While Searching the Web Tonight came across this Link: http://www.kountrylife.com/ Below are two is Excerpts from it.  I think it's a Link well worth Mentioning. Enjoy! Country Living, Country Skills Country People KountryLife.com - A Country Living Resource and Community

March 30, 2010 Welcome... We have much to share with you. Take off your shoes, grab a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and stay awhile! [About Us] Talk With Us - our very active and friendly forum gives you a chance to discuss country life and rural living. [Let's Talk!] Stroll Down Memory Lane - browse through many memories of country living. Share your own memories with others! [Let's Stroll] Country Living Tips - readers have provided an extensive list of tips and information which you can browse or search. [View Tips] Articles of Interest - there is an ever-growing list of interesting articles covering a variety of country topics. [Read Articles] Photos Galore - There are current photos of country living submitted by our readers, old vintage photos, and interest-area collections. [Current Pics] [Old Pics] [Collections] And a Lot More - use the menu bar on the left to browse the site. You can also perform a site search or view a huge table of contents. [Search the Site] [Show Contents] We're glad you are here and hope you will come back often...

Country Living, Country Skills Country People KountryLife.com - A Country Living Resource and Community

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Double Trouble Grandparents An Ice Cream Summer Day Uncle Clete I Almost Kill Granny First Deer Hunt Our Pond Already Grown At My Dads General Store Re-Living My Childhood Entertainment The Feather Piller As A Child That Old House Cooking Breakfast Childhood Memories 1945 Dry Land Farm My Childhood Of My Great Farm Visits Mid-Night Cannonball No Water??? Grandmas Homemede Jelly Farming In 1930S In Oklahoma Cotton Fields Memories Of My Childhood William Gray Visit To Grandpa And Grandmas House The Gathering The Long Dusty Road Home Made Ice Cream And Fire Flies Grandmaws Apron Fire Bug Caterpillars M.L. Mclemores Lone Star Baste Dads Monumont----The Log Barn My Tonsillectomy Moms Big Dance & The Alfalfa Patch The Button Box My Country Boyhood Popping Popcorn In The Fireplace What I Want For Christmas Grans Christmas Letter Staying On The Farm Future Memories Thanks For Your Time Country Memory Map Names That Damn Horse Home Repairs Afternoon Smile... 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Hollywood Candy Bars Model T Hay Wagon In Response to John in Ca Memory of the Country Potato Patch My First Pony W C F L Kingfisher, High School Trapping Days Ocean spray days.. The Final Crop Grandfathers horse and buggy Hogs in the road Life in rural Pa. in the fortys Log houses way back when cont. Way back when Fishin Peabody Creek Canyon Uncle Toms Legend of the Bloody Hand SCOOTER TRIP/ BOSSIER CITY LA TO TALLADEGA ALABAMA Country Childhood Reply to Uncle Tom In Memory of Uncle Tom Wertz, Bedford, Pa. Hornets Reply to A Memory of being a kid. by Joe the Wrangler. Fast Runner The Haunted Tractor Alabama Dreamin - a childhood memory..... Goats and Bees Dont Mix Starting School in the Fall School A Memory of Being a Kid Smart Mule Poor Mans Way of Working Cattle Swarm Snakes, Bugs and Outhouses Fond Memories Growing Up in the 70s Uncle Joe and Aunt Gracie The Old Home Comfort Wood Cookstove. Grandpas Farm Ah, Those Old Harvest Day...... Kid Pranks or Outhouse Candy The Bees Knees Learning to be Country. Our Farm Last Night I Dreamed of the Ledbetter Fields Jim Dandy Summer Visits At My Grandma's The Sentinels Just Helpin Out Mud, Mud Everywhere Papa's M Lost Melody Nephew on the Farm Ethans First G Hay Jumping Bees in the Bonnet We Didn't Learn That in the City Mixed Breed Ducks Childhood Memories, Present Day Realities City Chickens Homemade Rootbeer Just Growing Up Early 1900s Telling The Forgotten Way Easy Does It The Threshing Ring Uncle Tyrus Before TV From City to Country I Missed the Farm Fathers Father-Student, Son-Teacher Plowing, or How I Became a Fathead Thinking Back, My First Nine Years of Joy. Going to the Grain Elevator with Grandpa Ryans Cross Roads Grandpas Animals Life Before Electricity The Early 50s on a Florida Ranch Farm Memories - Circa 1952 Growing Up On An Iowa Farm Growing Up On A Farm in Missouri Growing up on a Small Farm in the 50s and 60s Grandma's North Dakota Raising Pigs in the House The Three Holer The Life and Times of Mary Porter First Time I Drove a Tractor The First Day I Drove Grandpas Pickup on the Farm The Old Wood Cook Stove Mom Could Not Believe It My Mother Always Did It... The Old Farmhouse Memories of Dela Handy Just After Civil War Add Your Own Memories

Received this in the mail years ago ... a Company was attempting to get me to join their Recipe Club.  Those who are interested in making and filling a non traditional Easter Basket this year may find these Scanned Recipes Ideas a good starting point .... and a fun Family Project over the Spring Break. Wonder how other Cookie Cutters would work? Might come up with some interesting designs.  If anyone makes these, send me your photos and I will show them.



Enjoy!

Enough Recipes for now... Will be starting another Topic in next Blog.

Those interested in filling Easter Baskets with Homemade Items may want to consider this tasty Recipe. Children will enjoy helping you make these Chocolate Covered Pretzels any time of the year, This is also a good way to use up left over sprinkles from Christmas Baking.

• 2-6 Hazelnut Chocolate Bars *
• Bag of thin Pretzels
• Wax Paper

*OR if you prefer you can use the Chocolate Bar of your choice adding in your own crushed and ground Hazelnuts or the nut of your choice. Can be made without nuts, with sprinkles or other candies substituted.   Melted peanut butter, caramel or marshmallow cream can be drizzled over them for those who are adventurous. A half of a cup of Crunchy Peanut Butter can be added for every 3 Bars of plain Chocolate.

Melt Chocolate Bars in double boiler or with a homemade double boiler or a heavy botton pot with a diffuser stirring frequently.  If using a diffuser, after the chocolate is melted, you must keep it melted by placing the sauce pot in hot water.  Do not allow hot water to overflow into the pot!

Using appetizer tongs, dip pretzels into melted chocolate then place on wax paper to dry.  Sprinkle with additional nuts or fun topping of choice if desired.  If in a hurry, place wax paper on a platter and place in freezer or refrigerator.

This makes a great Gift Idea for any time of the year.  I especially enjoy making them to give to our Neighbors during the Christmas and New Year Holiday Season.

~~ The Resource Links added here are predominately for the benefit of those who are new or adventurous cooks ... some of these items can be found in your local Grocer, Discount or WalMart type of store for those who want to be frugal. ~~

Enjoy!  Happy Cooking

Below is a Recipe for Heather who just had her first baby ... "Brodie". It's a Boy! Congratulations Sweetie... you sure have grown up since we first met at Listening Heart Farm Bed and Breakfast.

Heather has requested a Toffee Syrup Cookie Recipe made with left over crackers she tasted when she was a Guest at Listening Heart Farm Bed and Breakfast. Children and Adults both like this unique Recipe.  This Recipe was originally served to me by Toby, the wife of  Michael...  The Pastor of Lion of Judah Messianic Church, back in the 1980's.

• Enough Saltines Cracker to fill a Foil Lined Cookie Sheet *about 40
• 1 Cup Sugar (white or brown)
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 2 Sticks Butter (use one stick for cruncher cookies)
• Small Bag Chocolate Chips

Preheat Oven To 425 degrees.  Lay out the Crackers on a Foil Lined Cookie Sheet, back to back.  The Cookie Sheet will need to have a rim. A Jelly Roll Pan will work too. Bring Sugar, Water and Butter to a boil and stirring continually, boil about 5 minutes.  Slowly pour hot syrup mixture over Crackers which are laid out on the Foil lined Cookie Sheet, covering them evenly.  Bake 5 Minutes. Remove from Oven ... immediately sprinkle Chocolate Chips on top, smearing them over the Cookies as they melt with a Spatula or the back of a spoon.  Refrigerate or freeze till hard, about 15 minutes. When cold, break them into pieces like Peanut Brittle. If the Chocolate does not melt all of the way, you can put the tray back in Oven for a minute or so to help in this process.

Options, sprinkle crushed nuts over melted chocolate, I prefer Hazelnuts. You can vary the Recipe by using the left over Crackers of your choice; Graham Crackers will make this cookie even sweeter. Personally I find it sweet enough without the Graham Cracker ... but would suggest if you use Graham Crackers, that you try making them similar to Smores by drizzling melted Marshmallow Creme on top.  This is also a good way to use up Stale Crackers as once they are baked, the heat and moisture freshens them.

~~ The Resource Links added here are predominately for the benefit of those who are new or adventurous cooks ... some of these items can be found in your local Grocer, Discount or WalMart type of store for those who want to be frugal. ~~

Next:  Recipes for those looking to fill non traditional Easter Baskets.

Enjoy and Happy Baking!

"Do you hear the Echo of that Train?  When the clouds become low like a ceiling in the sky and you can hear your Echo or the Echo of the Train, snow is not far behind", is what my Grandmother use to say. Am looking forward to saying the same to my Grandchildren ... and playing 'Echo' with them and others, before and after the Snow falls.

I love snow, it brings back fond memories... and can be made into an fun adventure if one has the mindset for it; "Camping out Indoors." for one. If it gets too cold in the House due to power outages, seek to solve the problem and bring out the child in everyone by suggesting everyone helps you push back the Furniture so you all can put up a Tent. If they are not interested in this... ask them for a better idea. If you don't have access to a Tent, make one out of things around the house.... be ingenious.

As I look outside and appreciate the Beauty of our little corner of Paradise covered with snow my mind begins to think about all of the great fun to be had. Seeing Animal Tracks in the

Snow reminds me of how my children did not have the advantages of growing up in the Country. Such really makes me look forward to the times when they can, through our experiences together with their Children whenever they visit here with us. When they are old enough and I can introduce them to Nature from my perspective I want to show my Grandchildren details like Animal Tracks. One of the games I look forward to playing with them is... 'Lets see who can find and identify the most animal Tracks.' and when we have exhausted our search, I hope to hold their interest by making Tracks with them... preferably in the Snow, but carving a track in a Potato to make a stamp out of them may be an creative alternative over a cup of warm Hot Chocolate.

Preparing for the coming  Snow Storms reminds me of how my children did not have the advantages of growing up in the Country. Such really makes me look forward to the times when they can, through our experiences together with their Children whenever they visit here with us. When they are old enough and I can introduce them to Nature from my perspective I want to show my Grandchildren details like Animal Tracks. One of the games I look forward to playing with them is... 'Lets see who can find and identify the most animal Tracks.' and when we have exhausted our search, I hope to hold their interest by making Tracks with them... preferably in the Snow. Here's a resource and a Quick Game: Animal Tracks Quiz for Beginners for those interested in doing the same someday.

I am surprised when I hear of people being bored on Snow Days. There are lots of ways to play in the Snow if one is dressed for the Weather ... using things like Plastic Bats for Baseball, Old Golf Clubs or Croquet Mallets used to see who can roll the largest Snow Ball, Plastic Bowling Pins to be knocked over with a Snow Ball, playing with an old pair of Snow Shoes, old Skis and Ski Poles, playing games like Tug of War, Toss the Hat on the Snowman, a Scavenger Hunt of Finding things sticking up out of the snow and the like.

Here are 2 links: 20 Games to Play in the Snow from Parents.com and Fun in the Snow from a Winter Resource Center. Another link which might be worth considering is: I loved Playing in the Snow when I was Young.

One of the many things I enjoy about Snow is Snow Recipes. Here are two... if anyone has anymore, I'd be interested in reading them, feel free to post them as a Comment for our Readers too:

Snow Ice Cream:

• 1 gallon of snow
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

When it starts to snow, place a large, clean container (you can use an insert from a Ice Cream Maker too), outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk of choice (to include evaporated milk) for the desired consistency. Serve at once.

Snow Cones: add Snow Cone Flavoring to freshly collected Snow, which you have put into paper Snow Cones... or make your own Snow Cones

Enjoy!