'Tis the Season (Part 4)

For some of us it's that time of year when we are transitioning from Thansgiving into Christmas and from Fall into Winter. To mark the occasion, Wendy and I have decided to do a series of Holiday related posts. The 4th and final part is Holiday Recipes!! 

Louisana Red Velvet Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

24  OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 2 cups)

¼ cup  butter, melted

6 squares  BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided

3 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

¾ cup  sugar

1 tsp.  vanilla

3  eggs

1 Tbsp.  red food coloring

Directions

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

MIX cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.

MELT 4 chocolate squares as directed on package; place in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended. Remove 2 cups batter; mix with melted chocolate and food coloring. Carefully spread over crust; cover with remaining plain batter.

BAKE 26 to 28 min. or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Melt remaining chocolate; drizzle over dessert. Refrigerate 4 hours.

My friend, Emmalee, found this recipe for me when I was looking to try something new for the family. She found it on Kraft.com. It was a hit at Thanksgiving and was requested for Christmas…from someone who doesn’t like cheesecake. If that isn’t a shining endorsement I don’t know what is!!

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Chocolate PB Fridge Cookies

2c sugar

1/2 c milk

4 TB cocoa powder

1 stick margarine or butter

Mix together, bring to boil while constantly stirring, remove from heat and

add:

1c PB

1 tsp vanilla

Stir until well combined and add:

3c quick oats

Mix well and drop by spoonful on wax paper lined platters chill for 2 hours

until set.

This was one of my favorites as a child that my grandmother used to make every year around the holidays.

They are so easy to make and they are a huge hit with kids and adults alike. The only trouble is keeping people out of them until they are set! (hehehe)

'Tis the Season (Part 3)

For some of us it's that time of year when we are transitioning from Thansgiving into Christmas and from Fall into Winter. To mark the occasion, Wendy and I have decided to do a series of Holiday related posts. Part 3 is about holiday themed movies! 

I mentioned in the first 'Tis the Season post that I have a love for Christmas themed movies. Sure they are sometimes predictable and will probably all have that hallmark happy ending but they are guaranteed to leave you with that warm and fuzzy feeling that goes so well with the season.

I really do watch a lot of Christmas movies each year and it would be ridiculous to list them all so I decided to list some favorites.

12 Men of Christmas

Road to Christmas
Home Alone 1, 2, & 5
A Boyfriend for Christmas

Bad Santa
Holiday in Handcuffs
A Holiday to Remember
The National Tree
Recipe for a Perfect Christmas
Santa Baby
Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus
Undercover Christmas
Under the Mistletoe
The March Sisters at Christmas
Surviving Christmas

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I have found that now as an adult and mother I still love curiling up to watch the holiday movies. (It is a great way to get my son settled before bed too! Some of my favorites are White Christmas, One Magic Christmas, Scrooged, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Eight Crazy Nights. I could go on and on, I just love the holidays! I still have a fondness for all the old animated shows too, but my son's favorite is Polar Express so we watch that one quite often through the season.

'Tis the Season (Part 2)

For some of us it's that time of year when we are transitioning from Thansgiving into Christmas and from Fall into Winter. To mark the occasion, Wendy and I have decided to do a series of Holiday related posts. Part 2 is about winter/holiday collections! 

Many of my friends know that I LOVE Winter...probably to the point where it gets annoying haha. Why do I love it so much? Snow! I live in Pennsylvania so we're usually good for one really good (10" +) snowfall per year and some random decent ones (4" +). But along with cold weather and snow comes the need for scarves, hats, and gloves...which brings me to the subject of my part of this post. My scarf obsession collection. I have entirely too many scarves  You can never have too many scarves which is why I end up buying a couple more every year. It's not unusual for me to be lounging around the house randomly wearing a scarf.

In fact, I found this one and I'm wearing it as I type this post. I have no clue where it came from but it's a hat and scarf in one. Hhmm, does that make it a harf?

I have long, short, wide, skinny, fuzzy, sparkly, purple, peach, striped, old, new, and even a couple homemade scarves. I counted 24 scarves and 3 shaws...like I said earlier I have quite the obsession collection :)

Do you have any winter/holiday collections or obsessions?

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My winter obsession is Snowmen. I have all sizes, all textures from glass to stuffed and I just love them! All of them are sadly packed at the moment, with the exception of a few in my jewelry collection.

I also add something each year so this year I am on the hunt for snowmen bookmarks, I just realized I don't have any of those yet.

'Tis the Season (Part 1)

For some of us it's that time of year when we are transitioning from Thansgiving into Christmas and from Fall into Winter. To mark the occasion, Wendy and I have decided to do a series of Holiday related posts. Part 1 is naturally about books! 

I really try to enjoy this time of year and I admit, I've already mailed my holiday cards out (**GASP**). I also have a love for Christmas movies so I've been watching them for a couple weeks. BUT I have to raise a huge STOP sign when it comes to holiday music and decorations, I'm just not there yet. As for holiday themed books, here's what's on my shelf.

A Highlander Christmas by Janet Chapman

The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander*

Christmas Wishes & Small Town Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Don't Look Down by Jennifer Cruise <== Oops, this one isn't a Christmas book but it somehow made it's way into the pic. I blame the red spine ;) 

The Dangers of Mistletoe by Theresa Alan

Icing on the Lake by Catherine Clark

Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway

To Santa With Love, Happy Holidays, & Let's Be Jolly by Janet Dailey

Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbit Macomber*

Let it Snow by John Green etc.

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson*

The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson*

I also have a few holiday themed ebooks:

Jingle all the YA by various authors*

Forever Christmas by Christine Lynxwiler

Bah, Humbug by Heather Horrocks*

Merry's Christmas by Susan Rohrer

Sweet Inspiration by Penny Watson*

Snowed Under by Jude Ryan
All I Want for Christmas is You by Lisa Mondello

There's no way I will get to them all but there are a few that I'm eyeing up more than others. I marked those with a * above.

How about you, do you enjoy holiday themed books or movies? Which are you most looking forward to reading/watching?

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I think the buildup to Christmas is more fun than the day itself. My favorite way to spend a December evening is curled up with a cup of coffee and a great book. Unfortunately my hardcopies are all packed as we are preparing to move so I can't take a picture of them to share with you, but some of the Holiday book I have are:

No Place Like Home by Fern Michaels
Family Blessings by Fern Michaels
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas

These are the ones I have on my Kindle:

Forever Christmas by Christine Lynxwiler
All I Want for Christmas is You by Lisa Mondello
Mistletoe Mischief by Stacey Joy Netzel
Blame it on the Mistletoe by Joyce Magnin