Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest

This blogfest is hosted by Melissa @ Through the Looking Glass and Jen @ Unedited.  Click the links to their blogs to sign up. 

The rules for the blogfest are: 
1.  Post on your blog December 20th.
2.  Share pictures of your Christmas decorations.
3.  Share pictures and recipes of your favorite holiday treats.
4.  Share pictures and recipes of your favorite holiday drink.

My 9' tree

5.  Visit other bloggers and spread the holiday cheer!

Well, here goes our Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest post!

My tree is my pride and joy at Christmas time.  I spend two days putting it up, usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, while my husband is deer hunting.  Every year I buy a few new ornaments, except for this year, because my tree was already so full!  

I love to put on Christmas music and decorate my tree.  The hard part is getting my cat to leave the ornaments alone! 

A close-up of my ornaments

One of my favorite things to do is bake.  I love all things chocolate, and I love sharing my goodies with my friends and family.  I don't drink, so I'm sharing two of my favorite holiday treat recipes.  Here are two of my most-requested items:

Chocolate-Covered Ritz Sandwiches

 As requested, here are the recipes (they are actually quite easy):

Chocolate-Covered Ritz Sandwiches:

Ingredients: 
Ritz crackers
Smooth peanut butter
White chocolate wafers
Milk chocolate wafers (I find the wafers in the produce section near the strawberries or in the baking section) 
Directions:

Lay out Ritz crackers salt-side down on wax paper.  Spread crackers with peanut butter.  Top with more Ritz, salt-side up to make a sandwich.  Repeat until you have desired amount of sandwiches.  Heat chocolate wafers according to package directions.  (I usually have to thin the chocolate with vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon at a time, according to the package directions).  Dip sandwiches in chocolate, going halfway up the sandwich.  Shake to remove excess chocolate and lay on wax paper to dry.  Repeat for all sandwiches, using white and milk chocolate.  Let dry for at least one hour and store in covered container at room temperature.  The combination of salty and sweet is quite addictive---be careful!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries:

Ingredients:
Fresh strawberries
Milk chocolate wafers
White chocolate wafers
Directions:

Brush strawberries with produce brush.  Do not wash strawberries!  Lay strawberries out on wax paper after brushing them.

Heat chocolate according to package directions.  Make sure it is thin enough to drip off of a spoon.  Dip strawberries one at a time, holding them by the leaves, in chocolate, about 2/3 of the way up the strawberry.  Lay on wax paper to dry.  Repeat for all strawberries.  Once the initial coating of chocolate has dried, you can add a drizzle of the contrasting chocolate flavor.  Drizzle chocolate with a fork (chocolate must be thin) over strawberries.  Let dry for one hour on wax paper.  Store in a single layer in a tightly covered container at room temperature.  Do not refrigerate.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season filled with love and laughter.  Merry Christmas!