Kitchen Magic

 Today was a new day!!  Rhonda inspired me to get ahead of he game on some baking and snack making today. 5 Pounds of chocolate covered peanuts completed.

 My hope is this will be enough to last us until after Christmas. Might be wishful thinking as I will be enjoying a few when I hit the sack tonight with AJ the beagle.

 Double batch of M&M cookies are stored safely in the freezer.

 Along with peanut butter butterscotch cookies.

 While at it I finished up the day with 4 batches of chex mix.

All that's left to do is deliver these plates of goodies to a few friends tonight.

I just about have the house back in order after the flea escapades of yesterday. In the morning I will give the exterminator a call to see if he can get to the house lickity split this week. We have a yearly contract with them, any time we run into a problem they will come out at no extra charge. This is the first ever call I will have to make. Also on the to do list tomorrow is see if I can get AJ the beagle into the vet as so many of you suggested. The bath I gave her yesterday worked like magic for the time being but I need to get ahead of the nasty buggers.

After bringing up two wheel barrel loads of firewood to the deck for the week I got busy in the kitchen. I love having a nice slow paced day in the kitchen with no distractions. Hubby will have to return back North after Thanksgiving until close to Christmas. I want him to go back with a nice box of holiday goodies to enjoy when he is watching some of the TV Christmas specials by himself :( I figure since he can't be home for the next few weeks I will send a little taste of home with him when he leaves after Thanksgivng.

Tomorrow will be some running around to catch up on errands then back home for more holiday baking. I think I have arranged enough room in the small frezzer to hold a few more batches of cookies. Hubby and the kiddo's also like granola, I should be able to work that in as well.

I forgot to post a veggie recipe yesterday, old man Murphy had my head spinning. This is a great soup to use up some leftover beef, the family will never know they are eating leftovers. We like it with just the veggies but to each their own. I use mostly dehydrated or home canned veggies from the garden in this but store bought works just fine. If you have some leftover veggies from the week throw them in as well, no one will know the difference.

Vegetable Soup

3/4 can of tomato juice

4 cups water

1/3 cup chopped onions

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1 can kidney beans drained

1 can corn&peas drained

1 can Lima beans drained

1 can green beans drained

1 can carrots drained

4 to 5 large potatoes cubed

3 beef bullion cubes

4 tsp of salt

1 tsp chili powder

2 TBLS Worcestershire sauce

Throw it all in the stock pot, bring to a boil then cover and simmer on low for a few hours. This soup is good on the day you make it but WAY better the second day!! Home made yeast rools are a must with this soup.