Creamy Goat Cheese Balls

These cheese balls are so yummy and are the perfect holiday appetizer! They are also very festive in color!  I made them into 4 large balls but you could make them into smaller size balls.  This was a big hit at my last Christmas open house. What appetizers do you make for the holidays?

Click to enter the Holiday Recipe Exchange and be entered to win a 700 recipe cookbook!(ended)

Creamy Goat Cheese Balls

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, softened
6 oz semi soft goat cheese (chevre or crumbled feta cheese)
24 pickled, finely chopped jalapeno pepper slices or small, chopped pimiento stuffed green olives, well drained (I do both)
1/2 c. dried red sweet pepper, finely chopped (or sweet paprika)
1/2 c. snipped, finely chopped fresh cilantro(or chopped dry cilantro)
1/2 c dry dill (or fresh finely shopped)
1/3 c. chopped toasted pumpkin seeds (out of shell) or dry onion flakes

Directions

In a medium bowl, stir together the cheeses until smooth.  Cover and chill for 1 hr.  For the small balls use a rounded tablespoon of the cheese form it around a chopped pepper or olives. If you are going to make the 4 large balls then just divide the dough into 4's. (Note the cheese mixture will be sticky. You can wear kitchen gloves)  Keep doing this until I've used up all the cheese and peppers/olives.  Place on shallow pan, cover and chill for 1 hr.  Makes up to 24 small cheese balls or 4 large.

*This last part if the fun and creative part.  To make them look festive you have the green of the herbs and the red of the pepper flakes or paprika.   Set up each spice in a bowl.  You will roll one ball in a spice.  Have fun with it and make them festive!

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Baked Chocolate Covered Cherries

These cookies are linked up to, The Farm Chick,  Serena's Cookie Exchange!  

Check out Thrify & Chic Mom! She also has a cookie exchange and a cookbook giveaway!


These little cookies are always made in December for our Christmas Open House.  They are a lot of work and I decided this year that I would not be making them.  I mentioned this to my youngest daughter and she was disappointed!  She said that I had to make them because they are really good and they are a part of our tradition.  She helped make them last year so she will be the one in charge of these!
Join in my Holiday Recipe Exchange! Link up a recipe from your blog or post a recipe in the comments!

You could win a 700 recipe cookbook for your participation!

Click to join in the fun Holiday Recipe Exchange & Cookbook Giveaway

Baked Chocolate Covered Cherries
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. margarine, softened (sorry folks but I tried butter and margarine works best)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
16oz jar Maraschino cherries with stems on (need about 30 cherries separate juice from cherries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, salt, b.powder & b. soda.  Separately, beat together margarine & sugar until fluffy.  Add egg & vanilla.  Gradually add dry ingredients & beat until well blended.  Shape dough into 1-2 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Press thumb into center and put in a cherry.  Cover back up with the dough.  Bake 10-12 minutes and let cool completely.  While baking make frosting.

Frosting (optional)

6 oz pkg. semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
Drained cherry juice

In a small saucepan, combine chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Heat until chocolate melts.  Stir in 4 tsp. of reserved cherry juice.  Once the cookies come out of the oven, spoon about 1/2-1 tsp over each cherry.

These are very yummy! They just take time to make.

Fun with the Ultra FLIP Video Camera

We are flipping out over our new Ultra Flip Video Camera! (Click camera to check it out on Amazon) This will be great for our homeschool!

This little video camera is so easy to use! Take the video, plug into computer and upload to You Tube! It is preloaded with its own software. It was just that easy! It also holds 2 hours of video! It worked on both Windows and Linux. Enjoy the short video! Can't wait to do more with this!

5 Tips and Tricks to Get the Kids to Bed!

Parents always want to know what works for you!  They want to know how to get the kids to eat veggies, how to potty train, how to read, etc.  I think one big how to is getting kids to bed and having them stay in bed.

(found the image on google images with no link)

5 Tips and Tricks to Get the Kids to Bed!

1) It is so important to have a set bed time.  This time needs to be made known to everyone involved.  From parents, grandparents, babysitters and the child.  The bed time is the goal.  Without it you will have problems.

2) Set a bed time routine.  For us, little ones need to be in bed 1/2 hour before bedtime.  Once in bed they have that time to get comfy, read, listen to music, talk, play with toys in bed,etc.  This is wind down time.  It gets them comfortable in their own bed.  With our teens they just need to be in their room 1 hour before their set bed time.

3) Read before bed is another one of our tips that really works.   Pick that time to read to your child.  Let them pick the book.  When they were little and even today, my husband will take them to a bookstore and let them pick out what they want to read together.  This is a great way to get through a large book.  Kids love to be read to.

4) Make sure they are sleeping in a bed they like.  Toddlers can pick out their own bedding.  Let them be happy.  They can have a special blanket, pillow or even stuffed animal.  We've often called it a "sleep buddy".  So if they have to sleep away from from they can bring a sleep buddy to help them fall asleep elsewhere.

5) No food or drinks 1 hour before bedtime.  This is just something we do without making an issue of it.  It really helps cut down on bathroom trips once in bed.

No matter what you do just be consistent!  

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Tasty Giveaway with Real Asian Made Simple

I bring to you a TASTY GIVEAWAY!

My family loves Thai food!  We love it so much that I never cook it! Isn't that a shame? I pretty much cook anything they ask of me! My kitchen is known as Susie's Cafe yet I do not offer Thai food. 

When we get a taste for Thai we head to a larger town near us and eat at this great little restaurant called Thai Taste! The food is so yummy!

My friend, Carolyn, is hosting a Real Asian Made Simple giveaway on her blog! The Thai photos are from her blog. Click on them to go to the giveaway. IF I win I WILL cook Thai for my family!  Fingers crossed here!  Go enter the giveaway! 5 people will win!  Now that is a Tasty Giveaway! 

Tweet For Literacy Grand Prize

Tuesday December 1st is the end of the Tweet For Literacy Twitter Campaign!  It has truly been rewarding! I've met a lot of new tweeters and got introduced to new authors, publisher and book bloggers, too!  I've become tweet pals with @LindaThieman, author and developer behind the Tweet For Literacy project!

1ST-Tuesday night 5-6 pm CST we will have a few more winners! The Tweet For Literacy Twitter party we will randomly pick one winner who is tweeting that hour to win one of 6 prizes.

Party Giveaway Schedule

5:00 pm 1) Book by Sheri Kaye Hoff
Keys to Living Joyfully

5:10 pm 2) Book by Nicole O'Dell
Truth or Dare, interactive fiction for girls ages 10-15


5:20 pm 3) NOW WHAT? by Patch Games http://bit.ly/nowwhatgame $19.99

5:30 pm 4) Book by Sheri Kaye Hoff
Keys to Living Joyfully

5:40 pm 5) Book by Nicole O'Dell
All That Glitters, interactive fiction for girls ages 10-15

5:50 pm 6) BUZZ WORDS Jr by Patch Games http://bit.ly/buzzwordjr $19.99

2nd-

6:00 pm Grand Prize Package (chosen from all hashtags tweeters since 1st day of our campaign)

 
Winner to be chosen Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 6pm CT. Total value of Grand Prize Package is $700.

Part 1 of Grand Prize
 
1) Keys to Living Joyfully (autographed) and the Keys to Living Joyfully Telesummit mp3 recording plus a one-hour live coaching session by Life Coach and author Sheri Kaye Hoff ($500 value). Donated by the author, one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors.

2) 2 codes for e-books at the iTunes App Store from PicPocket Books (combined value up to $7.98). These picture book apps are downloaded to an iPhone or an iPod Touch. For children 2 to 8. Donated by PicPocket Books.

3) Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin (autographed -- an $18.95 value), the delightful Christmas-themed picture book by one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors. Donated by the author.

4) The Katie & Kimble chapter book series by Linda Thieman, for ages 6 to 10. Lexile® measures: 280L and 290L. This set includes Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish. These are stories of love and healing, and are not scary! Donated and autographed by the author, one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors. (Value: $11.90 per set)

5) Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott. (Value: $5.99) For ages 10 and up. Donated by Tweet for Literacy sponsor Linda Thieman.

6) Vocabu-Lit: Building Vocabulary through Literature, Book C by Perfection Learning. 3rd grade. Value: $9.95. Donated by Tweet for Literacy sponsor Linda Thieman.

7) Life: Be There at Ten ‘til by Dean Johnson ($9.95 value). Words of wisdom for Mom and Dad. Donated by Tweet for Literacy sponsor Linda Thieman.

8) Close Encounters of the Third-grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood by Phillip Done ($22.99 value). Donated by Hachette Book Group.

Part 2 of Grand Prize
 
The second part of the Grand Prize is a giveaway of a different sort. One elementary school will receive a classroom set (10 each) of both of the Katie & Kimble books: Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (a $119 value). These books are being donated by author and Tweet for Literacy sponsor, Linda Thieman. Their Lexile(R) measures are 280L and 290L, and on the Katie & Kimble blog, there are free, downloadable classroom (and homeschooling) materials to make life easier for teachers and parents while helping children learn to read. Linda is a former English teacher with experience in materials development. The Activity Packets that she has created meet the national standards for 3rd Grade reading and language skills.

The winner of the Grand Prize will select which elementary school is to be the recipient of the Katie & Kimble book package. Yes, the winner of the Grand Prize gets to pay it forward! We thought that would be fun and fulfilling!

RULES STILL APPLY! New and old twitters for the Party must follow them!  Click here TWEET FOR LITERACY to read rules!

What was the most surprising gift you've ever received?

When I was in my last year of college I was dating/engaged to my future husband.  At that time I wore two different colognes.  I'm assuming I did this depending on my mood.  So the term your scent defines you is very real.  I had this very expensive bottle a cologne that I would wear going out to parties and with my old boyfriends. I didn't realize it at the time but the other cologne, also expensive but calming,  I would wear going to church and hanging out with my future husband.

Our first Christmas together my future husband, to my surprise, gave me a new bottle of cologne.  Guess what kind he gave me? It was the cologne that I wore to church! He claimed that smell and from then on that has been the only cologne that I wear.  I believe that I threw the other one out!

We've been married 16 years.  Whenever my cologne runs low who do you think still buys it for me?  Yes, my husband! I really think this scent sealed our deal! It really is funny because I've only bought that cologne one time and that was before I even met him.  In college I went home with my roommate for a holiday.  Her mother was wearing this cologne. I loved her mom! Her home made me feel at home.  I bought that cologne to hold on to something special.  So fun to see how it has followed me through dating, engagement, marriage, many moves, children and many many years of marriage!

I want to  hear about your most surprising, interesting, sentimental or creative gift you’ve ever received! Share with me below!