September 11

September 11, 2001 ~ Ten years and a million tears later. . .never forget.

Until next time. . .

Cracker Candy

I found a super simple, super yummy candy recipe the other day and thought I'd share it with y'all. It's called Cracker Candy.



Cracker Candy

1 sleeve saltine crackers
2 sticks butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 12 oz pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place entire sleeve of saltines in a single layer, salted sides up. You do not have to spray the foil with non-stick spray. Over medium heat, begin to melt butter. When butter is almost completely melted, add brown sugar and stir only once to blend. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. DO NOT STIR ANY DURING THE 3 MINUTES!! Remove from heat and pour over crackers. This is your toffee. Use a spatula or butter knife to evenly spread the toffee over the crackers to ensure all crackers are coated. Bake for 6 minutes. Carefully remove from oven. It will be extremely bubbly! Once the bubbles subside, sprinkle all the chocolate chips over the crackers. Place back in the oven for about a minute or until the chocolate is almost totally melted. It should look glossy. Remove from oven and using spatula or butter knife, evenly spread chocolate over the crackers making sure all are as evenly coated as possible. If you are using nuts or any other topping, add it now. Lightly press down into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool to room temperature completely. If necessary, you can put it in the refrigerator to finish cooling, but only do this after it's reached room temperature, otherwise, the chocolate will seperate from your toffee mixture. Break into pieces and enjoy!!

Here's a picture of the candy from a side view, showing the cracker, toffee, and chocolate layers.



This is so good! And fattening! But hey, we only live once, right?? I made some today to take to a tail gating party Scott and I are attending tonight for our local high school football game. It would also be great to make for the holidays, using crushed peppermints on top of the chocolate.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

Until next time. . .

It's been a while. . .

. . .since I've checked in here! Wow, time seems to just fly these days! So much has happened since we last spoke. Scott had a routine check up at the doctor's office last week and we found out he is anemic. So more supplements to try to prevent it from getting even worse. He has some other health issues that I won't go into that he has been managing since his early teens so this is just one more thing to deal with. I quit my old job, started a new job, quit that job, and am now actively looking for another one! My son has decided to join the Air Force. I have so many mixed feelings about this! I know that this is the best decision he could make for his life right now, but it just hurts my heart! I tell ya, some days I just feel like I am losing my mind. Y'all ever feel that way or is it just me????

In the midst of all these life changes, Scott decided that we needed a quick overnight getaway. Bless his heart, if he didn't keep me on the straight and narrow, I truly don't know where I'd be! We drove down to the Smoky Mountain area and spent the night in Pigeon Forge, TN. This area is only about a three hour drive from where we live so we try to go as often as possible. We just love it there. They have recently opened a new attraction called "The Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Show". It was a hoot! We laughed so hard and the food was really good, too. I highly recommend it if you are ever in that area and looking for some good, clean family fun. Here's a few pics from there:



The front of the building:


They had this clothesline up with giant sized pieces of clothing on them. Hey, how'd my underwear get up there!!!


Oh no! They found Scott's "draws" too!!!


Then there was the barnyard:


Full of pigs:


And chickens:


This chicken's name is "Tina Turner". Can you guess why??


They had wooden signs like this stuck in the ground all over the place:


This was such a fun trip! We will definitely be doing it again in the near future. I love going to the Smokies during the fall season. The entire Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area goes all out with the fall decorations. If we get to go down during September/October, I'll definitely be taking some pics of all the awesome decorations to share with y'all.

I haven't done any crafting at all lately. I've just not been motivated to get my creative juices flowing. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my brain, just no energy to follow through on them. I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things soon. I plan on starting my fall decorating here in the house today. We'll see how that goes!

Finally, here's a self portrait of Scott and I that we took in Gatlinburg over the weekend. I love this man so much. He literally saves me every day!



Until next time. . .