OuFe...

What a day...
I have literally been baking ALL day long.
I am doing a swap for sweets this coming Sunday with four other people and have decided since I am already into the baking mood, I my as well complete it ALL now and then I will be done and all ready for Christmas. We decided to make three recipes each and then when we meet on Sunday we will split all the treats and everyone will walk away with a mixture of everything. How fun :)

For my swap, I have decided to make Chocolate Macaroons, Homemade Chocolate Bars and Peanut Butter and Fluff Fudge...YUMMY! I will share along my recipes with you...

Chocolate Macaroons

1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
Boil on medium heat.
Mix the following ingredients in a bowl;
1 cup of coconut
2 cups of oatmeal
6 tbsp of cocoa
Then add 1 tsp of vanilla to the ingredients. Add to cooking ingredients. Mix all together. Drop spoonfuls on cookie sheet and let cool.

Homemade Chocolate Bars

1 cup of corn syrup
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of brown sugar
Melt, add 4 cups Rice Krispies.
Press in a pan and refrigerate until cold. Cut into pieces. Dip in chocolate which you need to melt in a double boiler. Melt 1/2 slice parawax, once melted add 12oz of chocolate chips and 6oz butterscotch chips. Stir until fully melted. With two forks, dip the squares until fully covered. Let sit on wax paper to harden.
Peanut Butter & Fluff Fudge

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup of milk
1 jar of peanut butter
1 jar of fluff
1 cup of unsalted peanuts (if desire)
1 tsp of vanilla
Stir the first three ingredients until it comes to a boil. Keep it boiling for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir then spread in a pan and let harden.
And since I had chocolate leftover from my homemade chocolate bars, I did not want to waste so I dipped pretzel sticks. Hubby loves these so there is a special treat just for him :)
I still had some chocolate leftover, so I decided to take some cherries and dip them in. I have a weakness for cherries and chocolate so mixed together...DIVINE! I also added in the same tin can my Santa face chocolates. My MIL teased me and said she knows what I like best...CHOCOLATE. Does it show that much??? LOL
One last recipe that I decided to a give a try for myself but still waiting for it to harden would be Creamy Chocolate Rum Truffles. Oh truffles...can't resists these either...LOL and they were very easy to make. It's just the waiting time...

Creamy Chocolate Rum Truffles

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp rum extract
1/4 cup dark rum
In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, add the chocolate chips and condensed milk until fully melted. Stir in rum extract and the dark rum until fully mixed together. Chill for 2 hours. Shape in 3/4 balls and roll in any suggested coatings...powdered sugar, cocoa, coconut. Chill for 1 hour or until firm. Store covered at room temperature.

I test tried while it was still soft...they are to die for. I hope they will harden like the recipe says.

With all this and my swap...I will have all my sweets for the Holidays. I can't believe it I am three weeks in advance for everything. Leaving me enough time to craft...YEAH! I have some projects started that I need to finish so I can enjoy them.

Tomorrow is the last craft show for the season so I am going to be hitting that. Can't miss out on maybe some great deals and great homemade work :) And with us now in the month of December...it is a busy one with my daughter Tabitha. She is in the church choir but also in a private choir and private singing lessons so she has ALOT of practices this month which means alot of running. But that is expected with the Holidays just around the corner. I always love Christmas Concerts...they really bring you in the spirit and on Christmas Eve the Choir always have a awesome performance. It's my best part of Christmas Eve and attending church :) I love listening to the kids sing some classic Christmas Music.

I have taken all the pictures of my Christmas decorating and would like to make a slide show like I did with my Fall decorating. So hopefully in the next couple of days I will get it posted. So make sure to stay tuned. So far I have been LOVING everyone else's decorating...keep posting girls.

Until next time...Sandy