Merry Christmas! Reindeer Pancakes

Merry Christmas!  Today was a memorable and exhausting day.  And to kick off Christmas 2012 I treated the family to extra yummy yogurt parfaits (honey greek yogurt layered with Bob's Red Mill granola and fresh berries), and reindeer pancakes.  The pancakes were so cute and really easy - you just need to make 3 different sized circle pancakes, some bacon and have fruit (or chocolate chips) for the eyes/nose.

Make a large pancake for the head, medium pancake for the 'muzzle' and two tiny pancakes for the ears.

To create the antlers I took two slices of bacon and cut them in half and made in to a 'Y' shape.

The blueberry eyes and raspberry nose were stuck to the pancakes with some yogurt.

Enjoy your reindeers and Merry Christmas to you!  I think I need to make these again soon, they were so cute!

Annual Girls Party

This morning I hosted my annual girls only gift exchange party.  Each year promises fantastic food (each guest brings a favorite item) and great gift exchange items. Of course there are no photos from the actual party or all the amazing food that we consumed, but I did take a photo of the little party gift I gave each gal as well as the table early today.

"A little something for your Mistle-Toes"

Santa's Beard

I forgot to post this Christmas craft!  I cut out shapes to create a Santa face (circle for face, two small circles for eyes, a mustache, hat and some fluffy looking trim for the hat) and the kids pasted the shapes together on green construction paper.  Every day in December until Christmas Eve, the kids add a cotton ball to create Santa's beard.  It is pretty cute and a fun decoration for our kitchen wall!

Terribly Terrific Toffee

I have been staring at this toffee recipe for some time.  I like the idea of making toffee for the holidays, but a toffee recipe that includes Saltine crackers?  Serious hesitation.  But, the recipe seems simple enough and Blake was excited to help me make something in the kitchen.  So I put the boy to work and had him line my 10x15 pan with Saltine crackers.

Meanwhile, I melted the butter and sugar together as directed.

Once the butter/sugar mixture is ready, it gets poured over the crackers and placed in the oven.

Once out of the oven I sprinkled the chocolate chips on top and let them melt a bit before spreading across the cracker/toffee layer.  When it was completely cooled I broke it up in to small one to two inch size pieces.  The end result was fantastic!  And it does make quite a bit - perfect for giving away to friends in cute packaging.

Terribly Terrific Toffee
1 c. unsalted butter
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
40 Saltine crackers (YES! Saltines...)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan (or a 12x17-inch cookie sheet) with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Lay a flat layer of crackers out on the foil. 
Melt the sugar and butter until a boil is reached. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until mixture is thickened and sugar is completely dissolved. Pour this mixture over the crackers and spread to coat evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the toffee becomes bubbly. 

After removing the pan from the oven, let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips, let them soften and melt, and then spread them into an even layer.  Let cool and break into pieces the size of your choice.