BFF Candy Making...

So, today was BFF candy making day!  Melissa came over for a lesson on chocolate dipping.  Imagine that this creative lady has NEVER dipped!  By the end of the day we had dipped everything but the kitchen sink in chocolate! 

Melissa with her new chocolate pot...a must have for chocolate dippin'

On our 14 hour shopping day last Saturday we picked up lots of supplies. 

Chocolate Reindeer was the first order of business.  You start with a Nutter Butter cookie and dip in chocolate.

Add a M&M for a nose and broken pretzels for antlers.

A dab of white icing and chocolate sprinkle eyes.  Very cute!  She is taking them to Lake Charles for Ty's party. 

We decided to try to make an angel...so we dipped the cookie in white chocolate and added star pretzels for her wings...we then sprinkled white glitter sprinkles on her body.  Melissa added a face and we started laughing because the angel looks like a ghost...we call her "Holy Ghost".  We only made one.

Pretzel logs

Pirouettes

Gracie did her part to help....cleaning crumbs and an occasional dropped morsel.

Oreos with a Christmas candy corn..very feastive.

Early Christmas present to me....a new food processor...a simple one...no bells and whistles to confuse me...I loved it!
Oreo Balls and Nutter Butter Balls...crush a package of cookies and add 1 package of cream cheese. 

Roll into balls and dip in white chocolate.

Melissa's cute creation for Ty's party....a UhOh Oreo  dipped half in chocolate, sprinkles and an M&M...very colorful and cute.  I'm sure Ty's friends will think his MyMy is the best!

Melissa sitting down on the job...

you have to get a little messy with it...

Kinda reminds me of Lucy and Ethel

BFFs having fun...whatever we do...we do have a blast doing it!

Today's creations...more to come tomorrow...stay tuned...

More Cake Pops...

I wanted to do a couple of trays of snacks to take to school for my PLC group and the ladies in the office.  I made Nutter Butter Balls and Dipped Oreos.  The Nutter Butter Balls were well received by everyone...they are EASY and YUMMY!  I ended up dipping a couple of bags of Oreos both the traditional chocolate ones and the vanilla ones in white and dark chocolate and arranging all three on a pretty tray.  (sorry, I got too tired to take pictures of the finished product.)   I also dipped two bags of Oreos for the Bible Club Bake Sale....needless to say, it was a late night, but worth it! 

Nutter Butter Balls:  1 package Nutter Butter cookies and 1 package cream cheese,
Crush cookies in a food processor until fine.  Add cream cheese and blend together. 



Mush together and roll into bite size balls.

I decided not to put sticks into them and just do balls.

Dip in chocolate.

I wish I had pictures of the Oreos and the trays.  They were very pretty and everyone at school loved the Nutter Butter Balls.  Now, I'm baking loaves of pumpkin bread for custodians.  I always want to show my appreciation at this time of year for the hard work they do at school. 

Cake Pops

Get out all your supplies.  Red velvet cake mix and
cream cheese icing.

Required a trip to Wally..of course...almond bark
sprinkles (were too hard to do and not attractive)
Shaped treat bags and lollipop sticks.

Make cake mix according to the package.

Bake in oven (yes, my Easy Bake oven worked
just fine...oven still out of commission)

All done...let cool completely.

Add can of frosting and mush up!  I think it would be best NOT to add the complete can to make the mixture firmer for  rolling into balls.

Roll into bite size balls...you have to keep the mixture chilled...it gets gooey if you don't.  So I kept putting it in the freezer and then rolling more balls.

Chocolate bark and my newest favorite thing...this little chocolate melter...keeps the chocolate just right for dipping!
$20 at Wally...best deal of the day!

Dip balls into chocolate and swirl and tap until starting to harden.  This is Scott's hand...he helped (one ball)



Stick the lollipops onto a styrofoam block...another must have supply!



Presentation is so important....I put three cake pops in the cellophane treat bag and wrapped glittery tinsel wire to seal.  I then added a label. 



From the Kitchen of
Zandra Grady
CUTENESS!



Advise:  you live and learn...this was definetly a learning experience...stick lollipop sticks into balls and freeze!  It makes it so much easier to dip.  Also, make the balls small bite size.  Mine were a little top heavy. 

All in all, these were are pretty yummy and fun to make...I learned a great deal for next time.  I also have two other recipes to try..so check back next week for Cake Pops #2.

ELBC Church Ladies Brunch

Church Ladies Brunch

What a great morning spent with friends at church!  The annual ladies Christmas brunch was today and as usual, the decorations were beautiful, the food fabulous, but best of all, the fellowship with friends.  The theme was the "The Colors of Christmas"  and the tables reflected just that and the devotion also.  The gold to remind us of Jesus, our King, the red to remind us of the blood shed for us and God's love, and the green to remind up of everlasting life through Jesus Christ.

The theme was "The Colors of Christmas".  My favorite Christmas colors are red, green, and gold. 

I like to mix textures and patterns...I like to mix traditional with whimisical items.
"Joy"

I fell in love with these dishes one night at Walmart.  I snatched up a place setting and came home to gather my ideas.  Sean was with me...he thought it was all just "precious"!

I love decorating with polymesh!  It's easy and looks amazing!

Ready for guests!

After decorating, I came home and baked up a batch of mini pumpkin loaves for my table guests.  I found these cute little ceramic bakers at Michaels...$1.00!

I wrapped them in cellephane and added some wired tinsel and a Christmas ornament.

Vaydra and Patti

Rhonda and Tammy

and Randi in the middle...some super friends from LJHS. 
Thanks for being my guests and sharing this special Christmas memory with me.
Friends, Feasting...and Faith.

Much to my surprise our guest speaker was Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, author of "Suck Your Stomach in and Put Some Color On!", a book that Rachel bought me last Christmas.  Just from the title you can just imagine why Rachel bought it for me.  It's all about Southern mama and what they tell their daughters that the rest of ya'll should know too!  She delivered a funny and inspirational message...always WEAR the Colors of Christmas.


I introduced myself to her and she LOVED my name...in fact...so much, that she asked to add it to her Blackberry so she wouldn't forget it and asked if she could use it for a character in a book sometime...Zandra Lou....who would've thought...thanks Mary Lou!

Pretty is as Pretty Does...

The 2010 Miss Holiday Belle pageant was held at LHS this past week.  Kiersten Robertson, a sophomore and my ex-next door neighbor, won Miss Congeniality AND Miss Holiday Belle!  She is a perfect example of "pretty is as pretty does" (as my granny always said) beautiful inside and out.  Congratulations Kiersten!