Friday Fun

This "Friday Fun" thing is a bit new but I'm enjoying it so for the time being, I'll keep doing it. No promises on how long it will last.

Here's something I made as a thank you for my kids' teachers. Clearly I didn't think of this on my own- I found it on the Family Fun website. First, I found some fun, colorful, inexpensive ice tea dispensers. I filled them with a couple sheets of bright tissue paper then stuck in a whole bunch of packets of ice tea mixes, lemonades, and juices. I was going to tie a fun bow around the top but just didn't have the right ribbon on hand. The kids helped me write thank you notes that said, "Hope this helps kick your summer off to a great start!" I know if I was a teacher I would LOVE to get a gift like this! Beats the heck out of the candles I got them at Christmas....

Darn. I think that's the only fun (crafty-type thing) thing I've been up to so far this week so I'll share a couple recipes of things I made this week.

White Chocolate Party Mix (courtesy of my Aunt Connie) *consider yourself warned: this stuff is highly addictive!

10 oz. bag mini twist pretzels

5 cups Cheerios

2 cups Crispix

2 cups salted peanuts (I like dry roasted)

16 oz bag M & M's

2- 12 oz packages white vanilla chips

3T oil

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Microwave vanilla chips and oil together until melted. Pour over cereal mixture. Lightly mix. Spread on wax paper. Cool and break apart. Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars *this is a fantastic "know it by heart" type recipe that I almost always have the ingredients on hand for and that nearly everyone I know loves.



1 tube refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1/2 cup sugar
1-8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 egg



Preheat oven to 350. Break the cookie dough in half and press half of it into a greased 8" square pan. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add the egg and mix until just combined. Pour over cookie dough in pan. Crumble the remaining cookie dough and drop onto cream cheese mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely, store leftovers in fridge.


*I would have taken pictures of these to show you but I made them yesterday and they have already disappeared.