The Angels Annual Christmas Baking Extravaganza!!

I have been blessed with MANY great friends in my life. I have two exceptionally good friends in Tulsa which have stood by me this past year as I faced some of the greatest challenges of my life. They have cried with me, laughed with me, helped me when I was helpless, and comforted me through thick and thin. They are truly GREAT women of God and live their faith in all that they do and say. About two years ago I discovered Debbie Macomber's "Angel" books. The angels are ..... Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. We have adopted the three angels. We each have claimed an angel which strangely enough matches our own unique personality. It has been great fun referring to each other by our "Angelic" names. This morning on her way to my house for our annual Christmas baking day ...."Shirley" stopped by our favorite bakery and bought us each a very special cookie. Aren't these just fabulous???!!!! Shirley is at the top of the plate watching over Goodness and Mercy as she does in each of the stories and in our real lives too. I am so thankful to have her in my life....especially when she brings cookies!!

Today was filled with flour, sugar, chocolate and more chocolate as we measured, mixed, baked and cooled our treats. We have been doing this for about 10 years. We haven't burned down anyone's house yet.

Here's Shirley and Mercy as they arrived at my house loaded with supplies. Smiles were easy as we were all excited about our special day together. We quickly jumped in and began "whipping it up" as Mercy would say.

First batch of Christmas tree spritz cookies get egg washed and sprinkled before baking. Now time to make the peppermint bark. A real favorite. We have gotten better at making it over the years.

Next we made Peppermint Oreo Cookie Balls. Do you think we like peppermint or what??

Getting ready to coat these babies with white and dark chocolate and sprinkle with crushed....you guessed it....peppermints.

The tray of dipped Oreo balls is in the background. Don't you think the spritz Christmas trees are pretty??

Two pans of peppermint bark.

A roaster full of Chex mix. Is there anything better??? Guess I am the savory Angel.

Pretzels drizzled with white and dark chocolate

Pretzel rods dipped in just about everything in the kitchen.....caramel, nuts, chocolate, sprinkles. You name it and we put it on!!!

A pan of caramels in the making.

Finished product!!! Dark and White Caramels!!

Peppermint bark in holiday containers. When we break the bark there are always lots of "crumbs" on the tray. We bag them up for Shirley. She LOVES to put them in her coffee.

Yum!! A bag of Peppermint Chocolate "Crumbs" to go!! Coffee anyone??

The end of the day Shirley is dividing up the fruits of our labor.

A tray full of luscious goodness!!

More goodies for the taking!! After a day of fun and laughter we headed to Kohl's for a shopping freenzy then ended up at our local Hideaway Pizza for dinner. It was a glorious day!!

If you want recipes to anything we made today just leave me a comment and I will get it to you!!

Now who's cleaning up this mess??????

Happy Trails,

Mtn Mama

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