dragonriders

In line all night long, I could stand to be warmer These deals are worth it!

1-But honey, I got a coupon for 10% of our next purchase. 2- Maybe all of these gifts will make my teenage daughter stop being mad at me for not buying her that car. 3- (5 hours before picture was taken) "Ok, mom, 4 hours until the stores open, we can take turns napping. I will take the first nap and you can wake me in an hour so you can nap."

I am the cook of the family along with the family Christmas gift shopper....so Thanksgiving day is a BUSY day for me....I get up before 7 and start cooking (at least what I did not do the night before). Send my Mom or Dad out to get papers for the ADs while I am cooking. Then I haul all the food to my Parents house where my brothers family and my 2 sisters family all meet for dinner. (22 of us and growing) then after dinner everyone sits down and looks at the ADs. Everyone gives me a list of what they want from our parents for Christmas. Then I go home and put everyone's wish list into my family's list. I will be up all night planning my route, and getting my shopping list together (there is a big group of us that shop together) So I am on the phone with all of them as they are all in line at stores. I get all their list too and add it on my list....then print a dozen copies. Leave the house around 2 AM and met up with each person that is already in line for stores. Give them the updated list and bring them breakfast:) The rest of the day is spent touching base with everyone and making sure ever store is hit.When all the shopping is done we all met at one place separate our bags, everyone gets everything the "ordered" in their cars, tally up who owes who what and head home. ....by the time I get home on Friday. I sleep about 4 hours LOL

Two years ago, My husband and I let our 16 year old son go shopping with us, cause we were short handed and he was really interested in Black Friday shopping. So we didn't sleep Thanksgiving night and left the house a 2:30 AM to go to the biggest town around us (as they have the biggest selection of stores and it happens to be the state capital). This is about an hour trip. When we got there, we dropped the son at Target, we a few blocks down and dropped me at Wal-Mart and my hubby went down a few more blocks to Toys R Us. By this time it close to 4 AM so we have an hour wait until Wal-Mart and Toys R Us open but my son had 2 hours to wait until Target opened. We are all standing in line and calling each other on the phone to keep each other awake and to pass the time. about 4:40 my husband calls me and says you are not going to believe this...my brother-in-law had called my husband because he was watching the morning news and had saw our son being interviewed at Target. My brother-in-law was gripping at my husband for "leaving that poor boy to stand in line in the cold, while we waited in the car" LOL.....Hubby finally explained that we were all in the cold at different stores. But it figures we have been going Black Friday shopping for years and never even seen a news crew....the first year my son goes and he's on the news :). He loves Black Friday shopping and can't wait every year until time to go.....I don't know who gets more excited me or him :)

I am holding my knee work till the first of the year so I will not miss out.:)

I think this is the 6th or 7th year for us.

I am the cook of the family so I do most of the cooking for our big family holiday meals. I was having difficultly deciding on just which recipe to post. I try something new ever year but we have the ole standards too. I asked the kids what was their favorite and they could not decide on just one either so I am going to post our top 3 favorites:) Hope everyone enjoys. NOTE: I cook all the time so I have learned to measure by sight, I never measure unless I making something for the first time....sorry some recipes might not have measurements. 1) Snicker Salad: Super easy and quick and everyone with a sweet tooth loves it. 5-6 apples, cored and cubed (green apples makes the salad have the best flavor) 1 lg. container Cool Whip 3-4 SNICKERS candy bars, cut into sm. pieces Mix all the ing. in bowl and chill....serve cold. To make it your own you can add things like peanuts, walnuts, or flavored Cool Whip (like french vanilla or chocolate). 2)Sausage Dressing The sausage makes the dressing a meal in it's own...if you have access to deer meat then deer sausage is the best. 1 lb. sausage 2 med. onions, diced 4 stalks celery, diced 1 package of cornbread stuffing mix (I think the cube stuffing is the best) chicken broth Salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste Stick butter Brown and drain the sausage with the onions and celery. Prepare the stuffing mix according to the package directions (using the chicken broth to replace some of the water, if not all) and seasoning with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Stir sausage mixture into stuffing mix until well mixed. Place mixture into Pyrex dish. This can be made ahead and chilled in the refrigerator over night. Right before it is time to put the food on the table place some butter pats on top, a little chicken broth poured over the top and a little garlic salt and warm up in the oven until butter melts and browns the top. YUMMY :) 3)Deviled Eggs (with a little kick) Dozen hard boiled eggs Couple spoon fulls of mayo A dash of mustard Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste Dash or 2 of jalapeno juice Milk Paprika Peel and rinse cooled eggs, slice each egg in half length wise. Remove yolk and place in bowl. Line egg whites on plates or platters. Using a fork or potato masher,smash the yolk until almost a fine powder consistency. In the bowl with the yolks add the mayo, mustard, seasonings, jalapeno juice and mix until it is a thick paste consistency. Add a little milk and mix, if it is not a thick liquid mixture add a little more milk until you do have a thick liquid mixture. At this point I will taste it to see if it needs a bit more mayo, seasoning or juice. When you are happy with the consistency and taste, fill a large Ziploc baggie with the yolk mixture and cut one corner off. Squeeze the yolk mixture into the egg whites and sprinkle paprika on top. Trust me these will not last...make sure you make enough. I usually make 3 dozen for Thanksgiving and Christmas for a family of 22 and they are all gone before everyone is done eating Hope everyone enjoys all the recipes and everyone has a fulfilling and fun Black Friday :)