Happy New Year 2020 12-30-2019

Thoughts and Quotes: It's coming! A new year! A new decade! A chance to form new habits and do new things. Exciting times, right?!

Here's my standard New Year's quote. I like it so much, I just repeat it year after year.

This is the year that your dreams come true!

This is the year that your ships come in;

This is the year you find Christ within.

This is the year you are glad to live;

This is the year you have much to give.

This is the year when you know the Truth;

This is the year when you find new youth.

This is the year that brings happiness;

This is the year you will live to bless.

Wonderful, wonderful, fortunate you,

This is the year that your dreams come true!

                              Russell A. Kemp 

Time for Goal Setting: Here's that goal plan I promised. Just answer the questions.

What do I want to create?

Have you been planning to build something? Paint a picture? Write a book? Knit an afghan? Make Lindy's cheesecake?

What do I want to learn?

A new language? Better computer skills? Take a safety driving lesson? How to take better photos? There are probably classes at your local library. If not, there are free classes online. How many books do I want to read this year?

How do I want to improve my health?

Better eating habits? An exercise program? Regular checkups? Get more sun? How many pounds will I lose?

How will I be a better steward of my money?

Look for better interest rates on savings or credit card debt? Really stay on a budget? Take photos of your home/contents for insurance purposes - just in case? 

How do I want to improve my environment?

Does the garage need organizing? Does a room need new curtains? Is this the year to spoil yourself with fresh flowers every week? Bathroom need new throw rugs?

What do I want to accomplish in my yard and garden?

Improve the lawn? Take out that old tree? Plant a vegetable garden? New shrubs?

What will I repair around the house?

A new faucet in the kitchen? New paint in the living room? New hardware for the bathroom?

What do I want to acquire?

A new car? A new phone? A new toothbrush? Put everything on your list, even the little things. It's fun to check them off.

How will I improve my social life?

Invite people over twice a month? Write more letters? Send more thank you notes? Make more phone calls? Form a lunch bunch?

Where do I want to go (not travel)?

A concert in the nearest big city? A local botanical garden? A day trip to a historical place, site, National Park?

Where do I want to travel?

Europe? Asia? South America? Your state capitol? The national capitol? Disneyworld? Another state? The Grand Canyon? Fishing in Alaska?

Make your list and then record your life. Keep a daily journal and/or take lots of photos. It's fun to look back.

Tasting: Now for the Christmas cookies and candies I promised. I was busy trying new recipes to gather some things to make easily and quickly during the holidays when you're so busy doing everything else. I'll put these on drop-downs above under Christmas, as opposed to Cookies or Confections.

I made Cranberry Drop Cookies using fresh cranberries. They were good, but do not keep well. Then I made Blueberry Cookies using frozen blueberries. I didn't like them well enough to save the recipe. Then an unusual recipe made with Fritos, which were okay, but not enough production for the effort and expense.

Then I made Lime Shortbread with Dried Cherries Cookies which I thought tasted like chemicals. Learned that lesson - I don't like lime zest in cookies. Might try these again with orange zest because they're a cookie you mix and make into rolls to refrigerate to slice and bake later.

Then I tried bars made from Pillsbury white cookie mix. It called for a roll from the refrigerated case, but do they still make those? I couldn't find it, so I used the sugar cookie mix which is separated into chunks and you break them apart and bake them. You're supposed to pat it into a rectangle, after baking sprinkle on white chocolate chips, when melted spread over and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. I had some red and green M & M's I wanted to use, and I made a hot mess. M & M's crush when you cut them. Besides this was too sweet. 

But all is not lost. I think I have a great solution. Next time I'm going to use the sugar cookie dough just like it says, then use vanilla frosting from a can on the baked cookies and sprinkle with candy canes. I'll use just a dab of frosting, because sugar cookies are very sweet. This should be quick and easy. 

I did have a winner confection.  

PEANUT CLUSTERS

16 oz chocolate almond bark, rough chopped

12 oz butterscotch chips

1 lb. salted peanuts

Melt the almond bark and chips in a saucepan over low heat. If your stove is gas, use a double boiler or the microwave.

Stir in the peanuts.

Drop onto waxed paper and let set.

I made it according to the recipe, and then I made it with white chocolate almond bark, white chocolate chips, salted almonds, and craisins.

Next came chocolate almond bark, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and pecans. These would have been better with milk chocolate chips and had I toasted the pecans.

And a winner cookie.

CAKE MIX COOKIES

1 box of cake mix

1/2 cup oil or butter

2 eggs

Nuts, chips, dried fruit, or whatever you wish to add.

Heat oven to 350°.

Mix the ingredients and roll into balls.

Put on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 8-9 minutes.

I first made these with a white cake mix and Andes mint chips. Really good.

Then I made them with a yellow cake mix and some brickle chips and caramel chips (photo). They’re also good, but the caramel chips make them chewy.

Just use a cheap cake mix from Aldi; possibilities are limitless.

These don't look very festive, but the white with Andes mints did. Or why not use chopped candied red and green cherries? 

I gave bags of these as party favors when I did a Thank You Jimmy Carter theme dinner (peanuts, get it?). Not very festive, but quick, easy, and good.

PEANUT BUTTER DROPS

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter (use a good brand)

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups cornflakes (do not crush)

1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

In large saucepan, bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil.

Add the peanut butter and blend well.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, cornflakes, and peanuts.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.

When cool, store in airtight containers. 

To be continued

Things to Ponder: I've been keeping track of where the page views of my blog originated, and so far I have 101 countries. The world is truly getting smaller. But this month, the mix is strange. Blogger gives me a count of the top ten countries at any given time. Right now, for this month it's 

United States	544
Russia	284
France	25
Germany	22
Mexico	18
United Kingdom	15
Indonesia	11
Spain	8
Poland	8

But here's what's strange - number 1 is:

Ukraine

855

I'm expecting a visit from Adam Schiff at any minute. These were the numbers yesterday, and since then I've had 26 page views from Singapore. 

Thank You Again: To My Girls Up North, because now I finally have a bread board. I hadn't decided last week where to display it, but now I can show you.

Thank You to My Readers: I just discovered that this is blog post number 200. Shall we go for 300?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

SET THOSE GOALS

MAKE 2020 WONDERFUL

WE'LL TALK NEXT YEAR

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE

Happy Holidays 12-26-2019

Thoughts and Quotes: Do you think I should get a life, since my biggest thrill is going through the junk mail each day to find recycle things for making greeting cards?

And do you think God was watching out for our health when He made old people forget where they put things so that they have to get some exercise walking around the house looking for them?

Just wondering. . . . .

Time for Others: I've been so busy making cards and sweets, I totally forgot to post the group card I promised. So here are some of the cards I sent to family; choose one for yourself, and sorry I can't make one for every reader who celebrates Christmas.

And here are some I received from my cardmaking friends.

And now I'm making 2020 cards for Katie's nursing homes. She takes over 600 cards every year. Most cards are donated from friends who know about her mission - the cards that come from charities and the few leftover in the box so you won't send the same card to the same person the next year - but she makes a lot of the cards as well. I love making cards from recycle, so my dining room looks like this right now.

I can't make cards without making a mess. But today I plan to clean up the kitchen because it's also a mess as well with almond bark, chips, nuts, molasses, powdered sugar, etc. sitting around. Then I'll move the cardmaking to the kitchen and breakfast area.

Here are some of the cards I've made so far. Having a wonderful time, because I can put anything I want on the front since they're hand delivered and won't be torn up by the stamp cancellation machines.

I take a card I've received

And then I remake it into a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 card because that fits the envelopes I buy in bulk. I'll also use the borders from the above card on a different card. The foil is actually gold - colors picked up are reflections.

Joey gave me some things to use - I made two of these. The snowflake is actually a tree ornatment.

She also gave me these cut-outs, and I was so happy to use the number cards and all the "gemstones" which don't do well in the mail.

She also gave me this Santa cut-out; I had the reindeer and the glitter foam items came from Dollar Tree - lots of bang for your buck.

She also gave me this fireplace, and I had the border and the kitty charm.

This was a card from Friend Vicki; I took off the front and added it to a blank card, then added the snowflakes.

This was one of my favorite cards from Katie. I've had it for years, but decided it's time to share. I had to rework it a bit. Though it was unsigned, the greeting inside said, "for someone special to me" and Katie doesn't even know the recipients in the nursing homes. We often leave our cards unsigned so they can be passed on to shut-ins.

These cards were made from recycled Christmas cards.

I cut out the "Joy" and made new gold foil backing.

The stack of gifts in the back were cut from a card; I just added more gifts,  embossed backing, and a few glitter foam stars.

I cut the sleigh from a card and did a remake.

This one was easy. I just cut down the front of the card, added a gold backer and a couple of birds. The birds are gold foil; color is from reflections.

I went to a card class, but didn't care for the card, so I just cut out the barn part and added the glitter foam deer.

The holly on this card is wallpaper border. I just added some birds and a glitter foam bow.

I cut a bazillion of these from wrapping paper.

And thought they'd be perfect for Shoeboxes for Soldiers. So I made a card, and decided that, yes, it looks very patriotic.

I have enough candy canes and stockings to make 25 cards, so I'll be working on those for awhile. And if you don't know about Shoeboxes for Soldiers, I'll tell you all about it next time.

And my three favorite store cards for recycling from this year.

Enough about cards.

Thank You for my Gifts:

From Brother Bill. I used his travel throw on the tour bus when we went to Winstar and loved it, so he got one for me.

A Yeti tumbler from Nephew Will so I won't have to keep putting my coffee in the microwave to heat it. (Sorry about the focus - in a hurry).

From Nancy, ohh, how adorable.

And cookbooks too. She knows about my addiction.

My Girls Up North also know about my cookbook addiction, so they gave me -

and BIG napkins - the kind Martha Stewart calls lapkins

and a candle holder

and candy

and a kitty hammock. Aren't I spoiled?

Bev gave me an assortment of homemade cookies and candy, and Mim gave me an assortment of cheeses. These are my foodie and cooking buds. And look, Mim, I made my grilled cheese of havarti on Italian bread.

Pepper and Stormy got an assortment of toys from kitty-sitter Jill, and they are sharing with the outdoor kitties, so I'm proud of them.

I also got a three-month subscription to exotic fruits from my kids, so more on that later.

And a big thank you to Mother Nature who brought us temperatures in the 60's for the week. Our White Christmas came early -  December 17. Just kidding. It was just a dusting.

The next day, it looked like this.

The Pepper and Pals Report: Sometimes Pepper and Stormy want to be together, but they never cuddle.

At present, I have Flower, Sweetie Face, Tobin, BJ, sometimes Fred, and BJ's two newest. I think one is a girl and I call her Princess because she's so pretty. The other might be a boy, and all gray, so I call him Rebel.

Rebel and mother BJ

Flower, Princess, Sweetie Face, and BJ

Princess on the lower left, Rebel, Sweetie Face - I'm thinking same father. 

The yellow kitty is Tobin. Neighbor Barb paid for his neutering. He was really skinny when he showed up, but looking so much better now. I tried running him off, but he persisted and the others accepted him, so now he's one of the gang. He used to sleep on Barb's porch, so she got him a heated bed, but he wanted to be with the other kitties, so she gave me the bed to add to my "collection."

This is Princess, with mommy BJ

Here she is playing with one of the mousies that Pepper and Stormy shared.

I was hoping to trap a cat or two or three during the warm days, but when I called the vet on 12-24 to see if they were closing early, I got a message that they were closed for the holidays, returning on 1-2-20. I really need to get BJ in for her surgery before she springs more kittens on me. And Princess and Rebel are probably old enough now. I trapped Princess already (trying for BJ), so I hope she has a short memory, or she'll avoid the trap now. And I hope Princess is a girl, or she'll be mad at me. Sweetie Face is still upset that I gave him that name, but he has such a pretty face, I was certain that he was a girl.

Tradition is Carried Forward: Neighbor Martha always decorated her house for every holiday, inside and out. In March she and Clark moved to Alabama, but my new neighbor is carrying on her tradition.

Things to Ponder: When I left Walmart the other day, the Salvation Army bell ringer was there, wishing everyone Merry Christmas. People just kept going. Carts were loaded with soft drinks, chips, cookies, candy, liquor, cigarettes, gifts, so I know they weren't short of money or they'd have only real food. Just imagine if each person put in only $1 or even their change, what a difference that would make. Did I put in my $1? No, I put $5, and I've vowed to put $5 in every red bucket I see from now on. I'll save them throughout the year, so I won't be caught short without $5 bills when December rolls around.

I don't want to exhaust you, so we'll talk about cookies and candy next time. 'Til then -

HAPPY HANNUKAH

HAPPY KWANZAA

WORK ON YOUR 2020 GOALS

THINK ABOUT A BUDGET

AND GOOD EATING HABITS

MAYBE AN EXERCISE PROGRAM

AN EASY GOAL PLAN ON MY NEXT BLOG POST

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE