Just a Closer walk with Thee: Christmas Eve (RECAP)

On the Eve of Christmas Eve I got up extra early to get dressed and be over at Kerri's house so I could be there before the girls got up....when I got there Karis was already up....and Kerri was in the shower! Once everyone was up, the day was filled with more errands and grocery stops. Scott got into town late that afternoon. We ate supper at Mitt and Kerri's and while the folks babysat the little girls, the big girls and the big boys played a friendly game of spades. If you know my brother well...you know he is...well....confident...and not afraid to tell you that he is "GUUD!" :) So Kerri and I decided we should pair up and take on him and Scott. So it began....first hand....Kerri and I made the boyz go SET! ha!! They played catch up the rest of the game but could never quite do it!! Kerri and I were right on our bid every hand! It was a glorious win!!

Christmas Eve I slept in a little to be nice and rested for the day ahead. Mitt and Scott went duck hunting. And Mom was up making her final lists. We decided to try to attempt Mom's famous Pecan Brittle recipe to take to LuLu's on Christmas. We knew ahead of time this would be a challenge. A challenge not because it was Christmas Eve...but because we didn't have Mom's microwave. The critical ingredient to this entire recipe is the microwave. Not any microwave will work. And MANY people have tried this recipe and been unsuccessful because of the microwave. In Mom's old house, her microwave would do it perfect every time...but when she would try to do the same thing somewhere else...FLOP! But we decided to try a couple test cases and see if we could make it work. And I decided to take pictures along the way....

We had four unsuccessful attempts, adjusting a microwave setting each time..but we just couldn't get it to work. We were bum-fuzzled and frustrated. It was a brittle disaster!!

You are welcome to try it for yourself...if it ever turns out, its DElicious!!!!

Step 1: Place 1/2 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of dark karo in a glass bowl. Then pour 1 cup of sugar on top. Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

Tip: Have your next ingredients measured out and ready so that you can move quickly through the next steps. Mixing the ingredients while hot is key!

Step 2: Add 1-inch square of paraffin (shaved) to the microwaved mixture in Step 1, and stir until it melts. Then add 2 cups of chopped pecans. Put back in microwave for 7.5-8 minutes.

Step 3: Add 2 teaspoons of soda and stir well. Mixture will foam up. Pour out on greased cookie sheet. Pack down as thin as you can.

Step 4: If it WORKED, it should become "brittle" in 10-15 minutes and you can break it into pieces. If you try to break it and it bends like soft plastic...it didn't work!

Other Tips:
1. Use a large glass bowl when microwaving instead of a measuring cup. The mixture seems to burn too easy when its in a smaller bowl. Be sure its GLASS, it will melt plastic.
2. Before you start, have everything chopped and measured so you can move fast. It works better the quicker you can do it.
3. The soda works better if its fresh.
4. Tastes much better with homegrown pecans!

Our first try we SCORCHED it! So we tried reducing the microwave level from high down to 6 or 7. That still didn't work, so that's when we tried using a larger bowl that allowed the mixture to spread out a little bit. That worked with the burning problem...but then it wasn't done enough. We tried again adjusting the level back up to high and it BURNT again...so we gave up. On mom's old microwave, she did it just as the recipe said and it turned out perfect every time! Go figure!

After we gave up on that it was time to start getting ready for the Christmas Eve service. First Baptist had a wonderful candle light service. The girls did so well.

When we got back it was time to open gifts!

The girls picked out which ones were theirs....

Macey McKay downed a bottle before the fun began....

The girls LOVE their Mimi....

Karis with her pile....

Ansley with her pile....

And little Macey McKay with her pile....her gifts were bigger than she was!!!!

It was so fun watching the girls get so excited about everything!!

Big sister Karis loved helping Macey McKay with her new toy...a JACK-IN-THE-BOX!

Check out Macey McKay...she is ALWAYS smiling!!

Scott playing with his new Garmin!!

Karis still showing Macey McKay how the Jack-in-the-box worked....that was a popular gift for ALL the girls!!

Here is my stash....I loaded up!!

And yes, that is MY new Remington Shotgun!!! An 870 20 gauge!! That was definitely a surprise!! That was from my husband...along with a new gun case, insulated hunting boots, two Beth Moore Bible studies ("Jesus" and "John"), and a BLACKBERRY phone!!! My husband is awesome when it comes to gifting!!! He always knows exactly what I like!!! Kerri got me a new piece of McCarty and some Christmas pajamas. Mom got me a whole set of quilted china keepers!!

Scott also got some pole thing to keep in his new duck hunting boat to gather up his decoys...he was scraping the sticker off the side while Ansley watched...