Last Wednesday before having to stay in the house for a couple of days due to some icy weather, a friend of mine gave me some almond cookies while we were up at church that morning! Patsy had bought them from a bakery over off 75 and was sharing them with us. I put them in my purse (yes that is why I carry a large purse so I can carry cookies or chocolates if needed) to take them home to have that night! While Randy and I were about to decide on what we wanted for a snack around 8 O Clock, I remembered the cookies! I ran to get them and opened the bag. Patsy had told me about how amazing they were and that I would love them! But I figured, “ how good can a bought cookie really be” but….after one bite I was so sorry I had already told Randy about them instead of making up an excuse to go sit in the car so I could have them both! They were delicious! The almond flavor the white chocolate chips, the soft cake like texture. They tasters like wedding cake which is my favorite cake in the world (if it is almond flavored). Because of the weather I had to wait until Saturday to get to the store and buy white chocolate chips! I had a package of sugar cookie mix and almond flavoring already. And because we were having company for dinner last night I made pies first. After all I had learned my lesson and I wasn’t going to share these little gems with anyone! I just took them out of the oven. They will go beautifully with my Blue Bell Brides Cake flavored ice cream tonight! They aren’t quite the same texture as the ones from the bakery but the flavors is exactly the same. Because I used a cookie mix I followed the directions on the back of the package plus added 2 teas of almond extract and half of the 12 oz package of chips. Next time I will add an extra egg and I think that will be more like the bakery cookie texture. But these are great and so easy! Had to add some bling to them!

A coupe of weeks ago Rita Heisey brought this salad to a ladies dinner/bible study and everyone went crazy over it. In fact, we had several people for SuperBowl game last week and a couple of the ladies decided that we needed Rita to just bring this as her “appetizer”. So bring she did. After everyone left (after Randy switched off the lights around 9 p,m,) Randy even said, “that salad was amazing” if you know Randy very well, he just doesn’t use that word very much. This morning after church we went to have lunch before coming home and as we left the restaurant, we ran into friends from church just going in. One of them ask me who had brought the salad to the ladies dinner a couple weeks ago. Because of so many folks requesting the recipe I thought it best if I just post it. Thanks Rita for showing us just how good a salad can be, with just a few ingredients. The dressing is delicious and you will fall in love with this salad, I promise! If you don’t like cashews, substitute almonds or pecans. I’m not a cashew fan, but in this salad, I ate them all.

10 cups romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped

1 cup (4 oz) shredded swiss cheese

1 medium gala apple, chopped to bite size

1 medium pear, chopped to bite size

3/4 cup dried cranberries (Crazins)

1/2 to 1 cup cashews

Dressing

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 Tables lemon juice

2 Tables chopped red onion

1/2 teas salt

2/3 cup salad oil

1 1/2 teas poppy seeds

Easy to fix salad ahead of time and just have ready to toss with dressing which you have blended well right before serving.

Squeeze a little lemon juice on the chopped pear and apple to prevent from turning brown. Leave skin on apples for color

Serves 8 to 10.

Thanks Rita for sharing this recipe. IT is a WINNER!

A few posts ago I had mentioned these awesome little cookbooks from Laurel Mississippi written with recipes from Ben and Erin from Hometown on HGTV. Made this for our lunch today and it was great. You will love these wonderful little books with stories and family recipes! $15 plus shipping. You will be so glad you did!

When We Have Days That Seem Like One Big Question Mark

Am I the only one who has days when you find yourself waking up to a day of wondering what is your purpose for the day and what if I don’t fulfill the purpose that God is leaving me here for? Do you have days when your mind is so distracted that it seems impossible to focus on the here and now? And the questions like…what can I do to bring light and truth to someone when I feel so inundated with all “my stuff!”

Am I living a life that is glorifying to God? A friend posted a wonderful heartfelt letter today on FB that made me stop and think about the storms In our lives and what we should be doing in the midst of the storms that come to us and how to come out on the other side, with more faith having grown into more of Christs’ likeness than when we entered the storm. Some days just pass by so quickly because of business or so bogged down with commitments that I hardly give these questions a thought. Other days find me having more time to think and ponder (I love that word….makes me feel so educated when I use it) only to;

• find that I try to fill my time with matters that don’t bless anyone or give of my time to someone that might need something! This is not a post to cause guilt or discourage others. It is just something that has been on my mind to put into words. Did God give us days in which to just enjoy without heavy thinking or having to always be “on” and look for ways in which to be a lighthouse for Him? Of course! But I pray that even in those ordinary days my life will reflect Him. But sometimes (and yes you can tell I’m an only child) I try to make too many days all about me and resist the nudging of the Holy Spirit to use me in ways that seem like a new opportunity for me to give of my time or talent God has given to me!

• Yesterday our guest preacher, Levi Lusko, told us “you don’t get to choose your storms but you can choose how you respond to them “!

When our “question mark”days come, and so many times these question mark days come in the middle of a storm and yes they do come to all of us, may we all look to our Creator God to give us His wisdom, His guidance but most of all His love for others so that we will bring glory to Him no matter what He ask of us or where He takes us

Isn’t it amazing to have these wonderful comfort foods in days when either life is hard, or the weather is frightfully cold, or we are just having a day when our hair doesn’t do what we want, the gas tank is on empty and we just don’t want to eat one more salad! Those days call for some special dishes which speak to not only our bellies, but to our hearts. This is one of those dishes! At Christmas a sweet friend gave some of us these great little cookbooks/stories from Laurel, Mississippi! I loved it so much I have ordered the other two as well. Each of these little gems have home cooking recipes along with stories from their family. Many of you probably watch Home Town On HGTV and are familiar with Erin and Ben. These recipes are taken from their family members and the stories….they are precious. This recipe is from Vol 3 ! The books are $15 each and worth every penny! Do yourself a favor and order them today!

Gramma Mollye’s Mac & Cheese

1 lb macaroni

16 oz small curd cottage cheese

12 oz sour cream

1 lb grated cheddar cheeee

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook & drain macaroni.

In a large bowl, allow butter to melt with macaroni. Add cottage cheese, sour cream grated cheddar and salt & pepper.

Mix until well combined. Put macaroni in a 9×13 casserole dish.

Top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese which you have mixed together, before putting on top .

Bake for about 30 min or until top is crisp and lightly browned!

(I have to admit that I sliced a stick of butter to place over the breadcrumbs before baking). Please don’t tell! Remember my motto: you can never have too much butter!

Posted at 12:00 pm by Chocolate Castles

To everyone who has read Chocolate Castles in 2021 I just want to thank you. The Annual Report from Word press arrived today and it was exciting to see that over 18,000 people from over 90 countries read my blog this past year. So just wanted to thank each of you who have stopped by at one time or another to check out recipes or stories. Chocolate Castles began in 2009 as a result of friends calling to ask me a recipe. When Jason, my son was with me one day and I received a couple of phone calls requesting a certain recipe, he suggested that I start a blog. When I told him I didn’t have a clue what a blog was, he sat down and showed me. From that point on, I was hooked. It is so exciting to see comments or hear from friends that they found a recipe which was a hit with their family or a story had made them laugh.
Which brings me to what happened as Randy and I were driving home today from buying black eyed peas for tomorrow. . We were stopped at a red light and a young man in a pick up pulled up beside us. I glanced over and saw something that made me perk right up. There hanging in his windows were Christmas lights strung all across the back window of his pick up. When I began to grab Randy’s arm to get him to look over at them, he was already for me. I turned with a huge grin to say, “OH my gosh, look what we can do next year! We can line the dashboard of our car with garland and put those little battery operated Christmas lights all over it” when he gave me the most glaring look and said, “you have got to be kidding me. No lights will be inside or outside our car.” Visions of going to see if I could find another Christmas clock that plays Christmas carols at Walgreens (yes that is where I have found them in years past) which play a different carol on the hour was already going through my mind for next year. I could just see our new Christmas clock sitting proudly on the dashboard right in the middle of the lit garland. We would be the first Friscoians I bet to display our Christmas spirit this way. Just this year I was finally able to talk him into buying the reindeer antlers for the car, but never got him to actually put them on the car. Maybe Christmas 2022 will be the year that I can talk him into driving around with antlers and the red nose on the front of our car. AND…install my new garland with lights!
But next year, the day after Thanksgiving, if you see a little white car with lit garland inside their car, please take the time to wave at us. Maybe you will get to stop at a red light beside us and we will display our holiday spirit by rolling down our car window so you can enjoy the sounds of our new Christmas Clock in the car. Am headed to Walgreens now to see if they still have any before all their Christmas stuff is put away for the year.
So here is to 2022and the continuing of sharing a few of my passions, cooking and writing. Happy New Year to one and all!