Fun with a Side of Panic

Hello to all of Naelany’s friends.  I go by Moonstar most everywhere on the net.  Naelany invited me to be to do a guest on her blog.  At first I went into a slight panic attack when she asked me.  When you have Social Anxiety as bad as I do being asked to do something like this will make you crazy. Thoughts like:   ‘Really she wants me to do a guest blog; I will mess up her blog.’  ‘Strangers will be reading what I write, and will hate it.’ ‘I am a terrible writer, why would she ask me.’ ‘I can’t have people read what I write.’ Every other negative thought you can think of went through my head.  I then took a deep breath and said sure I will do it. I try to get out of my comfort zone every so often.  So here it goes.

To help with my Social Anxiety I found distractions are the best way to keep my mind from wondering too much into the negative thoughts.  My distractions are reading, crocheting, knitting, cooking and playing games on Facebook.

I have been reading since I have been four and I can never get enough of it.  Will read new books and stories or will re-read favorite books and stories.  I always have a book with me. Before eReaders I would always have a book to two in my bag with me.  In a line waiting to check out, whip out the book to distract me from all the people around me. Reading is just second nature to me that I think I would die a little inside if I could never read again.

The last few books and stories I have read are the following:

‘The Ghost Army of World War II’ by Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles.  A great non-fiction book about the 23^rd Headquarters Special Troops that deceived the Germany army with where the Allies troops were and how many there was on the ground. It was very interesting.

‘The Redemption of Althalus’ by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings.  This is one of my comfort books I re-read when nothing else can keep my attention.

All the great stories people have written for November’s Rough Trade Nano.  There are so many talent authors over there. I am so grateful that they will share their stories with us readers.

With the Holiday season upon us I have been making gift bags full of items for my friends and co-workers.  I like making gifts because it is a way to show them I a little bit of my love for them and it keeps me busy and distracted from the holidays madness that goes on.

One item going into all of the bags this year is a dishcloth from a new yarn I found this year.  Red Heart ‘Scrubby’ yarn.  This makes a great dishcloth; they are safe for non-stick pans but can be used to scrub stuck on food on dishes.  My advice when knitting with this yarn is to make sure you lotion your hands after working with it. The yarn likes to dry out your hands.  I think the dishcloths came out well for this year.

Another item that will be put into the gift bags are holiday treats.  My daughter and I will make everything we can think of.  This year we are making Cocoa Jars, Christmas Crack, three different kinds of cookies, 5 different kinds of fudge and peanut brittle.  Our little apartment looks like a bakery has exploded in it.

We have made the Cocoa Jars and Christmas Crack and peanut brittle so far.  They have turned out very well.  We haven’t started on the other items yet but they should be done by December 17^th.

If you have never had or made Christmas Crack you need to do it this year.  The recipe is simple to make and you will be making batches of it as you will not be able to get enough.    This version my mom gave to me and I am not sure where she got it from.  I am sure you can Google for it and find lots of other recipes for it.

‘Christmas Crack’

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

Saltine crackers

1 bag of chocolate chips (dark chocolate chips are great)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Place parchment paper on a 17in x 11in cookie sheet.  Place enough crackers in rows to fill the cookie sheet.

Melt the butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil, cook for 3 minutes.  Spread the sugar mixture evenly over the crackers so they are all covered.

Bake in oven for 4 minutes.

Spread chocolate chips over the top. Wait about a minute and then spread the melted chips evenly over the top.

Place in fridge for 20 minutes or until cooled.

Break into pieces and enjoy.

That is about all I have to say for now.  I wish everybody out there a great Holiday Season.  Stay Safe.

I want to thank Naelany for having me as a guest blog.  It has been fun with a side of panic.