Valentine's Day

With Valentine’s Day this week, I have been thinking about that special day and how to celebrate it.  I wasn’t sure how or when it started, but I remembered hearing something about someone named Valentine.  So, I did what I like to do when I don’t know or remember something.  I do a Google search.  I found out a little bit about the origin of Valentine’s Day.

In 270 A.D., the Roman emperor Claudius II didn’t want the men to marry during the time of war, thinking that unmarried men would be better warriors.  Bishop Valentine went against these orders and performed secret weddings.  This went on until his execution on Feb. 14^th.    So, Valentine’s Day is really a celebration of love and marriage.

I heard the other day that Valentine’s Day should be called “Single Awareness Day,” since so many unmarried people struggle with a day that celebrates the one thing that is elusive to them.  I am sure that there are many people out there who do not enjoy Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day is another day that is a sad day for some, especially for those women who would like to be mothers but have not had the opportunity.

To me, Valentine’s Day is a day to make heart sugar cookies, decorate my home with lots of hearts, and eat chocolate.  When my kids were little, I loved to do special foods for holidays. Sometimes I would make pink biscuits or pancakes for breakfast on Valentine’s Day. We often had red gelatin hearts for dinner, red punch to drink, and heart shaped desserts.  I would try to remember to put a little something special in their school lunches, such as a note or card to say “I love you”.  I also remember making heart necklaces or hair bows for the girls to wear on Valentine’s Day.  I think that holidays are a great excuse to do a few out of the ordinary things.  I hope that is something that my girls remember about their growing up years.

I can’t do much for those people out there who are lonely and sad on Valentine’s Day, but I hope that maybe I can do a little something for someone.  A note of affection or appreciation, a plate of cookies left at their door, a quick text or email to a friend, etc.  Maybe I can help someone feel remembered and loved on the day that we celebrate love.  We all want to feel loved, even if we don’t have much romance in our lives.  I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, that you feel loved, and that you can help someone else feel loved.  XOXO

~Gayle

Stay at Home Grandma

After working at a local bookstore for several years, I decided a few months ago to quit work to become a ‘stay-at-home’ grandma.  I feel very fortunate that I was able to make that choice.  One of the many things I had wanted to do with the grandkids was to make holiday treats.  I guess there is a bit of my mom in me that way.  At Halloween, I had two of the kids come over and we made treats.  Using pretzels, candy melts and a few other things, we made “pumpkins” and “bones.”  I wish I would have taken pictures. I found the ideas on Pinterest.  Anyway, the kids had fun and were good helpers.  We even made ‘mummy dogs’ with hot dogs and crescent roll dough for dinner.  Yummy!

At Thanksgiving, other grandkids were here, so we decided to make turkeys out of sandwich cookies, malt balls, peanut butter cups and frosting.  I had seen these on Pinterest (of course!), and one of my daughters was given some by a friend.  So, the day before Thanksgiving, 5 kids helped me to make the turkeys, making enough to put one at each person’s plate for Thanksgiving dinner.  We had quite an assembly line, ‘glueing’ the pieces together, then refrigerating them overnight.  In the morning, we added finishing touches (beaks and eyes).  When it was time to set the table for our feast, there was a cute cookie turkey at each place.  Not everyone ate theirs, as the frosting had made the cookies a bit soggy, but it was worth the time and supplies to have that time with some of the grandkids.

I saw a cute gingerbread type Nativity stable made from graham crackers, frosting, marshmellows and candy on Pinterest.  I think next week I will recruit some grandkids to come make them with me.  Then, maybe snowman cookies in January, hearts in Feb, shamrocks in March…..

~Gayle

Oreo Truffles

Our family has great traditions that we have done for years.  One of my favorites is our annual Red Elf party.  My Grandparents started it when we were quite young.  I honestly don't remember a year without this party.  It included a pinata, fish pond and a room with a bed filled with Stuffed animals that we would all take turn picking from.  When it was time to pick stuffed animals my cute grandparents would come out dressed up in red long johns topped off with elf hats, a big red nose and Christmas striped toe socks.  I still look forward to this party all year.  My kids now enjoy going, even though the details have changed.  I love sharing this tradition with my kids.

A new tradition I love is making Oreo Truffles every year.  A friend of mine gave us Oreo Truffles for a neighbor gift one year and I couldn't get enough of them.  I get so excited thinking about these truffles, they are so yummy!  The best part is, that they are quite simple to make.  Just a few ingredients.

Here you go:

Oreo Truffles
1 package Oreos (just traditional type)
1 package Cream Cheese, softened
Milk chocolate chips


Blend up the Oreos, I use my Bosch and blended them until pretty smooth.
Pour the blended Oreos into a mixing bowl and add the cream cheese.  Mix the Oreos and Cream Cheese until mixed well.  I usually end up having to use my hands to get it mixed all the way.  Yes, wash them first!  Next, I roll them into small balls  maybe about 3/4 inch.  I just grab and roll the mix around my palms until it forms a ball.  While you are doing this, you can have the chocolate melting.  I usually just use a pie pan and put it over a pan of boiling water.  Stir fairly often so it doesn't get burnt at all.

Once the balls are all ready, roll them in the chocolate and lay on wax or parchment paper to cool.  If you want to make them more decorative, you could use white chocolate or colored candy melts and put them in a cake bag or even just a ziplock bag.  Cut the tip and drizzle it over the Oreos.   You could also try other chocolates to dip them in.  Have fun!

I was hoping to post a picture but have had a yucky cold bug so I haven't been up to making them.

Hope you love them as much as we all do!

~Andrea

Thoughts on Christmas

I have been thinking a lot about Christmas lately.  Who hasn’t?  While I am not “old” yet, I have been around for a lot of Christmases.  There are a lot of things which have changed over the years, and a lot of other things which are the same.  One thing that hasn’t changed over the many Christmases of my life time is the interest in special treats for the holiday.  My mom was one who loved to make holiday treats.  She made holiday breads, candies, cookies, and even a sweet roll Christmas wreath.  I was usually her helper, being the only daughter, and have fond memories of making treats with Mom.  Many of the treats were gifts for the neighbors.  She would even leave a loaf of sweet bread on the mailbox for the mailman and one on our garbage can at the curb for the garbage man.  I don’t make many of those treats any more, but one of my daughters really likes the cookies we used to make with a cookie press (which I now own) and my other 2 daughters love the peanut butter fudge.  Occasionally we make some of the treats that my mom did, and we always think of my mom when we do. Even my nieces and nephews think of Grandma when they make the family’s traditional treats.

Shopping for gifts or making gifts is still the norm for Christmas, even though malls were not around when I was younger.  I would have enjoyed going to the mall just to see the decorations then, now I try at all costs to avoid the mall at Christmas time.

Christmas lights are the same and yet different now.  I used to love when we would pile into the car (without seatbelts) to drive around the wealthier parts of town to see the decorated houses.  I loved one house that always looked like a castle from a distance.  Now, we go to a place that has light displays, where we pay to drive around slowly and let the grandkids ohhh and ahhh over the lighted reindeer jumping over the road and a large Santa waving at us.  I would probably make my husband take me each year to see the lights even if we didn’t have grandkids around to go with. 

As our lives become more busy and hectic, it seems harder each year to take time to remember the reason we celebrate the season.  I pulled out some nativity storybooks today to read to my grandchildren tonight as we go to see the lights, so that we can talk about the real meaning of the things we do at this Christmas season. And when we are done, maybe we will come back here to drink hot chocolate and eat peanut butter fudge.

~Gayle

St Patrick's Rainbow Bread

The kiddos love to have fun holiday food.  Along with the normal green pancakes we made rainbow bread.  I found the idea here (hers looks much better than mine!).  I used one of my favorite bread recipes I found on pinterest.  Adding the food coloring to each section and kneading it in was time consuming, but the kids helped me-and LOVED it!  They have been asking to make bread every day since.  It didn't turn out to be a great rainbow shape, but the fun colors had the desired effect for the kids.  They loved the grilled cheese (gold in the middle of the rainbow) sandwiches we made with it.

~Amy