My cookie recipes for this year's family exchange.

Peanut Butter Balls



Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Cups of Peanut Butter
4 Cups of Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. of vanilla
2 Cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 Slab of paraffin wax.

Directions:

1. Combine the butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until well blended.
2. Put the mix in the fridge to set.
3. Melt chocolate chips together with the paraffin wax in a double boiler.
4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and dip in the melted chocolate.
5. Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and chill until set.

Rice Crispie Treats

Ingredients:

6 Cups of Crispies
1 10oz. bag of marshmallows
1/4 Cup of Butter
Half a bag of Mini Reese's pieces

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a deep pan on the stove top.
2. Add marshmallows and stir until melted into the butter.
3. Add Crispies and stir until well blended.
4. Take of the stove top and mix in Mini Reese's.
5. Press mixture into a 9x13 cake pan.
6. Cover and let set.

It's time to tree hunt!

Every year my Dad's side of our family gets together on the first Saturday of December. Our purpose? Tree hunting, a cookie exchange, and my Bampa's amazing chili.


We meet at the tree farm, collect a candy cane from Bampa, and then head to the fields, where each family searches to find their perfect tree. I love seeing each family's pick, everybody has their own prefrence. Our family has always gone with a douglas fir. Now that Ryan and I are a family of our own we tend to lean toward a Grand Fir. It is a tree native to the northwest. It looks a lot like a douglas fir but it's needles are a darker shade of green with silvery undersides.



When everyone has their trees loaded and secure we head to Mamma and Bampa's. There waiting on the stove for us is my Bampa's chili that has been cooking for 3 days. I only get to have it once a year, so I eat until I'm full.

7 women bake two types of sweets for the cookie exchange. So when everything is said and done each family goes home with 14 dozen cookies and some of Bampa's fudge.

I can't wait to decorate our tree. I'll post pictures of the finished product.

This is how my family kicks off the Christmas season. Feel free to share stories of your own with me. My two recipes for this year's exchange are posted above.

~Jazi

The Concept of Unconditional Love

What does Unconditional Love mean?

Dictionary.com defines it as: affection with no limit or conditions.

To me unconditional love means forgiveness. God sent his only son to die for our sins, so that we could be forgiven. To me that is the ultimate act of love.

I went to a 'Wind of the Spirit' retreat when I was a teenager and learned the best lesson of my life to date: Forgiveness is an action not a feeling.

This was another one of those light bulb moments for me. It was hard to grasp the fact that I could forgive without having to like it. I mean, what good is it to forgive if you really don't feel it in your heart?

The speaker, Mrs. Audrey Eddings, went on to explain that forgiving those that hurt us is the ultimate act of letting go. Without forgiveness you can never truly get passed the hurt that other's have caused you. That weekend I let go of baggage I had been holding on to for most of my life. And in doing so I felt a freedom I can't put into words. I would never again worry about passed moments of pain and sorrow. By forgiving I was able to find closure and move forward, instead of looking back.

God calls us to forgive others. And who are we to question that? Does holding on to that old grudge ever affect the person who hurt us? By forgiving you take the power back, instead of allowing that person to poison your spirit.

Here's another way I look at it: If we are unable to forgive, how can we ask God to forgive us?

So we should all try to put aside past hurt & petty differences. We should forgive and enjoy this time of year with a lighter heart.

'tis the season ~ Jazi

Thanksgiving Traditions.

Every year before Thankgiving I go to my Mamma's house to help her bake pies. And I'm not talking just a couple, we bake about 30 pies total. Maybe more.

When I was younger it was something I would count down the days til. When I was a teen I would go there wondering how much of my day would be wasted covered in flour. As an adult it has come full circle, I can't wait to get baking.

This year, my Mamma informed me, would be the last. It takes so much effort and many don't appreciate the hours spent or the love put into it. I'm so sad to have to let go of a tradition that has been happening my whole life.

I have to remind myself that everything changes. And it doesn't have to be a bad thing. We'll just have to replace the old tradition with a new one. So in honor of our last pie baking year I would like to share a pie recipe.

Pumpkin Pie




Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese room temp.
2 cups canned pumpkin (mashed)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1 egg plus 2 yokes beaten
1/2 stick melted butter (1/4 cup)
1 cup half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

and a premade dough. I prefer to make my own but that recipe is a family secret.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Place one piece of premade pie dough into a 9 in. pie pan.
Put plate into the freezer for one hour to firm up.
Bake the crust for 10-15 mintutes. (until it just starts to color)

For the filling, in a large bowl beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer.
Add the pumpkin and beat until well mixed.
Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined.
Add the vanilla and cinnamon until combined.

Add the filling to your warm pie crust and bake for 50 minutes.
Or until the center is firm.
Cool on a wire rack.

Topped with whipped cream or ice cream this is a great pie.


Have a great Thanksgiving!
~Jazi

Look at the bright side.

Occasionally I will hear something that turns on a light bulb in my head and I think how simple. My heart recognizes the truth in these statements and I do my best to apply them to my life.

On Nov. 9th my husband Ryan and I went to the Jason Mraz concert @ The Paramount Theater in Seattle. He said something on stage that grabbed hold in my brain and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

‘Don’t let your mind keep you from having a good time.’ JMraz

It’s funny how easy that sounds. Easy to accept maybe; but when you are feeling down or crabby it can be hard to remember that you are making the choice to let the outside world affect you. You are making the choice not to look at the bright side of your world.

So instead of dwelling on the negative today…choose happiness.

~Jazi