And to be exact the expert don't identify plants from just a leaf. and foolish to do so. I don't name plants this is a very old plant and variable. You have old names listed that have been drooped due to imprper nominclature. Some of these are are interchangable. These are acceptable names for that plant at this time Crassula Crassula ovata (Mill) argentea Thumb. C.portulacea Lam. C. obliqua Sholand Type Cape in Rondebossch Masson s.n. (BM, holo!) C. articulata Zuccccagbu Stcios nom nud C. nitida C. subspecies arborescens with the following varieties C subsp. undulatifolia and there many be many varieties or forms, There is a full page of descriptions on the species. There is no description of each leaf. *Flora of Southern Africa. Gordon Rowley book on the species may be of help, the pictures are great. Vera Higgis, may be of some help, this book set me back 10 years. Frankly I think you are beating a dead bush, I have just finished looking in 5 books, and I certainly cannot give you a positive name on any Crassua ovata obliqua or Crassula ovata 'Blue Bird' perhaps Gordon Rowley has written the latest book on Crassula if not the only one. Call the plant anything you want, the plant won't know the difference and either will we. Norma

I found the Eggnog Snickerdoodles on the cooking forum years ago. I made them last night and they were very good! I couldn't find Brandy extract so I just used cognac instead. I also added a little bit of cinnamon. Eggnog Snickerdoodles 2 3/4c flour 1 1/2c sugar 1 c butter, softened 2 eggs 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp brandy extract 1/2 tsp rum extract 1/8 tsp nutmeg Sugar mix: 1/4c sugar 1tsp nutmeg Mix butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat. Add flour, cream of tartar brandy and rum extract, salt, soda and nutmeg. Mix well. Chill. Shape into 1 tsp sized balls. Roll in sugar mix. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350° or until cookies are lightly browned. Yields 2 dozen. Recipe easily doubles with no problem.

We've been making pfeffernüsse. The kids are making the traditional coin-sized rounds, but I'm getting lazy--I bake the logs without slicing them, and call the results 'reindeer tongues'. They fit very well in stockings. I also made a double batch of Russian teacakes (same recipe as Glenda's pecan meltaways, but my cookbook calls them Russian teacakes, and so did my mother when I was child). They are my niece's favorite, but she had to cancel out on a visit planned for this past week-end. Guess who is eating the teacakes ... me. They are melt-in-your-mouth good, so I might have to make another batch, or two, before Christmas. ETA, I was also lazy with that recipe--I rolled out the dough 1 inch thick and used my pizza wheel to cut in 1 inch square pieces. After baking, I blasted them with my powdered sugar shaker, once while they were warm, and again after they cooled.

Yes, that's her "little" brother in the background, he's 15 now. (sigh) And if cookies are involved, you'll find him there, LOL. We started with her favorite, chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies. I reminded her that when she was small she HATED oatmeal, and so wouldn't even taste the no bake cookies. When she finally tasted one she loved it, and I keep telling her she's going to have to eat more to make up for all those years she could have been enjoying them and missed out. She is also very talented, because she is the only person I know who can cut the palm of her hand on a cookie scoop, LOL. She says it's because she's left handed, I say it's just a gift. (grin) Anyway, we kept on baking, and made her second favorite, snickerdoodles: She came over after work and by the time we finished those it was about 10 pm, so one more cookie. She wanted to try a new recipe, White Chocolate and Peppermint cookies. They were chewy and good, although quite sweet. She broke up the candy canes with my mortar and pestle while I made room on the freezer in the garage for more cooling racks. We were trying to hurry the cooling process along so she could get home, and the garage was pretty cold, so that worked well. OK, I think that's enough cookies for this year, although now I really want to try those cranberry lemon bars that Olychick posted, the one from the NYT recipe site. Merry Christmas, I'm making the sugar manufacturers very happy this year! Annie