Holiday Cheer - Christmas Story Memories

My blogger for today had to bow out, so I'm left with needing to fill in the blank.  A couple of days ago several people commented that they liked Peanut Butter Balls, so I decided to look up the recipe and post it today.  I really need to make these this year. I think I bought the ingredients to make them last year, but never did.

Anyway, before we get into the recipe, I thought I'd discuss Christmas Story memories, and I mean books you read as a child or now read about the Holidays that you are fond of.  One story my family always read was a poem, that I can't recall the name of.  My sister may have the poem book that it's in, so I need to ask her about it, but every Christmas Eve for years, my mother or father would read the poem from a big, thick books of poem. The poem was about a father and his two children, a son and a daughter. The mother, who had made Christmas special, had died. The father was in mourning and short-tempered with the children on Christmas Eve and sent them to bed early. A few minutes later he felt guilty and went upstairs to apologize, there, he heard his young children praying, for papa to be kind again and for a Christmas like mother used to make.  His heart melted and he quickly went out and bought up all the presents he could find and made Christmas special again.  

I recently saw a way to count down Christmas was to read a Christmas story every night. The person who first posted it would wrap each book and the children would pull one out of the pile, not knowing what it was.  I haven't even gathered up the books, let alone wrapped up 24 of them to read. However, I read to my granddaughter almost every night before she goes to bed, so adding a Christmas-themed book won't be hard to do, I just need to gather them up and, perhaps, purchase a few more.  I think this is a wonderful idea and a nice way to count down to the Big Day.  Tonight we read THE POLAR EXPRESS, the first time I've ever read it.  Perhaps tomorrow, we'll read THE CRIPPLED LAMB or DORA'S CHRISTMAS, lol. Either way, Lacey will be happy. At five, she loves to be read to.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible for the nook HD drawing.  Please share with us your favorite holiday book (can be an adult book). 

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

1 pound powdered sugar

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

8 oz peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 oz chocolate chips*

½ block paraffin wax*

Directions:

Mix sugar, melted butter, peanut butter and vanilla.

Roll into balls and place in refrigerator for one hour to harden

Melt chocolate chips and wax in double boiler.  Dip balls into chocolate and place on wax paper to cool.

*In place of the chocolate chips and paraffin wax, you can use the chocolate candy melts found in hobby stories in the cake decorating area. They work just as well.

Anna Kathryn Lanier