December Candy Recipes

Favorite Caramels (Mrs. Menlove)

4 c sugar

2 c white corn syrup 1/2 tsp salt

1 large can evaporated milk 3 Tbsp vanilla

1 c walnuts, broken into pieces

1 qt whipping cream

Mix sugar, syrup, salt and 2 c cream together. Boil on medium heat and when mixture cooks down, gradually add the rest of the cream. Stir constantly. After mixture cooks down a second time, add a can of milk slowly, while stirring. Cook to a firm ball or 232. Remove from heat, add vanilla and nuts. Pour into greased 1OX14 pan. Let stand 24 hrs and cut into squares. **For chocolate caramels: Add 1 sq baking chocolate when caramels reach 220 or add 4 Tbsp chocolate syrup at the beginning.

Grandma Smith's Foolproof Divinity

3 c granulated sugar

1/2 c light corn syrup

3/4 c water

1/4 c egg whites (or whites of 2 average eggs)

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 c chopped walnuts

Measure carefully and combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and bring to a boiling point. Cover and boil without stirring 3 mins. This avoids crystallization of sugar. Uncover and put the candy thermometer into the mixture. Cook evenly until candy reaches 265 or until a small amount dropped in cold water forms a ball (firm ball stage). Remove from heat. Add salt and vanilla to egg whites. Beat at very high speed until stiff moist peaks form when beater is withdrawn. (Don't over beat--egg whites should not be dry.) Beat in syrup slowly, pouring a thin stream from a height of 1 2-inches. Continue beating (high speed again) until mixture will almost hold its shape but is still glossy. This stage can be tested by allowing a small amount

to run from a spoon into the bowl. Stir in nuts and pour into a pan (7-inches square) lined with wax paper. Or drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. **Chocolate divinity is made by adding 3

squares baking chocolate.

HERSHEY'S COCOA FUDGE (LIKE DAD MAKES)

2/3 c. Hershey's cocoa

3 c. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine cocoa, sugar and salt in a large saucepan (3 quart size). Add milk, gradually mix thoroughly, bring mixture to a "bubbly" boil. On high heat, stirring continuously. Turn control to medium heat and continue to boil this mixture, without stirring, until it reaches a temperature of 236 degrees F. (soft ball stage). Remove saucepan from heat; add butter and vanilla to mixture. DO NOT STIR. Cool at room

temperature to 110 degrees. Set saucepan in cold water to hasten cooling. Beat until fudge thickens and loses some gloss. Pour into greased dish.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth 13-Minute Chocolate Fudge

This is melt-in-your-mouth "hard" fudge - easy enough for kids to make (with appropriate supervision).

2 cups sugar

1/2-cup milk

1-tablespoon golden syrup

1-tablespoon cocoa

1-teaspoon butter

Makes 20 squares

Before beginning get everything ready. This is a time sensitive recipe. Grease or line with foil a cake pan or deep biscuit tray for the finished product to set. Clear the sink and get a handbeater ready. Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan and place over a low-medium heat. Stir until boiling. Boil for 6 minutes - reduce heat to ensure it doesn't boil over, but is still at a rolling boil. Take off heat and place saucepan in sink (the lower height helps). Beat until it starts to thicken - a hand beater helps here as you can feel it thickening. This fudge goes from thickening to too far very quickly. The more beating it gets the better it is. Pour or scoop the almost set fudge into the tray. When set, cut into squares. A hot knife helps. Options: Push (or stir in before pouring into pan) nuts into almost set fudge. Add a flavoring before beating. If hand-beating, you can add a little water to the bottom of the sink to help the saucepan cool - the fudge thickens quicker - but isn't quite as good. Use an electric hand mixer to make the process painless - but watch the thickening.

Melanie’s Creamy Chocolate Fudge

1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2/3-cup evaporated milk

1/4-cup butter

1/4-teaspoon salt

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1-cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

Line an 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil. Set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt. Bring to a full boil, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour in semisweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.

Ella Dean Hunter’s Mystery Toffee Bars

Blend together with mixer: 1 stick butter. (Not margarine. butter should be at room temp) 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar. Mix together really well, then add 1-cup flour. Mix this really well and put in pan 9x9 and bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle 1 pack of chocolate chips (or vanilla chips can be used) over top. Set in oven for about 2 min so they can be spread with spoon. Sprinkle chopped nuts over top and let cool.

For Mystery Bar Topping:

1-cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

2-T flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2-cup coconut

2/3 cup chopped nuts

Pour over crust from above and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cut while rather warm, about 20 minutes from oven, they cut much better then. ENJOY

Who Said It Was Easy?

Here is a touch of what genealogists run into all the time. This is from the Oxford list today. Would they have considered themselves more Oxfordian than anything else? Oxfordian!

Love, Donnette Smith

*****

Sum on us cums frum Head'nton an' sum frum Shotover Hill. An' sum on us cums frum Ifflee an' sum all th' way frum Brill. We all on us speaks Queen's English 'xactly as 'ers is spoke. An' all on us be *Oxonians* - yer bain't if yer cums from Brill, me dear. Thas Bucks, that be.--

Eve McLaughlin

[Professional Buckinghamshire researcher and teacher]

*****

I fear for anyone who has never come across a broad English accent of any description reading these wonderful posts. But in the hope it doesn't send anyone fully round the big dipper my favourite Bucks quote is: Hay nay brayn cay. Translated means 'how now brown cow'. It will help Listers see how things were mistranscribed by parish scribes, census takers, etc. in the early years anyway!! Particularly when

people moved just down the road where the accent was completely different.

All the best everyone,

May LANCHBURY

Perth, Western Australia

The Butcher, The Baker, and the Mammograph Taker

It seems, to me, Amy, that life is pretty much the same old same old from month to month. I do all the same things over and over. This is a busy time of year in the Mammo department. Everyone has met their deductible and wants to get their Mammograph taken before the end of the year. Appointments are stacked up and some will need to hold over until January. Then there will be a slow time, again, until about March. I am trying to get Christmas all finished and am just about there. I came up with a neat way to get the tree up in no time. I worked out the lights so that they just come apart where our artificial tree

comes apart. That way I can just put the tree away with the lights on and then, like this year, can just snap it together, plug in the lights and we are good to go.

Eric is good. It is so great to be able to say that he is doing so well. He had the day off on Sunday and was able to go to church with all of us. Then we had family night afterward. It was a wonderful. It is good to see him doing so well.

All the kids, of course, like all kids are excited about Christmas.

A.J. climbed up on Santa’s lap when Santa visited the ward party. Santa asked AJ. what he wanted for Christmas. “A candy cane,” AJ said. Santa asked if he didn’t want something else but AJ stuck to the candy cane (no pun intended). It was the cutest thing. He has decided that he wants the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” CD. He kept asking for the “suvuc” which we finally figured out was the music CD.

Maddie lost her two front teeth. She was quite excited about it. The Tooth Fairy came to visit

and made her even happier. We sang the “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” song to her. She has been going around singing it on her own.

David was diagnosed with a learning disability. We now will be able to help him. He has problems writing and getting his ideas on paper. Typing on the computer is helping with that. Orally, he is very quick and responds to questions with good answers. He is very cleaver and has an active imagination. We are now learning to help him get those good ideas down on paper. David also enjoys Scouts and is

working to earn awards. 

Jason is a voracious reader. I have quit timing him on his reading. He is supposed to read for 30-minutes a day but he does much more than that everyday. He is now reading “Under the Jolly Rodger.” He has read many of the classics. If it is printed, he reads it. He enjoys picture books that are on Maddie’s level and chapter books above his level. He just likes books. Amy was that way when she was a child. He is also working on his Scout awards and is enjoying that.

Have a merry Christmas! We hope to see many of you during the holidays.

The Buzz’n Joneses

Merry Christmas! It is hard to believe that it is the holiday season again. We hope that everyone is enjoying the fun of the season. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Jones buying us a Christmas tree tag, we already have our tree up and decorated. That is something extraordinary for our family. Let’s face it, it doesn’t take much to “keep up with [us] Joneses” as far as Christmas decorating goes.

We traveled to Idaho for Thanksgiving. We left at 9:15 in the morning and got there at 11:30 at night due to a million honey deliveries we had to make along the way. We are thankful to have sold the honey, but we need to find a better day to deliver it than the day before Thanksgiving. Thanks also to the stalwart driver who allowed his expecting wife, who is not so great with child, and his daughter to sleep the last two hours of the trip.

Mary is growing fast! She has sprouted three new teeth in the past month with two more on the way. She sure loves her Dad. She loves it when he comes home to play with her. When she hears the truck pull up in front of the house, she will run to the front door, crouch down and wait for the door to open. When the door opens, she yells “Boo, Dad!” Then he’ll run up and grab her and hug and tickle her until she laughs. It is really fun to watch.

Jim is currently moving the bees from Utah to California. He has enlisted the help of Grandpa Trauntvein. Jim drives the night shift, and Grandpa drives the day shift. They have a total of 10 trips to make. So far they have made four in the past four days. They should finish moving them by next week. Then, Jim has a few days down in sunny Cal. to feed the bees. After that, it’s leave them alone for a month until he gets them ready to go to Bakersfield for pollination.

The exciting thing that Jim is looking forward to this month is going to the Las Vegas Bowl to watch the Cougars. They are playing Cal State on Dec. 22. Jim is driving down with Grandpa Jones, two brothers, three sisters, and two brothers-in-law. If you get a chance to watch the game, they will be the ones in the crowd with red faces from cheering and yelling too loud.

Life for me is going well. I am a little less green than I have been in the last few months, and ready to be completely green free. Scouts is still scouts, and that is all I will say about that! 

We now have a van. We just bought it on Saturday. Now Jim, when he drives to church, really looks like a family man. That is something he says he is happy about. To quote Jim, “We got a sweet deal!’

We love you all and wish you a wonderful Christmas season.

Love,

The Tres Nephites and Bun in the Oven

Oh! Hi! Oh!

Melanie and her family came to stay the week of Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with them here. It was good to have them almost all here (Hi, Siovhan).

Our big news?! Hailey Maxine Trauntvein was born yesterday at 4:23 pm EST, in Newark, Licking County, Ohio. She was 7lbs 13ozs and 20.5 inches long. I sent separate pictures to everyone and will send more as we get them. Mother and baby are doing well.

About the children? Michael is almost a Star scout. He just needs to finish two merit badges and he will be there, then on to Life. He is now the deacon's quorum president for our ward. That will keep him a little busier. He is doing well in school and!his "claim to fame" is that he made the art teacher's heart skip a beat. He is her teacher's assistant and he hid a plastic spider in some papers on her desk. She gasped.

Tyler is playing basketball. He is on one of eight 2nd grade teams. He is doing well at school and

loves Mr. Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes is getting married and Tyler likes his fiancée as well. She comes to school and helps out from time to time.

Emily is just as busy as ever. She is joining 1st grade cheer leading in addition to her dance and gymnastics classes. Wednesday is a long day for her and now it appears that Saturday will have a

couple of hours used up as well.

We are still looking for a piano teacher for the boys. We found one, but we have to travel about 15 miles to get there. It appears that piano players out here are at a premium and that no one wants to teach it. So, on we go with the search. Until then, the boys practice from time to time, but it is hard to keep them motivated without the lessons.

Amy is doing well and work is going well. We love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas and

a Happy New Year!

Rocky Mountain “Hi!”

The Waites are still up to no good, no bad either; basically we're just up to nothing but the ordinary and mundane. As I sit here typing, I can't help but think of the pile of laundry that awaits me upstairs, the mold growing in the shower, the cards still needing to be sent, the decorations still needing to be put out and chestnuts roasting on an open fire...This is the only time of year that the ordinary can be extraordinary simply by adding a few holiday songs, isn't it?!

We had our ward Christmas Party on December 3. Whitney got to dance with her Dad to "Santa Baby," mom got to help make up the dance, Emma practiced the dance a few times and backed out the last minute (you know she definitely doesn't get that from me) and the audience got a kick out of the whole thing. Overall it was a lot of work and a lot of fun. Iwish we would have taken a camera, but I'm not that organized. We'll have to find a video copy for you all. This was Jared's first "dance recital" from the performance perspective. He admitted to being nervous when the curtains opened and thinking, "What am I doing standing on a stage in a Santa hat, holding a candy cane in front of people I have to socialize with for the next?? years?!" I think it would seem like a bad nightmare to many, but he ended up holding his own and the crowd loved seeing all the dads dance with their little 3-4 year-old girls (who were wearing red-sequined Santa hats and red feather boas--not the snake, the accessory).

We had a great time in Tennessee for our Thanksgiving break. The weather was cold enough for snow, but without a single flake (besides myself, of course--that one was for you, Howard) in sight. Nashville is only an hour and a half from Huntsville, Alabama so we took the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to go tour the Space museum there. There were absolutely no lines for any rides or movies, so we got to see

and do all we wanted, including Whitney who found her new talent in life: she mastered the art of rock-climbing at the "Mars" rock wall. She was actually really good and even mastered repelling the first time (she made some of the "old men" who were climbing the wall look a little silly).

The museum is!a little different than I remember it being 25 years ago.! We couldn't get close to the rocket (the one they have in segments!on its side in the outside exhibit) since they're in the process of repainting it. The large water tank they used to use to train the astronauts wasn't there either (there was a smaller one, but only "Space Camp" kids get to "see" that). They were also missing what I remember to be a walkthrough replica of a shuttle. A few other things seemed to be missing in the outside exhibits,

though I can't rely too much on my five-yearold-little-girl memory since that part of me also remembers throwing the "tea" crates over the side of the Boston Tea Party ship then walking to the Philadelphia mint; that's just a slightly longer walk than the marked "Freedom Trail."

While in Nashville, we also got to spend an evening looking at the Christmas displays in the Gaylord Opryland plaza. They have thousands of lights and decorations. If you haven't heard, Gaylord Opryland is a group of hotels all connected together through a central indoorwith-that-outdoor feel plaza (store fronts, balconies, trees, fountains, etc.). It was pretty fun, especially since it was also the week that all

the "National Beta" clubs of Tennessee were hosting a conference (many, many 12-18 year olds running around). It brought back memories of school trips we got to take (though our hotels were never as nice as this one, need I mention the "green well motel").

The girls enjoyed being with their uncles, especially Skylar, 9, more than anything else we did. I guess that's usual. It actually reminded me a bit of Dave when he was that age and could entertain little kids pretty easily and genuinely. Needless to say, we all had a good time. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Season. We wish we could spend time with any and all of you and have some of those

Christmases of yore, but I guess that's why we had/have such wonderful traditions in our families, so we can always feel at home whether that's at Mom and Dad T's or at our own homes in Utah, Colorado, Massachusetts or Ohio.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for teaching us the importance of traditions and helping us start our own. Love you all!! Happy holidays!!!!!

The Waites

The Magnificent Seven, December 6, 2005

We are hopeful that we might be in our new house after December 16, which is supposed to be the day we close on the house. After that wewill be busy moving into it and fixing up the condo. It will make for an interesting holiday.

Alyssa is in the Nutcracker on the 6th and 7th of December at Thanksgiving point. Tickets may be bought on line at ticketmaster.com. We are going Tuesday because that is when she is a party girl

and a soldier.

The Christmas dance recital is December 12th at UVSC. And the school choir and band concert is

December 14th at the school.

Brandon has still not been released and no calling has been extended. So we will travel back to this ward for a while. Brandon thinks it is not a good time to be released because he is in themiddle of tithing settlement anyway.

Boston Baked Boltons

(Editors note: as cold as it is in Massachusetts, I think we need a different name for the winter months. Something like Chill’n Out in Mass.)

The month of November, like the beginning of December, has rolled by so very quickly. November was a very busy and very fun month.

Mikaela is always at the end of the news, but she wants me to start at the bottom and work my way up. Mikaela is still taking gymnastics and is loving the class. She has quite a large class, that they have had to break it into two groups. Mikaela also performed in our ward's Sacrament Meeting Program. She practiced and practiced her part so that she wouldn't have to rely on the piece of paper. When she got up to speak, she gave a different talk. She did that two more times. I looked at Braden and said, "I thought

that she had just one little part. We haven't practiced the other lines." Braden said, "Well, she knows them very well, maybe they gave them to her last week and she just forgot to tell you." Come to find out, she was asked that morning if she would read the parts of the children that hadn't shown up. I was very

surprised. They could have asked some of the eleven or ten year old girls, but they asked Mikaela.

As you are all aware, Mikaela turned eight, the same day that Todd turned 40. She thinks it is pretty great that she has an Uncle that has the same birthday. We were traveling through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut the day before her birthday. When she woke up on her birthday, we were in Connecticut and she was surprised that she had birthday presents. She was wondering how we had gotten the presents there without here seeing. It wasn't as easy as she thought, but she doesn't need to know how. We finished our drive and arrived in snowy Massachusetts to finish off her great day. She

said she had a wonderful birthday, but was disappointed by the Chinese Food. She had wanted a buffet style dinner, but forgot to explain that part of the meal plan. We are planning her baptism for January 7th. We are trying to work around our ward's schedule and Siovhan's.

Ben has been selected by his school to take the SAT tests in January. He will start classes the first week in December to help prepare him for the SAT tests. He also is a new member of the Science Fiction Movie Club. They meet every Friday at school and watch the 1950's and 1960's Science Fiction Movies. His favorite so far is the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes." He said he never remembered laughing so much at a supposedly "scary movie." Ben also went to Connecticut the Monday after Thanksgiving. He

was on the Stacy Middle School's Nature's Classroom. It is a weeklong event where they stay in cabins and learn about the Under Ground Railroad, how to take care of the environment and how to get along with others. He said he was glad to be home, where he could eat real food, sleep in a real bed and shower without ten people in the same room. I told him it was a good experience to get him ready for college and mission. He told me that if that is what the real world was like, he was never leaving home.

Oops. I shouldn't have taken on a teaching moment.

Braden has been marching his feet off. His band is usually done with marching in mid-November, but because our High School Football team did so well, Braden has extra games and extra practices. He wasn't too sad when this week's practice was canceled on account of pounding, cold rain. The Milford High School Band participated in our State High School Football playoffs, called The Massachusetts Super Bowl. They were outside in Worcester (pronounced Woosta), all afternoon on Saturday, and didn't get home until early evening. Being a Scout helped to prepare him for the cold. He went with hand warmers and foot warmers, dressed in layers and had covering for his head. It was 20 degrees outside on Saturday afternoon, even though it was sunny skies. He said it was a lot of fun, but our team lost by 56 points. The score was 56-0.

Howard is home for the month of December. What a good thing that has been. I have had so much to do for Young Women that I have been gone almost every day for the past week, and it will be same for the next two weeks. Howard is still traveling to all the warm parts of the globe and loving it. He recently returned from Chile, where he was at a Latin America Conference. It was so much fun for him. He was calling me several times a day to tell me all the exciting events that they had planned. I was glad that he

could have so much fun. His knowledge of Italian helps him to understand some of the Spanish, so it makes it not as hard to go to the various conferences in the South American countries. It is funny to us though when he tries to speak Spanish, because he does it with an Italian accent. Howard loved Ohio and has spent several evenings researching houses and companies in the area. No we aren't moving, he

just is amazed by the amount of house that one can get for the price.

I loved the drive through New York's Alleghany Mountains on our way to Todd's. We went to Ohio on the northern route, and came home on the southern route. I was also very happy to spend time in Kirtland, Ohio. The area there is so beautiful. The weather was beautiful the day we were there, and the tours were very thought provoking. The children noticed a different feeling in the Kirtland Temple, than in the houses in Historic Mormon Kirtland. We explained that the land and homes in Historic Kirtland were dedicated and set apart for the Lord's work, and the Kirtland Temple was just a building, not a temple to us anymore.

We had a great time with Todd's family. The area has so many things for families to do. While the Trauntveins were in school on Tuesday, we went to the Amish part of Ohio. We had fun going to a cheese factory, touring downtown Berlin, buying lunch in a Mennonite-owned restaurant and driving through the countryside, seeing buggies all along the route on our way back to Todd's. It was fun for the

kids just to play for hours on end. They made up games, they played Nintendo and they watched movies. They talked for hours and laughed for hours. It was a very good visit. We were the traditional family; we took sick kids, and came home with healing kids. Hopefully, the Trauntveins had good immune systems and no one caught what we had.

Well, that's all for now folks.

True Blue Cougar Kid, December 6, 2005

Well, I figured I was probably old enough just to write one for myself. Especially because there's only so much pleasure my mom can have making fun of my "harem." My mother's illusion of a harem has expanded this year. I still hang out with the two guys I got really close to last year, but at the same time I have a whole new apartment of guys that I hang out with. My roommates are so good this year, too. Heather, my roommate from last year, just moved back home. The other four roommates are such a

blessing to me. They are all from Georgia and South Carolina, so it has bee quite the adventure teaching them how to drive in the snow. That duty has fallen upon me considering I got my license in a snowstorm. They are wonderful, good girls and they try so hard to be considerate of each other and me. 

This semester has gone really well for me and I have done fairly well in school. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else for school, but at the same time I still get the occasional bout of homesickness. I am almost done with school and I can't wait to go home and see my family. I'm venturing getting my wisdom teeth out this break, as well as many other medical appointments so my mom jokes that it's

more of a medical break than a vacation. That about sums up this month.

Well, every princess has her knight and I’m still in it for the!fight.