Will Work for Ornaments

I'm supposed to be Christmas shopping right now. I'm only half way done. But I'm blogging instead. Because I don't have to use my elbows or my car horn to blog.

Last Saturday I went to my annual ornament party. I don't even put up a tree, so I'm just there for the good time. I might've fallen off the diet wagon a bit too that night. A girl can only be around spinach dip and fudge for so long while eating a celery stick. This year we spiced things up by adding a scavenger hunt. Snow Loving Holly did a great job organizing and planning it. It was really cold–26 degrees–but everyone was up for it and all were total troopers.

Some of the things on our list were:

1. Find a cute guy and have your whole team pose with him in a picture.
Done. And extra points for finding an Amish guy.

That's my mom front and center. My sister in law beside me. My aunt's head peeping out in the back, and family friend Barbara to the far left.

2. Kiss a manequin on the cheek.

The mannequin had to sit down for that one.

3. Model a fedora.

Here's my mom doing her best Britney Spears imitation. She is rocking the fedora.

4. Spray on perfume in a red bottle.

5. Play a video game.

I said, “Hey, kid, I don't want to creep you out, but I'm gonna stand by you. Really close.” The kid behind him is like, “Cutter.”

One of our teams got kicked out of Wal-Mart and escorted out by security. That would be this team.

After the scavenger hunt, we went back to Snow Loving Holly's and ate some more and did the ornament exchange. I think I win the award for receiving the largest ornament.

Here is my friend Cheryl (left) telling a dirty joke.

Here's my mom trying to stop laughing at the dirty joke.

She didn't try very hard.

Dirty Joke Laughing Mom brought a cute dessert to the party.

I made two good desserts this year. Even though I've never shared a recipe on this blog in the history of its existence, I thought I'd pass these two on. Because they were gooood.

First, I made a super easy trifle for the ornament party. You can find the recipe for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle HERE. (I modified by using boxed brownies–I'd go deluxe or something besides plain chocolate, two regular sized boxes) and I would definitely add more Reese's candy bar to the top. You can't have too much Reese's.

And finally, I made truffles.

And they are so super easy and amazingly good. It's a Sandra Lee recipe, so again, EASY.

INGREDIENTS

Remove wrappers from milk chocolates. Place milk chocolates and whipping cream in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at medium 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at medium 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chocolates are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Cover; refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or until firm. (Two hours was plenty for mine. I also did a batch of dark chocolate.)

Remove wrappers from caramel filled milk chocolates. Using about 1 tablespoon of milk chocolate mixture for each truffle, shape chocolate around each caramel chocolate piece; roll in hand to make ball. (Be sure to cover each chocolate piece completely.) Roll in pecans; refrigerate until ready to serve. For best chocolate flavor, allow truffles to soften at room temperature about 5 minutes before eating. (Sandra also gave the tip to spray PAM or cooking spray on your hands as you roll the chocolate. HIGHLY recommended.)  Great party food and great gifts. My neighbors have some sitting in their mailbox right now.

I look forward to this ornament party every year. So what about you guys? What has been your favorite pre-Christmas event so far?

That's all for now. I hope your pre-Christmas season has been just as fun as meeting Chris Tomlin, wearing a leopard print bra, getting an ornament the size of a couch, and eating lots of carrot sticks.

See you Wednesday!

JEN