Thank you to everyone who participated in our annual Random Acts of Kindness blogs in the month of December. As always, it’s heartwarming to hear about all of the things you are out there doing for others.  Last week, I loved reading about Ellen giving her Pi Shawl to her neighbor (an “itty bitty thing, traveling to Oregon for Christmas”.) Can’t you just imagine how much she must have loved receiving that?  I also liked Alice’s idea of handing out Starbucks gift cards to Salvation Army bellringers. I want to remember that for next year. Those folks stand out in some pretty cold weather, giving up their time to ring that bell.

Karen and her daughter gathered up their spare and outgrown coats, mittens and hats and took them to a local women’s homeless shelter. Jennifer was able to help someone from her Sunday School class who has been out of work. Lisa donated several copies of a movie to the Ronald McDonald house in honor of a friend who had passed away. Beth and her daughter handed out cups of Instant Ramen Noodles and bottles of water to people holding signs, asking for help. And the list goes on and on. I think you all have been more creative and intentional with your RAK’s this year, than ever before.

Today is the last day to leave your latest RAK reports in the comments. Tell us what you have been up to this week, as you’ve been out and about, helping others! We’ll randomly draw winners next week. For this past week’s contest, we’ll be sending 2 skeins of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series yarn, 1 pattern, and a tub of our Soak’s Heel Creme to Claire in CA and Michelle in CA. (Go, California!)

Sheri workingonmyCableChallengeprojectthisweekend

It’s Random Acts of Kindness Reporting Day again! Your wonderful comments and emails have brought a lot of smiles to my face, as I read through every one of them. I know you’re bringing smiles to a lot of people by doing something nice and then sharing it so that others can get ideas and be inspired. Thank you again for participating in this fun December tradition at The Loopy Ewe. The randomly drawn winners from last week’s contest were Kathryn from TX and Robin from KY. Each won two skeins of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series in their choice of colors, a pattern of their choice, and a tub of our Soak Heel Creme.

Today’s recipe came about because of the ad for Salted Caramel Chocolate Peanut Bark that I saw in the Crate and Barrel magazine. I bought some (purely for testing purposes, you know) and then figured for that price, I could come up with my own recipe! So here you have it. It instantly became a family favorite in my household. Enjoy.

Salted Peanut Caramel Bark

2 lbs. chocolate melting bark (I use Ghirardelli chocolate, which is only available during the holidays. I get it at Sams in a 2.5 pound box and I used one box for this recipe. I also froze several boxes of it for baking later in the spring.)
2 cups of peanuts (I used dry roasted)
1 cup of caramel bits (found by the chocolate chips in the baking section at the grocery store)
Sea Salt

Melt the chocolate and stir in the peanuts. Let cool for a couple of minutes and then add in the caramel bits. Stir well and then spread out on waxed paper or a Silpat mat (love those).  Sprinkle the top lightly with Sea Salt. Put in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set and the bark is easy to break into smaller pieces. YUM.

What did you find to do this past week, to bring a smile to someone’s face? We’ll do two more drawings – for today’s entries, and for next Friday’s entries. Keep watching for opportunities to do something for someone and report back so that you can participate with us.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and sweet family memories this weekend. It’s snowing here today (with 2-4″ expected) and both kids are home. A perfect Christmas Eve.

Sheri coffee+chocolatebarkforbreakfast.
Isthatwrong?

This was another fun week of reading about all of the wonderful (and kind) things you are doing for those around you. Thank you again for sharing it with us. I know that “random acts” are typically done quietly, without telling anyone you did them. But you’re still pretty incognito in the blog comments here, and you have been inspiring a whole lot of people in the meantime. You should read the emails I’ve been getting about this! It has been just awesome.

Just a few from last Friday’s post - I liked Jeannette’s idea of making up care packages to hand out to the homeless. Ziploc bags filled with socks, gloves, lip balm, and non-perishable food items. They keep them in the car to hand out. BethC decided to forego fries in her lunches this week and donated that amount to the charity container in the restaurant. Diane decided that she and her family had spent enough on gifts for family and friends and donated the rest of their Christmas fund to the Heifer Project. There was also a lot of snow shoveling, windshield clearing, coffee/cocoa buying, hat and scarf knitting, special help/gifts for the elderly, and Angel Tree participating going on. (Read the ones from our first reporting day, too, if you haven’t seen those yet.)

This week’s randomly drawn winners are: Elizabeth in PA and Kim in TN, who each win two skeins of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series and a pattern (their choice of color and pattern) and a tub of Soak’s Heel creme. I look forward to giving more away next week again, so be sure to leave your latest RAK comments on today’s post to be entered into the drawing.

Today’s recipe originally came from Elf Mary, who brought this in to Loopy last week. I got to thinking about it, and tried a new version over the weekend. I am going to serve these with brunch on Christmas morning!

Breakfast Cinnamon Puffs

2 tubes of Crescent Rolls
1 package of cream cheese
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbl. butter, melted
cinnamon to sprinkle

Whip together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Fill your cupcake pan with liners. Separate the Crescent triangles and put one in each liner, opened up (so that all three triangle points are laying on the edges of the pan.) Add 1 generous Tbl. of the sugar mixture to the center of the triangle, and then flip all three pointss in to cover the filling and make the little “puff”. I did a little twisty twirl with the longest point, just to make it pretty. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle the top lightly with cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until done. Makes 16 puffs. Can be served warm or cold.

(Note – the original recipe called for the same ingredients. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Unroll one tube of Crescents and put on the bottom. Spread the cream cheese/sugar/vanilla mixture on top. Add the second layer of Crescents over the cream cheese. Spread 1 stick of melted butter on top and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Either way, this tastes great!)

For those of you deep into scarf-wearing weather, check out this post about how to do a pretzel knot with your scarf. I tried it and I love how it keeps the scarf snug (and cute!) around your neck. (You might also want to check out Lisa’s beautiful jewelry, while you’re at it.)

Back to the RAK’s – tell us what you did this week to be a blessing to others! I’m looking forward to reading all about it.

Sheri tryingtobemoreimpromtuwithmyRAKsthisweek

I’m so glad it’s Friday. That means another RAK Reporting Day! Did you find fun things to do for others this week? Leave your report in the comments today and I’ll pick winners again and will announce them next week. The three randomly-drawn winners from last week are: Lisa in PA, Brigitte in MD, and Sara in TX. Each one has been contacted, and wins two skeins of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series yarn and a pattern, in their choice of colors, plus a tub of my favorite Heel Creme by Soak.

I loved reading the comments on last Friday’s Reporting Day. I think it’s great that so many of you are including your kids in the RAKs that you’ve been doing (like Karla and her baggie of change for the Salvation Army kettles, that her 4 year old hands out, or Elle who is working with her 3 year old to pick out gifts for their church’s gift drive.) What a great way to teach them the spirit of giving and doing for others. Many of you are reaching out and adopting kids or families who have no money for the holidays, and are doing things to provide them with cheer. Others of you have looked for impromptu opportunities to pass something on (like Brigette, who literally gave the coat off of her back, and Megan who passed her daughter’s new coat on to a child that didn’t have one.) And even things as simple as Kathy bringing hot cocoa to her mail lady, or Chris delivering coffee and donuts to the Pharmacy staff that prepares her dad’s medicine, or Sarah F. making homemade chicken noodle soup for sick neighbors. Your acts of kindness are  a reminder to all of us that this season is more about giving than getting. Keep up the blessings and keep reporting in on Fridays so that we can all enjoy them and be inspired.

Today’s recipe is one from a blog called Sing For Your Supper. These cookies look so pretty, and taste great, too.

Peppermint Kisses

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup candy cane powder*
2 sticks plus 4 Tbl. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
crushed peppermints (I used about 15 regular-sized candy canes, crushed)
White almond bark (about 12 oz.)

* Candy cane powder is made by crushing candy canes into a fine powder. I crushed these with a hammer and then dumped them into a strainer. The finest pieces went through to the bowl below (and was used for the candy cane powder) and the larger pieces in the top of the strainer were used to garnish the cookies when finished. (Note: when using a hammer to crush candy, keep your fingers out of the way. Why would I mention this? Oh, no reason. No reason at all.)

Mix all dry ingredients together.

In a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth (about a minute). Add sugar and beat for about two more minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and yolks, one at a time, then add in the vanilla.

Reduce mixing speed to low and slowly add in the flour mixture, mixing just until it has been fully incorporated.

Drop the dough by rounded spoonful onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes.  Cool completely.

Melt almond bark and drizzle or spread on top of cookies. Add chopped candy cane pieces for garnish. Makes 40-50 cookies.

Now – back to the RAKs – tell us what you did this week!

Sheri usingleftoverpeppermintpiecestoflavormycoffee,yum!

I find myself wanting to incorporate a pretty robin’s egg blue into my holiday decorating this year. I see that Target has cooperated with this whim, by offering me several red/blue/white/lime green choices in decorations. I think I’ve become attached to it because of this blog (and the photo on that post, which has appeared in her blog before.) How cute is that? So whimsical. I might have spent a little time playing with this,  this and this, while clicking around there.

Today I want to share my friend Nancy’s awesome guacamole recipe with you. I have a group of 12 friends who get together for a long weekend every year or two, and Nancy always has to make this for us. (And we usually stand around watching her so that we can start eating it as soon as it is done. That’s our contribution. I’m sure she’s grateful.)

Nancy’s Guacamole

5 ripe avocados
1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 tsp. chopped green chilies (canned is fine)
4 dashes Tabasco
3 Tbl. fresh salsa (or Tacante Sauce)
3 Tbl. mayo
3 Tbl. sour cream
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
lemon juice

Mix everything except the avocados and lemon juice. When you’re ready to serve this, mash the avocados and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle lemon juice on top to prevent it from browning (just in case your friends don’t gobble it down as fast as we do).  Serve with your favorite chips and veggies.

Today is our first reporting day for our Random Acts of Kindness month. Leave a comment and let us know what you found to do for someone else in the past couple of days. Something extra nice. Not the “I held the door open for the mom with 3 toddlers at the grocery store” kind of nice, because I think you probably do those types of things all the time. What did you do above and beyond your every day politeness? Share it with us! I’ll be using the random number generator to pick winners from all of your random acts comments.

Sheri stilldoingone-a-day.Althoughwe’rejust3daysin….

I can hardly believe that it’s December 1st already. The bad part about that is that I am way behind on gift buying. The good part of that is that it starts my favorite month here on the blog, because once again we’re encouraging and celebrating Random Acts of Kindness here at The Loopy Ewe.

This is the fourth year that we are encouraging everyone to find special things to do for other people during the month of December. They can be cost-free or expensive, big or little, and anonymous or not. Need some ideas? If you click on the “Random Acts of Kindness” category over there on the right side of my blog, you can read the comments from any of those posts for some wonderful ideas. Or come up with some new ones!

I say this every year  - it’s inspiring to others when they can read about what you have done. I know you don’t do these kind things so that you can brag about them. The pleasure comes from doing something for someone and not getting anything back in return. You don’t have to tell anyone else what you’ve done, but please do leave a comment on the blog each Friday in December, letting us know what you did that week. I get so many emails each December from people who want to share how someone else’s comment or idea has affected them and blossomed into something even bigger in their life. You have no idea how many people your kindness will continue to touch, as others read about your idea and adapt it in another way. Consider commenting as another way to multiply what you have done.

We’ll also be drawing random names to win prizes from the Friday comments, this month. (See? Another reason to do a random act and comment!) For every 50 comments, we’ll draw a person to win two skeins of The Loopy Ewe Solid Series yarn (in the color of their choice), a pattern (of their choice), and a tub of Soak’s Heel Creme in our Loopy Peppermint Scent, just because it’s my favorite. We’ll announce the winners each Monday.

So – are you ready? Fire up and do something nice for someone, then report back in this Friday for the first contest. There are FIVE Fridays in December, and we’ll be looking forward to your comments each Friday. I’m off to enjoy my first random act of the season. I’ve challenged myself to do one a day, instead of just one a week. How many will you try for this month? Even ONE will be a blessing to someone!

Sheri goingbacktoreadpastblogcommentsagaintogetmoreideas