Christmas Shopping and Holiday Treats

I have my Christmas shopping all done.  Not that I have a lot of people to buy for, but still - it's all done and some are wrapped.  How about you?

by: kittyred

I made some fudge tonight in my crock pot - an interesting concept isn't it?  It didn't seem to turn out too bad.  It's in the fridge overnight before sampling.

Crock Pot Fudge

The Ingredients
serves 10-20 

3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips 
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon salted butter
cooking spray to spray down the crock
parchment paper or non-stick foil to line a 9 x 9 baking pan

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. If you only have a 6-quart, that's okay, but it will melt faster, so keep an eye on your chocolate.
Spray the crock well with cooking spray (if you are using a Ninja, I'd still spray it down). 
Dump everything into the pot. Cover, and cook on high for about 1 hour, or on low for about 2 hours. Stir every 30 minutes. Once the chocolate has lost it's form and can be stirred into a liquid state, spread it out into a lined 9 x 9 baking pan.
Chill in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours) before cutting into bite-sized squares.

That and making some sugar cookies is about it for me for holiday treat making this year.  Finding out you have diabetes II is no fun at all....It has pretty much taken the fun out of holiday baking and candy making for me.

Christmas Cookies & Kitchen Chaos

Compared to the decorated Christmas cookies I've made in the past, this year's are a bit sorry looking. But, hubby will think they're beautiful and will gladly eat them, and that's all that really matters anyway.

We're getting a new dishwasher that will be installed the Wed. after Christmas, and I have stuff sitting everywhere that came from under the kitchen sink that I had to remove for the plumber to take out our garbage disposal that stopped working, redo the plumbing there, and take out our old built-in dishwasher that's now sitting on the patio waiting to be hauled away when the new one comes. Hubby thought I was kidding when I said that I was the plumber's right hand man until I told him all the stuff I helped with. Then, add the fact that I started to rearrange a corner cabinet on a whim the same day and never finished it and now that stuff is also sitting to be gone through, purged and rearranged.

Actually, if you'd see my kitchen you'd be amazed I was even able to produce these Christmas cookies...lol I just hope the new dishwasher is worth all of this trouble AND cost. I had gotten used to doing dishes by hand when I decided a couple of years ago that the 30 year old dishwasher that came with the house wasn't doing all that great of a job unless I practically washed them first myself so I just stopped using it. Now, it doesn't work at all. I found a good deal for a new one on-line on Cyber Monday so I decided to replace it. I hate having something around that doesn't serve a purpose anymore or work anymore just taking up space. I just never knew it would be such an involved and costly project.

Cookie Baking Tip - Using parchment paper on your cookie sheets makes baking cookies a hundred times easier and more successful. I didn't become a great cookie baker until I discovered it.