Monday, December 10, 2012

Mom's Christmas Candy Things

Are you ready for Christmas? We are up here in the north where it's six degrees as I write this. Let me see if I can help you get in the Christmas spirit :)

Cue music...


Light the tree...



...add some ornaments...


  ...it's time for Christmas!!!!






I'm sharing a super-easy-peasy family favorite with you today.

This recipe has been around in our family for at least fifty years - from back in the days when our Christmas tree looked like this:


Don't laugh! Those were the good old days! 

(In case you can't tell, I'm the cute little kid on the right. This picture is from around 1961.)


Mom's Christmas Candy Things

Ingredients:
1 package white almond bark
1 Tablespoon crunchy peanut butter
1 cup salted dry roasted peanuts
1 cup Rice Krispies, or your favorite crisp rice cereal
1 cup miniature marshmallows





Melt the almond bark, following the directions on the package, but be sure you don't let the stuff get too hot - you don't want to melt your marshmallows.

Next, stir in the peanut butter, peanuts and cereal. Finally, mix in the marshmallows.

Drop by spoonfuls onto baking parchment or wax paper.

Decorate with your favorite sprinkles and let them cool.


Now is that easy, or what?


Sunrise in December, Wind Cave National Park




Now are we ready for Christmas?

24 comments:

  1. Firstly what is almond bark? I have never heard of it before. I want so much to do some cooking but my wrist is so sore doing things that I am not sure if I can do cookies.
    I may try fudge when they get the chocolate back in stock.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jenny!

      I thought of you with this recipe - it won't strain you wrist when you stir the ingredients together because everything is soft and melty.

      And almond bark is what people around here call the white candy you can buy to melt down to make other candy. There are no almonds in it, so I don't know why they call it that!

      When my mom first started making this, she bought white chocolate stars. I think Kraft made them (maybe), and I know she bought them at the Kroger grocery store. There might be something like that available in your neck of the woods.

      Delete
    2. Oh, and Ruthy is right. Out of stock chocolate is NOT funny. I don't care if it's only temporary - you don't mess with chocolate!

      Delete
    3. No chocolate?! Jenny, that just makes me sad. Such a thing should never happen. Sounds like a good reason to stockpile :-)

      Delete
    4. Its only the cooking chocolate but its yummier than the nromal white chocolate. but yes its a crying shame I dont want the cheap generic cooking chocolate that tastes like cardboard.

      Delete
  2. Jenny, out of stock chocolate is NOT FUNNY!!!!!

    :)

    Jan, I love this trip down memory lane. It's got me smiling, and the picture is too sweet for words. Bless you for sharing it!

    I bet broken salted pretzel pieces would be good in this. And I might skip the marshmallows in favor of that. I like crunch....


    I love making cookies and candies, and this one is easy. Just a lovely recipe, all around!

    And they would smell better than the small rodent that has met his demise somewhere in the walls around my spare room... We should mention that to Mary Connealy, don't you think??? Her loving MICE the way she does, LOL!

    That's the first one this year, so the cats are doing their job... but I would like the house to smell like cookies and not decaying rodent for Christmas.

    Silly me!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruthy you are not wrong the chocolate buds are no special and they ones I love have been out several times this week. and still not there. so annoying and shocking.

      Yuck on the mice issue.

      Delete
    2. Yes, yuck on the mouse smell. Scented candles and air freshener just don't do the trick on that particular...um...atmosphere.

      And we won't tell Mary.

      My cat doesn't hunt mice so much(too much competition with the other cats in the neighborhood), but she's incredibly miffed at me right now because I won't let her outside to play with the birds at the bird feeder.

      Delete
    3. And broken pretzels would be good in this! I like the salty crunch to offset the sweetness of the candy, too.

      The only thing that will change if you leave out the marshmallows is that the candies will be flatter, spread out. The marshmallows give them pouffiness.

      Delete
  3. Jan, these look like a great, easy gift!! I could package them up in those cute disposable Glad containers that come with sparkly lid colors for the holidays. I love it! Thanks for sharing.

    You know, I've made something similar. Got the recipe from Mary, I think (or was it Ruthy??). They ones with butterscotch chips and Chinese noodles. Ruthy, were those yours or Mary's? I won a prize at a cookie swap for them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have that recipe, too, I think. Chinese noodles, butterscotch chips and chocolate chips? We call them haystacks.

      My kids love them!

      And I haven't seen those Christmas Glad containers. I'll have to look the next time I'm out shopping :)

      Delete
  4. You scared me when you said we were making candy. I had visions of candy thermometers and beading water and all that stuff. Shudder. But these look easy and yummy and now that I know what almond bark is, doable as well. :-)

    I haven't done anything for Christmas yet this year! Working 6 days a week will do that. But today is a snow day -- well freezing rain day -- and I'm home from the day job so I might start baking this afternoon. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No candy thermometers. Easy peasy.

      Enjoy your ice day off! Make some Christmas goodies and snuggle in!

      Delete
  5. Kav, we've been so involved with my son's move that I haven't even started decorating yet! My daughter has been grumping about it, too. Since she has a party tonight, we'll probably have to start tomorrow. Hope to at least get a wreath on the door today, though! :)

    Enjoy your ice day!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not just ready for Christmas, Jan, I'm hungry for it. Love that last pic with the snow. We're finally feeling a little more Christmasy here in Texas. We dropped to around 30 overnight and even had a little (emphasis on little) dusting of snow. And here we were in the 80's last week. But I'm lovin' this cold weather. Tonight we might even dip down to the teens. Not as cold as y'all, but it'll freeze the socks off of many a Texan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have the cold temps, but not the snow - and we NEED it! The big storm that hit Minnesota, etc. yesterday missed us completely :(

      I remember when we lived in Texas and real winter weather would show up. I became the designated driver for the neighbors if we had more than 2" of snow.

      Delete
    2. Jan, I'm the designated driver around here when it snows since I grew up in Kentucky. Hubby grew up in Georgia. The kids have seen about 1 or sometimes 2 snowfalls a year in their lifetime (and a "good" snow around here is 2 inches). :)

      Delete
    3. I'm sorry, Missy. I tried not to laugh about you being the designated winter driver because you grew up in Kentucky.

      *snort*

      I wasn't very successful.

      Bless your little southern heart :)

      Delete
    4. LOL! You make a good point. But at least in KY we usually had a few snowfalls a year! :) I have more experience than my my hubby. :)

      Delete
  7. Num, num, num!!!

    These look really tasty! And loved the picture. How cute. Makes me want to get all my kids around the tree. Some of the will have to be unconcious or the tree might be in danger, but still. A girl can dream.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My brother and I were so civilized...I'm sure our parents threatened us...

      Delete
  8. from what I see online you can substitute white chocolate for almond bark as I know we dont have it in australia

    on christmas all gifts but some flowers bought. and some cooking to give away. I have a new wrist support which helped me mix some up. its resting (both wrist and dough) I mixed last night will cook today. but I am ready I think.
    Its a bitter sweet time. Cried half the weekend due to emotions and also pain (the wrist was aching so much it lowered my emotional tollerence also) last night my old street had there street party and it was good and feeling less fragile today.
    about to go for a walk! need to walk of the yummy pavlova.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll keep you in our prayers during this hard time, Jenny! Christmas can be such a sweet time of the year, but also one of the hardest to get through when you're missing someone.

      And congrats on getting so much of your Christmas prep done!

      Delete
  9. STop the presses.

    Cooking chocolate is back in stock! I got two wonder if one will make it into the fudge! I did manage some cookies and wouldn't you know it dropped the forcer on the thumb of the injured wrist. The thumb was fine before! At least I know have cookies I like but they do need icing/frosting.

    I have 2 more lots I want to bake. plus one more lot of gingerbread with glutton free flour.

    ReplyDelete