December Photo Project - Day 23

This year, we changed up the traditional Christmas chocolate fudge recipe. Kelsey thought it would be a good idea to experiment and try to make cookies and cream fudge.

 

We started out with the basic fudge recipe: sugar, butter, and evaporated milk. So just follow the recipe for heating up those ingredients. I have always used the stove top version of the recipe, so make sure you have a candy thermometer on hand. Make sure you have a bag of white chocolate chips, one jar of marshmallow creme, vanilla extract, and about 16-20 crushed up oreos ready. Once the sugar, butter, and milk mixture has reached the right temperature, take the pan off of the stove top and add the whilte chocolate chips. Stir until the chips have melted. Then add the marshmallow creme and vanilla. Once the mixture is nice and smooth, stir in the crushed oreos. I like a pan with aluminum foil to make it easier to remove and cut up the fudge.

 

You can leave the pan on your counter to cool, but I really like a nice cold piece of fudge, so I put the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

 

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

December Photo Project - Day 21

 Homemade Christmas gifts for friends - Sugar scrubs and bath salts

 

Are you making homemade gifts this year?

December Photo Project - Day 20

Tried a new recipe tonight - Chicken Potpie Soup

 

Since my husband had two servings, I think this recipe is a keeper... :o)

 

Have you tried a new recipe lately?

 

It's About Giving

Are you up for a challenge?

 

I want 10 of my readers to give $10 to the Compassion Christmas Gift Catalog. A gift given through the Compassion Christmas Gift Catalog is a gift that can change eternity for a child and their family living in extreme poverty. Does this mean that you might have to bake cookies for your neighbor instead of buying them a Starbuck's gift card? Maybe...

 

Take a look through the catalog, together as a family choose a gift, then send the money! Maybe even make an ornament for your tree to remind yourselves of the special gift that you gave this Christmas.

 

Will you do this today?

 

 

 

 

December Photo Project - Day 17

Gifts for Kevin to take to his work

 

Today I was able to bake some biscotti to go with the chai tea mix. While I was out shopping a couple of weeks ago, I found some cute 1/2 cup containers which I thought would be perfect to give the chai tea mix in. Kelsey helped me bag up the biscotti and get the bags ready. Each bag contains one printed copy of the recipe, one container of the chai tea mix, and 2 pieces of biscotti in a snack size bag. We took some fancy scissors to cut the top of the paper bags, folded them over and put two hole punches toward the top of the bag. Threaded some red ribbon through the holes and tied a bow.

 

What homemade gifts are you making this week?

December Photo Project - Day 15

 Today was the last meeting of the photography class I have been taking. The instructor brought along a couple of his former students. They helped us with some posing, lighting, and tips on when to use fill flash. Taking pictures of water using a slow shutter speed was one of the first assignments we were given back in August. Well, weeks later, I think I finally got a good one today! The photo above is straight out of the camera.

 

I did just a little bit of adjusting in Lightroom and came out with this second photo.

 

I am so glad I had the chance to take this class! Using the manual settings on my camera is not nearly as scary as it was months ago when I started the class. In fact, I hardly ever have my camera set on anything but the manual setting now.

 

I am thinking a day trip to Yosemite needs to happen soon to practice some photography :o)

December Photo Project - Day 13

Our generous church family has been donating their spare change to purchase treated nets to help prevent malaria through Compassion's Bite Back program.

 

Are you looking for a way to make a difference this Christmas? Compassion has a whole gift catalog to help you make a gift purchase that will last a lifetime for a family living in extreme poverty. This is one gift that doesn't need gift wrapping or a trip to the mall.