel almost all the time for the next couple of weeks to see if just some rest with the meds will help him. So, I'm thankful he will be with us for awhile longer BUT I hope this isn't just prolonging the inevitable. We'll see :-)

My dog Dagen...

Most of you know we have two miniature dachshunds and I love them SOOOOOOOOOOO much!! They are my buddies. Well, Dagen, our older one is having problems with his back (dachshunds are known for this) and I'm dreading the inevitable (putting him to sleep). I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it. But he is doing pretty bad. Today he has been just dragging his back legs behind him and he has been pooping in the house. So, I know it may be time but I just don't want to do it -- he is such a good dog. I made an appointment for tomorrow so they can check him again and see if there is anything else to do but I'm afraid it is the end. So, sorry this is a sad post but I need to write about it. Here's a couple of pictures of him -- my buddy!!

Another Great Deal!!

So, now I am always looking for great deals and I think I've got my husband on the band wagon too!! He found out that Ebay and Microsoft are offering some great deals right now when you use PayPal. So, we caved in and bought a Nintendo Wii -- but we got an AWESOME deal on it -- we couldn't pass it up. We got the game console, two controllers, 3 games, the Wii Fit bundle, the Mario Cart bundle, two car wheels and all the hookups, etc. for $380!!! So, it will be coming in the mail in the next couple of days -- so everyone's invited over to try it out when we get it!!