Merry Christmas!!! :-)

It has been a wonderful Christmas, and I'm not just talking about today. This whole month has been wonderful. We took the last two weeks off from school, and I have been baking, and cooking everyday. :-) You may think that is a lot, but it wasn't all just for today or just for Christmas. We made MANY cookies to give away as gifts, as well as 2 batches of cinnamon rolls and an innumerable amount of Oreo Truffles.

I've baked 2 cakes for both a baby shower and a birthday. Actually, 2 for birthdays. I've spent the holidays trying to relax, and improve my cake baking/decorating skills. :-) The following photos show my progress.


Yes, I made that little "sweet" baby out of fondant. My first time to try to sculpt something from fondant. Also, the cake shows I watch are teaching me about sculpting cakes, but you can't do that with Duncan Hines. :-) So, I've been looking for sponge cake recipes from scratch. Found a couple and made one. It tasted really good, but I did not venture into the sculpting part yet. That is coming. :-)

To help me with my new cake adventures my family gave me a Wilton Ribbon Cutter and Embosser set. :-) I can't wait to try it.

And, my FAVORITE gift was.................................................






That's right, I got the cook book. :-) I plan to make the cinnamon rolls sometime this week. :-)

Of course, none of these things compare to THE ULTIMATE GIFT given to us by our LORD, His Son, Jesus Christ; and the gift He gave to us, Himself. :-)

Blessings to all you and your family.
Love,
Wendy Darling

Nostalgia....

I am really showing my age here, but all of these old Christmas specials are making me nostalgic. Yep, it happens every year, and I love the Christmas specials. :-) We watch most of them, and even enjoy some of the new ones. Did y'all happen to catch "Prep and Landing" the other night? I laughed so hard I cried. :-) It will definitely become a classic, in our house anyway. :-)

But, during the shows it hit me what I've been missing. A LONG time ago Kraft used to sponsor the Christmas shows, and every commercial break the "man with the nice voice" came on and gave several recipes, using Kraft products of course. I MISS THOSE. That was one of my favorite parts of all the shows.

Maybe that's why I love recipes/cook books now. Maybe I had an "inner cook" in me back then waiting to get out. :-)

My family and I talked about those commercials the other night, and it really made me want to see them again. I sure wish they would do those kind of commercials during the holidays now. It would be a HUGE improvement over the junk they show now.

Anyway, I spent some time on Youtube looking for the old commercials, and I finally found some. :-) I can't tell you how excited I am. :-)

Enjoy!! :-)

We Have A Winner!! :-)

I used the Random Number Generator this morning, and entered numbers 1-6. It shot out #5, so Julie at Elisharose has won the Yancy CD.

Congratulations, Julie. :-) I will e-mail Julie to get her address, and mail her CD.

If you would still like to have a copy of Yancy's CD, please see the original post. Also, we were in LifeWay this weekend, and turns out they sell it. :-) SO, if you're near a LifeWay just hop on over there and purchase one for $9.99 and save the shipping cost. :-)

Thank you for playing. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About How We Celebrate Christmas **

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About How We Celebrate Christmas **

** but didn't care enough to ask.

I have no recipe today, so I am totally stealing this from Julie over at Elisharose News. :-) Thank you, Julie. :-)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I prefer Hot chocolate.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrap. I love to wrap presents. :-) This year, I even wrapped empty boxes for decorations.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the trees, none on the house

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sometimes, but not this year.

5. When do you put your decorations up? The Saturday after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I love it all. That's part of the fun of the holidays. If I HAD to pick just one, okay two, I would say Fruit Cake Cookies, and Cheeseball.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I love them all. But, I still think THIS ONE is the best.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I figured it out when I was around 6 or 7. When I asked my parents they told me the truth. It wasn't a sad thing though, I kind of liked being "in the know" with the grown ups.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With ornaments we have collected over the past years.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? LOVE IT. Wish we had some.

12. Can you ice skate? No. It is my firm belief that fat people who have no medical insurance should not be on any kind of skates, period.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I think that would be the stereo.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering the birth of THE Savior, and instilling the real reason for Christmas to the nephews.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Can't pick just one. Sorry.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to Santa Land to "kick off" the Christmas season.

17. What tops your tree? An angel

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving!!!!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love so many, but I think it's Silent Night, or Mary Did You Know.

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum.

21 Favorite Christmas Show? I can't choose just one, I love and watch them all.

22. Saddest Christmas Song? There are no "sad" ones, but Christmas Shoes and Merry Christmas with Love always make me cry.

Need a Christmas break? Go ahead, copy this post and fill it out on your blog. And let me know about it so I can read it too. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Let's have a drawing!! :-)

Today is December 1st. That seems like a good day to give away some Christmas music for you to enjoy over the next several weeks. :-) And this CD is a good one for doing just that.

For those of you who have not heard of Yancy , she is a young, contemporary Christian singer/songwriter and author who's sound I would equate with Demi Lovato. "Little Mark" says she reminds him of Pink, but he isn't allowed to listen to Pink. ;-)

"Little Mark" came home from church camp with two of her CDs, and pre-ordered the Christmas CD. He has been playing it since October, and I have to say that while he and I differ on our taste in music (me usually yelling "turn that stuff down") I like Yancy. She is fun, energetic, and has a good voice and great Pop sound, but is not "overpowering" like a lot of mainstream female singers today.

The songs are a mixture of traditional Christmas carols and contemporary favorites, but all performed in a very fun and modern way. Yancy penned two songs: “Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas” and “Christmastime”. Both are sure to become staples for many Christmas’s to come. The song "The Greatest Gift" is being played at radio across the U.S.

It's definitely one of those CDs that the entire family can enjoy. :-)

Track listing:

1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

2. Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas

3. Wonderful Christmastime

4. Joy To The World

5. Christmastime

6. The First Noel

7. Medley: Jingle Bells, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, Feliz Navidad, We Wish You A Merry Christmas

8. Angels We Have Heard On High

9. O Come All Ye Faithful

10. The Greatest Gift

I think my favorite song is "Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas." I really like the energy and joy I get when listening to it, and being reminded of THE reason we celebrate Christmas. :-)

Yancy has been nice enough to send me a copy to give away in a drawing. So, to win all you need to do is leave a comment, and make sure I have a way to get in touch with you to let you know if you won. If you have a blog, link back to it, or leave me an e-mail address. This drawing is open to EVERYONE.

I will draw for the winner on December 8th, that way you are sure to receive it in plenty of time to enjoy during the holidays, or give as a gift. :-)

If you would help "spread the word" on your blog or facebook wall I sure would appreciate it. :-)

If you would like to just go ahead and purchase the great CD you may do so at www.amazon.com
from Yancy or from iTunes.

Love,
Wendy Darling