Wow! 2015 Coming Fast

Where did 2014 go? I just read another FarmGirl's view of the coming new year. Take life slowly she says. Good advice, I think. There's more to it than what she covered. In my life, death is trying to stalk us. My son's cancer is still there. It makes us look at life very differently. So, how to approach 2015? Savor every moment Dori advises. Be spontaneous. Savor every moment.
This Christmas I really didn't want any gifts. They became meaningless. I wanted to see and be with my family. We were together, all of us. How beautiful it was. I did savor. I took some photos. Photos will be important later, memories will be cherished. Feelings were shared and welcomed. It was sweet, it was heartwarming. Why haven't we done this before? Treasured feelings. In the past, they came in like breezes and left. Now they arrive as arrows aimed straight at the heart and there they stay.
I cannot take life for granted. I know that now. The road in 2015 will be different. I will take it slowly. I won't miss an opportunity to let someone know I care about them.
To those of you who read this, please know I wish you the very best 2015. Your happiness is important. Keep well, keep wise, and let's all savor every moment we can.......

Diabetics on my list--what can I make them?

What can I make these people who have diabetes? We often think of making "goodies" for Christmas gifts. This doesn't help my adult friends and family members who have diabetes. I needed to think more savory or just something different. I saw a recipe for a creamer. It called for non-fat dry milk in the recipe. I found a company that dries certain kinds of foods, so.......I checked them out to see if they had dried cream. I didn't want to make a coffee creamer with non-fat milk..sorry...that's YUK! Well, now off we go. I now realize I could make some killer creamer to give these coffee drinkers. The creamer also contains cinnamon known to lower and control blood sugar. Yeah! And, I chose to make it with stevia. Now, we're cooking.....
In order to make 1 batch, I suggest 2. you need 1 cup of the powdered cream (made by Hoosier Farms, found on Amazon), 1/3 cup stevia, 1 teaspoon cinnamon (used Kirkland's Saigon Cinnamon, found at Costco). Mix thoroughly in a small bowl. Scoop into jars. The batch made 1 and a half half-pint jars. So make 2 batches. I kept some for myself. After tasting it, I love the ratio of cinnamon and cream, just not used to the sweetening. May leave out the stevia for me.

My brain kept rolling. What if I put it into small canning jars, wrapped some wire around the bottom of the rings and make a round shape to hold a small spoon! Awesome...tested some wire I had around the house and I can make this work. I love when everything comes together!
Taste: I love it, but not used to anything sweet in my coffee!
Design: It looks great in a canning jar, like a double gift. Who can't use a canning jar? I have the plastic lid on it, so it's usefulness just went up.
In trying the creamer, it stirred and dissolved quickly in my cup of coffee. I'm enjoying it right now. So delicious. I can totally see this in cocoa. Might have to make more.......

Fun Season & Snickerdoodles

 We're decorated, tree's up, greenery in place. We have a variegated holly bush that's loaded with berries. We bring a few branches in the house to decorate. But, something's different here.

Hubby played football for our alma mater, University of Oregon. He's followed their football program for years. He got so excited when Oregon won the Pac 12 title and is off to the Rose Bowl, he ordered tickets for the game and airfare, hotel, car rental. This is normally a very frugal man. That's how excited he is! And, the icing on the cake.......the quarterback, Marcus Mariota, won the Heisman trophy, gave a speech that set many eyes to tear up. I know that fireworks were set off tonight in my hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii. First person from Hawaii to garnish that trophy and the first winner from UO. We're mighty proud. Our Ducks are off and running. My whole family loves football so this is truly a fun time.

This Christmas we vowed to make our gifts. I love the direction everyone is going in. I knew it would be a challenge. Everyone is rising up to it. Our Farm Girl chapter made mason jar bags. Most of us canned goodies to share as gifts. These turned out adorable.

Back to reality: most of us will be running crazy trying to get all our baking, sewing, quilting, cooking, etc. done this season. I'm going to share a short cut for at least one favorite cookie often baked at Christmastime--Snickerdoodles!
  Ingredients 3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 box of white cake mix (we used Betty Crocker) yellow cake mix works OK*
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set mixture aside.
3. Thoroughly combine cake mix, butter, egg, cream of tartar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
4. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Then, place dough balls one by one into cinnamon sugar mixture and roll them around until they’re covered. Place dough balls about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until set. The cookies will be softer the less you bake them. Once fully baked, remove them from the cookie sheet and transfer them to a cooling rack.

*There are organic cake mixes. I often find them at Trader Joe's.