A HEARTSTOPPING  GOODBYE: This issue was already prepared  to go when we lost our beloved  furbaby, Hannah Jo Fosdick, 32 hours after having her last nine teeth extracted on Dec. 12. After an unexpected and horrifying blood loss and clotting condition, she died at home in hub’s arms.  Small dogs and white Schnauzers, in particular, are noted for dental problems. Hannah will be locked in our hearts forever. My new book will also immortalize her spirit via a special character named “Digby” for the endless JOY & HUMOR Hannah brought to our life during the last 10 years.

A CENTURY of FAMILY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS include mass-producing cookies, candies, stollen or snacks for company or gift-giving.  My ancestors were great cooks who turned out time-consuming treats each year, but I DO love modern short cuts and sweet diversity. Here are a few of my current favorites—followed by a Princess READER BIO of Millenial Maria Schmidt.  

NUTS  & BOLTS may be the vintage name, but CHEX MIX is the familiar. What remains in common in the favorite snack recipe is cheerios, chex cereals, pretzel sticks, nuts and a worchestershire drizzle mixed with butter and seasoning. (The recipe is online.) I make buckets of the snack every Christmas, often adding popular additions like rye chips, goldfish cheese crackers, or bugles.  This year I also made two roasting pans of SWEET CHEX from cinnamon and chocolate chex, corn chex, peanut butter/chocolate cheerios, goldfish, nuts and broken pretzels. Eliminating the Worcestershire, I doused the mix with a melted stick of butter mixed with brown sugar and ½ teaspoons of cinnamon and vanilla. As with the more SAVORY CHEX mix, my secret to the crispy snack is BUTTER:  A whole stick for the sauce drizzle and a quick spray with an aerosol-butter can every 15 minutes when baking an hour at 240-250 degrees. By taste, I sometimes sprinkle it with popcorn salt after one or two intervals. When cool, add red and green M & M's  before scooping it into decorated tins, boxes or cellophane bags for gifts.

PRETZEL KISSES are another easy recipe—a tasty gift  idea or colorful addition to any cookie tray. Put pretzel O’s on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Unwrap your favorite flavor of candy kisses or hugs and set inside the pretzel circles. Put in a preheated 200 degree oven for 4-5 min. until chocolate is soft. Press onto top of soft kiss either M & M's, red hots, a nut or half a candied cherry. These harden faster when refrigerated. This year I made them with caramel swirl kisses topped by a tiny gold star or nut. 

NUTELLA FUDGE Back by popular demand is the easy fudge recipe I posted last year. You can add nuts or chunky peanut butter, if desired, and top fudge with a sprinkle of sea salt, ground pistachio nuts or crushed candy cane—(peppermint or cherry is my favorite!)  Directions: In a double boiler, melt 8 oz. chocolate chips, 1 C. Nutella, 3 T. butter, with 1 can sweetened condensed milk and 1 t. vanilla. Pour into a foil-lined greased 8x8 pan.  Refrigerate at least 2 hrs. (The hazelnut spread and sea salt combo made me devour the whole lst batch last year.)

PRINCESS FAN MARIA SCHMIDT  is a Millenial on the go, and at age 23, already checking off her bucket list.  She is just a few months away from receiving a Masters in Speech Language Pathology at UMN, adding to her BS in Communication Science from River Falls, Wis. Always evolving with goals and interests, this Rochester native and animal lover became a vegetarian 2 yrs. ago when she saw a truck of pigs going to market. About the same time, hiking led to running  in the Twin Cities marathon. Her artistic talent in multi-media has branched into form shapes in nature. A love of horses led to ten years riding at the Fosdick Funny Farm and consequently –wrangling  horses at a YMCA summer camp. When Maria finds TIME TO READ, she often chooses self-reflection, goal oriented books, or historicals which include the Accidental Series. “Wonderful characterizations! At the end of the Accidentals, I felt like I was best friends with the characters. Such descriptive writing put me right there in the beautiful settings—living through the character’s adventures. “ Last month Maria and Cj both enjoyed a “riding fix” at the local Red Gate stable followed by a delicious vegetarian salad fixed by Maria’s talented mom, JANE, incidentally. . . another Accidental reader.

    WISHING YOU A MERRY XMAS & SWEET NEW YEAR!  Cj and Eric!