The truffles were easy to change up – I dipped some in dark chocolate, rolled some in coconut and some in almonds. You could also dip them in white chocolate or milk chocolate or roll them in cocoa powder. For a different flavor, try another kind of preserves - I’m thinking strawberry with melted white chocolate chips instead of the semi-sweet chocolate chips would be delicious! It’s very important to refrigerate them for the specified amount of time before rolling them. I used a holiday mini muffin cup for each chocolate – it made for a pretty presentation.

RASPBERRY CREAM TRUFFLES
Print This Recipe

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips melted
1 c. crushed graham crackers or vanilla wafers
1/2 c. seedless raspberry preserves
finely chopped toasted almonds, coconut, cocoa powder, or melted chocolate (dark, milk, or white)

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the melted chips, wafer crumbs and preserves. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in almonds, coconut, and/or cocoa powder or dip in melted chocolate. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Makes about 3-3-1/2 dozen.

(Stephanie) In the hopes of finding a different and slightly less sweet treat for the holiday season, I set out to find and test a Fruit and Nut Ball recipe. In my researching, I discovered that these tiny sweets are also called Sugar Plums. And to be honest, I quite like that name.

I initially had some trouble with this recipe being too corase to stick together. I added a bit of orange juice and a little extra honey and still had troubles. You know what the secret is? Using a food processor. The recipe didn’t specify this method, but some quick research showed many other recipes do. It’s too difficult to get the fruits and nuts fine enough to become one mixture. Once I dumped it in the food processor, it worked perfectly. So my advice, use a food processor if you don’t want to be frustrated.

As I didn’t have dates, I used a combination of dried cranberries and dried cherries. Any combination of dried fruits should work. I was pleasantly surprised by the combination of flavors and love that these will keep for so long. I hope you enjoy these healthier, sweet treats (bonus, they are naturally gluten free!).

SUGAR PLUMS (or Fruit and Nut Balls)
(from Saveur Magazine online)
Print This Recipe

2 c. whole almonds
1/4 c. honey
2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c. chopped dried apricots
1 c. chopped dates
1 c. confectioner’s sugar or toasted coconut

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange almonds on baking sheet in a single layer and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Cool and chop.

Meanwhile, combine honey, orange zest, and spices in the bowl of a food processor. Add chopped nuts and chopped fruits. Pulse to combine. Mixture should be thick and stick together.

Pinch off rounded teaspoon size and roll into balls (rinse hands often as the mixture is very sticky). Roll balls in powdered sugar, ground toasted coconut, or finely ground nut meal. Makes 60-70 balls.

Store in an airtight container in single layers divided by wax paper in refrigerator for up to a month.

The first of this trio was a member of the royal family. The introduction of the Christmas tree to Britain is traditionally thought to be down to Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert. However, it is more likely that it was George III’s German wife, Queen Charlotte, who brought the first tree to Britain – Albert merely popularised them.

In the early years of their marriage, Victoria encouraged German Christmas customs to make her husband feel more at home in Britain, and approving press coverage meant that it wasn’t long before the Christmas tree became wildly popular with the British people. The middle classes, in particular, were soon copying this royal idea in their own homes, decorating their trees with candles, small toys and gifts, cards, sweets and other goodies (like sugar plums – see below).

The second of these seasonal re-inventors was a a New Yorker. Clement Clarke Moore was a university professor specialising in divinity and theology, who had written a number of  very dense (and probably very dull) academic texts before he became famous for another style of writing entirely.

Said to have been written at Christmas 1822 for his children, Moore’s most popular work is the memorable poem known as either A Visit From St Nicholas or ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas - and its importance lies in the fact that it was one of the earliest, and certainly the most successful, of all the depictions of Santa Claus that defined him in an instantly recognisable modern style.

Moore was, apparently, reluctant to publish the poem, fearing its ‘frivolous’ subject matter would damage his academic reputation, but it was leaked to the media anyway and the rest is, as they say, history. Ironically, his concerns for his reputation appear to have been well-founded – it is the only thing Moore is remembered for, although remembered and much loved it is.

Much parodied over the years, and recently the subject of a controversial but possibly correct re-attribution (to one Henry Livingston Jr), the original poem is still a festive favourite on both sides of the Atlantic, evoking nostalgic and sentimental images of the classic Victorian Christmas celebration.

The final member of this festive trio (and the only Brit) is, of course, Charles Dickens. His hugely popular and vividly realised seasonal writings, particularly A Christmas Carol, hark back to an almost imagined past to define Christmas as a cheerful, snowy time of family, generosity and forgiveness.

But there was always realism amongst all the sentiment. The themes of poverty, class and redemption run though A Christmas Carol, and it very clearly demonstrates the differences between a Victorian middle class Christmas and that celebrated by the vast majority of the population.

As Dickens so vividly and colourfully describes in this classic tale, most of the Victorian working classes had to work for at least part of Christmas Day; shops were still open, deliveries still made and sweatshops still toiled – and, despite Bob’s day off, the Cratchit family were no exception to this:

‘Here’s Martha, mother!’ cried the two young Cratchits. ‘Hurrah! There’s such a goose, Martha!’

‘Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!’ said Mrs Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal.

‘We’d a deal of work to finish up last night,’ replied the girl, ‘and had to clear away this morning, mother.’

‘Well! Never mind so long as you are come,’ said Mrs Cratchit. ‘Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless ye.’

Despite an ever-growing consumer market, many Victorian women, like Mrs Cratchit, would have made (through choice or necessity) their own Christmas gifts, decorations and treats. Sugar plums were a particularly popular sweet treat during the 19th century, and were often made to be hung on the Christmas tree or to be placed into a decorated box and given as a gift.

Apart from the ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ in Tchaikovsky’s ever-popular and very Christmassy ballet The Nutcracker (first performed in 1892 and reinvented numerous times since) and a brief mention in ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, modern references to these seasonal goodies are few and far between these days – but it is still possible to make them, as this slightly modernised recipe shows:

You will need:

1kg/2lb 2oz of sugar

1 jar of whole plums preserved in syrup

To make:

1) Drain the plums. Put the sugar in a large bowl. One by one, roll the plums in the sugar until they are fully coated. Place the plums on a baking tray and put them to one side for half an hour. Then roll each plum in the sugar again.

2) The Victorians would have put the plums on a hot range to gently dry out over the course of several days, but drying them in a modern oven is just as effective. The plums should be put in the oven on its lowest setting and left there for a couple of hours until all the juice has seeped out of them.

3) Take the plums out of the oven and coat them in sugar again. Transfer them onto another, clean baking tray and put them back in the oven as before. Then you’ll need to repeat the whole sugar coating and oven drying process another three or four times over the next couple of days, placing the plums on a clean baking tray each time to catch any juices.

4) When the plums are completely dried out and the sugar is nice and crispy, these sweet treats are ready to eat – or to decorate with. If you want to hang them on your tree, simply thread them onto cotton using a needle. Place them in a pretty gift box or a Victorian-style keepsake box if you’re giving them as a present.

What about your children? Same for them?

Not for me and my wife. No children for us yet. More importantly now, is the snug in our bed part. This holiday season it will be more like, “sleeping in different beds, and not so snug.”

The best part about being so deeply in love, even when enduring government-forced separation – as we are – is that we feel each other’s love at all times. It warms my heart to know that as I type this my darling wife is asleep and safe, probably dreaming of us together. It puts a smile on my face to know that she is always with me, and the same for her.

Now though, at the time of year when all of society emphasizes family and togetherness, I have a hard time. You can guess why. Yes what I said in the last paragraph still holds true, but – like many of us – I want more. I want to not only emotionally and figuratively feel my wife, I want to literally feel her. The simple pleasure of a hug, the romance of a kiss, the comfort and warmth her sleeping peacefully next to me – these are thrust into the foreground of my thoughts, this time of year especially.

So, if you find yourself with your soul mate, your dearly beloved, drifting gently off to sleep together, remember this: you are privileged to be in that situation. Recognize this and do not forget those who are not so happily ensconced. Make sure to resolve all conflicts each day before sleeping. Be extra sure to thank your sweetheart for another wonderful day with him/her in your life.

SURVIVAL TIP: Be happy with what you have, especially if you have a spouse or sweetheart who loves you dearly. Treat them as an integral part of yourself, only more precious.

ADDITIONAL TIP: Take time to remember those less fortunate than you, and you will be the better for it.

Remember those who must be separated from their loved ones during the holidays, including my wife and I. Also remember those of the military who serve all over the world and must be away from their families in the course of their duties. Their service supports the ultimate goal of world peace and harmony. I thank them for their sacrifice in the here-and-now, so that the future may be brighter for all.

Happy Holidays to all, especially my darling wife. It is you, Princess, that I pine for and with whom I dream also.

dewa mata

An 1868 magazine article on “Sweets and their Manufacture” introduces readers to the innovations in confectionery made possible as a result of steam heat. Here is a detailed description of the process that yields the sugar plum, in this case based on an almond:

The veritable sugar-plum, or almond-drop, is made in a very interesting manner. A number of almonds, after being coated with a little gum to catch the white sugar, are thrown into a deep pan surrounded with steam. This pan revolves sideways at an angle of forty-five degrees. As it revolves the almonds, of course, tumble over one another, and whilst they are doing so, the workman pours over them from time to time liquid white sugar, allowing a sufficient time to elapse between each supply for the sugar to harden upon the comfit. In this way it grows by the imposition of layer upon layer, until it is the proper size. By this simple motion, the sugar is deposited in the smoothest and most regular manner.

This is a description of the process confectioners call “panning,” and the finished product will be familiar to modern readers as a species of what we call “Jordan almonds.”  A similar process is the basis for the broad category of comfits.

Even with the aid of a mechanized rotating pan and steam heat, comfits are a tedious and exacting enterprise. And when it was done by hand, comfit making took days. Although the author of this 1838 recipe insists that comfits may be “easily made at home,” the extensive instructions belie this easy reassurance:

A preserving-pan must be provided with two handles, through which a string is fastened that runs across, which is connected with a pulley attached to a beam, so that at the least touch, the pan rises or falls, or swings backward and forward. … There must be, besides this pan, two saucepans, one to hold a slightly warm solution of gum arabic, the other to contain some syrup which is boiled during a quarter of an hour, when some of finest white starch of wheat is dissolved in water and mixed with it. Under the swinging-pan there is a charcoal fire at a sufficient distance to give it only a gentle heat. The seeds of which the comfits or sugar-plums are to be made, are put into the swinging-pan when it is just warm. A ladleful of the solution of gum is poured over them, and the seeds are briskly stirred and rubbed with the hands till they feel dry; a ladleful of the syrup mixed with starch is next poured in, and the seeds again rubbed and stirred till they are dry. This process is repeated until the comfits have undergone the first operation. They are then set in a stove to dry. Next day the operation is repeated, the quantity of starch being varied and the syrup made stronger; and so on every day till the comfits are of the requisite size.

… Good sugar-plums take five or six days in making. … Comfits are made with caraway seeds, cardamums, bleached almonds, and a variety of other things.

According to Laura Mason in The Prehistory of Sweets, prior to the invention of labor saving machinery the techniques for making comfits were closely guarded and few had the expertise to make them. So comfits or sugar plums were a luxury good, most likely to be found in an aristocrats pocket or between courses at a very decadent royal banquet. Isn’t it nice to think that jelly beans and M&Ms, our contemporary version of panned candies, have such a noble ancestry?

Related post: Candy Confetti

Splenda-Bark does not taste like chicken.

That is all.

Today’s The Daily Shoot’s assignment is:  “Illustrate what the word vision means to you. Either be literal or interpret it broadly and artistically.”

Perhaps a little explanation is in order. When I read today’s assignment, the first thing that came to mind was, “…While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads…” from “‘Twas The Night before Christmas”. Now, how on earth do I make sugar plums dance…hmmmm, with a tutu of course! These little sugar plums are about the size of a quarter (rather small) so I had to improvise on what to use for the tutu’s. Now, they didn’t quite come out the way I thought they would but meh, it was a LONG day and hey, they work!

Do you like the new look?  Any thoughts as to what YOU’d like to see in the title image?  I realize this blog was created to allow my participating in Project 365, but it will continue into the new year.  Sharing my thoughts, rants, photos, and stories has become a regular part of my life, and it’s not something I’m going to give up just because the year has come to an end.  So I really could use some thoughts on what you’d like to see.

Okay…  Scraptastic Saturday. 

I’ve been scrapping like crazy the last couple of weeks.  And this week I got to work with a bunch of new designers…  which is always a treat.  I’ve found several new favourites and I highly encourage you check them all out at Polka Dot Plum.  Lots of gorgeous kits, templates, and other goodies to be found.  And this weekend there are a ton of 50% off sales there too.  So it’s the perfect time to stock up.

There is still time left to jump over to Enchanted Studio Scraps to take part in my definition challenge for November.  The word art I’ve created centers around the word SPECIAL, and it’s perfect for scrapbooking all those wonderful holiday memories from last year.  The download link can be found at ESS in the challenge thread (just look for November’s Definition Challenge).  Hope you’ll play along.

Since Kat (of Kat’s Creations) dissolved her creative team, I’d been on the lookout for a new spot…. and I’ve found it.  When Crystal (of Sugar Pie Scraps) opened her new store at PDP I met a bunch of new scraptastic ladies who are as quirky and as fun as I like to think I am.  LOL  It was a natural fit, and I was thrilled when they accepted me as a member of their creative team.  So now, not only am I a Sugar Pie Chef, but I’m a Sugar Plum too.

I’ve been scrapping layouts featuring my siblings with Lily-Ann.  And I’m proud to say I’ll start to work on the last one on Monday.  They’ve got super smoothly, and I’m really happy with how they’ve all turned out.  I guess the key is to figure out which one to share here today.  LOL  Hmmm….

Okay, you know what?  I’m not going to share any of them.  LMAO

Here’s Lily-Ann with her cousin Eliana:

Lily-Ann Marie and Eliana Marina

The kit is by Brine Designs and is called Tayla, General Girl.  It’s available over at PDP…  so hop on over there and check out their Black Friday sales (going on all weekend).

Take care everyone, it’s cold out there.

Be good to each other.

Fall is at its peak around here. I was in the Shenandoah Valley recently, where the evergreens are standing behind flaming red maples, waiting for their turn. When I took an early morning walk, the deer were still chew lazily on grass, their quest for food not yet a thing of desperation. Back in the city on my way to work, there are pumpkins in front of every other house: fall observed here, they seem to say.

This will sound like heresy coming from a Christmas partisan like me, but fall is my favorite season. And it’s not just because Christmas is around the corner. There’s a bittersweet mood about fall, even when the trees are at the height of color. Change is in the air, or maybe it’s just frost, but either way you know something is coming. I think it’s what the early pagans must have felt when they celebrated solstice. People don’t need one another in the summer, but when winter is coming, we instinctively band together.  The darkest days of the year give you permission to cuddle up inside. And when you’re outside, your heart quickens at the sight of a brightly lit window. For a lot of us, Christmas is that brightly lit window.

What are your Slow Christmas resolutions this year? I’ll share a couple of mine: I confess that my Christmas wasn’t always terribly slow last year. I’m resolved to take it down a notch this year. Another one:  be more honest and generous with my family. And last but not least, I plan to bring you everything you asked for Slow Christmas this year:  more stories, more recipes, more guest posts, and more gift ideas.

I’m also asking for your help. You are what made Slow Christmas great, and I want to hear from you. Share your ideas, your inspirations, your frustrations, your decorations, your perspirations…  Whatever’s on your mind, we’ll work it out. If you’re yearning to make this Christmas season less perfect and more fun, tell us what you’re crossing off your list. After all, Slow Christmas is knowing with satisfaction that Christmas didn’t just pass you by:  this year, you lived every moment of it. Slow Christmas isn’t just a bunch of recipes and crafts, Slow Christmas is a state of mind.

Now, that said, if you want to learn how to make doughnuts, you may want to stick around…

Bon Bon Honey Hums & Sugar Plums Crumb From You Sweet Darlin!

20% of  sales from The Xocolate Bar’s “dark chocolate champagne titties” went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Dare I say: Tittay Tittay Bon Bon!

You will notice by the heading that this weeks challenge requires you to use 2 images on your card. Luckily for me I have my CC Design Sugar Plum spring kit which gives me lots of images to play with. I decided to use the boy and girl as I wanted to use my bench that I brought at the same time as the spring kit but not actually inked up yet. 

Once I got started though boy did I struggle. I was trying to use a sketch for the layout but after trying everything to make it work I scrapped the sketch and the papers and started again.

I am happy with how the card came out and the layout ended up being none other than my own, LOL! As the papers are quite bright I thought I would keep all the girly embellishments off this card and try to make it a card that you would give your hubby/partner.

 I have also used my copics (for colouring) inks for background, Hot Punch PP from October Afternoon, Study Hall PP from Cosmo Cricket, kaisercraft pearls, sentiment from Kraftin Kimmie, faux stitching and doodling. Ended up being very basic indeed.

Lots of great sketches I am itching to get stuck into this week so hopefully I will be back in a day or two with some more for you.

Until next time xoxo

My second celbration for today was that Elizabeths netball team won their game 19-0 which is a hige achievement for them. They only started in September last year and to see them have such a good game is just fantastic.

Then the third celebration for today is I am off to an engagement party for my cousin. As she is still relatively young I wanted to make her a card that was a bit funky and a little left to the centre. I decided to do the sketch over at Friday Sketchers and I also incorporated this weeks challenge over at All That Scraps Weekly Wednesday Challenge (easel card). I have never made an easel card. I always thought they looked a bit fiddly but they are the complete opposite they  are so simple and I love the effect of them.

Anyhow I better make this short as I have to get ready. Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I have used another of my stamps from the Sugar Plum Spring Set that I got from All That Scraps a month or so ago (still got about another 3 images that I am yet to ink). I have used my copics for colouring, paper from October Afternoon, Stampin Up Cardstock. and the Fiskars Apron Strings punch. I think that I have listed it all!

 Well I better be off now as I have to get ready.

Until next time xoxo

I had a great LONG weekend by taking the kids into their daddy’s work for dinner (my husband is a head chef and they think it is great to go and be able to walk through the kitchen and have special attention!) with my mum, dad and sister Sarah. We had so much fun talking about things from many years ago it was great to share the memories and have a good old chuckle together. Michael was home Sunday and Monday so we did a few things with the kids which was lovely to do.

I have been sick this week so my enthusiasm has not really been in cards. I did make one on Saturday for last week’s Mojo Monday but I spilt coffee all over it before I got a chance to take a photo! The card I have for you today I made on Sunday but have only just had the chance to take a picture and do this post today.

The card is for this weeks over at Sketch Saturday together with this weeks the challenge over at Stamp Something which was to Stamp something Girly.

You can see the card is very girly with the pinks and grey plus the bumble bee image. I am still making my way through the set I got from All That Scraps the other month on sale for half price. The paper is by October Afternoon – This Little Piggy and the stamp as I mentioned is a Sugar Plum kid by CC Designs. I have also used my copics for colouring, some lace I had in my stash, kaisercraft rhinestones and as per normal I have added some faux stitching.

That is about all I have for you today, as I said I have not been well this past week so have not got a lot to say!

Until next time xoxo

Just a quick post today as I am about to head off with kids to see my Dads trains. My dad is part of the Gauge 0 Guild Club which meets monthly rotating between member’s homes and tomorrow is his turn. He has spent the last week setting up his track (half remains set up permanently in the garage and the other half is comes down, so they can actually park in the garage) and getting it all running in preparation for tomorrow. It is really impressive as it goes out the windows along the side of the house and then back into the garage again. He has spent many hours over the years building it and it is still a work in progress. They kids love it hence why I am taking them down to see it all running. 

So this morning after my typical raving and ranting at the kids (does anyone esle seem to do this) and getting the uniforms washed, shoes polished and house cleaned I decided to sit down and play. I have been feeling uninspired lately but when I saw this weeks sketch over at Papertake Weekly I thought to myself “that’s a nice and easy sketch not to complicated by having lots of layers” so off I went. I ended up surprising myself and thought outside the square with this card! Without further ado here is the sketch and my card:

What do you think? I am really happy with it in fact I think I can say that I am loving it!!!

So the swing, toadstools, grass, image and sentiment all came from the C.C. Designs Spring Stamp Kit Limited Edition set which was an absolute bargain. I cant wait to use more out of it. Mixture of October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket papers have been used together with some lace I had it my stash. I have also added some faux stitching and distressed and rolled the edges of my patterned paper. Watercolour pencils have been used again.

So there you have it maybe my mojo is slowly coming back!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and hopefully I will be back soon.

Until next time xoxo

Before I dash over to my cousin’s home in Co-Op City for a day of feasting and festivities in the Bronx, I will give thanks for that deep-rooted connection with relatives and others who have become family, regardless of genealogy or geographical distances. Feels good knowing that I don’t need any Norman Rockwellian images of sugar plums dancing in my head, only beautiful smiles on the faces of loved ones who take me as I am _ bah-humbug moments and all.

Who needs the lure of consumerism when our bond is what matters most, especially when many will not be together on Christmas Day. In the words of Don Cornelius …”as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and SOUL” wherever you are.

_ In memoriam to my dad, stepdad and those who continue to love us in spirit.

ok now on to my shokking investigayshun!!!  yoo may hav herd of the faymus toy delivrer wot goze by the naym of sandy klawz and is nown for kliming down chimnees wile kerrying prezzents however is this the reel story or is it all just publik relayshuns??? reesently i hav had sum first hand ekspeeryense of sandy klawz and wot i hav fownd may shok yoo chek it owt!!!

now i hav to warn yoo sum of the pikchers yoo ar abowt to see may shok yoo so enny small children or those with delikat konstitooshuns shud run away now!!! ok now that tucker has left the room ha ha lets start revyooing the evidense!!!

sandy klawz passd owt neer notoryus partee animal bloo dog

sandy klawz fayse plant

sandy klawz asleep on the lether kowtch wot wuz destroyd by gofers

now i no wot yoo ar thinking yoo ar thinking hay dennis maybe sandy klawz is just tired and resting up for his big nite of driving raindeer arownd but i am afrayd that theez nekst pikchers wil put that ideea to rest!!!

tuckers nose is never rong!!!

sandy klawz after overindudjing in holiday cheer

as yoo can see this so calld jollee old elf and bringer of toys is in fakt an eggnog swilling hard parteeing animal wot partees hard like an animal!!! and not only that but he didnt bring enny toys for me!!! but not to wurry i hav ben interrogating him and ekspekt him to krak at enny minnit and reveel ware the toys are hiddin!!!

MVI_1559-desktop

►

trust me i wil git the inside skoop frum sandy klawz verry soon and then i wil shayr his stash of toys with all my frends!!! ha ha ok bye

Later …

I am known to over analyze, over do, over achieve, over everything. Because of my ability to “over” all in my life, I very often overemphasize the holiday season. I plan for this day all year-long, and I chalk it up in my head to be the season that will never end, it will skip on and on with one perfect moment after another. The holiday season will just stay there implanted in our hearts every single day. Every day there will be a decking of a tree, a singing of a carol, the eating of gingerbread men and a sign of snow in the air. Every night we will turn on the white lights, have a cup of hot cocoa and go to sleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

I wish. Really, I do. I decorated in October for this very reason. There is just something special, an indescribable feeling that hangs in the air, from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas Night. But why? Why do we force this beautiful feeling to be slammed between November 24 and December 25? Why do we give ourselves one measly month to be good to one another, to be thankful, to stop and appreciate the scenery?

Of course the holiday season can have its share of chaos and cruelty, many of which will transpire as the stores open at 4a.m. tomorrow, but there does seem to be an undeniable urge to be better to one another. It seems like it always pushes everyone to write a few Christmas cards and help out at a homeless shelter, stop what they are doing and just be with one another. Maybe with great practice we could capture the essence of this season and slowly but surely work it into our everyday life, whether it be Christmas Eve or July 1.

My decision this holiday season is to soak it up for everything that it is. I plan to drain out the holiday season and really appreciate it. Come midnight I will shop, I will be good to my friends and family, I will merrily sing Christmas songs til people beg me to stop. But maybe, just maybe, I will let this “Buddy the Elf” mentality stick around after the advent calendar has ended.

The holiday season has the potential to bring out the best in all of us. Let’s not pack it up again with the boxes of ornaments ready to go up to the attic.

‘Tis the season.. lets not worry about when it is going to fall away from us… It may just be better if we let the holiday season hold us, instead of trying to hold it too tightly.

Peter Leshaw, an Internet Marketing consultant was among the speakers on “Using Social Media in your Job Search” on August 25 @ PinkSlip Networking. He discussed many things you, (me), we should be doing using social media in your job search. I thought to myself…”Well I have a full time job, a small business, and do freelance -I’m not sure this topic is really for me”. I found his enthusiasm and message interesting, so I sticked around for more and I’m so glad I did. He said something that opened up my eyes..sort of like a neck breaker moment. Say that again!?! Intrigued yet?

Alright here are my notes from my epiphany…
Keep Your Resume CURRENT and online. Simple as that. Employers and agencies that are looking for candidates search online, why isn’t your resume online when you have free tools at your disposition? Now it gets better…Business owners, consultants, full time freelancers, self-employed people…DO YOU HAVE A RESUME POSTED ONLINE? What’s the point of that if you are the boss of you? Well my friend, if someone runs into your name or your skills, specialty, experience and offers you a position, obviously your not looking for a job but you are looking for business. Some companies may prefer the idea of doing business with you as; B2B, independent contractor or as a consultant. This is just another way to expand your opportunities, market your name and be the “word of mouth” on search engines.

Here are the steps to find your next job or business lead:

1) Write a well written Sales Letter/Cover Letter about you.
- Be sure you proofread and optimize it, in other words “don’t make it a recipe”. It’s an introduction like a movie trailer of you.

2) Keep your resume current and up to date.
- This is a must for online profiles and also WORD or PDF attached files.

3) Setup a profile on the following accounts…
- Google.com/profile or gmail account also allows you to do this
- LinkedIn: Gather professional titles/descriptions for your ideal job title as well as all past job titles. You can use Google’s free keyword tool to do some research. Basically, be specific in your title on what you specialize…e.g “Software Specialist”, this can be too broad specially if you don’t master all. Try using something like “Adobe Photoshop Specialist, Web Designer & Flash Expert”. It’s short, to the point and the reader can automatically identify what you’re all about.
- Facebook: If using for business, keep the dialog for business ONLY. No personal conversations, drunken pictures/videos, or political/religious opinion that can jeopardize you as a trusted individual for your business.
- Twitter: Tweet brilliant thoughts, quotes, educational or worth sharing news with the world!
- Delicious: Create this account and bookmark your Emurse profile here)
- Digg: (link your Google profile here)

4) Create an account on Emurse.com (This site allows you to create, store, and share your resume online. You can have more than 1 resume. Also a great way to track your resume and how are people finding you)

5) Blog: Start a blog about you, your services, products. Free blogs; WordPress, Blogger, plenty of free ones out there

6) Buy your domain name: http://www.YourNameYourLastName.com

Do all this and you will find yourself on the top searches @ zero cost. If you think I’m kidding, type the speaker’s name in google right now…Peter Leshaw…go on do it!  This guy is listed on the first 2 search pages of search engines. No problem finding him

Try it out! Let me know what results you got from these collaborative social media tools.

Yours truly,

Vanessa Montes

I know I have a hard time updating it on a daily basis but if I add my time on a weekly basis, it’s a whole lot! Cheez, I should of spend that time freelancing, eh! Anyhow, I have my battles if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that we spend so much time following people online, looking at pictures, joining more networks, posting comments rather than doing something more productive with our times. Then, again look at me sitting here posting my thoughts and links @ midnight to take some of your productive time. LOL, I’m a wreck! 

Well that was just my intro…a little confusing but I’m sure there is at least someone here who have thought about it too!

I attended a discussion by Sheryl Cattell about Making Money with Social Media. She gave out a list of helpful sites and tips to stay on top of social networks and using them to promote your business and your name. If we are spending so much online, why not spend it making money while you are at it. Best practices, use your social accounts to post brilliant things about you, your services, products and company. Get your name/company out to the world! Word of mouth is powerful..So is social networking. Ask your friends and family to add your web site links to their sites, facebook, myspace pages. Little things like that can get you an opportunity, job, clients, Etc…Just flinging some ideas @ you. Check out these sites and links! Information, courtesy of Sheryl Cattell, twitter: @allmaya

Follow the Conversation
- Google Alerts – your name, your hashtag
- http://www.tweetdeck.com
- http://www.seesmic.com
- 
http://search.twitter…

- 
http://twemes.com…

- 
http://hashtags.org…

- http://www.tweetscan.com

Start a Conversation
- Twhirl (used for virtual intranets, desktop client)
- Twitpic (post pics from your phone)
- Ping.fm (post once distributes many – blog, twitter facebook)
- Tweetlater – schedules posts while you are away, autoresponds to followers
- Twitterlocal – get local info from locals (great for traveling)
- Tweetseeker – search and rank tweet keywords

Mobile Twitter
- Twitterberry
- Twitter Mobile
- PocketTwit – Windows Mobile
- iTweet
- Tweetie for iPhone
- Hahlo – iPhone/iPod

Getting the Word Out
- Twellow
- We Follow

Other Twists of Interest
- Tweetmyjobs – subscribe by city and discipline
- Microtweet
- #socialmedia
- #sfima
- Twitter Karma (who is following who)
- Twitter Sheep (analyze bio words and presents a tag cloud)
- TinyURL (bit.ly or is.gd)

Check Out these sites to get ideas how others are using social media to create fan base:
- Facebook Fan Pages: cocacola, nutella, pizza, mrbean, pringles
- Facebook Groups: Contiki Holidays, Socialmobile
- LinkedIn Companies: Dell, Home Depot
- LinkedIn Groups: eMarketing Association Network (100K), SFIMA (1K)
- Twitter: @ Delloutlet

Chex Mix in oven

Bark

Lemon Snow Flake mix is very sticky

Cooled Sugar Plums

Sugar Plums it turns out are not made of plums or fairies. Who would of thought? They get their name from the small round red ball that is formed before they cook. This is a good thing as I have never been able to acquire the taste for plums or catch a fairy. I did come across a fairy ring earlier this year but that wont help me now.

To make Sugar Plums you will need

½ cup of butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cups chopped dates
¼ cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped almonds
¼ tsp salt
Red sugar

Cooling sugar plum inner goodness

On medium heat melt butter, add sugar and then slowly add eggs. Once it’s all mixed well add dates, Keep stirring and cook for 5 mins, add flour, Keep stirring and cook for 7 mins. Take it off your heat source. Add Vanilla, nuts and salt. Mix really well and let it sit until it’s cool enough to handle. Took mine about 15 mins to cool down.

Form into plum size ball and role in sugar, It will flatten some as it cools. One batch made about 24.

Red Sugar can be found with the cake decorating stuff

I woke up this morning with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.  Trust me, that’s not as great as it sounds.  I dreamed I was being pelted with brown blobs dusted in confectioner’s sugar. 

I assumed the missiles were sugarplums, because there I was nestled all snug in my bed, and it is that time of year.  But it occurred to me that I have never actually seen a sugarplum, not having grown up in Victorian England.  I probably wouldn’t recognize one if it did smack me in the head. 

Just what is a sugarplum anyway?  Is it fruit?  Candy?  An oddly named internal organ of a cow?  Anyone who has ever been misled into ordering sweetbreads—which are not sweet and contain no bread, and are really the pancreas or thymus gland of a calf–understands the need to be wary.  Truth in advertising is a rare commodity.  Foods do not always live up to their name.

From what I could tell in my dream, sugarplums are a kind of sugar-covered blob, perhaps related to a meatball. But beef content seemed unlikely. Even in the worst ballet recital production, the Sugar Plum Fairy is somewhat light and ethereal.  I didn’t think ground chuck was a likely ingredient for her namesake.

But if not, then what is this fabulous Christmas confection?  I needed to know.  And I wanted to be able to bring you the kind of authoritative, informative, and absolutely trustworthy information you count on from me.  I knuckled down for days of scholarly research.

In other words, I Googled “sugar plums.”

200 web pages later, I was still confused.  Apparently, there is an actual fruit called a sugar plum. But it ripens in late July or early August and is an unlikely candidate for Yuletide visions.

Another description sounded suspiciously like stewed prunes. Tasty, perhaps, but a Christmas gift on a par with sturdy socks.

Another definition– a small round or oval piece of sugary candy—seemed more on track.  But isn’t that just hard candy? 

Recipe consensus clustered around the final definition: a small confection consisting of dried fruit and nuts, coated in fondant or powdered sugar.  That sounded more like the confection of my dreams.

I printed out several recipes, and then threw them out and invented my own.  Since there seems to be no standard version, you can feel free to do the same and use your imagination.  The ingredients in the recipes I reviewed were all over the map, from chocolate chips and crumbled vanilla wafers to apricots and almonds. 

But here’s the interesting thing. You heard it here first — my fine investigative reporting turned up the smoking gun. While some cooks include a symbolic smattering of prunes, there appears to be no requirement that “sugar plums” actually contain plums.

It’s sweetbreads all over again.

 * * * * *

Betty’s Sugarplums au Chocolat 

Several references trace the “plum” name to the size of these confections, which are generally about the size of a small fruit.  Mine are less traditional–I prefer them bite-size.  And I coated them in chocolate, because what isn’t better with chocolate?

1 cup whole almonds

3 T. honey

1/4 tsp. orange oil* or 2 tsp. grated orange zest

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg

1/4 cup cognac, brandy or rum

2 T. lemon juice

1/2 cup dried crystallized ginger (the fairly moist kind they sell with the bulk dried fruit at the supermarket)

3 to 4 cups dried fruit of your choice.  The mix should include dried apricots, pitted dates, and dried pineapple.  It can also include dried cranberries, prunes, dried cherries, raisins, or anything else similar that you find lurking in your cabinets.

1 12 oz. package good quality chocolate chips, or other chocolate of your choice

1. Toast the almonds for several minutes in a dry skillet on top of the stove, tossing or stirring them frequently to prevent burning.  Let them cool, then chop them finely in a food processor and put them in a large bowl.
2. With the food processor, finely chop the dried fruits, with the exception of the ginger.  Place them in the bowl with the nuts.
3. Put the crystallized ginger in the food processor and run the machine until the ginger is reduced to a paste.  Add the cognac, honey, lemon juice, orange oil, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg and blend together for about 10 seconds, until mixed.  Scrape this mixture into the bowl with the fruit and nuts.
4. Using your hands, combine all the ingredients thoroughly, making sure the nuts and ginger mixture are completely incorporated.  Then roll the mixture into small bite-sized balls and place them on a cookie sheet.  (Hint—wetting your hands frequently will keep the mixture from sticking to you.)  If you don’t want to coat them with chocolate, you can roll the balls in powdered sugar before you put them on the cookie sheet.
5. Chill for several hours or overnight.
6. In the top of a double boiler, carefully melt the chocolate, stirring frequently.  When melted it should be warm, but not hot.  Roll the balls in the chocolate, coating them thoroughly, then place them back on the cookie sheet and chill them again.

Depending on the size, this should make 3 to 4 dozen sugarplums.  And you may find yourself with a new holiday tradition.

*Citrus oils are an amazing addition to your pantry. They’re the pure oil squeezed from the rind, so they are intensely flavorful—a little goes a long way to really kick up taste.  They’re available in specialty grocery stores, or on line from a company named Boyajian (www.boyajianinc.com).  They’re worth adding to your Christmas list!