What's up chicken butt?

LOL Gary I heart you...

So lately I have been ignoring a lot of crafts INCLUDING baby Tyler's afghan (I think I am about one skein from done and since it feels like he will never be born I am not hurrying)

What have I been doing to keep my hands busy? Well a million little things ~ OR more acurately a thousand little things. I have been making 1000 cranes for peace. As of today I have 125 done and still have quite a number to do. I am hoping to finish them for Mother's Day... I think my mom will rally like them as a gift. At first I thought I was going to hang them for her and then I realized it would be many strands of birds in her house (and I am not sure that that's the look she is going for...) then I thought I would put them in a box and decorate the box for her, now I am leaning towards one of those LARGE mason jars because I can not imagine that all the hours of work that I have put into these cranes being stuffed into a box never to see the light of day again. It would break my heart...

Speaking of hearts yesterday was Valentine's day. It was a great day. Jim had to work late on Monday and I had a great opportunity to make him his surprise gift. I made home made Maple-nut party mix... You would have thought I gave the man a million dollars... All that commotioin and the recipe was pretty easy (okay I will grant you it is a bit time consuming but it was easy.

Maple-Nut Party mix

1/4 cup butter or margarine (I used butter)
1/3 cup of brown sugar (I used dark that is what I had in the house)
2 Tablespoons of maple syrup (I used Aunt Jemima)
4 cups Rice Chex
4 cups corn Chex
1 cup peanuts (they said honey roasted but I didn't get them because they have gelatin on them and I wanted to be able to try this treat that my husband talks about frequently)


Pre-heat oven @ 225
In a roasting pan (in the oven) melt the butter. When fully melted mix in brown sugar and maple syrup. Allow brown sugar to disolve. After the sugar is disolved mix in the remaining 3 ingredients. This is where the time comes in. This needs to cook for 45 minutes. It also needs to be thoroughly stirred every fifteen minutes. After the 45 minutes spread on to a wax paper sheet and allow to cool fully. Store in an air tight container

*** I honestly was SHOCKED by this recipe. I couldn't for the life of me (while I was making it) understand why my husband would like such a sticky mess. But somehow when it cools down it loses it's stickiness***


And I will admit to YUM!