Sorry it's been a few days...I've been very busy and have had little time to write. At odd times I've had really great posts form in my head...and by the time I'd get to the computer, I would forget! Call me crazy...I think that's what I am! :)

Anyway...I took off of work on Thursday and did some baking. Baking is one of my favorite things about Christmas - and I tried making peanut butter balls (also known as 'buckeyes') - which was a new recipe this year - and they turned out great! When I was growing up, every year, my aunt, uncle & cousins would come down from Indiana. My aunt Sis would bring tins full of everything she had baked...and to sum it all up in one word, "yum!" The PB balls were my favorite! So I asked for the recipe this year, and I thought I would share it with you:

Peanut Butter Balls
1 cup Peanut Butter
1 stick butter
1 lb. confectioner's sugar
Chocolate Bark

Blend first three ingredients (will be a little crumbly -- Sis says it shouldn't be, but mine turned out crumbly but just fine!...I think you can use 2 sticks of butter if you want/need to. If you do, chill the mixture for a couple hours before rolling into balls). Form small balls and put them in the freezer for a few hours (or overnight). Melt chocolate bark and dip frozen pb balls into the chocolate. Lay out on wax paper to set. A note about dipping...you can use a toothpick and dip them individually...or you can do it the lazy way like I did (ha ha, though, they turned out just as yummy!). Put a few balls into the melted bark, stir around and them spoon them out onto the wax paper. They may not look quite as pretty, but they taste just as yummy!! :)

Here is a picture of my first batch:

And a picture of some of the rest of my products...sausage pinwheels, PB cookies, among other things:

Oh! And back to my title -- I had some little helpers in the baking department. Really, I think they were there more for purely selfish reasons than to help me...but they sure seemed to enjoy cleaning up anything I dropped on the floor (thus, killing two birds with one stone!). I present to you, my baking buddies, Heathcliff & Gracie:

I think that's about it for now. I hope you all are well and in the spirit of the holidays!