Life and Caramel Marshmallows

Wow - can you believe that Christmas is two weeks from today!!!  I seriously need to take an inventory of presents that we already have and ones that we still need to buy.  My hope was to go shopping with my husband and then have a nice dinner with him (or at least a Starbucks), but I think that we will have to wait a few more days.  Kyle had a basketball game last night (yea - South won!) and now he wants to go to the high school game tonight, so because he is showing interest in something (not typical for this 14 y/o), we have decided to change our plans and cheer South to victory.

I need to pretend I'm Martha Stewart or some other baking whiz and start my Christmas cookies this weekend, plus my mother is coming in next week and I want to get some small projects finished so the house looks nice for her arrival.  I have to tell you that my sisters and I really surprised her with her birthday gifts yesterday.  If you remember from a few posts back, I mentioned that I was going to visit two of my sisters and my niece and we were going to work on my mom's birthday gift.  Well, she thought we were working on this scrapbook that was started many, many moons ago, but we all made a quilt square for her.  (Now I can't post a picture yet because my mom wont get her gift until she arrives next week, but I will post a picture after that.)  I enjoyed making my quilt square so much that I want to take a quilting class after the holidays (put it on the list....).

Friends of mine talked me into entering a chili cook-off on Saturday and that's also on my list of things to do this weekend.  I'm doing this a little backwards and the recipe that I'm making for the cook-off is a brand new recipe that I haven't tried yet.  So, since there are people in town that read my blog and may be entering also, I'm not giving away any secrets yet so that post will have to come later.

I work at a college and finals are next week then Christmas break.  We still work over break and have a few days off around the holidays.  This time of the year is always welcomed because everything is quiet and it's a great time to catch up on projects, etc.

Now for one of the caramel marshmallows that I talked about in a previous post.  This recipe came from my grandmother and all of us just love these things.  They are little messy, but definitely worth it.  I would have to say that this is a holiday family tradition for me and my sisters.  I'm also going to visit Colleen's blog to see what other great recipes are there and maybe I can find a new tradition to start.  What traditions do you or your family have?  Are you wanting to try something new this year, or not continue something?  Whatever your plans are, I hope your holiday season is happy and healthy. 
 
Caramel Marshmallows
1/2 c. butter
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 bag caramels
large box of Rice Krispie Treats
1 bag of large marshmallows

In double boiler melt butter, milk, and caramels. 

Dip marshmallows in caramel and then roll in Rice Krispies.

From my experience in making this recipe, the dipping and rolling works so much better if the caramel mixture can cool slightly.