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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Weekend Update & Recipe

We had a great weekend! Turkey day was hectic, but it always is when I host. Lots of people to feed...lots of house to clean....lots of things to prepare/cook....I'm kinda glad its over. We made it through Thankgiving Day ALMOST drama-free. Things always turn ugly when politics come into the conversation, don't they? Ugh! The girls stayed up LATE, but slept till 8 a.m. on Friday morning! WOO HOO! Here is some of our Thanksgiving crew:


Friday I decorated the house and put up the tree and lights. We had dinner at mom and dad's house - Italian - a nice change from Turkey & dressing. The girls stayed up LATE again, but slept until 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. DOUBLE WOO HOO!

Saturday was kinda lazy. The girls and I put the ornaments on the tree and they spent the better part of the morning playing dress-up and dancing to Christmas music! I spent a while at Church preparing for teaching Sunday school. Then we got dressed and headed to one of the local state parks for dinner with Bob's family - a yearly tradition. I usually love all the photo ops with all their wonderfully decorated Christmas trees, but this year, they only had ONE and it wasn't even that great....bummer.....The girls were less than cooperative, so I didn't get that "Christmas Card shot" I wanted....I'll try again some day at our own house.
After dinner and the drive home, we headed back to mom and dad's house to say hi to a friend of the family and for the girls to get their new "fur" capes and muffs that mom bought them. The girls stayed up LATE again, but didn't sleep till 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning....everyone had to get up for Church.
I helped mom make Wildcat Bourbon Balls (recipe below if you are so inclined to try them - they taste MUCH better than a drink!) all day Sunday afternoon. Sarah went to bed on time...Beth watched Tinkerbell till 8:30. Then bedtime....Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. was awfully hard for all of us!

Thus begins December and a month full of busy weekends and weekdays!
Wildcat Bourbon Balls

You will need 2 large mixing bowls, 2-3 cookie sheets, toothpicks and a double boiler, as well as tin’s in which you will “season” the finish product.

1 stick of real butter
2 - one pound boxes of confectioners sugar (Powdered sugar)
2/3 cup of 100 proof Kentucky Bourbon (a scant 2/3 cup or it will be too gooey)
1 – eight ounce box of unsweet Baking Chocolate Squares (I use Baker’s)
3-4 squares (3 or 4 oz.) of semi-sweet Baking Chocolate Squares
1½ ounces of paraffin (I use Gulfwax)
About 2 cups of pecan halves – not pieces

In bowl #1 cut the butter into a box of confectioners sugar until it is grainy. In bowl #2 mix the bourbon with a box of confectioners sugar.

Now dump the ingredients of Bowl #1 into Bowl #2 and mix. It’s best to mix it a little and then just use your hands to mix and kneed the mixture until it is smooth. Now refrigerate the mixture until it is hard but still pliable. (A few hours)

Remove from the refrigerator and roll into 1 inch balls. Place balls on wax paper, which is on a cookie sheet, and refrigerate until firm.

Dipping
When the balls are firm, they are ready to dip. In a double boiler, mix the unsweet chocolate, the semi sweet chocolate, and the paraffin and stir until melted and blended. Stick a tooth pick into a ball, dip it in the chocolate and then gently twirl the toothpick over the mixture so it will drip back into the pan. Now, twirl and drop the covered ball onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and immediately press a pecan half on the top to cover up the toothpick hole. Do not let the finished products touch until they are hardened. Place cookie sheets back in the refrigerator until the Bourbon Balls are hard. Now, place them in a single layer in tins. If you must stack them, add a layer of cardboard between the layers. Place tins in your refrigerator for about a month. Then, enjoy sparingly!

TIPS
As you begin dipping the balls, be certain they dry to a satin finish. If not, add more paraffin. You may use the same toothpick until it gets messy. If the balls fall off the toothpick before you twirl them, then put them back into the refrigerator to firm up some more. If you’re in a hurry, you can stick the balls into a freezer to firm up quickly.

Do NOT drink - um, eat - and drive!

3 comments:

Leia H said...

Italian sounds great! Wish my MIL would do that!

Cute gingerbread shirts! You'll get the photo - never fear! :)

Leia H said...

Ok, I've looked 3 times now - where is that recipe??

Leia H said...

The recipe appeared - yeah! :)