It’s winter where I live.  Snow.  Freezing temperatures.  Short days.  Long, dark nights.  (Well of course nights are dark.  If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be nights, now would they?  That sure was a stupid adjective to use.  Oh well.)

It’s not the type of weather that is conducive to sitting around the campfire making S’mores, now is it?  I didn’t think so.  If you have a gas stove, you can roast your marshmallows over your stove element to make your S’more.  Or, you could nuke them in your microwave.  Or, you can make these sinfully yummy S’more cookies.

Risa, at Baked Perfection, has a wonderful recipe for S’mores Cookies.  And we all know that making cookies is a staple do-with-grandma-activity, huh?    So, grab a grandchild and whip up some of these delectable delights.  Now.  If not sooner.  Go on.  What are you waiting for?

I’m warning you that you’d better not spend much time on her site looking at the Butter Scotch Pecan Sandies, or the Winter Sugar Cookies, or the Egg Nog Sandwich Cookies, or the Peanut Butter and Nutella Balls.  (My cake pops turned out almost as pretty as her Nutella Balls.  Almost . . .)  I’m warning you because I love you.  I care for you.  I don’t want you to jump off your New Year’s Resolution wagon for losing weight.  DO NOT SPEND TIME ON HER SITE.  I can just hear battalions of cholesterol and cellulite reinforcements marching through your body if you do . . .

I’m going to make some S’mores Cookies this evening.  I’m going to eat them all. All of ‘em, did you hear me.  Every last one of them.  Hmm. . .  I might let Grandpa eat one.  If he is on his best behavior, that is. Well, maybe.

If you are having a family party on New Year’s Eve, you’ll probably want to have something to drink.  And have I got a great recipe for you!  It’s called Punch.  (Punch.  You’d think that who ever came up with this recipe could come up with a clever title for it, too.  But no.  Just plain and simple — Punch.)

The almond extract gives it a delightful flavor.  Something that you’re not quit expecting.  This is always a hit when I fix it and I think your grandchildren will love it.  Not too sweet.  Not too carbonated.

You’ll need a big punch bowl to serve this in because it makes quite a lot of punch.  (Sometimes I put in a 3 liter bottle of Sprite if I’m going to have lots of family members at the party.)   Here’s the recipe.

Punch
10 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 small can frozen orange juice (thawed)
1 small can frozen lemonade (thawed)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 liter bottle of Sprite

Add the sugar to the water and stir till sugar is dissolved.  And remaining ingredients.  (You might want to use ice cubes as part of the water so that the punch will be cold.)

Enjoy!

Are you having a party with your family on New Year’s Eve? Need more sugar in your diet a quick ‘n easy treat? (I know I should be promoting healthy foods, but it’s the holidays!) I recently came across this recipe that I think sounds absolutely divine — chocolate, caramels, and pecans — like turtle candy.  It’s called Rolo Candy Treats.   Sure to be a crowd pleaser.  Here’s the recipe.

Rolo Candy Treats
50 small pretzel twists
50 pieces Rollo candy
50 pieces whole pecans

Place pretzel pieces on a baking sheet.  Place one Rollo candy on each pretzel.  Place pan in a warm oven (250 degrees) to let the candy barely melt on top of the pretzel.  Remove pan from oven and press a pecan on top.  Let cool and harden.  Yum!

I’m sure your grandchildren’s parents (aka your children) won’t mind if you serve your grandchildren such sugar-laden treats. After all, isn’t that what grandmothering is all about?

Every holiday season, my work sponsors a ‘lean Santa’ program.  This is to help employees keep their weight within a 2 pound increase during the holidays by encouraging healthy eating and regular exercise at this time of year.  Do you know how hard it is to not gain weight over the holidays?

So, sometimes (though not really very often) I think that I should make a healthier version of the Cream Cheese Pie that I wrote about yesterday.  If you, too, are trying to be calorie conscious yet not wanting to sacrifice the taste (at least too much), you might be interested in this light version of the recipe.

Light Cream Cheese Pie

8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces Cool Whip Lite
1/4 cup sugar
9 inch pie crust

Cream ingredients together and pour into pie shell.  Chill.  Serve with cherry pie, raspberry, blueberry, or apple pie filling — or drizzle chocolate and caramel ice cream topping on top.

This recipe is even easier to make than the original version.  So, let your grandchildren make this all on their own. They would be proud as punch to be the sole chef in making this pie!