Christmas 2010 - Part I

It seems as though I've been neglecting the blog lately. I have to admit I've been avoiding it on purpose. You see I've been wanting to share some Christmas snapshots with y'all, but the thought of going through all of the pictures we took over the weekend...uggh! It's hard to find the time to sit down and scroll through hundreds of pictures.

Remember the good ol' days of film photography when you just took a couple of shots here and there. You might end up with a total of 30, maybe 40, pictures of the whole holiday season. Now? More like 300-400 pictures! Or maybe that's just me trying to get the perfect shot. Anyway, it has become quite a task to get through such a large album.

So I've decided to share just a little at a time. The first installment of Christmas 2010 is from Christmas Eve. The monkeys were preparing a plate of cookies for Santa. This was really Lucy's first time to be in on the action, and let me just say that Santa is lucky he got any cookies at all. Lucy was eating the cookies as fast as we could put them on the plate. I've known for some time now that Lucy has an affinity for chocolate (something she inherited from her mother), but she made quite the little piggy out of herself this past week. We finally had to move the plate of cookies from the hearth to the mantel and out of Lucy's reach. (By the way she did NOT like that one bit! No siree!)


And as for Ty, well, he heard it straight from the North Pole that Santa prefers chocolate milk, so he mixed up a nice big glass.

What kind of cookies did we leave for Santa? Two kinds actually. First, the No-Bake Cookies I mentioned here.

And second, these...

Oreo Truffles.

Super easy, let me tell you. And oh, so good! Here's the recipe, if you can call it that. I wouldn't actually say that there was any real cooking involved here.

Oreo Truffles

1 package Oreos (I'm not sure of the weight, but it's not the smallest one)
1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 - 12 oz. package chocolate chips, flavor of choice

In food processor, puree oreos until finely crushed. Add cream cheese and puree until you can no longer see white. Line baking sheet with wax paper. Form Oreo mixture into 3/4" to 1" balls and place on baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, 30-60 minutes. Meanwhile melt chocolate chips over double boiler. Using a fork, dip balls one at a time into chocolate to completely cover and return to baking sheet. Allow chocolate to harden. Enjoy.

Tips: You can use whatever kind of chocolate you like to cover the truffles - milk, dark, white, etc. To speed up the hardening process, return truffles to refrigerator after they've been dipped in chocolate. For added interest drizzle a contrasting color chocolate over the tops of the truffles.

P.S. This is just one of the handful of Christmas recipes I intend to share with y'all in the coming week. I've selected a few crowd favorites you simply must try for yourself. I mean it. They are all easy and all good, and I sincerely hope that you will give them a try. Your family will thank you for it. Trust me!