Critty Joy

A Year With My Beloved

 It’s amazing to me what can take place in a year. Especially when you decide to take the journey God has asked you to take with Him. The journey is full of amazing twists and turns, the expected and the unexpected. My journey started a year ago and has brought me to a place I have never been in my life. It all started with one blog post. Who knew a blog post could open a door but this one did!

I am at Exemplify today sharing about A Year With My Beloved so come join me there!

 
 

Christmas Recipes :: Exemplify Style!

  I am so excited Exemplify is hosting a Christmas Recipes Link-up!
 I love cooking at Christmas time it is so much fun!  And I am going to be honest....I cannot limit to one recipe today!  One of my favorite things about these recipes is that you can make them all in advance.  The day before and even two days before!  Three of them are dessert recipes because I do most of the baking/candy making in our family.  

The first two recipes are what we set out in the afternoon to snack on with other hors d'oeuvres.  

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Yes I am aware that you can buy chocolate covered oreos but my nephew Nathan loves them this way.  I think it's the extra chocolate and the toppings!

Nate Nate's Favorite Oreos

1 large bag milk chocolate chips

1 package of Oreos (I love to use the Holiday ones!)

Colored sugars or other fun toppings

Melt bag of chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Dip oreo's individual (you can control the chocolate coverage.  Nate says the more chocolate the better!) and place on pans lined waxed paper.  Sprinkle with colored sugars or other fun decorative toppings.  Place in fridge overnight to cool then place on a fun festive dish!

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These peanut butter balls are a big favorite among family and my friends.  I get request for these every single year!

Peanut Butter Balls

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 pound chocolate almond bark, melted.

Combine butter, peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and 

confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. Stir well.  Shape into 2 inch balls.

Melt almond bark in a double boiler until smooth.

Dip peanut butter balls into chocolate and then place on a pan lined 

with wax paper. 

Cool overnight in fridge.

Put peanut butter balls into a festive bowl and Enjoy!

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I found this recipe on Melanie's (aka Big Mama) blog a long time ago and finally made it this year.  If you are a fan of Pecan Pie this is a must make recipe!  It beats any other Pecan Pie I have ever made.  I think the secret is the browned butter. 

Big Mama’s Pecan Pie

1 unbaked 9″ pie crust (I use Pillsbury’s frozen crust)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup light Karo syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 cup pecan halves

In saucepan, brown butter until golden. Don’t let it burn. Set aside to cool.

Add sugar, salt, vanilla, syrup and eggs. Mix well. Add lemon juice and pecans.

Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 325 and bake for 55 minutes.

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I am a fan of mashed potatoes....only on holiday's though.  I love this recipe because you can make a day or two in advance place them in the fridge and then pull them out a few hours on Christmas day and then re-heat them in the oven!

The Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes

¾ cups Butter

1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened*

½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half

½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt

½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

(you can print out a recipe card here!)

I hope you find a recipe you might enjoy...and I so look forward to visiting the other great 

blogs participating.

Visit Exemplify's Family Channel for more great recipes and to link-up with your own!

 
 

Jingle Bell Blues...

I adore the Christmas season.  The birth of our Savior, the decorations, the hustle and bustle of shopping, the parties, the time with friends, and the time with family.  It surrounds me in all of it’s loveliness.  At the same time every year I experienced a deep loneliness that at times can crowd the goodness of everything else......

To read the rest of Jingle Bell Blues visit Exemplify Online and check out the December issue of Exemplify Magazine! (you can also read it in blog form too!)

 
 

You Are...

I adore the Christmas season.  It’s wonderful in all of it’s festiveness.  It’s also, for me, one of the hardest times of the year.  I am constantly reminded of my singleness….at Christmas parties and family functions or at the movies or even shopping.

One of the hardest things for me about being single is feeling like I am less than at times. I am unworthy of a husband and children. I have done something wrong. God thinks I don’t deserve someone special. Deep down I know all of these lies are from Satan and yet I let him have a foothold at times.

Read the rest on Exemplify's Singles Blog Channel...

 
 

My Birthday Knight.

I celebrated my 31st birthday a few weeks ago.  Turning 30 last year was not big deal.  For some reason I struggled with turning 31 this year.  I guess being 30 and entering into the 30’s are quite different in my mind.  This year I felt as if I stepped back into Victorian times and started calling myself an old maid.  You see I don’t mention my singleness a great deal in my everyday life.  I have some friends that lament every day about being single.  I am just not like that.  Personally, I like to suffer silently................

To read the rest of My Birthday Knight visit the Exemplify Online Singles Channel!

 
 

Thankfully....Single?

I adore autumn.  The crisp air, the changing leaves, the sweaters, the hot drinks.  It is my favorite time of year.  It also has one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving.  I love that there is a day set aside for being thankful...and it is a reminder to be thankful more often!

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7  (NIV)

    In many things I am overflowing with thankfulness.  My family.  My friends.  Many good things in my life.  As I started to think about my column for this month I knew what I was to write about.  It had been set in my heart from the time I started this column and I put it out of my mind until I absolutely had to write this.  Why?  Because the idea of being thankful for my singleness scares me.  If I am thankful for my singleness does that mean I need to accept that I will never get married?  If I am thankful for my singleness does that mean I am called to singleness?  My heart was in a quandary.  I know I am suppose to be thankful.  I know I should be thankful.  

To read the rest of this month's Single Journey column check out Exemplify Magazine.

Welcome to The Journey

 There are moments in life that when you think back on them or you are in the midst of them you know they are from our God.  I call those moments God moments.  This new singles channel is a God moment.

Each year I pray about a word for the year.  For 2009 that word has been Journey.  I could never have imagined how amazing this year was going to be.  A larger portion of my journey this year has been about my singleness.  Several months ago God laid upon my heart a desire to write about being a single girl…the struggles and the triumphs.  In fact I started thinking about a new blog completely devoted to us single ladies.  God had a different plan and I could not be more thrilled.

To read the rest visit the new Singles Channel on Exemplify!

 

Color Me Green

Of all the things about being single, for me, one of the hardest things is being jealous of others.  I don’t want to be jealous but there I am so many times...green with envy at the couple snuggling at the movie theater or the woman showering kisses over her child’s face.  

While I may not want to spend time being jealous, I do.  Before I know it it has consumed my thoughts....

You can finish reading the rest of Color Me Green as well as many other fabulous articles in the October issue of Exemplify Magazine.

The One About Online Dating...

I did something at the end of May that many single girls debate about doing or do. 

I joined an online dating site.  

To be honest I really did not pray about it but in a moment of weakness and wanting I joined. 

To read the rest go check out Exemplify's September issue.  

Exemplify :: June

 

The June issue of Exemplify Magazine is out!  So go check it out!