CHRISTMAS IS 'A COMIN'

I fear the holidays are upon us!

Over the weekend I did try some new recipies.  I had a very old cookbook.  One of the recipes was picnic cake.  The recipe couldn't be too old because it used a boxed cake mix.  So easy and festive: Make the cake according to the recipe and put in pan.  Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over the top, a few nuts (I used chopped walnuts) over the marshmallows and I added chocolate chips because I like them.  The recipe called for brown sugar too but too much sugar is too much sugar so I left that out.  Just chips, nuts and marshmallows then bake according to the box directions.  When you finish you have the cake already topped and you don't need frosting.   The nuts and chips do drift down into the cake some but the results was rich and moist.  I don't care much for spice cake and that was one way I thought I could use it and get it off the shelf.  Turned out to be a great hit!  My bunch are so easy to please.

Also, my husband is Scottish and the holidays must include short bread.  I find it a bit boring but he suggested that I roll it out and make cookies.  Wow were these great and so much like sugar cookies which I could really pig out on.  Can you get easier than this: I pound of butter ( I use salt free so had to add a bit of salt to mix) I cup of sugar and flour mixed in till it is the consistancy to roll out dough.  Cut into cookies, sprinkle sugar on top if desired ( I desired) and bake at 350 to desired brownness.  I found I liked the thinner and a little more brown cookies but that did not keep me from eating the others! LOL  Turned out to be the best cookies I had baked in a year.....also the first!

We had drop in company at noon on Sunday, which delayed our Asian food we had just picked up at the restaurant in the next town to the South.  But we enjoyed the visit and the microwave helps a lot!  They needed some storage space so yesterday I worked on making the barn a bit more organized and a bit cleaner.  It is amazing how much dirt can blow in at the floor where most of the siding is gone.  The cats are not the neatest or cleanest tennants so I had a lot of do and used a lot of clorox and germtrol....it does smell better.   I need to work on that again today.  I will also move Jack's otheroutdoor cart into the garage so the cats will not have it for a playground and it will be in a better place.  Goodness if I get all of this done I will be miles ahead of schedule! lol

We did go shopping for groceries in the town to the south and I make two trips to the town to the north to leave prescriptions and then pick them up later along with cat food.  We are fortunate to have dollar stores close by since we do lots of general shopping there and does save quite a bit.  Remember this is a depressed area of Oklahoma.

Mother almost fell yesterday coming out to the barn to tell me I had a phone call...of course Jack had told her not to but she admits that she doesn't listen or doesn't hear.  LOL  More of the first I think.  I am learning new ways to torment my daughter when I become 89.  I should keep a list, I might forget some.

I must check on Jack's christmas and birthday gift today,  we ordered a new plasma tv and hoped to have it before christmas but it has been several weeks. 

Enjoy your day, eat something festive, have a good warm drink, and consider one new goal for next year.  Peace from  Marigold Country Home!