Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas blog series!

Merry Christmas from Pearl Girls™! We hope you enjoy these Christmas “Pearls of Wisdom” from the authors who were so kind to donate their time and talents! If you miss a few posts, you’ll be able go back through and read them on this blog throughout the next few days.
We’re giving away a pearl necklace in celebration of the holidays, as well as some items from the contributors! Enter now below.The winner will be announced on January 2, 2014, at the Pearl Girls blog.
If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we’re all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Mother of Pearl, Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace, or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

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A Hibiscus “Hug from Heaven”
by: Margaret McSweeney

The flurry of festivities during Thanksgiving weekend came to an abrupt halt as I began the first week of December 2013 with an empty nest. My husband was back at work. My daughters were back at college. And my brother, Claude, and niece, Mary, were back in Alabama and Tennessee.
Bare branches accentuated the overcast gloom in the Chicago suburbs on what marked the third anniversary of my brother Randy’s passing. Randy had been feeding a stray cat on his deck when the fatal heart attack struck.
Walking downstairs, I whispered a prayer. “Lord, I am feeling really sad right now. Please help me experience your joy.” As I walked into the family room, my heart smiled. The pruned hibiscus plant balanced a solitary flower that had blossomed overnight! This was truly a hibiscus “hug from heaven.”
In her book When Grief Is Your Constant Companion, my late mother shared her poignant poem about a hibiscus plant. She wrote this following poem several years after losing my dad to a sudden heart attack while he was in Paris on a business trip.
TEARDROPS: EVERLASTING JOY
By Carolyn Rhea
My love, how can it be
That I no longer think of you
Almost every waking moment
And grieve for your loving presence?
There are small spaces of time
When my life is so absorbed in present living
That you are not in my thoughts at all.
How unthinkable!
How sad that I should forget you even for an hour!
But I have not forgotten you, my dear.
You are forever a part of me.
You helped God shape my life
Into my present self.
I carry your love in my heart.
I miss you so very much and always will.
But now I’m caught up in trying to reconstruct
With God’s guidance
A meaningful life for myself.
One in which I can help,
Serve, share, love, grow.
I remember the hibiscus plant
We bought at the annual show.
It was called Teardrops,
For several perfectly-shaped white teardrops
Spattered the broad expanse
Of its gorgeous pink blooms.
How we loved it!
Then later, after it had grown much taller,
We saw a different kind of bloom:
Multitudes of small, sturdy, happy pink blossoms
Swaying merrily in the Florida breeze!
Teardrops had been grafted onto a stronger plant!
We named it Everlasting Joy.
Teardrops still bloomed at the lower level,
But as the plant grew ever upward and outward,
Everlasting Joy bloomed in profusion!
Lord Jesus, when teardrops fall,
Help me remember that through faith
I have been grafted in You –
You, the vine;
I, a branch –
Eternally secure in God’s love through Thee!
Blessed with Thy fullness of joy on earth
And the promise of everlasting joy in heaven!
Thank you, dear Father for sharing your everlasting joy with me today in my solitude. We are not alone in our grief. You are with us.

“Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” John 16:20

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Margaret McSweeney is well-published author (A Mother’s Heart Knows, Go Back and Be Happy, Pearl Girls, Mother of Pearl, Aftermath) and the founder of Pearl Girls™. Through Pearl Girls™, Margaret collaborates with other writers on projects to help fund a safe house for WINGS, an organization that helps women and their children who are victims of domestic violence, and to build wells for schoolchildren in Uganda through Hands of Hope. For the past twelve years she has served on the board of directors and leadership advisory board for WINGS. Margaret lives with her husband and 2 daughters in the Chicago suburbs. Learn more at Margaret’s website.

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**I received a Betty Crocker Baking Essential gift box to promote Betty Crocker Red Hot recipes.  Giveaway is sponsored by Betty Crocker.  No other compensation has been received. Any opinions expressed are my own**

 

 

 

It’s the time of the year where parties and entertaining are at it’s peak. I know for us we’ll be hosting Christmas dinner, we’ll be taking a cover dish to a New Year’s party, and then we’ll be doing the same for the Super Bowl. It’s always a gathering in our family. I also have my one son’s birthday next week and we’ll be hosting family for that. With all these parties and get-togethers so close together, I need more ideas for side dishes, desserts, and appetizers.  This is also the time for baking cookies.  My boys’ just love to help with that.

BettyCrocker.com can help you with your parties and holiday entertaining with great recipes and ideas from traditional to different.  Sugar cookies are always a staple Christmas cookie in our house.  One of my kids’ favorite parts about the sugar cookies is decorating them.  How about this idea from Betty Crocker for a DIY cookie tree.

 

You can find this and lots of other holiday entertaining recipes at http://www.bettycrocker.com/redhot where you can find Red Hot Holiday Trend Recipes.

Here’s something I thought was really cool of Betty Crocker too.  They have a “Betty Holiday Help Line”

Ask Betty Holiday Help

Novice or pro, everyone could use a little help when it comes to high-stakes holiday meals. Betty’s Kitchen experts are on standby to answer consumer’s urgent kitchen questions this holiday season. Submit questions via email and Facebook (responses guaranteed within 30 minutes) between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  CST daily, Nov. 25-27 andDec. 20 -23. Test Kitchen experts will also be hosting a live Twitter chat Nov. 21 from 3 – 4 p.m. CST and Dec. 4 from 3 – 4 p.m. CST.

I just might be trying this myself.  I know I’ve been in a touch spot before where I was rushing around trying to get a holiday meal ready and realized I forgot an ingredient or the consistency just wasn’t turning out right.  I’d love to hear opinions from an expert for substitutions and problem solving ideas.  So, even if you need help with one of there Betty Crocker Red Hot Trends Recipes, you can get it:

Red Hot Holiday Trend Recipes and the Ask Betty Holiday Help Line

 

 

1. Sweet & Savory Cookies
   A biscuit-shortbread hybrid from France, sablés have been named the cookie of the year in our test kitchens. For a salty-sweet flavor contrast, we added an unusual savory element—Kalamata olives!—and dark chocolate chips. The result? Mind-blowing, melt-in-your mouth goodness.
   • TRY Chocolate-Dipped Olive Sablés

 

2. The New Fruitcake
   A modern take on a Christmastime classic, this luscious two-layer cake, studded with whiskey-soaked fruits and filled with sweetened mascarpone, will be the belle of any holiday ball.
   • TRY Upside-Down Apple Cake with Whiskey-Soaked Fruit

 

3. Crafty Cookies for Kids
   Bake your way to fun family memories with our super-easy DIY (Decorate-It-Yourself) Cookie Tree. With infinite possibilities for personalization, it’s as fun to make as it is to eat. (Almost!)
   • TRY Decorate it Yourself (DIY) Cookie Tree

 

4. Global Flavor Flights
   In search of a fresh holiday party staple? Look no further than our crowd-sized flight of mini cheese balls. With bases made from both cream cheese and goat cheese, it’s the globally inspired mix-ins that turn these small bites into something truly memorable.
   • TRY “Around the World” Cheese Ball Flight

 

5. All-American Pastries
   From doughnuts to shortcakes, our love for all-American pastries is a year-round affair that never gets old. For a quick upgrade to your brunch-bread basket, try these light-as-a-feather popovers, made easy with help from Bisquick.
   • TRY Mini Popovers with Flavored Butter Trio

 

6. Popcorn Reinvented
   From cupcake toppings to fro-yo mix-ins, bakers and bloggers have been adding popcorn to sweets in quite creative ways. This semi-homemade fudge features store-bought caramel corn, a thick layer of dulce de leche, a generous sprinkling of sea salt and – what else?—more crunchy caramel corn.
   • TRY Triple-Caramel Popcorn Fudge

 

7. Jam Cocktails
   No longer just toast-toppers, jams, jellies and preserves are making a splash in the craft-cocktail scene. For this interpretation of a classic Manhattan, shake up some bourbon, bitters, vermouth and your favorite cherry preserves with some ice, strain… and drink up.
   • TRY Cherry Jam-hattan

 

8. Copycat Candy
   A dead-ringer for our favorite chocolate peanut butter cup, these peanut butter cookie-filled brownies are poised to be the hit of the holiday baking season. Bonus? Made in a big batch, they freeze perfectly.
   • TRY Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

 

9. Merry Mash-ups
   Why settle for one dessert when you can have two? We combined rich blondies with a chewy macaroon topping to create a crowd-pleasing bar that epitomizes a modern dessert mash-up.
   • TRY Brown Butter Blondies with Macaroon Topping

 

10. Communal Food
    To us, the best part about party food is enjoying it with loved ones. Ideal for holiday open houses and impromptu gatherings, these fully loaded spicy pull-aparts can be baked in batches as company (or hunger) arrives.
    • TRY Spicy Three-Cheese Bacon Bites

We received a fun Betty Crocker gift box so we could do some holiday baking of our own.  I’m definitely going to do the Spicy Three Cheese Bacon Bites but when my kids saw the Gingerbread mix we received they just had to make gingerbread men, err ninjabread men with some of their special cookie cutters we bought last year.

I tried making gingerbread dough from scratch last year and I just wasn’t impressed with the recipe I had in an old cookbook.  I love how easy the Betty Crocker Gingerbread mix was.  It was ready in just a few minutes and the boys had so much fun helping with the whole process.

I love baking with my boys.  It’s something we all enjoy and can do together.  It gives us time to talk and let’s my boys learn how to bake and cook.  Also, anything that can get them away from the tv or video games is good in my book.

How would you like to win the same “Betty’s Baking Essentials” gift box that I received for some holiday baking time of your own which includes:

–oven mitt– mixing spoon–Betty Crocker cookie mixes–cookie cutters–iPad stand ($30 value)

Follow Betty Crocker:

Twitter: @BettyCrocker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bettycrocker

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/bettycrocker

Instagram: @BettyCrocker

 

GIVEAWAY

This one will be a little different. If this giveaway is under 300 entries we will have one winner

If we reacher over 300 entries we will have 2 winners for a Betty Baking Essentials Gift box

US only