Sweet Snowman

 

This recipe isn’t on ANYONE’S diet. I’ll be putting a big bowl of it out after Sunday dinner sometime in December, and see how long it takes to completely disappear.

 

Mischief Munch

 

2 cups French Toast Crunch cereal

1 cup Cookie Crisp cereal

2 2/3 cups Life cereal

1 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 cups red and green M&Ms

12 ounces white chocolate

2 tablespoons holiday sprinkles

1/4 cups mini chocolate chips

 

In a large mixing bowl, combine cereals, mini marshmallows, and M&M candies. Melt white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring between. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring to coat everything. Transfer mixture to a parchment-lined (or silicon-lined) baking sheet, top with holiday sprinkles and mini chocolate chips, and refrigerate until firm, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl and watch it vanish!

Delectable Mountain

 

First Date

 

We’d so much in common, that was clear from the start:

A marriage of souls, like de Beauvoir and Sartre.

The connection was instant, almost irrational:

simply simpatico, fully compatible.

 

You confessed you loved winter, North Yorkshire, and cats.

‘Me, too!’ I responded. ‘How amazing is that?’

You were wild about Wharton: you loved Ethan Frome.

‘His best’, I said, thinking I’d read him when home.

 

You praised a revival of Pinter’s Dumb Waiter.

I nodded along. I should Google that later.

The discussion then turned to things that you hated:

Pulp Fiction, you thought, was quite over-rated.

 

‘You make some good points’, I eventually said.

I could always hide that poster under my bed.

You spoke of a loathing of poetry that rhymed

And I said. Yes,

That stuff’s awful.

-          Brian Bilston

Baked with Love

 

Gratitude is a virtue. The Roman philosopher Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others”.

Gratitude can make you happy. Experiencing (and expressing) gratitude activates neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which are associated with pleasure and mood regulation.

Practicing gratitude can improve your health. Grateful people tend to be healthier, with lower blood pressure, decreased inflammation, and slower neurodegeneration.

Gratitude can deepen relationships. Expressing appreciation can help you deepen relationships with the people around you.

Gratitude can build over time. Practicing gratitude can have long-lasting effects on your mood, self-esteem, and behavior.

Keeping a gratitude journal can help you be more mindful. Making a record of those things for which you’re grateful can help you be more attuned to the positive moments in your day-to-day life.

Practicing gratitude can reduce stress. Studies show cultivating mindful gratitude can reduce stress and physiological indicators of stress.

Two Green Houses

 

Isaac’s mum wanted him to be a farmer. She removed him from school so he could learn to grow crops. He was a terrible farmer, so eventually she allowed him back in school. Isaac became a member of parliament, but he wasn’t particularly good at that, either. Isaac didn’t have many friends. He never married, and he never had children. Isaac studied alchemy; he tried (and failed) to create a philosopher’s stone which could cure illness and turn lead into gold. He’s credited with inventing the doggy door. He invented calculus, though he was so worried about criticism, he didn’t publish for years. Isaac was the one who discovered prisms separate light into rainbows. He invented the reflecting telescope. Those little ridges on the outside of quarters? Sir Isaac Newton invented them to discourage coin “clipping” and forgery. Scripture study led him to announce the world wouldn’t end until at least 2060. Oh, and there’s the whole gravity thing.

Half a Dozen Barrel Cacti

 

“There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.” – Erma Bombeck

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” – Robert Frost

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” – Charles Dickens

“Laughter is an instant vacation.” – Milton Berle

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” – Mark Twain

“A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” – Shirley MacClain

“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” – William Shakespeare

“You cannot be mad at somebody who makes you laugh – it’s as simple as that.” – Jay Leno

Forty-Two Butterflies

 

“Moroni knew firsthand about having hope in Christ during tribulation. He explained his harrowing situation: ‘I am alone. I have not whither to go.’ ‘I make not myself known lest they should destroy me.’ Remarkably, in this dark and lonely hour, Moroni records his father’s words of hope: ‘If a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.’ ‘Ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal.’ Hope is a living gift, a gift that grows as we increase our faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. We build this substance—the evidence blocks of our faith—through prayer, temple covenants, keeping the commandments, continually feasting on the scriptures and the words of modern-day prophets, taking the sacrament, serving others, and worshipping weekly with our fellow Saints.” – Elder Neil L. Andersen

Frosty

 

The word quesadilla means, “little thing made with cheese.” So, if you decide to omit the cheddar, you should probably call it something else.

 

Apple Pie Quesadillas

 

4 large flour tortillas

2 apples, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup medium cheddar cheese, shredded

 

In a bowl, toss apple slices with cinnamon and sugar. Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt one tablespoon of butter. Place a tortilla in the skillet, add a layer of apple slices and sprinkle with cheese. Top with another tortilla and cook until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut into wedges and serve warm. Wonderful with custard, cream, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.