Christmas is Saturday! How crazy is that?! I miss my father and that’s got me feeling nostalgic for all the Christmases growing up. Wednesday this week, I woke too early and made myself some breakfast and drank a cup of coffee long before leaving for work. I was standing in my father’s window watching his birds and just started sobbing. I miss him so much. I am such a Daddy’s girl, and the hurt is deep. I often say the pain we feel is just our selfishness, but we can’t help but miss those we loved deeply. Christmas this year is hard for me.

My father, over time built me and painted almost every piece of furniture for my bedroom. One year, I got a doll case he put together and painted and then Mom bought a couple dolls for it. One year, it was a shelf for my desk. Another was a mirror Mom etched on and Dad made the frame. My favorite, though, was a toy box with my name on it. My sister and I both got one that year. It was large enough for us to sit in and sturdy because Dad built it. When I looked inside, it had about 30 hardcover Nancy Drew books standing in the bottom of it. I don’t know which excited me more. I still have all those pieces Dad made. He often said when he built something, he made it to last. He was so right. Now, I treasure these pieces, these pieces of him. I know the love and work that went into making them.

Christmas candy is full of traditions and memories for me. Mom and Granny taught us how to make the candy as we grew up. I will never forget every surface filled with something waiting to cool or chocolate to harden. I will never forget large bags of goodies going out of our house to friends and coworker, family and neighbors and Granny always leaving a bag of goodies for the mail lady too. Memories of sharing and the joy that can come from it. Memories of hours and days spent together and laughter and singing Christmas songs along to the radio. Memories I treasure and will forever hold dear just like the memories of my father. Make your grocery list and meet me in the kitchen this weekend for making memories of your own!

Orange Creamsicle Truffles

¼ cup unsalted butter

Zest of 1/2 orange or ½ tsp more of orange extract

3 Tbsps. heavy cream

1 cup white chocolate chips

½ tsp orange extract

¼ cup powdered sugar

Orange gel food coloring

Pour white chocolate chips into a mixing bowl, set aside. Melt butter along with orange zest in a small saucepan. Stir in cream heat mixture until hot but not boiling. Pour hot cream mixture through a fine mesh sieve over white chocolate chips and using a rubber spatula press zest against sieve to release orange oils into mixture. You can skip this step if you did not use zest. Add orange extract. Allow mixture to rest 1 minute, add optional food coloring to white chocolate chip mixture then stir until smooth. Cover mixture and refrigerate 2 hours or until firm enough to handle. Scoop mixture out by heaping teaspoon full and form into balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Store truffles in refrigerator as they will soften at room temperature or freeze up to 1 month.

Recipe adapted from kitchensimplicity.com

Pecan Pralines

½ cup butter, cubed

2 cups sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup half-and-half cream

½ cup sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Dash salt

3 cups pecan halves 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract Line 3 baking sheets with parch

Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. In large heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt cubed butter. Stir in sugars, cream, milk, corn syrup and salt. Cook and stir until mixture comes to boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer reads 236°F (soft-ball stage), about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and vanilla. Cool, without stirring, to 170°F, about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it though. You don’t want it to cool too much. Stir with wooden spoon until mixture just begins to thicken but is still glossy. If it’s already thick, you waited too long. Move to next step. Quickly drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Let stand until pralines are set and no longer glossy. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from tasteofhome. com

Cookie Dough Fudge 1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup mini chocolate chips

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 Tbsps. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Put mini chocolate chips in freezer until needed in step 6. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper if you want thick fudge or a 9x13 if you want thinner fudge, set aside. In medium sized bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, milk and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in flour and salt until completely incorporated. Set aside. In small glass bowl, microwave white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds up to 2 minutes, depending on your microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour white chocolate mixture into the cookie dough bowl. Combine until smooth. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Pour fudge into the prepared pan, spread evenly. Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting. Store in fridge until ready to eat.

Recipe adapted from cookingwithkarli.com

Cookies & Cream Puppy Chow

We all like Puppy Chow and there are many versions of it. This one is my favorite. I must admit I bought a bag of this a few years ago and loved it, but I didn’t want to have to pay for it all the time. So, I played with a puppy chow recipe to come up with this one.

9 cups Corn Chex Cereal

1 heaping cup semi sweet morsels

6 Tbsps. unsalted sweet cream butter

2 tsps. pure vanilla extract

12 Oreo cookies, ground into crumbs

1 ½ cups powdered sugar Line baking sheet with parchment

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place cereal in large bowl. In medium saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter together until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate over cereal and stir to evenly coat. Add cookie crumbs and stir to coat evenly. Coat top with about a ¼ or ⅓ of powdered sugar and stir. Add more powdered sugar and stir again, repeating until powdered sugar is all added. Spread snack mix on prepared baking sheet and let cool completely.