Merry Christmas EVE EVE!

Can you believe it?  Christmas is almost HERE!  

Wow.  Where did December go?  

Wait...where did the YEAR go?!!

I don't know about you, but I've been busy shopping, wrapping, cleaning and baking.

Not to mention sewing, knitting and shipping!

Whew!  It's exhausting, being a creative type, isn't it?  

AND a mom.

AND a Lizzie B girl...

But I wouldn't change my life for anything.  

It's a Wonderful Life!

And I don't need my favorite angel Clarence to tell me I've got a good thing goin' here.  

Now before the Holidays go into FULL SWING mode (meaning, my kids get out of school for their lousy 1 week vacation...) I wanted to leave you all a gift. 

As promised!  I have some RECIPES for you!  

I've been posting pics of my baking on facebook, causing some mouths to water, and maybe even a little torture that I was the only one licking spoons....

(ok, I have 4 spoon lickers I have to share with)

So here goes!  First the yummy toffee shortbread I made for my daughter's Birthday.

This is a DELISH recipe that was shared with me by a friend of mine who grew up in South Africa.  This was one of her mom's traditional recipes.  My daughter Sienna is ALMOST finished with her entire pan.  And remains a size 0.  It's sick.

Anyway, for this recipe, I'm calling them:

South African Shortbread Cookies

Just click on the name for a downloadable pdf all ready to go!

Next up... 

You'll need 3 separate bowls...

...some of these

and mix 'em all up to make....

THESE!  

Peppermint Stick Fudge Brownies

Again...click on the name for a pdf.  Am I good to you or what?!  

This is the THIRD batch of these I've made this month.  They are incredible.

Now, for the grand finale...

can you see my theme here?  If you don't like chocolate, sorry, you're outta luck!

For this one, I opened one of my FAVORITE jars.....NUTELLA!

And look at the cute little design on top.  Had to take a pic!

This recipe comes from the Cookin' Canuck.

She tells you to mix all this yumminess with Nutella...

to make...

NUTELLA FUDGE WITH SEA SALT!

Again, you can click on the link above, or actually go to the Cookin' Canuck web link for the recipe.  

Now if you know the Lizzie B's at ALL, you know how MUCH we love salt with chocolate!  Here's what salt does for chocolate.  It enhances the flavor!  So when you bite into a bit of salt with your chocolate, the choco tastes even more WOW! Chocolatey.

I've also had a lot of fun this season with GooseBerry Patch's new Christmas 12 book.

I found a GREAT recipe for....

Chocolate-Dipped Crispy Bars!  I can't put the recipe here for copyright reasons, but I'm sure you could find a similar recipe online.  This one was made with sugar, corn syrup and peanut butter, instead of the usual marshmallow treat you find with Rice Krispies.

Also from the GooseBerry book was THIS great idea...

A little decorated paint can full of yummy treats!

These went out as teacher gifts, and they're also going to the neighbors tonight.

They were super easy to make.  I found the "paint cans" at Michael's, along with the scrapbook paper for the inside.  

Then at midnight last night, I remembered the bus driver.  CRAP!  My daughter is the only one at the bus stop on our little street, so I was caught unprepared.  But NEVER fear...

I had a Wawa gift card!  Whew!  And if you're not from PA or surrounding states, you won't know what a Wawa is.  But if you DID know, you would want one!  It's a convenience store which is also the best Deli around.  It's fabulous!  Great coffees for coffee drinker's, and of course, my favorite, the Diet Coke refill center.  These little cards are GOLD around here!  

Which is why I keep them on hand.  They're also going in my kids stockings, so every time they want a sandwich they don't deplete my cash!

Mr. Bus Driver was VERY happy!

And since I last blogged, we celebrated yet ANOTHER Birthday....

My baby turned 11!  And she's smiling because of that little box with her very own cell phone.

Man, they grow toooooooo fast!

Only one more Birthday to celebrate for us now....

May you all find 

PEACE and JOY this HOLIDAY SEASON!

Love, 

Liz and Beth