It's Been A Good Year

I can hardly believe the end of 2014 is already here! Wow... it has flown by to me, but when I actually start thinking about everything that has happened this year, I am  shocked at how much we crammed into one year! 

It's been a happy year!

Just think... 

On January 6, 2015, I will celebrate 1 year of blogging with you all! I am so thankful for blogging this year!  It's helped me to cope with the many changes going on in my life and it's given me something to work on that I've really enjoyed!

This year, we've added two family members to our Hackney family of 5.  We are now a happy family of 7! <3

We celebrated the marriages of two of our children this year!

We had our second homeschooling student to graduate successfully! 

This year I started my 19th year of homeschooling!

 

We watched as Austin (aka The Baby), got his first job and started driving on his own!

Anthony and I visited Canada for the second time in our marriage!

We celebrated 25 years of marriage on June 24 of this year!

We've had many good times of fellowship with our friends and family in 2014!

 We are so thankful for all of you that helped make it a happy year for us!! 

It's been a  sad year...

I won't lie and say that it's all been happy.  This year, we've had sad times too.  It's NEVER easy to let go of those we love and this year, we had to do that!  We are so thankful that God has promised a better life in Heaven with Him one day to those who are His children!

I am so thankful for all of the prayers that have been said on behalf of our family this year!

We also hurt for others who have lost loved ones this year too! <3

 

It's been a busy year...

With our work travels, school, graduation, wedding showers, 2 weddings, vacations, holidays, family, friends and just plain old LIFE... our year has been busy!!

It's been a blessed year... 

Our family has been blessed with health, love, safety, shelter, work with less travel when we needed it the most, food, family and friends! The list goes on and on...

I can't even begin to count all of the blessings that have been afforded to our family in 2014! 

Like I said, 2014 has had happy times, sad times and busy times.  But most of all, it's been full of blessed times! We've been blessed beyond what we deserve! 

As I say goodbye to this year and welcome in the new year, I always like to make a list of resolutions and plans.  Each year my list has pretty much the same things written on it, because although I do try, I never can accomplish it 100 % !  

I hope to read my Bible all the way through again...

 

I hope to pray more and study more.

I hope to eat better and exercise more often...

 

I hope to be more hospitable and look for more opportunities to help others...

 I've made my list.  I hope to be a better me in 2015!  <3  

If you don't usually make one, try it.  You may be surprised at how it will help you to work on your goals for 2015.  

Before I go, I want to share an idea that I found on Pinterest!  

It's a Blessing Jar and I made ours today! All throughout 2015, starting on January 1, each time a blessing happens in your life, write it down on a slip of paper and drop it into the jar.  It can be a good report from a doctor, a bill paid off, an accomplishment of your children, a sweet gesture of kindness shown to you from someone... anything! On December 31, 2015, open your jar and read your blessings to remind you of what God has done in your life during the year!  May we all forever be aware of the blessings God gives us each and every day!

Happy New Year To You and Yours!!

~ <3 ~ "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

 Romans 12: 2 KJV

Hope to see you next year!!

~ <3 ~ <3 ~ <3 ~

A Couple More Recipes For Easy Homemade Treats

Well, I didn't quite make it back on here to give you the other recipes I wanted to share with you for some last minute homemade Christmas gifts! I got back to it a few days too late! Sorry about that!! Maybe you can still use these recipes for some sort of holiday get together, like tomorrow night... New Years Eve!

I am actually working on a New Year's Resolutions post today too, so today will be a "two for one" blog visit! :) 

First, let me go ahead and give you two more recipes for homemade candy.  

Here's an oldie but goodie...

Peanut Butter Balls 

aka

"Buckeyes"

Ingredients:  1 and 1/2 cups of peanut butter

 1/2 cup of butter (softened)

1 pound of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

1 small amount of crisco added to the chocolate chips ( about 1/3 teaspoon)

(By the way, shout out to Aldi once again, I got all of these ingredients for a fraction of the cost of name brand products and they taste the same, even the peanut butter!)

Ok, back to it...  Mix your peanut butter, softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a bowl.

It's not very pretty, but it's oh so good!! 

Now, shape the dough into balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Refrigerate the balls.  

In the meantime, melt your chocolate and the crisco (so the chocolate will form a hard shell) in a double boiler.  

 

 I make my own double boiler using a glass bowl resting over a pot of boiling water.  This works great and your chocolate will melt, but not burn. 

Now, remove your cookie sheet from the fridge and using a fork or a toothpick, dip each ball into the chocolate until coated.  If you're going for the old fashioned "buckeye" look, leave a small area of peanut butter showing to resemble a buckeye.  

Cool your candy in the fridge until set and your ready to package these as a gift!! 

These are so good, but a warning goes with them... they are RICH!! You might need a glass of milk or water with you while you enjoy these yummy treats!! 

I have one more candy recipe to share and they might actually be my favorite this year!!  They are just the right amount of sweet and salty!

White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

These are so easy to make and take very little time to do! Here's what you will need...

Ingredients:  

Square Pretzels

Hershey's Hugs Candy

Red and Green M & M's 

Just preheat your oven to 200 degrees.  Then, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place your pretzels in rows over the parchment.  

Then, place one Hug candy on top of each pretzel.

 

Place into the preheated oven just for a couple of minutes until the chocolate is shiny and starting to soften.

Now, carefully place an M & M in the center of each pretzel!  

That's it!! Place in the fridge to harden, then take out and try to package these without eating them up!! I can hardly resist the "sweet & salty" combo!  

I hope all of you had a wonderfully Merry Christmas with your families and friends!! 

Like I said earlier, I'm working on my last post of the year today too, so if your visiting my blog , stay tuned, there is more to come! 

~ <3 ~ 

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6: 31 KJV

A Few Quick And Easy Homemade Treats For Those Last Minute Holiday Gifts

Who doesn't love to receive a homemade, yummy treat during the holidays? To me, that's the best kind of gift!  I love when someone thought so much of me to take some of their time during this busy time of year to make  something homemade just for me !   

First, I want to share this quick and easy recipe for these Homemade Ornaments!

Here's what you will need:

1 Cup of Ground Cinnamon

3/4 Cup of Applesauce

2 Tablespoons of Liquid White Glue

You just simply mix all of the ingredients together and roll out to about 1/4" thick.  Then cut out your different shapes with your favorite cookie cutters.  Make a hole in the top of each ornament using a drinking straw so that you can attach a ribbon later to hang on the tree.  Let them sit at room temperature for 48 hours.  They will harden and smell so good! I made mine last year and they are still holding up well and still smell like cinnamon!  

I just love these ornaments!! I made a little "primitive tree" just for them! 

 

 

Speaking of Homemade Ornaments, I can't pass up the chance to share the special ornaments that I won at a recent ladies get-together! My friend Beth crocheted these little snowflake stars!  I am so glad that I was the one who got her gift!  They are perfect for my country tree!!

The next recipe I want to share is for Homemade Caramel Sauce!

I got this recipe from my favorite tv chef, The Pioneer Woman!!! It is wonderful and so easy!!

Here's what you will need:

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1/2 Stick of Butter

1/2 Cup of Half-and-half

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

A pinch of Salt

Mix all of the ingredients together over medium-low heat.  Cook while whisking for 5 to 7 minutes, until thicker. 

Turn off the heat.  Let cool enough to taste.  If it's too thin, just cook a little longer.  

I like to put mine in a mason jar until I'm ready to use it! 

This would make a great gift to give to your family or friends along with a basket of apples!  I also wrapped up a little teacher gift idea!

This would be such a cute gift for your child's school or Bible class teachers!! 

I want to share one more gift idea recipe today!  I want to share my recipe for 

Homemade Pecan Pralines!!

These are out of this world!!

You will need:

2 Cups of Sugar

1 Cup of Heavy Cream

1 Tablespoon of Butter

3/4 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

2 Cups of Pecans, Halved

Put parchment paper over a couple of baking sheets.

Then in a LARGE saucepan, mix together your sugar and baking soda with a fork.

Then, mix in your cream and cook at medium heat.

Cook, whisking often, until golden brown and the mixture reaches 235 degrees on the candy thermometer.  I cooked mine for about 25 minutes.   You must have a large pot and a candy thermometer!  This mixture boils up high in the pot as it heats and will make a terrible mess if your pot is too small! Trust me, I learned the hard way!! 

Once your cooking is completed, remove from the heat and add your butter and pecans! Stir for about a minute to melt your butter throughout.

Using a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls onto your parchment lined cookie sheets and let cool at room temperature.

Just perfection!!

These would make a beautiful and delicious homemade gift!! 

I hope you'll give these a try as you finish up your gift giving this season!  If I don't run out of time, I will share more homemade gifts soon!  

Until then...  enjoy this cozy and  wonderful time of year!

~ <3 ~  "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."  KJV Matthew 5:42

 

Tips For Preparing Your Thanksgiving Day Turkey And Dressing

As many of you know, our family has experienced many changes this year, one of which has been that our family is growing!! We now have two adult children who are married, so naturally, our holidays are going to be somewhat different in order for them to be able to share the holidays with their new families and us! When trying to figure out how to plan for this change, I decided before they even married that I would just plan a day near the actual holiday and celebrate earlier or later than the "real day". Like many of you, our usual plans consist of traveling from our house to one Mother's house for lunch and then to the other Mother's house for dinner on the actual holiday.  Anthony, Austin and I will still be able to do this and we are excited that we still can!! <3 Since all my kiddos couldn't do that this year, I planned a small Thanksgiving Dinner this past weekend just  for us and the kids here at home so we could all celebrate together!  

I was in "Heaven" all day long!!! 

We started our day by having our pictures made for our 2014 Christmas Card!  

I just love my little family!! <3

Then, we returned home so I could get our dinner finished up and  we could enjoy our special day together.

I want to share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving tips and recipes with you...

I like to start off my holiday cooking by "setting the mood", so to speak! 

Here's a recipe I use that will make your house smell so "Thanksgivingy" :)

You will need:

1 Apple

1 Orange

2 Tablespoons of Cloves

About 1/4 of a bag of Fresh Cranberries

1 Lemon

6 or so Cinnamon Sticks

4 Cups of Water

 Combine all of your ingredients together and place in a small crock pot or a medium sized pot on the stove top.  Simmer all day and enjoy the wonderful smells of the holiday!!  

After making my potpourri, I got busy setting my table! 

I just set a very simple table using fresh cranberries, tea lights and an old wreath I had from years back for my centerpiece.  Because the cranberries are red, I also choose red cloth napkins this time. 

Now, it was time to get started on the dinner!  

Let's talk Turkey!!

Be sure that you thaw your turkey according to the package directions days before you start cooking.  You will also need to remove the organs... from your bird right before you begin the brine.  Rinse your turkey through and pat dry with a paper towel. 

Now you are ready to begin the next step,  preparing a brine for your turkey!  I actually did this for the first time last year when I saw it on The Pioneer Woman's website and then watched her do it on her show.  Trust me, this makes a very moist bird!!  It is worth the work!!

Here's what I used for a 16 pound  turkey:

Orange Peels off of 3 Oranges

2 cups of Apple Cider

1 and 1/2 gallons of Water

1/4 cup of Salt

1 and 1/2 cups of Brown Sugar

3 Bay Leaves

2 tablespoons of Fresh Rosemary

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of Peppercorns

1 teaspoon of fresh Garlic

Now, I will warn you that the Pioneer Woman suggests that you only use a brine for a Fresh Turkey (not a frozen one) because of the sodium content in a frozen bird, but I used a frozen one both years and they turned out great!  I just decreased the salt in my recipe to 1/4 cup in order for my bird not to be too salty.

Bring all of your brine ingredients to a boil and then turn off the heat and cover. Let the brine cool to room temperature.  

Once my brine was at room temperature, I put my thawed turkey into a large turkey sized browning bag and poured the entire brine solution over my bird and sealed my bag.  I then placed my soaking bag of brine and  turkey in a large pan and placed it into the refrigerator for 12 hours!! I also flipped my bird within the sealed bag so that the entire bird was covered at some point during the soaking stage. 

Now, the next step happens right before it's time to cook your bird...

Carefully take your pan with the turkey/brine bag over to your kitchen sink and remove the turkey from the bag and rinse the bird through under cold water. Then, fill a clean, empty sink with cold water and soak your brined turkey under the cold water for 20 minutes.  

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 275 degrees .

Speaking of all of this turkey talk, take a look at these sweet little "turkeys"!  

I'm so glad that I saved things like this!  My sweet boy's hands! Avery was 8 and Austin was 6! <3

Okay, okay, back to preparing our turkey!

Once you have your bird all rinsed, pat it dry with paper towels and place it in your roasting pan, breast side up.

*Notice that I cut little slits for the wing tips to go into the outside skin so that the tips of the wings won't burn.  I showed you this technique when I shared my recipe for roasting a chicken earlier this season.  I also tied the turkey's legs together to hold him all together.

Cover with foil and place in the 275 degree oven for 10 minutes per pound.  

This will be stage 1 of your turkey roasting! 

When your bird has completed the first stage of roasting, remove your bird from the oven to prepare him for stage 2. 

I softened 3 sticks of butter and mixed it with rosemary, salt and pepper and rubbed it all over my roasted bird.

Now, he is all ready to put back into the oven for his second stage of cooking. Turn up the oven to 350 degrees and return the turkey to the oven.   I covered him with foil for most of the cooking time,

but removed the foil toward the end of my cooking time so that the turkey would be nice and brown.  Your turkey's temperature should be 165 degrees.

Yum!!!! Be sure you baste your turkey with his own juices throughout your cooking time as you go.  Baste your turkey about every 20 minutes during the 2nd stage of cooking.

Remove your turkey from the oven when he's done and allow him to rest, covered for at least 20 minutes.  

Then, when it's time to eat, your turkey will be glorious!!

Here's a few pictures of our special dinner...

I also wanted to share my recipe for Dressing...

You will need:

About 2 cups of cooked and deboned chicken

chopped onion

1 and 1/2 sticks of melted butter

1 large skillet of cornbread, crumbled

chicken broth

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

sage to taste

1 boiled egg, chopped

Saute your butter and onion. Crumble your cornbread in a large bowl.  Add the butter and onion mix to the cornbread.  Sprinkle in your salt, pepper and sage to taste into the bread mixture.  Add the chopped, boiled egg, broth and beaten egg and stir until smooth.  Add the chicken last.  If your dressing is too dry, add more broth. If it's too wet, add cubed loaf bread.  This dressing is VERY MOIST, so you do want a wet consistency. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 until it seems a bit firm.

 * If you need step by step pictures, you can browse my previous posts on my blog.  I have shared this recipe with you before.

Enjoy!!  

Wishing You All A Very Happy Thanksgiving From My Family To Yours!  

1 Timothy 4:4

"For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving."KJV

Psalms 95:2

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." KJV

~ <3 ~ <3 ~ <3 ~