York Peppermint Patty Fudge {3 ingredients}

Have you already made and delivered your neighbor gift?

Uh, I have not. That is right, not made or delivered. Nada.

Oops...hehehehe...

I mean, don't get me wrong, I have made plenty of sugary delights. However, none of them have been for the specific intent of giving to neighbors.

My goal is Sunday.

If you are like me and are short on time but still want to do something, what could be easier or faster than 3 ingredient York Peppermint Patty Fudge?

Not much. Putting a bow on a bag of chocolate chips maybe, which I would happily accept. Yum.

Anywho, I digress.

Back to the York Peppermint Patty Fudge.

Three ingredients is all you will need.

You simply melt 2 cups (1 package) of dark chocolate chips and 6 York peppermint patties in a microwave safe bowl. Melt for a minute. Stir. Then melt in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is smooth.

While the chocolate is melting, break up the other peppermint patties into smaller pieces.

Stir in 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk to the melted chocolate. Fold in peppermint patty pieces.

Pour into an 8x8 lightly sprayed baking dish.

Let it set up for a few hours in a cold location...like a fridge, or in this case, my garage.

Cut up.

Eat or give away or eat AND give away.

I printed these free holiday gift tags from Paper Crave.

I taped them onto cardstock tags with washi tape.

I assembled the fudge in these window cupcake boxes, which I am kind of obsessed with.

Tied it closed with some ric rac and the gift tag.

All ready.

All done with gifts?

Well, nothing says you can't make some for yourself.

Yum.

Happy Holiday Eating!

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Project Handmade Christmas Gift {food}: Homade Wassail Mix

Growing up one of the things I loved most about Christmas was my mom's homemade wassail drink mix. I would scoop giant spoonfuls of wassail mix into steaming water.

Stir.
Stir.
Stir.

Then I would grasp my mug securely in my hands and I would happily slurp it on up. Yup. Slurp.

I pretty much had mug after mug all Christmas long. Every Christmas...well until I got married. Then for whatever reason the Homemade Wassail Mix went away.

Sniff.
Sniff.

A couple of times I would suddenly remember my fondness for wassail. One time I even remembered to call up my mom and ask for the recipe. My poor little world was turned upside down when she couldn't remember it and when she didn't know where her recipe was.

What is a girl to do? Well, she waits a few years, finds a recipe card hidden in her recipe box, and then shrieks like a 8 year old girl on Christmas morning opening a pony because...

...she is getting herself some wassail.

Yippee.

I tweaked the recipe. I heated the water. I added in my normal heaping spoonfuls.

Stir.
Stir.
Stir.

Cool it off just a bit.
  

Then I sip and slurp.

I love a warm cup of wassail.

Homemade Wassail Mix is great. It is super easy to make.

This mix is also the perfect neighbor/teacher/friend/coworker gift, which is why it is today's Project Handmade Christmas Gift post.

So you don't have to search and wonder, wonder and search (you know like I did), here is the recipe for my very favorite Homemade Wassail Mix. Mix some up for gifts. Mix some up for yourself.

Homemade Wassail Mix

1-20 oz container of Tang
1/3 cup Country Time Lemonade mix
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients. 

Make sure every ingredient is evenly mixed in.

Dispense all the mix into mason jars (or any other type of container...I just happen to be obsessed with mason jars).

Decorate. Label. Add instructions. Add a scoop.

To make some for yourself all you need to do is add 2 Tablespoon scoops to hot 8 oz water. I might make just a bit more than that. I like my wassail people.

I hope you enjoy. I hope your neighbor enjoys. I hope it is a Wassail-tastic Christmas for you all.

Merry Christmas!!

Happy gift giving!

Gobble Grams: Thank Your Neighbor {Printables}

A few weeks ago, I shared the idea for spreading the thanks and giving out these Gobble Grams. I shared how to make the Acorn Treat. There was also a GIVEAWAY for $100 Visa Gift Card, thanks to Clorox and their campaign to prevent sickness during cold and flu season. You can still go enter.

Now that we are officially in November and just weeks away from Thanksgiving, it is the perfect time to spread the gratitude in your neighborhood by passing a long these Gobble Grams.

I made all of the Gobble Gram printables using PicMonkey. Seriously love that site.

Today I am sharing the printables for everything you need to put together your own Gobble Gram.

To spread the gratitude, first simply download the three Gobble Grams Printables.

Gobble Gram Printables 1
Gobble Gram Printables 2
Gobble Gram Printables 3

Print them off. Make a treat. Package everything up.

Then get ready to watch the gratitude spread. It will be fun to see all of the doors in your neighborhood look like this.

Let's spread the gratitude!

If you like this idea I would love for you to share it on 

Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, carrier pigeon, or smoke signal.

Thanks ever so much!

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linking here:
Sugar Bee Crafts, Six Sisters Stuff,
Liz Marie Blog,

A Gobble Gram: Share the Thanks Not the Germs

We love Thanksgiving at our house.

Saying "thank you" is a pretty big deal. Which is probably why we love Thanksgiving so much. Thanksgiving is a time of year where we get to spend more time reflecting on what we have and who we have in our lives.

Everyone likes being thanked. Gratitude is one of those things that spreads and is fun to share.

Sharing gratitude is grand, sharing germs and sickness not so much.

In order to keep the germs and sickness down, especially during the cold and flu season...which just happens to coincide with the holiday season, our family uses Clorox Disinfectant Wipes in all of our clean up.

This year as a family we are starting a new tradition.

We call it Gobble Grams.  A little anonymous note of gratitude accompanied by a fun fall-themed treat.

Fun little acorn wanna be treats. Treats that are cute, yummy, and easy for little hands to help you make.

You need:

Hershey Kisses
milk chocolate chips
mini Nutter Butter cookies

Lay out the cookies on a piece of wax paper. Melt about 1/4 cup of the chips in a small bowl, 30 seconds as a time until completely smooth. Lightly dip the Hershey Kisses in the melted chocolate. Place the Kiss on the cookie pressing down lightly. Repeat until done. Let the chocolate set.

Take a break to snack on the supplies while you are waiting for the chocolate to set up.

Once the chocolate has set on the Kisses, remelt the chocolate and use it to set the milk chocolate chips on top of the cookie.

Let the chocolate set.

Then package up the goodies.

We added in our Gobble Gram (find PRINTABLES HERE)with an explanation of why they got this note of gratitude. We share our thanks. Then we ask then to share the thanks by sending a Gobble Gram to someone they are thankful for. 

Time to share the gratitude, to pass it on.

As the gratitude spreads, these little notes will hopefully be on doors all throughout the  neighborhood.

"You've been Gooble Grammed!"

Alas, all this sharing of gratitude made quite a mess. And quite a mess provides quite a lovely array of germs.

Like I said, we love Thanksgiving. We love serving and giving to those around us. So we don't want to spend this time of the year sick. AND we definitely do not want to pass on germs to those around us. The holiday season can definitely spread more than gratitude and cheer. With the potential to pass round icks and yucks, it is really important to practice flu prevention during the holidays.

So cleaning up the right way is a must. For our family the right way is using Clorox Disinfectant Wipes.

Spread the gratitude, by spreading the prevention. Wipe down that mess using Clorox Disinfecting Wipes.

That way we can spend our time enjoying the holidays, enjoying our blessings, and enjoying those around us.

Gobble, Gobble....

That is turkey for "thank you"...betcha didn't know that... now you do.

Watch for the Gobble Gram printables.

How do you stay healthy during the holidays?

Share with me do, not only because hey I want to know, but also because you leave me a little comment letting me know and you are entered in a sweepstakes to win $100 gift card.

Happy holidays! Happy giving!

Here is to being Happy and Healthy!

Good Luck!

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Be sure to visit the sponsor's brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
Disclosure: I was compensated for this post, however, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Neighbor Treat: Candy Cane Num Num Mix

First, thank you for the kind words concerning our house full of sickness. Much love to all.

Second, Happy Birthday to Hubby!!!

Thirdly, WE HAVE A WINNER for the Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway. Thanks to everyone who entered. Thanks to a random number generator, the lucky winner is number 7...

Melanie congrats!

I will get you in contact with Cutting Edge Stencils soon.

Lucky girl!

Fourthly(?) aka lastly, in light of my sweet Little Men passing on their sickness to their Momma, today I am reposting a holiday recipe from last year. Mostly because it is a good recipe...okay mostly because instead of accomplishing my projects to share with you, I either held a recovering Bean or I sat my tushy on the couch blowing my nose.


This is a holiday remake of our family favorite Num Num Chex Mix. I know I have gone on and on about our family favorite treat, but it seriously is heavenly! This candy cane version is a quick and easy treat to add to your neighbor goody plates.

Thanks for letting share this festive pepperminty recipe with you again. For reals,  if you are looking for a quick and easy treat to make for your friends, family, neighbors, mailman, teacher, or for you...hop on this recipe!

You make this. I will rest. Then I will sew. Then I will share!

Candy Cane Num Num Mix


Ingredients:


1 box rice Chex cereal
3 sticks of butter (I know GASP...remember you are giving it away/sharing)
1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups light Karo syrup
1/2-1 teaspoon of peppermint extract (depending on your love of peppermint)
6-7 candy canes, smashed up

First get some little elf in your house to smash up your candy canes. I am pretty sure they will love it as much as my destructive elf did.

Pour the entire cereal box into a large bowl and set aside.

Next you will combine the sugar, syrup, and butter in a large saucepan. Heat over medium high heat until boiling, stirring often. Once it starts boiling, let it boil, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove from heat and stir in your extract. It will pop, fizz, and maybe foam a little. Oh and the intense smell of the peppermint might burn your eyes and nose. Don't be scared, just keep stirring. It will all calm down.

Pour the mixture over the cereal in the bowl. Scrap out as much of the mixture as you can using a spatula. Then with a more sturdy spoon, stir the cereal to evenly coat with the syrup mixture.

Once it is evenly coated, pour the cereal out onto two baking sheets. Spread out the cereal. Then sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the top of the cereal.

The cereal will need to be stirred/tossed/moved around every couple of minutes to ensure that as it cools it doesn't stay in large clumps. You can use your hands for this. Just kind of move all the cereal around and break up any big clumps. You want the cereal to stay in small or individual pieces.

Once the mixture has completely cooled you can store in a gallon Ziploc bag or other airtight container. You can package it to give out or keep it on hand for holiday snacking.

Merry Christmas everyone!