Family Friday

Annual Bake Day!!!  Oh my!  Ms. L and I have been looking forward to this day since BEFORE Thanksgiving!  We were so excited, and our list of things to make was so long, we weren't able to get to everything!  Peppermint Popcorn, Cake Balls, Kissy Cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, and Rice Krispie Treats...and that is just today's baking list.  We have a separate list for tomorrow's food!  YUM!
A and I got there around lunch time in our Christmas PJs (another tradition) and we were ready to go!

First up were the Cake Balls.  Since there are SEVERAL steps to this process, we made other things while we were waiting for the Cake Balls to get cold in the freezer.  
First Step - Make the cake according to the directions on the box, 

crumble, 

mix with frosting,

then put it in the freezer.

At this point we moved on Kissy Cookies while we waited.  They are SUPER EASY and make me think of my Grandmama.  :)  You will need Peanut Butter Cookie dough and Hershey's Kisses (told you they were easy).

Roll the dough into balls,

smile for the camera,

and bake.  When you put them in the oven, start unwrapping the kisses because AS SOON as they come out, you will need to be 'kissing' them.

Viola!

After a couple dozen Kissy Cookies, we decided that we had enough and stopped.  
While they cooled we went back to the Cake Balls.  Take the cake ball mix out of the freezer, 

and make into teaspoon size balls.

This is a fun part!  You have to do it quickly or the mix will begin to warm up and get VERY sticky!  We layered them in a bowl between sheets of wax paper, 

and back in the freezer they go.

Oooo...Now it is time for one of my all time favorite Christmas snacks...Peppermint Popcorn!!  I had never had it until Ms. L made it for me a couple of years ago, and because she LOVES me, she said we could make it this year!  YAY ME!  There are so many versions of this, but we went with the simplest one we could find.  Why make this too hard?  We are here to have fun!  You will need popcorn, peppermints, and vanilla flavored white almond bark.

Layer a cookie sheet that has sides with wax paper.  Pop the popcorn and pour it on the wax paper - don't forget to pick out all the un-popped kernels!  Crush up the peppermints.  We ended up using 3 baggies since Ms. L kept breaking them!  We had peppermints flying everywhere!

Melt the almond bark and add the crushed peppermints (if you can catch it).

And then comes another fun part...mixing everything together with your HANDS!

YUM!

Let it cool and store in an air tight container.
Now back to the Cake Balls!!  
Out of the freezer them come and they are ready for dipping!!

We made Cake Balls last year with chocolate but used Almond Bark this year and we are totally convinced that Almond Bark is the way to go.  It melts faster, is creamier and hardens quickly (no more freezer time!).  We were using TEAMWORK again as I was coating the balls 

and Ms. L was placing them on the wax paper covered cookie sheet.

The YUMMY finished product!

...and no...you're not missing part of my post...Remember when I said at the beginning that we didn't get to everything?  That would mean the Rice Krispie Treats and the Peanut Butter Balls didn't get made (mom had to work and couldn't join us this year).  Ms. L was very sad BUT we had a great time and we have PLENTY more to make tomorrow...which is...CHRISTMAS EVE!!