Thursday, December 25, 2008

Back To Blogging

I hope you all had a happy holiday and didn't get any coal in your stockings!

Llyn is having a giveaway for her 200th post. The prizes are her favorite book of the year, a handmade plastic bag dispenser (she made it from a pretty tea towel), and a vintage cake decorating set. She's going to be picking a winner on January 1 so go enter by leaving her some comments on this post.

Llyn shared some photos of her doggies under the Christmas tree on her blog, and that reminded me of one I recently found of Sophie. I only had her for three years and every Xmas she ended up under the tree.


The other night I made English toffee from the recipe on Elsie Marley and dang, is it ever so good! It's so buttery, nutty and chocolate-y. In the past, I've made fudge, and I can whip up caramel for caramel corn but I hadn't used a candy thermometer since home ec in high school back in 1979. But Meg's instructions were really easy to follow and it helped that soft ball and hard ball and dodge ball were all marked on the thermometer itself. Now I want to try making peanut brittle. Good thing there's a recipe for it in one of the 137 emails my best friend Martha Stewart sent me this past week.

9 comments:

SmilingSally said...

You know, I have never used a cooking thermometer--even in Home Ec!

Unknown said...

Sophie looks so sweet under the tree!
Who is eating all of this sugary goodness, young lady?!!

Anonymous said...

I didn't know Martha Stewart was your best friend! Awesome! I got Christmas e-mails from Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, so I've got some pretty hoity-toity friends, too. Even so - I've only got one friend who can be called a bundle of fun. Merry Christmas!

Diane said...

Hi Patty! Merry Christmas! Hope that you had a good one. That little dog under the tree is sooo sweet. Also, Congrats! on the job. I hope the subbing turns permanent sooner than later :)

Anonymous said...

What a sweet picture! My cats love to sleep under the tree. Is it the smell or something? We always joke that they're waiting for Santa.

I love making peanut brittle. It's the white gloves you need to wear. Makes the whole thing so elegant.

Anonymous said...

I thought Martha was my BFF! I hope you had a nice holiday...yes, back to normal now...if that is possible.

Anonymous said...

The first year that I had my dog Hank, he was sniffing around this little Christmas tree I had put up. At the time, he was a 70 pound puppy. This tree had miniature glass balls. Somehow, he got behind the table it was sitting on, got the light cord stuck to his collar, and took off running. Did you know that miniature glass balls will bounce about 8 feet high?

Hank died almost a year and a half ago, I miss him so much.

I have never used a candy thermometer because candy is far too ambitious an undertaking for my lazy butt. lol.

I get a Christmas card from President Bush every year. Neener neener neener.

Miri said...

Hope you had a great Christmas. Thanks for reminding me-a candy thermometer is one of the things I need to get on my travels! I want to make fudge!

Kellie said...

One of our cats took to sleeping under the tree this year. The same one that's taken to sleeping on the kitchen counter and drinking my coke if I leave it sitting out unattended!

And did someone say Toffee? Mmmm...