Thursday, December 22, 2011

Christmas goodies

I haven't gotten a tree.  Yet.  I don't really plan on it, but if one should present itself to me, I'd probably grab it.  
One of Cliff's favorite Christmas treats is those pretzels dipped in melted almond bark; it's a goodie I had never made in my life, easy as it is; but this year, for the first time, I did it.  Then there's this:


CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CRACKERS
 from COOKS.COM

1 box Ritz or Wheat Thins
1 (12 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 pkg. almond bark
1 jar peanut butter

Spread peanut butter on 1/2 box of crackers. Top with remaining crackers. Melt chips and almond bark over low heat. Dip crackers in chocolate/bark mixture. Let cool on waxed paper. Refrigerate.


Since I was playing around with almond bark anyhow, I also did this one.  I only made half a recipe, because my underwear is already getting tight, and Christmas isn't even here.  These things are REALLY good!  I know you can buy chocolate almond bark and simply use that, but the chocolate bark I've seen in the store is imitation, so I used the above recipe.  I always feel cheated when I get a taste of imitation chocolate.  
I intend to make a cheese ball tomorrow, and some cranberry bread.  That will probably be the end of my Christmas cooking.  This will, of course, be followed by our annual tradition of starting our New Year's diets, which will last, at best, until the Valentine candy shows up on the shelves at Walmart.  
You may recall that I wanted to get Cliff something to unwrap on Christmas Eve, since a stranger sent me a gift in the mail.  I ordered his gift on Sunday, it was shipped on Monday, and I received it yesterday, Wednesday.  And that's with FREE shipping!  It is wrapped and I placed it in the corner beside my gift.  Now we each have something to open.
Here's the bad part about gift-giving, and one of the reasons we dropped out of that scene:  I showed Cliff his package and said, "Now you have a present to unwrap."  
He said, "Oh great, now I have to go out and get you something."  


And that, my friends, is what's wrong with Christmas giving.  Once you feel obligated to get somebody a gift just because they gave you one, the whole spirit of the thing is ruined.  


But that's just my own humble opinion.    


You know, it just occurred to me:  What if that gift in the mail is from a stalker that actually HATES me?  What if it's a stink bomb or something AWFUL?  
Oh, wait, the person put her return address on the package.  I think I'm safe.  


Note:  Cliff read this post and said, "All right, I'm not gonna buy you a present then!"  
He got the message!


Now you can read an anonymous comment on this post where someone called Cliff a Scrooge.  Either that person isn't too familiar with my blog, they are pulling my chain, or they are as bad as me to "open mouth, insert foot".   My longtime readers know Cliff is all heart.  

15 comments:

  1. LOL . . . your underwear getting tight! That's how I can always tell too. It's not when the jeans get snug, but when the underwear is uncomfortable that really bothers me.

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  2. That recipe sounds really good but I have so many goodies already around my house I'll copy and save that recipe for later on. If I should get snow bound I'd be well fed for days here. I agree about the gifts but I do give a lot of them at Christmas but not because I'm obligated but be cause I just love giving gifts!

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  3. LOL about comment on underwear you left on my blog. However, my sweat pants have decided to take up residences below the newly developed roll of fat and have tendency to fall off when I am walking. I am making Italian herb bread to give as presents.

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  4. My MIL made a lot of those almond bark covered goodies and they were delicious. We have way too much candy around here right now; luckily, I don't like the Hershey's mint/white choc kisses that my daughter is so crazy about. (brought back 4 bags of them from NYC)

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  5. Anonymous2:27 PM

    Christmas only comes one day a year. Every body should have a present to open. I think sometimes a reminder that a person is loved and remembered means alot at Christmas and Birthdays.
    I Hope you have a very good Christmas. Cliff should not be like that. You are a good wife and Mother. I would call him an Scrooge.

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  6. I bought some almond bark at Walmart for the first time yesterday. I also bought a can of cocktail peanuts and am going to melt the bark and mix in the peanuts and spread it in a pan with wax paper. I hope it works.

    We did that same thing in Sunday School looking up the verses and we called it Sword Drills. Did you call it that too? We loved that, I don't think they do that any more. Yes, there is something comforting in holding ones old well worn Bible in their hands. Merry Christmas!!

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  7. I seriously thought about deleting the above comment, but then decided the person probably didn't mean any harm. Cliff is about as far from a Scrooge as anyone could get. If I want something and we can afford it, he tells me to get it. Any time. So there.
    I'm the one who stopped the gift merry-go-round, not Cliff.

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  8. I don't pay any attention to Anonymous comments. I think you can block them if you want. Anyone who has been reading your blog for any time knows Cliff is a good guy not a scrooge!

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  9. MM, I allow anonymous comments because I have some faithful longtime readers who don't want to set up a blogger account (or don't know how to), and I'd be losing their feedback. By the way, you and I were obviously adding a comment at the same time; yours wasn't there when I first went to reply to anonymous.

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  10. Anonymous5:11 PM

    First time I have left a comment. You know he is not a scrooge because he puts up with you as you have often said. personally i don't think you really are all that hard to put up with because your just like me. LOL

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  11. My daughter has been making those ritz cracker things like they are going out of style. I've lost count of how many boxes of crackers I have bought (and she prefers to melt chocolate chips for the dipping).

    We have a tray in our fridge now. There's been a permanent spot for that tray since Halloween, I think.

    Good stuff.

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  12. Hey! Any of those snacks gonna make it to my house on Christmas morning?

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  13. I can't imagine Christmas without a tree. I keep mine up year round because I LOVE it so much. And have little tabletop ones scattered about. The almond bark sounds easy to make. And yummy too. My hubby and I still give gifts. But this year we pretty much picked out our own. Kinda of silly to wrap them, isn't it? LOL Celebrating Christmas with my grandkids tommorrow. I'll be hobbling along with my cane. I tore the meniscus in both knees. It hurts something awlful. They do an MRI on the 6th of Jan to see what we're going to do. Take care. MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and Cliff.

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  14. Lindie4:26 PM

    I will be cooking and baking tomorrow to take to my daughters house. Just sausage balls, cranberry nut bread, devilled eggs and raw vegetables. Easy Peasey. And I got her family just small gifts. My daughter said she wanted brown socks so I got her them! A a potato ricer for her husband. (He's the cook)

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