My Recipe Gift to You!

Merry Christmas!

This easy recipe is my Christmas gift to you! You can make it in about 15 minutes from start to finish, although it needs a little time to firm up. It has a fudge-like consistency when firm. You make it in your microwave. If you have an old microwave, you may need to extend the cook time. If your microwave is more powerful than the standard, you may need to drop a minute or two off cook time.

Easy Leche Quemada

  This recipe is simple and very quick. All you need is a large (8 cup) heat resistant  measuring cup or bowl and a microwave, apart form the ingredients.

In a large, heat resistant measuring cup or bowl put:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) (Use a good brand of real butter. The cheap stuff foams up and over the cup near the end of cooking!!!) Melt the butter and add:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk (I use Eagle Brand)
Mix well and microwave on high for 7 minutes, stopping every 2 minutes to stir well. Watch the last half of the time to be sure it doesn't start foaming up out of the container. If it does, you will have to keep stopping and stirring it down. (I think cheaper butter has more water in it and the steam causes it to do this. That's only my theory, but I've found that the good stuff doesn't foam!)
While it is cooking, prepare a piece of aluminum foil (about 12" wide) by spraying with a little Pam and sprinkling cinnamon over it.
After cooking, remove from the microwave and place on a heat proof surface. Beat with a hand mixer until it cools a little. Add some vanilla (about a teaspoon) or a little rum (again, about a teaspoon) and 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts. Beat these in well. Pour out onto the aluminum foil and spread it in a log. You can do this by pulling the sides of the foil together to form a channel for the candy to "flow" into, then crimp the foil together to hold it in a log shape. When hardened, cut into slices.

                This recipe is so easy, you can have candy in no time at all.

I'm Still Around!!!

This is our downstairs two weeks ago! Our house is called a "hillside walkout". The main floor is at the top where the driveway ends and the downstairs was designed for bedrooms. Unfortunately for us, the previous owners had used the downstairs for 1500 sq. feet of closets! (It worked well for them, but not for us.) 

We had not done anything down there except for one closet that I painted and put a guest bed in for a makeshift bedroom. I can't wait to show you what we'll be doing here. We will end up with a nice "mother-in-law suite" complete with a small kitchen.

We installed the door panels on our refrigerator. (We 

 STILL haven't done the crown molding above the kitchen cabinets!) 

I am really getting "antsy" to have a sewing room again! I have my shelves picked out at IKEA and I have been busy winding fabric on cardboard "comic book boards". 

It will give them a uniform appearance on the shelves.

I've started decorating for Christmas!

 I put up my first Christmas tree since the fire two years ago. We bought it after Christmas at a substantial savings last year! (Yes, it's artificial. My allergies don't allow me to have a real one.)

Doug also bought me an LED tree from Lowe's to put in our bedroom.

I decorated it with a Mexican theme to fit the bedroom. I made Ojo de Dios to hang all over the tree. I used yarn scraps and "candy apple skewers".

  My days have been busy, but rewarding.  I am finally taking some time to prepare for having two of my sons here for the holidays.

I am hoping to blog more frequently as soon as the holidays are over. (I'm always optimistic about being less busy!) I will be posting my favorite "go to" Christmas candy recipe next week as my gift to you! I hope you have blessed days ahead!