Our Christmas Treats: Recipe Three: Coconut Balls

One year at Christmastime we were visiting at Joseph's mom's house and his cousin, Shelly, lived across the street.  We went over there to visit and she had THE BEST treats!!  I never did get the recipe for Coconut Balls from her but she said she got it from her grandmother's cookbook.  I love that.  I love anything that has been passed down from generation to generation.  It always makes me wonder about the people who used the recipes, who ate the food.  What was their life like?  Were they happy or was sorrow touching their life?  It's for this same reason that I love antiques.  I want to ask each piece, where have you been and what have you seen?  So this recipe to me, although I made it up myself, has deep roots in the past which is always comforting to me when I make them.

Coconut Balls

1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 14 ounce package of shredded coconut (5 1/3 cups)

Combine the two ingredients in a bowl (you can add a little almond extract to this if you like it).  Carefully form the mixture into balls.  This is really messy but would probably be made easier with a melon baller.  Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment paper and put them in the freezer for one hour.  Melt almond bark as you do for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Balls.  I always add about a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to this and melt it with the almond bark.
Bring the coconut balls out of the freezer and dip them in the melted chocolate.  Put them back on the cookie sheet because they'll probably need a little help setting up because of the addition of the chocolate chips.  I sprinkle some melted white almond bark on top to distinguish them from the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Balls.  Depending on the size of the treats, this recipe will make from 2-3 dozen.

Our Advent Calender

When my niece was little, I purchased an Advent calendar for her.  It was the kind with little pockets and she would move a little felt mouse from pocket to pocket every day counting down til Christmas.  The little pockets had treats in them... one treat for every day.  This is what an advent calendar was to me.  We have never done an advent calendar in our family.  I thought the idea sounded like fun and was eye-ing an advent calendar at the store and thinking I might purchase one for my kids.  In the end, I opted not to.  You see, one day we were riding in the car and the children were talking about what they would like to get for Christmas.  All of a sudden, I realized that I hadn't once heard them say that they were anxious to GIVE anything.  Now, my children really are not ungrateful and they were just being normal kids at Christmas time, I think, but I wanted something more for them.  I wanted them to see Christ in this time of year.  I wanted them to understand the sacrifice He made in coming to earth to serve and to save.
With that in mind and a little inspiration from the friend of a friend, I put together our family's first Advent calendar.  I didn't fill every day with activity but the goal was to put my children in a different frame of mind... to give them a different focus for this holiday season.
I thought I'd list what we are doing in the hope of inspiring your own holiday season.

• Make and send Christmas cards to our Compassion International sponsor children
• We chose to donate cash and a gift basket to our local Shelter from the Storm by offering to work for friends to earn a donation.  We chose Shelter from the Storm to honor the kids' godmother whom they lost to domestic violence.  We composed a letter and emailed it to our local friends asking for their consideration.
• The Angel Tree.  JCPenney and the Salvation Army have teamed up with an online Angel Tree.  The kids chose the gender and age of the child they wanted to purchase for and JCPenney offered many items at a drastically reduced price.  Both of my kids independently felt that they would best serve their "angel" buy buying her pajamas (yup, they both chose girls!).  I thought that was sweet.
• Serving you.  The kids have one day per week that they serve someone else in the family.  Serve Mom day is coming up on Saturday and I really can't wait! :)
• We are preparing to gift a soldier (my cousin Artie) for the holiday reminding my kids that there are people out there fighting to protect their way of life and the right to celebrate.
• Since we have an abundance of books and videos at our house, we will be going through our surplus and donating some of those items to the library.
• My husband works for Union Pacific and it is our plan to descend on their morning meeting with holiday baskets of homemade gifts and treats for them.  These men are so important to us and we love them like family.  We'll also be handing out invitations to a casual Christmas party/open house.  These plans are still a little sketchy to me as I would love for the party to be filled with ways they can serve our guests and gift them as well... any ideas that you have will be great!
• We love to spend our tithe money in creative ways and one of our favorites is to shop Samaritan's Purse online Christmas catalog.  You can purchase blankets, chicks, Bibles, goats... almost anything you can think of that helps families in poor countries learn to be self supportive and ministers to these people body, mind and soul.
• I love this idea:  The kids are going to write a thank-you note to a person who has made a difference in their life.  I can just imagine the look on a person's face who receives that as a Christmas gift this year... the knowledge that they affected someone's life in a positive way for a lifetime.  What better gift is there??
• We plan to offer free babysitting to one (or more) of our friends so they can go Christmas shopping.
• We will go through the kids' toys and donate our many "extras" to the office where foster children have family visits.
• We plan to go to the "Living Nativity" for the first time.  I'm told it's amazing and what a tangible way to teach the Christmas Story!
• We also plan on reading the Christmas Story from the Bible and watching the movie "The Nativity" as well as baking a birthday cake for Jesus.

I'm so excited to see what my kids have learned by the end of this month.  I'm hoping to see a humbleness that is currently lacking and maybe the beginnings of an eye toward serving others.  The real challenge, tho, is to make this an on-going project.  Although it's a great lesson to learn during the holidays, I want the kids to continue this attitude of service throughout the year.  I hope that I can lead by example as well as direct their paths. 

A Lesson To Learn... A Page From My Journal

Tuesday, November 15, 2010

and aren't they worth it?

"I'm sitting here in the quiet of the morning, waiting for the full force of the impending storm to hit.  Planning my day, examining my life.  I read in Isaiah 48 the other day.  The chapter is titled 'God's Stubborn People'.  When I read that, I knew it was about me.  The line that caught my eye was v.2, '...you call yourself the holy city and talk about depending on the God of Israel...'  Do I call myself a Christian and merely talk about depending on God?  Who am I fooling?  Only myself.  I'm short-changing my life and my relationship with God.... the most important and dependable relationship I have!  You know how they say you always treat the people closest to you poorly because you know they'll always be there?  Is that why I treat God in such a 'fair-weather friend' kind of way?  Shouldn't I treat Him and the others around me--those that are closest to me with the greatest love and respect?"

Our Christmas Treats: Recipe Two: Gingerbread Bears

One year in a Christmas basket from my sister and her family, there were a couple of gingerbread men tucked in among the other treats.  I've got to tell you, it was love at first bite!  I had to have the recipe!  I love things that make a memory or remind me of someone and this always reminds me of her. 
A cup of coffee and a gingerbread bear (i don't have any "man" cookie cutters that i really like so i use a bear) can double as a holiday breakfast at my house and has many times!  I suppose I shouldn't recommend that but, what a treat!

"gingy"

Gingerbread Bears


3 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice/cloves

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup molasses
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.  In a separate bowl, mix the butter, molasses and egg.  Blend the dry ingredients with the wet to form a stiff ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  On a lightly floured board, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch.  (don't roll it too thin... fat bears are softer and yummier)  Cut out cookies and place them on the cookie sheet (i always bake with parchment paper now but i've never greased the pan either way).  Bake each batch for 10 minutes (i think that all cookies should be baked for only 10 minutes because then they are softer).
You can decorate your bears after they've cooled, but I never do.  It would be a fun thing to do with your kids, tho.

Try them for breakfast with your coffee... I promise, I'll never tell!

Just Had To Share...

I'm so glad that my kids love the "old" cartoons!  The other day when I was walking past the table, I found this piece of paper with Mitchell's handwriting and started to laugh!  Yep, that's about how it usually goes!

Our Christmas Treats: Recipe One: Chocolate-Peanut Butter Balls

This week I'm going to start a series of posts with recipes for some of our favorite Christmas Treats and the stories behind them.  In that way, I hope that we can share a little of our home with you during the holiday season.

Today's treat is...

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut butter balls are one of the foods that my best friend always said she could never live without and so it was always among any gifts she received from me each year!  Peanut butter was her biggest food love in life and I never make them without thinking of her.  What a treasure to find her in even the little everyday things!  Read about my girl in other posts I've published.  She was an amazing friend and I'm blessed to have known her even in the smallest way.

1c. peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
2c. crisp rice cereal
1c. powdered sugar
1pkg (14 ounces) chocolate candy coating (almond bark)
2T vegetable shortening

In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and butter and sugar.  Add the cereal, mixing until evenly combined.  Form into balls and set on waxed paper.
Melt the almond bark and shortening together for about 2 minutes in the microwave (or with a double boiler on the stovetop).  Dip each peanut butter ball into the chocolate mixture and return it to the waxed paper to cool and set up.

Giving Thanks

Today, Lord, I'm thankful for family.  I'm thankful for a husband who endures the good, bad and ugly of his job because it pays our bills and allows me to stay at home with our kids and teach them.  I'm thankful for the honor You bestow in trusting me to raise Your children.  I'm thankful for a beautiful daughter who is growing into a strong woman and for three wonderful sons who are learning so much from their Dad about how to be a man.

I thank You, God, for parents who are always there to encourage me thru life.  I thank You for any and every opportunity You give me to serve them in return.  I thank You for brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and dozens of cousins who all, in their own way, have taught me and helped to shape my world, my heart and my compassion.  I thank You for Grandparents that I achingly miss every single day because they made such a massive impact in my life.
Thank You, God, for family traditions.  For things I will never forget because they are etched in my mind as lighthearted days full of laughter and peace.
I thank You for a warm house, employment, and plenty of food.  I thank You for friends, both here and gone.  They are so clearly Your gift to me.  Please don't ever let me take that for granted.
Most of all God, I thank You for the gift of being able to talk to You.  Thank You for showing me why I believe and that my prayers count.

I hope and I pray that I never forget who and what I am thankful for.  I want to make memories for my family that will last a lifetime and continue on for generations.  I want to be the parent that my parents have been and the grandparent that my grandparents were.  I want to leave a mark in this world that points others to the Cross because EVERYONE will see one day that, THAT is the only thing that will EVER matter.