Fancy Pretzels - great neighbor gift idea!

I have made all of these recipes before to give as neighbor gifts. I am not sure which ones I will be making this year.

All these recipes use pretzels.

All of these recipes are easy enough that the kids can help make them.

Fancy Pretzels
Recipe from Beth at A Mom's Life
INGREDIENTS:
1 package (10 oz) pretzel rods, broken or cut in half
1 package (14 oz) individually warpped caramels
1 TBS evaporated milk
Bag of minature chocolate chips
Bag of Butterscotch chips
Bag of toffee bits

In a glass measuring cup, melt caramels and evaporated milk in microwave for 3 minutes.

In a shallow bowl or pie pan combine chips and toffee bits.

Dip the cut end of each pretzel piece 2/3 of the way into the caramel mixture.
Allow excess caramel to drip off (making sure not to get too much caramel or when it hardens you won't be able to bite into the pretzel), then roll pretzel into the chip mixture.

Place on waxed paper until set.

Wrap these in plastic wrap and tie up with ribbon for gift giving or store in an air tight container.

**OPTION #2: Follow the instructions above, but after dipping in the caramel you can roll the pretzel in mini M&M candies.

**OPTION #3: Melt white chocolate chips and drizzle the chocolate over the coated pretzel rods. This can be done to either option 1 or 2.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reindeer Pretzels
Recipe and image from RecipeGoldMine.com
makes 12
INGREDIENTS:
4 oz chocolate, white or butterscotch almond bark, chopped
12 large pretzel twists
12 pretzel sticks
24 miniature semisweet chocolate chips
12 red and 12 green M&M's
fruit leather

Place almond bark in 1-cup microwavable measuring cup. Microwave uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted.

Dip pretzel twists into melted candy coating. Place on waxed paper. Let stand until coating is set.

If necessary, rewarm coating. Dip top 2 inches of pretzel rod into melted candy coating; attach pretzel rod to bottom of pretzel twist. Place on waxed paper.

To make reindeer, press on chocolate chips for eyes and red candy for nose using melted candy coating. Cut scarf from fruit roll; attach to reindeer using candy coating. Press on green candy for button using candy coating. Place on waxed paper. Let stand until coating is set.

Store coated pretzel rods loosely covered at room temperature no longer than 2 weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
White Dipped Pretzel Twists
INGREDIENTS:
6 (1 oz) squares white chocolate
1 (15 oz) package mini twist pretzels
red and green candy sprinkles (optional)

Melt white chocolate in microwave safe dish, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.

Dip the side of the pretzel halfway into the white chocolate. Roll in sprinkles if desired. Lay on cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Refrigerate for 10 minutes until set. Store in an airtight container.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turtle Pretzel Twists
INGREDIENTS:
48 pretzel twists
48 Rolo candies (unwrapped)
48 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 275.

Spread out pretzels on a cookie sheet. Place a Rolo candy in the center of each pretzel. Put on the lowest rack in the oven for about 10 minutes. DO NOT LET CANDY MELT FLAT. You only need candy softened.

Remove cookie sheet and smoosh 1 pecan into the center of the Rolo candy.

Place back in the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes.

Allow to completely cool and then store in an airtight container.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pretzel Kisses
INGREDIENTS:
1 bag of square waffle pretzels
1 bag of Hershey kisses
1 bag of M&M's candies

line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place a layer of pretzels onto of parchments paper. Place a kiss in the center of pretzel.

Bake until kiss is melted. Remove and place m&m in center of pretzel.

Let cool until set.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Candy Coated Pretzels
**Need a candy thermometer for this one**
INGREDIENTS:
1 package miniature pretzel twists
1 cup unsalted butter
2 c brown sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Arrange pretzels in a single layer baking sheet.

Combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Do not stir once the sugar syrup begins to boil. Heat to 244 degrees F (117 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball.

Pour hot mixture over pretzels; toss to coat evenly.

Bake pretzels in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan and stir. Continue to bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and break into individual pieces. Cool on wire rack or parchment paper.

Funny story

So the other day Mr. Man and I stopped at a little convenience store. I sat in the car while he ran inside. I could see him at the checkout laughing and having a good time. When he gets back in the car I jokingly said "Was she cute?"

He looked at me for a minute and then said "Oh pah-lease. She was old. She was probably 50."

This is super funny because Mr. Man turns the big FIVE-O himself in March.

We both just started cracking up.... I think he laughed so hard he cried!

Our handmade Christmas gifts - Part 1

This year we are doing a mixture of handmade gifts and store-bought gifts. I wanted to start showing off what we have been doing.

Part 1 of our handmade Christmas gifts:

Snowglobe soaps. Click here for the instructions I used.

These are so cute. So fun. And so easy to make. The kids helped me make them and we did two batches in about an hour.

I found some deer in the dollhouse section of the craft store. I also used some fun buttons. I didn't do a very good job placing the items on my first batch and they were hard to see. But I learned and the next batch came out much better!

These little gifts would make great stocking stuffers because they are the size of an ice cube. We are giving these to nieces, nephews and our neighbor kid friends.


Very cute and I highly recommend the craft.

**I took this picture before I wrapped them up. I plan to wrap them in cellophane and tie a ribbon around it.**

Weekend recap

Friday was the last weekday of Mr. Man's vacation and he got stuck sitting home with a sick kid. Spirit ended up with the same thing Lefty had earlier in the week. Probably somewhat of a good thing, that way he was forced to somewhat relax on his last day of vacation.

Friday night my neighbor and I went to a "Dove Chocolate" party at a friend's house. I never thought I would say "I've had enough chocolate." but boy-oh-boy after a plate full of chocolate served with chocolate drinks I was feeling a little sick by the end of it. It was good stuff though!

Saturday morning was errand time. Then Lady Bug had a birthday party to go so after dropping her off we took the boys to see Disney's A Christmas Carol. That was a little more intense than I thought it would be. There were parts that definitely scared the boys a little. I felt bad. I think all is ok now though. No one had nightmares (except me--just kidding!)

It snowed all day Sunday so we laid low and watched some football after church. After dinner we had some hot cocoa with marshmallows and sat by the fire.

Overall it was a great weekend.

I am going to start showing off some of the handmade gifts we are doing this year. I just got to get the pictures organized a little. I will post the first one tomorrow - a great teacher gift.

Meal Plan for December 5 - 11

Saturday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch - Frozen Pizza (I will actually be eating with a friend while the fam eats this! hee hee)

Dinner - Turkey Tortilla Soup (I'm trying this recipe)

Sunday:

Breakfast - Overnight Bubble Bread / Sliced fruit / Milk

Lunch -Left overs

Dinner - Lasagna

Monday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -PB&J / fruit / chips

Dinner - Left overs

Tuesday:

Breakfast - Toast / Juice or milk

Lunch -Meat roll ups (Spirit's latest fave. Deli meat and cheese rolled up) / fruit / chips

Dinner - Creamy Chicken Pasta

Wednesday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -Meat roll ups / fruit / crackers

Dinner - Tacos (This recipe sounds pretty good too!)

Thursday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -PB&J / fruit / chips

Dinner - Spaghetti

Friday:

Breakfast - Cereal / Juice

Lunch -Meat roll ups / fruit / crackers

Dinner - Quesadillas

Friday Recipe - Chocolate Pecan Bars

I made these for Thanksgiving and I am also making some to give as gifts to neighbors for Christmas presents.

Chocolate Pecan Bars
INGREDIENTS:
2 sticks of butter
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 c flour

TOPPING:
1 stick of butter
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c honey
2 Tbls white sugar
2 Tbls heavy cream
pinch of salt
2 c pecan halves
1 tsp vanilla
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in salt. Slowly add in flour until mixture is crumbly. Press mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Prick with a fork slightly and bake for 17-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Reduce temperature in oven to 325 degrees. While crust is cooling, make the topping. In a saucepan over medium-high heat melt butter, brown sugar, honey, cream and white sugar. Stirring constantly. When mixture is thoroughly combined, remove from heat and add in salt, vanilla and pecans.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of crust and then pour on the pecan mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely. Using a sharp knife, cut into bars. These can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

**NOTE: The chocolate layer can be eliminated if you want. The bars are excellent without the chocolate layer, but I prefer the chocolate layer.

December 2

Here it is December 2nd - I want to say "Here it is December 2nd already!" because I am starting to feel the pressure to get all the Christmas stuff done.

Mr. Man had a week of vacation that the company decided they weren't going to allow him to roll over into next year. Ever since he has worked for them, any vacation, sick or personal time left on December 31 they allowed employees to roll over into the following year. That policy changed this past summer. So he had 5 days left to use this year (none of the rest of us were able to take any time with him, but that's ok) and he is home all this week.

The good news is that he got some Christmas shopping done for me - well not for me, but things I wanted to buy the kiddos! He got all the house decorations done. He made homemade salsa - twice! Now he is taking an overnight trip to a condo in the mountains with a buddy of his. Should be a nice time. Short trip, but just a little get away for him!

The kids and I plan to watch a movie or two and just hang out. We still have school/work to tend to so it won't be all that exciting for us! I plan to work on some more Christmas crafts/gifts. Hopefully be done soon! I am enjoying all of it!

I really wanted to make my own advent calendar this year... ummm, I soooo did not get to it so I guess I will move that to next years list! I did make these pocket advent calendars for a couple friends - they turned out cute and were pretty easy to make! I thought they would be fun for the kids, but they don't sell "kid-friendly" gum (kid flavors) in a 12-piece pack. Oh well. My friends enjoyed them anyway!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRUSTRATIONS:
I have talked about a neighbor kid, "J", that can be difficult. He is older than my children, but he is on the immature side. This is the kid that broke a sentimental wagon of ours. Anywhoooo, this past weekend the boys were outside playing with him in the front yard. Pretty soon they came in telling me that J had to go in and do homework for an hour, but that his mom said they could come back in an hour to play again.

When they went back an hour later, unbeknownst to me or to Mr. Man, they took money with them. Spirit paid J $2 for a spiral notebook, granted it was just about new, but still. Spirit also paid $3 along with Lefty another $3, so J got $6. What for you ask? Good question. Neither my husband or I knew about the money until yesterday afternoon. They were again playing out front with J and they told Mr. Man that J was being mean. So Mr. Man went out to see what was going on. They told him they paid J $6 and they didn't understand what for. When J was given the opportunity to explain, he told Mr. Man that he took their money and he was going to show them how he plays his Wii. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Mr. Man told him friends don't charge friends to let them watch a video game. Then J told him that he was going to teach them how to play. Again, Mr. Man explained that friends don't charge each other for things like that and asked why he hasn't showed them anything yet then? J had the nerve to say "that deal was for one day only." Mr. Man was a lot calmer than I would have been, and he said he thought J should give our boys their money back. J took off running. We explained to our boys that #1-they shouldn't spend money without talking to us first and #2-don't pay friends for things like that. Friends shouldn't charge each other to teach or share, etc. Friends should want to help each other out with whatever and however they can.

I am pretty sure we won't see that money. Ever. And I hope the kids learned a lesson. I feel bad for my kids, but at the same time I am FUMING mad at neighbor J!!!