Children's Book Review: The Perfect Christmas

The Perfect Christmas
Written by:  Eileen Spinelli
Illustrated by:  JoAnn Adinolfi
Published by: Henry Holt and Company, 2011
32 pages

from goodreads.com:
Family one: exquisite pastries, a beautifully trimmed tree, and festive cello music. Family two: an artificial tree, rock hard candy, and custom kazoo carols. Full of silly humor, this cheerful picture book proves that no matter how you celebrate Christmas, it’s the spirit of the holiday that counts the most.

* My daughter's eyes lit up as soon as I began reading this book when she realized that one of the main characters shared her name, Abigail. I liked how the book showcased that families can celebrate Christmas differently - fancy and....not so fancy.  However, there's something magical about snow on Christmas that touches everyone.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Children's Book Review: Merry Christmas, Splat

Merry Christmas, Splat
Written by: Rob Scotton
Published by: HarperCollins, 2009

from goodreads.com:
It's the night before Christmas, and Splat wonders if he's been a good enough cat this year to deserve a really big present. Just to make sure, he offers some last-minute help to his mom and, in typical Splat fashion, he messes up completely! That night Splat stays awake hoping to see Santa Claus. But when Splat misses him, he's sure his Christmas is ruined—along with his hopes for a really big present. . . .

Everyone's favorite furry cat is back in a Christmas story perfect for any child anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival.

* While volunteering at my daughter's school book fair, several young kids were interested in the Splat the Cat books that they had available.  I put this one on hold at the library, since we've been on a holiday-themed reading kick, and we've never read any Splat the Cat books.  As an introduction to Splat the Cat, this book wasn't bad.  Splat is a lovable cat (who my kids pointed out looked similar to Bad Kitty) who tries to make sure he gets the really big Christmas present that he wants from Santa.  Just in case he wasn't good enough this year, he tries to help his mother get things ready for Christmas....but only seems to make things worse. Of course though, there's a happy ending to the book. The kids enjoyed this book enough that I'll check out some other Splat the Cat books.

Family Rating: one thumb up.

Peppermint Crunch Brownie Bites

I saw these brownie bites on the two peas & their pod blog and knew I would have to make them.  These were a cinch to make because I cheated and used boxed brownie mix and added 1/4 teaspoon of mint extract to the batter! They are made in a mini muffin pan, so they're bite-sized. You can eat a bunch and not feel too guilty! I'm sure that Maria and Josh's recipe is amazing, but I was a little short on time.

Peppermint Cruch Brownie Bites
From food blog: two peas & their pod
Find the original recipe here:
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/peppermint-crunch-brownie-bites/

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up! (chocolate and mint, of course it's a hit!)

Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods

We will be going to my cousin's house tomorrow evening for Christmas Eve.  Normally, we don't exchange presents with each other and just get presents for the kids.  Since I had some extra time, not working and all, I decided to make a mixed variety of chocolate covered pretzels to give as a small gift to family members tomorrow.  I was excited to find one box of Wilton's Holiday Sprinkles set left on the shelf at my local Michael's store yesterday. Even better, I got to use my 50% off coupon and got the set for $5!  I already mentioned that my husband took off today and he was nice enough to help me make these.  I dipped the pretzels in the chocolate and then he sprinkled on the toppings. 

Ingredients:
2 -16 oz. bags of pretzel rods
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 oz. of white chocolate chips
4 crushed candy canes
red/white sugar crystals (from sprinkle set)
red/white/green nonpareils (from sprinkle set)

Procedure:
I put the semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwaveable-safe bowl and melted in the microwave in 30 second increments, using 50% power.  I coated 2/3 of the pretzel rod with the melted chocolate, using  a spoon to help spread it out.  My husband then sprinkled on the crushed candy canes on one set, and the red/white sugar crystals on another set, placing on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper after he was done.  We then refrigerated for approximately 20 minutes, until the chocolate hardened.  Another set we just put in the refrigerator after I dipped in the chocolate.  After they hardened, we put some melted white chocolate in a sandwich bag, cut off the tip, and drizzled over the hardened semi-sweet chocolate.  The last set of pretzels we dipped in melted white chocolate (using the same microwave method we used for the semi-sweet chocolate) and sprinkled with the nonpareils.  The total number of pretzels made depends on how many "whole" (non-broken) pretzel rods come in the bag.  Altogether, we ended up with 58 whole pretzel rods.

Once all of the chocolate was hardened, I put 2 of each pretzel in a cellophane bag and wrapped with ribbon, as seen in the above pic.

We made "tester" pretzels with all of the broken pretzel rods and the family sampled all of the different pretzels. The rest of the pretzels I am saving to serve with dessert on Christmas day.

I am already planning on making these for some of the staff at my daughter's school for NEXT Christmas. 

Video from Santa

Last year a friend sent me the following link from the "Portable North Pole."  It's a great site that lets you personalize a video to your child from Santa.  You can decide if they are naughty or nice, upload a profile pic of your child and some important events from the year, and let Santa know the present that they really want this year.  It's super cute and will let them know that Santa's watching them all year and knows how they've been behaving. The message gets sent to your e-mail (unless your child has their own e-mail address) and the sender is "Santa Claus." 

 I spent some time last night creating videos for my kids.  I'm going to wait until this weekend to show them , when my husband can enjoy seeing their expressions with me!  Our  daugher has really been giving us a difficult time these past few days with her rudeness and bad attitude.  I told Santa she's been naughty for her video message.  In her message Santa gives her a warning that there's still time to change her behavior.  I'm hoping that this will be incentive for her to change her attitude over these next few weeks!  Check out the link below:

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home