The Marshmallow Diaries

It's Christmas Eve... woohoo!

I don't know about yo, but I love this time of year. It is so fun and busy and everything is soooo cozy! The kids love the month of December for a different reason.... our elf on a shelf Marshmallow returns! She visits us for the entire month and performs tricks on us. 

We always start things off by having Marshmallow bring new Christmas pajamas and the advent calenders. This was the first year that Henry was super excited to see her. He was completely involved in "lallalows" antics. Every day the kids run downstairs to see what she is up to and when they find her they squeal with delight. Some people think tht the elf on a shelf is creepy... I think she's awesome. 

Mrs. E

Foodie Love ~ Peppermint Shortbread Bark

This... is peppermint shortbread bark...

I recently took part in my first cookie exchange ever! For those of you who don't know what that is, you basically get together with a group of people, you make enough of one type of baking for everyone to take home an agreed upon amount, and you swap! In the end you get to come home with a mix of baking for all of your Christmas parties and you only had to make one of them!

My friend Steph invited me to her cookie exchange and I immediately started thinking of what I should make. Of course I settled on something I had never made before because I am a glutton for punishment.... I bring you, Peppermint Shortbread Bark....

The Necessities:
~ 2 Cups All Purpose Flour

~ 1 Cup Unsalted Butter

~ 1 Cup Sugar

~ 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

~ 1 Large Egg Yolk

~ 6 Oz Bittersweet or Semisweet Chocolate, Chopped

~ 1 Cup Candy Cane Kisses, Chopped

The Process:
~ Preheat oven to 350F

~ Spray 9x13 cake pan and line with parchment paper (leave it much larger than the pan to allow for easy removal)

~ Cream together butter and sugar using an electric mixer or a stand mixer

~ Mix in vanilla and egg yolk

~ Slowly mix in flour (the cookie dough will be fairly crumbly and dry)

~ Press cookie dough evenly into the cake pan using fingers and smooth out with a spoon

~ Bake in the center of your oven for about 30 minutes (it will be light brown on the edges and coming away from the pan)

~ Remove from the oven and spread the chocolate over the top allowing it to melt for a minute or two before spreading it smooth with a spatula

~ Once chocolate is evenly spread, sprinkle the chopped candy cane kisses (they will also melt slightly)

~ Place in the fridge to cool completely and allow the chocolate to harden 

~ Once the bars have cooled completely remove them from the pan using the parchment paper to lit them onto a cutting board

~ Dip a very large, sharp knife in hot water and dry off

~ Cut bars immediately heating and drying the knife in between each cut (This will give you the sharpest edges and cleanest cuts)

Here are my bars all packed into cellophane bags and ready for the exchange. As far as I know they were a hit! Give them a try!

Mrs. E

Christmas ~ The Hemisphere Party

SOMEbody has a small Santa obsession.

Our kids are super lucky to be invited to several Christmas parties every year. The first party Sydney attended this year was my Mom's work party. She is will a small company so they always invite employees children and grandchilden. The party could not be at a worse time of day so unfortunately Henry didn't get to go. Sydney and David went and had an awesome daddy, daughter day together. She obsessively ran to Santa and gave him a million hugs. 

When Sydney and David came home they brought Henry's gift. The first one of the year! It was so fun seeing him excited and involved this year. Christmas morning is going to be amazing. 

Mrs. E

Christmas Has Arrived at the Eliuks

I love this time of year so much.

There is something so warm and inviting about a house filled with lights and Christmas music. The kids are old enough to get really excited about Santa and Christmas and they want to be a part of all of the decorating and prepping.

Our decorations have been up for about three weeks now. We had one free day to tackle everything where both David and I were off. Shift work sometimes make scheduling fun days like this difficult, but we managed to do it. Both kids wanted to help with everything this year. Sydney was in charge of helping her Dad fluff up the Christmas tree and Henry was all over the ornaments. He would say "more!" and when I gave him one he would shove his hand in he tree and let go hoping that the branches would catch it. Surprisingly we only broke one!

Mrs. E