Goodbye Bruce County, Hello Family Christmas Party !

Rob and I had a fantastic "adventure" together yesterday.  It was spent by travelling South out of Bruce County to have a Christmas get-together with the Roth side of the family.  We had not seen some family members, who were there, since over two years ago.

"We first had to head South by going down Wiarton's North hill to begin our journey to our appointed destination."

"Rob wasn't going anywhere until he got our dirty van washed first.  As I was waiting for him to do so, I amused myself by watching this cat's goings on.  Trust me there is a "cat" in this picture."

We finally made it to our destination at Rob's niece & her husband's home in Drayton.  What a wonderful gesture on their part to have such a large group of family members there all at once.  I am hoping I thanked both Heather and Tim a couple of times for their kindness of opening their home to all of us.

For some reason, more then likely to the delight of most of Family members, my camera was not taking such good pictures yesterday.  I am sure it was the "operator", as she was feeling a little weary this day.

"Though I did mange to get a "good" picture of our boy, Paul, our girl, Sarah, and the guy they should be looking up to as their Father, out having themselves a little smoking session.  I suppose this was one way for the three of them to have some "quality" time together.  LOL  I am sure glad I kicked that "habit" as it was a bit chilly out there. "

"The "pot luck" main course was totally awesome, but never seems to be quite as popular as all the goodies served afterwards, now is it?"

"Our kids left early, as the younger grandsons had been tired out.  This was pretty much all the rest of us after we had enjoyed such a wonderful meal together.  Lots of contentment going on here, or shall I say, lots of "contented full tummies"? "

How handy was that clock hanging there in Heather & Tim's Great Room, as now I know what time it was before Rob and I headed out for home ourselves.  Must have been just before 3:00 p.m..

Bandit and Lexus both came from a Kennel, which is located on our way back home, so we thought we would drop in for a wee visit to see the new pups I knew were now there.

"This is "Mia".  Mia is our very own Lexus' Mother."

"Here are all the new babies !  They are so sweet.  The one little guy in the center is quite the Roley Poley out of the whole bunch."

"Seeing these Puppies most certainly brought back memories of the Bandit & Lexus' "Magnificent Seven" bunch last Spring."

"Four of the litter have already been sold.  One will actually be flown all the way out to Newfoundland; what a little traveller she or he will be?  These pups shown here are two of the three still available for sale.  Was this a "Please lady, take us home, we promise we will be good & love you." look or what?"

Should anyone be interested in having an Australian Shepherd as a lifelong companion, please feel free to contact John & Gina Fuller at their website:   http://www.fullhousestables.ca/ , to make arrangements for the purchase of one of these "outstanding" pups.  As everyone should know, I can testify to the fact all the love, loyalties and enjoyment there is to be gained from the ownership of such a wonderful Breed of Dog as the Australian Shepherd.


My own Bandit & Lexus will not be having their next litter until Spring 2012, so please keep this in mind should you be looking to purchase an "Aussie" at that time.  In the meantime, if you were thinking of an "Aussie" now, please contact John and Gina, at their website link above, as they will never lead one astray regarding any one of their dogs, standing behind each and every puppy they have raised.

That was pretty much our "Out of Bruce County" adventure for the day.  By the time we got home just after 5 p.m., both Rob and I were wearier.  Would that be something to do with us getting older, or maybe just because we ate too much good food?  That's it, it was the good food.

Speaking of food, my favorite subject, I found a method to the Sweet & Salty Christmas treats, our niece, Lauren, had brought along to the party with her.  Here it is:

Recipe Source:  familyfun.go.com

Salty pretzels combine with sweet chocolate for these fun treats that make a yummy gift few can resist. (In fact, you may want to make some extras for yourself!)

Ingredients

• Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels
• Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug

• M&M's candy

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 170F. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.
2. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.
3. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons

These were so good I am sure I had at least five of them, keeping in mind they were small pretzels ..... lol.  Easy Peasy to make as One-Two-Three, and something that would add some nice variation to a Christmas Tray of Goodies.

My other favorite there was a Shortbread Square,  made by Heather, our Hostess.  I love Shortbread, and these are going to be one of the first I make and add to my Christmas Baking List this year, as Heather had messaged the recipe when I had gotten back home, at my request of course .... lol.  Here it is:  

Recipe Courtesy of Rob's Niece, Heather Martin

Made in a 10x15" pan

Bottom Layer

1 Cup plus 4 table spoons of butter 

1/2 cup of Sugar

2 1/2 cup flour

crumble all ingredients well. Pack into ungreased pan and Bake at 350 for 20 min.

Second Layer

1 cup butter

1 Cup brown Sugar

4 table spoons of Corn Syrup 

1 Can Sweeten condensed milk

Boil alll ingredients together. for 5 min stiring constantly. Pour over bottom layer. Cool.

Third Layer

24 Oz. semi sweet chocolate chips. Melt over low Heat and poor over second layer.

Chill. Cut into 36 squares.

These recipes and more can be found on Facebook, at "Cindy's Recipe Exchange".  Anytime you are enjoying a cup of coffee or tea, feel free to look us up and drop on in to see what else we have been up to there.  Should you try either, please let me know, as I love to hear other people's take on a recipe.

Some very good information I received yesterday from my one sister-in-law via email, is regarding "unwanted Telepmarkerter Phone Calls".  This was the email I recieved:

I have already registered my phone numbers, including my land base number.  Thanks for the tip, Nancy, as this is something everyone should have the option of knowing about.

We encountered just a wee little bit of drizzle on our drive home yesterday.  I heard a rumour the weather is suppose to be beautiful this week, so I will be taking that up with the Wiarton Airport Weatherman guy.

I am seeing a bit of YELLOW peeking out from behind those clouds.  If there even is some peeking out at me sun, I am taking it !

Should there be any spelling or grammar errors, as I know there can quite often be at any given time, they will have to be excused, as they aren't bothering me one bit this morning.  This does happen when one is feeling a little on the weary side, with being my "norm" on most days.

I do need to get the cobwebs cleared from my head at some point here, as I think there is going to be a "Get some Housework Done", along with a "Bookkeeping" adventure in my day ahead, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".