Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Virtual Cookie Exchange




I was so thrilled to be able to join Carol @Just Let Me Quilt Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop.  Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, I love decorating, making tins of cookies for family and friends.

One of our traditions is for me, with the help of my grandchildren Kyleigh and Jaeger to decorate the day after Thanksgiving.  It usually takes 2 days for the decorations to be up, with their help.  Last year, due to my husband's ongoing health issues and being in and out of the hospital/and rehab from October to December, I did not feel like putting my village up or the tree.  I did put my nutcrackers and nativity scene up,  

Granddaughter Kyleigh helped with the tree before she left to return to college in Massachusetts on Friday.  

It is hard to get a good picture, the lighting in my house, especially on a rainy day is not that great.



My dear mother-in-law painted a Nativity Scene for us just after we got married 43 years ago.  Our oldest daughter when she was small used to beg and beg John to put it up.  


Another of my favorites are my nutcrackers which I have been collecting for years.  They take up 3 surfaces.





Then I have my village.  I have a lot of sea-based houses, and boats, and lighthouses, with my love of the ocean.  Jaeger, our almost 16-year-old grandson helps me organize and put these up, and makes sure all the cords are hooked up under the tables.  Jaeger was not available to help this year, so 13-year-old Keaton helped, and somehow, I didn't put up one of  the leaves in the dining room table, and things seemed more squished than usual, but it was too late to start over.  


The whole setup


My sea and part of the fishing village


Jane's Quilt Shop


Fanny's Fabrics!


I also love getting my Christmas quilts out!  This first one was one of my first quilts, from 1999, quilted by none other than Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, back in the day when she did longarm quilting for others.  Bonnie has gone on to author 7 books now, does extensive traveling and teaching,  and the yearly mystery quilts, and soon to have a Quiltville Inn Retreat I hope to visit one day.  This quilt was called Days Past was from a book called Christmas Or Not by Gerry Kimmel, Linda Brannock and Jan Patek.


This one Plaza Trees is from a book called A Nice Mix by Gerry Kimmel..  I didn't even label this one, but I probably made it in 1996 or so and quilted it myself.


I love these angels, called Joy, and it was also in the Christmas or Not book.  I hand quilted this one.



Lastly my Angel Wreath.  This was a pattern by Linda Brannock, in a book called Gardening for Quilters.  I made this a goal in Quarter 2 of the Finish-Along.  I had finished the top in 1997, and hand-quilted on it off and on over the years, and it would get stuck in a pile or in the cabinet, and if I didn't see it, I forgot about it.  I was thrilled to finish this up and be able to have it out this year.  I had finished the pillow top quilting,and was able to get the pillow made.





I have other decorations to share, but this post is getting rather long.  Maybe I'll share the others another day.   

Another of our traditions is to make around 10 or so kinds of Christmas cookies and to hand them out to family and friends.  John used to make the sugar cookies, but is no longer able to do that. So I do them all now.  Two of our favorites are Fudge and Crunchy Peanut Bark, recipes my mother obtained from a friend back in the 60's.  I have been making these since then.  

The recipes are here: 

FUDGE
by Karrin Hurd
http://karrinscrazyworld.blogspot.com/

Place in large bowl:
18 oz chocolate chips
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
10 oz miniature marshmallows
2 cups walnuts or pecans
2 tsp vanilla

In large pot place:
4.5 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk.

Grease a 13 x 9 inch pan with butter and set aside.  Bring to a full boil, stirring constantly.  Cook 8 full minutes (I use my watch to keep track).  When cooked, pour over mixture in bowl and hand beat until butter and marshmallows melt.  Refrigerate and then cut into pieces. 

Note, after sugar/milk mixture has cooked, need to immediately pour over the mixture in the bowl and mix thoroughly as it sets up pretty fast.




CRUNCHY PEANUT BARK
by Karrin Hurd
http://karrinscrazyworld.blogspot.com/

2 pounds white confectionary coating (sometimes called almond bark or candy coating
1 cup peanut butter (I use chunky)
3 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Place the crispy rice cereal, peanuts and marshmallows in a large bowl.  Place waxed paper on countertop to drop the spoonfuls of bark to set up.

Place confectionary coating in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave at until melted, about 2-3 minutes, then mix in the peanut butter.  Pour the mixture over the peanut/crispy rice/marshmallow mixture in the other bowl.   Mix thoroughly and drop byspoonfuls onto waxed paper and let set up. 

The whole Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop participants are below if you haven't had a chance to visit.  There are some wonderful recipes, projects and traditions being shared.  Many thanks again to Carol of Just Let Me Quilt for hosting this fun hop!



November 27


November 28


November 29


30 comments:

  1. Beautiful quilting works. Thank you for the two recipes also. they sound yummy. I also love Christmas nutcrackers. Your decor looks great.

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  2. Your collections look lovely. I always struggle with how to display mine...Peanut bark sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipes!

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  3. Wow, thats a lot of nutcrackers and village. How fun to put it all up. Thanks for the candy recipes, they look good.

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  4. O my goodness! You've done so much work already! Fabulous! I love that you are sharing with your grands also, so sweet! Looking forward to my first grandbaby's first Christmas this year! She is a gem!

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  5. Wow, good thing you have some helpers when you get all those lovely decorations out! They all look beautiful and I bet everyone enjoys looking at them. Thanks for sharing those yummy recipes too.

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  6. Oh, those recipes sound delicious. Love all of your nutcrackers. I have one that I cherish, it was given to me by my mom.

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  7. What a fun post of traditions. Love seeing all your nutcrackers, quilts, and your village. I'm so glad to see you able to decorate this year. Thank you for the recipes and Merry Christmas.

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  8. Oh my gosh, Karrin, I have that same nativity scene that I painted a long, long, long time ago. It made me smile to see it along with all of your houses. I had a huge collection of houses that I've slowly given away to my children. I hung on to a few of the Coca-Cola ones we collected. Your quilts and pillows are beautiful, and those recipes look like perfect ones to make for the holidays. Thank you so much for letting us virtually walk through your home to see your decorations and for hopping with us! xo

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  9. Hi Karrin! I am so happy you joined in the cookie hop this year! WOWEE! What am impressive nutcracker collection. And your village collection is fabulous as well! I just love the quilt and fabric shops - I am missing a fabric shop myself. You tree looks nice and festive, and how nice that you can decorate with your grandchildren. Those are wonderful memories! Your recipes sound delicious - YUM. Happy Happy Wednesday to you. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  10. Wow! You go all out with your decorations. Your collections are quite impressive. Thanks for sharing. Merry Quiltmas! MelvaLovesScraps at NolanQualityCustoms dot com

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  11. Oh my! When you said it takes two days to decorate with "their" help I envisioned you and two small children. You really do go all out for Christmas. It would take me a week to pull it all out, another to decorate and a couple weeks to dismantle. Your's must be a warm and inviting home through the holidays.

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  12. Love your Christmas village - they are one of my favorite things from my mother! My kids used to love to put up all our nativity scenes, and play with the old plastic set from my childhood. Your quilts are beautiful as is your home, all decorated for Christmas! Thank you for sharing your recipes - saving them!!

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  13. You have quite the collection of Nutcrackers and Christmas Village houses. That is so wonderful! How sweet is your hand painted nativity scene. Thanks so much for sharing your favorite Christmas things and recipes.

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  14. All I can say is WOW....that is amazing....love it all.

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  15. The fudge sounds super delicious!!

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  16. You certainly deck the halls in your family!! Thanks so much for sharing the traditions and recipe. I am especially impressed that your mother in law hand painted a nativity set. What a treasure that will be for generations to come!

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  17. I would love to see your whole seaside village set up. It looks magnificent. I don't think I've seen that many Nutcrackers even in a store selling them. =) Thanks so much for both of these recipes. I know my younger son would LOVE the second one especially! It's nice that you have everything set up this year, since last year was not typical. Enjoy your cookie making!

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  18. That peanut butter bark sounds delicious! I'm adding that to my list of things to try this year. Also, your collection is impressive! I like Nutcrackers too but have limited myself to only three .. so far.

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  19. Karrin, it was a real thrill to see all your Christmas decorations! The nutcracker collection is fabulous as are all the pretty quilts. My mother always puts out a nativity scene that I have cherished since childhood. Christmas is so special with memories.
    Yum, I’m so fond of fudge, your recipe sounds delish! 😊

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  20. The recipes sound too tempting. Thank you for sharing your Christmas traditions and sharing you photos with us. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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  21. Your house looks fabulous and your quilts are incredible...Now to sit down and enjoy some yummy yummy treats. That bark sounds like it's right up my ally! Merry Christmas.

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  22. Your recipes sound great, Karrin, especially that fudge!! And your house looks beautiful. I love the way you set up your village! Thanks for sharing.

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  23. Beautiful quilts and your house and the decorations are awe inspiring.

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  24. Wasn't able to visit yesterday but am now catching up. What wonderful Christmas Decorations you have - and great help, too. Love all the quilty things - of course. The recipes sounds wonderful. There's nothing like a tried-and-true recipe that has been used 'forever'. Thank you.

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  25. These sound ever so yummy, especially the peanut bark.

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  26. Wow! What fabulous decorations for Christmas! Thanks for sharing.

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  27. What beautiful decorations! I love putting out my Christmas village as well. Your quilts are wonderful, and it must be great to put them out for the season! Thanks for sharing on my special Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  28. I am enthralled by your decorations and will give them a shout out in my next post. Wow! Also how wonderful you are the cookie baker going back to such an age. Thanks for the fudge recipe too.

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  29. Love your decorations and especially that Christmas by the sea collection. We've moved into a new house and I'm not sure where we'll put the tree - not much space but I guess we can walk around it, lol! Also enjoyed seeing your beautiful quilts.

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