White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (original recipe from Cookies & Cups) Continue reading “White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting”
Category: Holidays
Milk Chocolate Fudge
This is a family favorite and I am always getting requests from family and friends for this yummy treat! It is easily adapted to make other flavors that will be listed at the bottom of the page.
You can also sprinkle this with chopped peppermint pieces or small candy bits while still warm.
Continue reading “Milk Chocolate Fudge”Love Yourself
This season of the year brings out a lot of different emotions for everyone. You may be waiting in anticipation for Christmas to get here. You may be excited to see your family and maybe a little anxious to see what gifts are waiting for you under the tree. It may be full of despair if you didn’t have the extra money to buy gifts for your loved ones. You may be feeling hopeless or distraught.
Please don’t beat yourself up over things you can’t control. This season is meant to bring us feelings of peace, joy, and love. To fully experience this you must let go of your feelings of guilt. There is not any ‘perfect’ Christmas, ‘perfect’ gift, or ‘perfect’ person at least since that very first Christmas.
Before we can truly experience the full joy and peace of the season we need to love ourselves. There are a million things that can make us feel unloved or unworthy.
Do you feel like you aren’t enough? You just can’t quite get everything pulled together to pull off the perfect holiday celebration. Maybe you don’t have the trendiest clothes? If only you had nicer clothes then you would feel better about yourself. Maybe your hair is in desperate need of a cut or color? If only you had the money to do your hair you would feel prettier. Maybe your friends or family have deserted you? If only you were a better person they wouldn’t have left you feeling so unloved and rejected.
These could all be reasons to feel down in the dumps. But let me tell you something… they are all lies. Lies that are fed to us by the one who is out only to seek and devour, to destroy us. Satan wants us to believe that we are rejects and that we are unworthy of being loved.
God sent his only begotten son to show us His love. God loves you, He loves me, and He loves everyone around us. He wants us to fully experience His love for us. We can’t do that if we refuse to accept it or let go of our guilt or misconceptions that we have.
I want you to know that God loves you unconditionally. He loves you whether you are overweight or underweight. He loves you whether you have an addiction to alcohol, drugs, or anything else. He loves you if you drive a Mercedes or a bucket of rust. He loves you even when it seems that noone else does. He loves you whether you bite your nails to the quick or have the latest manicure.
I want you to know that you can feel at peace this holiday season. You can experience a joy so full that it overflows to those around you. You can experience a love like you’ve never known. Just take it to God and ask Him to help you with your feelings of inadequacies, unworthiness, or whatever it is that you may be feeling. He can and will take your burdens away and He will show you how to let your light shine in the darkest of days.
Merry Christmas!
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
This is a recipe that I have had forever. It is simple and quick to make. It can be made on the stove or in the crockpot too. My kids love this and we usually eat it with Mac-N-Cheese and a veggie on the side. They are always a big hit when served as an appetizer at get-togethers as well. Continue reading “Sweet and Sour Meatballs”
Strawberry Strudels
Strawberry Strudels
(original recipe link)
Ingredients:
•1 package (17.3 oz; 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed (I had enough filling to do 2 packages of puff pastry.)
•3/4 c. strawberry preserves
•1/2 c. cream cheese, room temperature
•1 egg, separated
•4 T. powdered sugar
•1 T. water
•2-3 t. sugar
•1/4 t. vanilla extract
•1 pinch salt
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 400º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. In a large bowl or mixer, beat cream cheese with vanilla extract, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, egg yolk, and salt. Beat until smooth.
3.Dust remaining powdered sugar over the work surface and unfold puff pastry sheets.
4. Cut pastry along the creased lines and then evenly cut pastry strips into small squares or rectangles. (Note: I cut each sheet into 12 squares.)
5. Place strawberry preserves in a small glass or bowl and whisk until relaxed and loosened.
6. Take 1-2 teaspoons cream cheese filling and place it in the middle of the pastry square. Top cream cheese with 1 teaspoon strawberry preserves.
7. Take another piece of puff pastry and place it on top of filled puff pastry. Seal the edges and use a small knife to cut 2 small vents into the top of strudel to allow steam to escape.
8. Beat egg yolk and water in a small bowl and brush it over mini strudels. Sprinkle sugar over strudels, transfer to baking sheet and place in oven.
9.Bake for 17-19 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe adapted from All Food Recipes
Here is a video that shows how to assemble these.
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