I'm sorry Jan!! LOl...ya'll have to forgive me, I've been spacey and drugged up for months, I lose track right in the middle of typing. I've woken to find open windows on my computer with notes I've been typing, and don't even remember talking to them *sigh* But......I'm going to put the recipe for Poinsettia Cookies here again....these are just delicious, everyone loves these, and they smell great. Oh, Jan....I use the cherries in the jar, too! They taste much better :D I just lay them on paper towels to drain, and I cut them with scissors, really easier that way. They look very elegant, and make great gifts. Poinsettia Cookies Ingredients 2 c Butter or margarine; 1 c Shredded coconut 2 Eggs 1 c Butterscotch chips 1 ts Vanilla extract Granulated sugar 3 c Flour 1/2 c Candied red cherries; cut in 1 ts Salt Cream confectioners sugar and butter; add eggs and extracts. Sift together flour and salt; stir into butter mixture. Stir in coconut and 3/4 C of the butterscotch chips. Chill dough until firm. Roll into 1" balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten cookie with the bottom of glass dipped in granulated sugar. Place butterscotch chip in the center of cookie. Place cherry wedges in a circle to resemble a poinsettia. Bake at 375F for about 12 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. ************************************************ I also see I forgot to add the Divinity recipe! Here is the site I got the best recipe from. http://www.angelabetts.com/blog/2007/05/22/divinity-candy-recipe/ DIVINITY CANDY 3 cups sugar cup light corn syrup ½ cup water 2 egg whites 1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla, whichever you prefer) 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans Place sugar, corn syrup, and water in heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat to hard ball stage (248° to 250°F). Remove from heat and let stand until temperature drops to 220°F, without stirring. Place egg whites in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. Turn to Speed 8 and whip about 1 minute, or until soft peaks form. Gradually add syrup in a fine stream and whip about 2 ½ minutes longer. Turn to Speed 4. Add almond extract and whip 20 to 25 minutes, or until mixture starts to become dry. Turn to Stir Speed and add walnuts, mixing just until blended. Drop mixture from measuring tablespoon onto waxed paper or greased baking sheet to form patties. Yield: 20 servings (2 pieces per serving) Per serving: About 192 cal, 2 g pro, 40 g carb, 4 g fat, 0 mg chol, 15 mg sod. ******************* The punch recipe sounds great, and I need a recipe! So funny because I just found another punch bowl! Not one for a birdbath either!

Yay!!!! Cindeea and Marcia both back, hip, hip hurray! (((Hugs))) from SE Fla! And MsMarion, I owe you a big debt of gratitude! I read your post last night. Hauled out the recipe box and started reading from back to front. (My "box" being filed in chronological vs. any rational filing method.) It was a trip down memory lane. There were recipes from people I've totally forgotten, (college friends, coworkers over the years), some of my mom's recipes that I'd obviously copied in a hurry, with the additional notation in a different color, triple underlined with an exclamation point...probably when I made something that failed, called Mom, and and she told me what was missing. There were notes from canning: "Takes ALL DAY!" My favorite was "Yielded 24 quarts, but 7 were JUST JUICE!!!!!" I found the one and only recipe from my paternal Grandmother for Shrimp Salad. I'm calling Aunt Pearl tomorrow to see if she has Grandma's recipe box. And the surprise ending came at the end of my travels through the chronological recipe box. A girlfriend I've known for many years invited me to a Christmas Party on Saturday. She specially requested that I make my Chocolate Bourban Cake again, because everyone loved it. Her last party was three years ago. I responded back that I would look for the recipe, but only remembered that I made it because someone had left a pint of Jack Daniels at our annual Thanksgiving doo, but I'd be happy to bring another dessert. Aiming to please Judy, I looked through my most likely cookbooks, googled the recipe and nothing looked like the cake I remembered making. The last recipe in the box was (drumroll) The Chocolate Bourban Cake Recipe!!! And by gosh it looks like there is still 1/2 cup of that original pint of Jack Daniels in my little liquour cabinet. I'm tickled positively pink. Here's Grandma's Shrimp Salad, verbatim from the recipe card... 1 pkg spiral spagetti celery, chopped - green olives, sliced shrimp 6 eggs Dressing - 1 cup mayo, 1 cup catsup (Brooks Tangy best) It sounds horrible, doesn't it? If memory serves, (pretty sure it does) that salad was wonderful. Ya'all know to hardboil and chop those eggs, right? Grandma used canned shrimp. Isn't it grand that we don't have to use canned shrimp? Cindee, I'm gonna make those cookies, thanks so much for sharing! If anyone's interested in the Chocolate Bourban Cake recipe, I'm happy to share. Ingredients list isn't long but the method is. My only sad moment was seeing Mom's recipe for Rhubarb Custard Pie. Yum! We had a patch of Rhubarb... Thank you, thank you msmarion. Are you going to make it easy on us, or do we have to google the marshmello recipe?

I love both of my MILs. My first DH died when he was 45. He was my best friend and a marvelous husband and father. My first MIL stopped talking to me when I remarried but I kept pursuing a relationship with her because of my children. After five years or so she came around and has been part of our lives since. I just visited with her today at the nursing home she is in to make arrangements for her getting her hair done and arranging with her care takers to have her ready to join us for Thanksgiving. She is no longer able to ambulate but my DSIL will be able to get her into their car and fit her wheelchair in and when they get to our house there will be enough young men there to get her in the house. My newest DMIL & DFIL, (18 years with my DH compared to 22 years with my first DH) will also be there as always. They all get along well and my DH knows I will do the same for his parents if they have to go into assisted or skilled nursing care. I count my blessings that I have had the honor of two sets of in laws. WTBS, my son can be a real stinker at the holidays but at least he still comes!

#1. I'd like to suggest a cookbook, "How Sweet It Is...WITHOUT THE SUGAR" by Jean C. Wade (Delicious Desserts for Diabetics and Others). Each recipe includes nutrition facts and diabetic exchanges. Check your local library for this and other diabetic-friendly cookbooks. #2. Remember, it's total carbohydrates and the "sweets" need to be considered a part of the total daily amount of food exchanges for a diabetic. #3. Watch portion sizes. In fact, try to make portions very small - mini-muffins, instead of regular or jumbo sizes. Bake quick breads in small loaves and cut the slices very thin, rather than using a traditional 9x5-inch loaf pan. Use a very small scoop for cookies - nothing served in it's normal or larger size. #4. Choose foods that are on the lower half of the Glycemic Index of Foods, which raise the blood glucose much slower than the upper half of the list. If serving "sweets", also serve veggies, and high-protein foods, like low-fat cheeses to offset some of the glycemic impact of the "sweets". Use whole grains, especially spelt, kamut, rye, and barley flour which are lower on the GI than wheat flour (even lower than whole wheat, as well as lower than unbleached/bleached flour). Wholegrain spelt flour is a good substitute for bleached/unbleached wheat flour in quick breads to help lower the glycemic impact. Coconut Flour is also a very low-carb alternative flour ("Cooking with Coconut Flour" by Bruce Fife, N.D.). #5. Just because a food isn't "sweet" doesn't mean it won't quickly raise blood glucose. Things commonly consumed during the holidays, like snacking cereal mixes (Chex Mix), are very high on the Glycemic Index of Foods. Instead of open bowls/containers of snack foods, such as Chex Mix, which are easy to gobble by the handful, package it in some kind of single serving amounts. Foods sweetened with a non-calorie sweetener might also quickly raise blood glucose due to other high-glycemic ingredients, such as high-glycemic fruits or white flour. #6. Foods with a small amount of sugar can also be used by most diabetics (muffins, for instance - even many cookie recipes and quick breads have low amounts of sugar), it's still about the total carbohydrates. Don't be fooled by so-called "sugar-free" recipes that incorporate concentrated fruit spreads or fruit juices - they can still be very high in "sugar" and carbohydrates and quickly raise blood sugar levels. You'll find many traditional cookie recipes are relatively low-carb, even though they use sugar. Check out the number of carbs in things like Scandinavian Butterballs (aka Mexican Wedding Cakes, etc.). These cookies are usually rolled in a small amount of powdered sugar. Instead of rolling the entire cookie in sugar, just dip one side, and bake the sugared side up, or omit the dusting of powdered sugar entirely. Reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe, or use a low-glycemic sweetener (or even a combination of a small amount of sugar and a non-calorie chemical sweetener), like agave nectar, or non-calorie sweeteners. Be sure to warn people eating foods containing non-calorie chemical sweeteners, especially Splenda. Many people are very sensitive to this sweetener - I have a friend with a severe sensitivity to Splenda, and eating it would even mean a trip to the hospital. Check nutritional information in cookbooks for the total amount of carbs. Off-set the carbohydrates by increasing the protein and fiber (add nuts, coconut flour, whey protein powder, and flaxmeal, etc.) I also substitute Agave Nectar (a natural, honey-like, low-glycemic sweetener) for sugar in most recipes I use. In many cookie recipes, you can easily reduce the sugar by 1/4-1/3 the amount without compromising the cookie. Here are a couple of my original "candy" recipes I used at a Holiday function where I catered all low-carb, low-glycemic foods. We're not diabetic, but I choose to make foods that are low-glycemic in hopes of preventing diabetes (which is prevalent in my husband's family). So far, so good... PROTEIN PEANUT BUTTER BALLS 1/2 c. whey protein (vanilla flavored) 1/2 c. peanut butter 2 T. Agave Nectar 1 t. vanilla or almond flavoring Mix thoroughly, by hand, with a fork. Form into small, 1/2-3/4-inch balls. Place in festive candy papers (look like small muffin cup papers). *If desired, add 1/2-3/4 c. crisp wholegrain rice cereal to the dough, for a little crunch. *Toppings: Melt 1/2 c. chocolate chips and drizzle a thread of chocolate over the tops of the candy balls. You can also dip the balls in a little Agave nectar and then dip in chopped, blanched, roasted almonds or toasted UNsweetened coconut (small shred). COCONUT ALMOND CANDY (Yield: 20 pieces) Melt: 2 T. butter in a frying pan Add: 1/2 c. long-shred UNsweetened coconut & 1/2 c. chopped raw almonds Over medium heat, cook until the ingredients begin to brown. CAUTION - this will burn easily. Remove from heat. Add: 2-3 T. Agave Nectar & 1 t. almond flavoring Stir well. Using a melon baller, or other small portion scoop, place a small scoop of candy in a small paper candy cup. Cool in a refrigerator at least 1/2 hour to set. -Grainlady