Christmas Crunch from Bakerella

*finally* got caught up on Bakerella's blog today
maybe because I was reminded by these

that were used in the center pieces @ recent Stake Women's Conference (Jan 30, 10)?
don't know why, but feel an urge to make these

yes, I know it's not Christmas anymore
but something about the combination of sweet & savory is sounding really good to me

Limited Edition Coconut M&M's

had the chance to give these a try

we both liked them well enough

(keep in mind that we don't mind coconut though)

but by no means our favorite variety of M&Ms

Gingerbread Houses

look my first smilebox on the food blog!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

so this year, I thought we'd try this idea found here
the poptarts were *so* much easier to cut than graham crackers,
which is what we did last year . . .

it was fun to use the easy writer food decorators found here
the kids thought it was cool
will definitely use this method again,
especially with younger kiddos!

Teachers, Friends, & Neighbors Gifts

yummy!

not to mention fancy schmancy

to Z-kids homeroom teachers,

as well as the music & art teachers

to many of our Church friends & neighbors

all items found @ our local Sam's Club

Hershey's Miniatures Mint

had never seen this before so thought we'd try it

was pleasantly surprised by the bits in the white one

conversely affected by the oddly strong menthol aftertaste in the striped one

the dark chocolate mint one was a good balance

but am still missing the old mint M&M's!

they were just the right size, you know?

these are a little big . . .

M&M's Premiums Mint Thrills

saw these new ones & had to give them a try

so these are a little more similar in taste to the old M&M mint formula
compared to the new mint flavor formula
but the thicker shell still makes it a different thing altogether . . .

Twilight Candy

so in honor of our date on Saturday, December 12th,  

to see New Moon (finally)

. . . Jon got me these!

apparently while he was out running errands with Zoe earlier that day, he saw these & thought they were funny!  It was a really fun date.  I have to admit, I don't usually like candy hearts--chalky!--but these "special" flavors were actually do-able.

Candy Cane Tootsie Pops (a.k.a. Peppermint Tootsie Roll Pops)

ok, so ever since I found out that these even exist, I've been dying to find them!!!

have tried Giant, Wal-Mart, Wawa so far to no success

argh