Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Ingredients
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

Instructions
Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

Comments
Before I made this recipe I was a little concerned about the root beer because I never liked it as a child and hadn’t tried it since then. But you couldn’t even taste it. The next time I make this recipe I am going to poke some holes in the meat with a fork so the root beer and soak into the meat a little bit more in hopes of getting more of the flavor.

Instead of cooking on low for 6-7 hours I cooked it on high for 4-5 hours. It turned out perfect. So easy to shred and so delicious! This is a great simple recipe and I will definitely make this one again in the future.

Candy Cane Fudge
Ingredients
2 (10 ounce) packages vanilla baking chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes
1 dash red or green food coloring

Instructions
1. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease the foil.

2. Combine the vanilla chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. When chips are completely melted, stir in the peppermint extract, food coloring, and candy canes.

3. Spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill for 2 hours, then cut into squares.

Comments
One tip, try to buy your peppermint extract not so close to Christmas haha. When I went to the store to buy it, it was the last bottle there! The hardest part of this recipe I think is figuring out how to crush the candy canes. It was a messy job and your hands get really sticky. Winston has this lead ball (like a giant marble) that we used to smash the candy canes with, but I don’t know what a normal person would use to do the job.

It was also difficult to stir the ingredients when they were in the pan because it gets pretty thick. That’s one reason why it’s good to have a big strong man around when you make this recipe (although I’m sure I could have done it if I really wanted to :P). The end result was good. It wasn’t overly pepperminty which was a good thing. It had a nice flavor to it. I took it to work and one of my co-workers said they don’t usually like peppermint but they ended up eating three pieces of the fudge! Just make sure that you cut the pieces pretty small because it’s hard to eat a lot of it at one time.

BBQ Chicken Calzones
Ingredients
4 slices bacon
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
2/3 cup barbeque sauce
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove from the pan to drain on paper towels; crumble.

3. Add the onion and shredded chicken to the hot bacon grease in the pan. Fry over medium heat until onion is tender. Stir in 1/3 cup of barbeque sauce, and remove from the heat. Mix in the cooked bacon.

4. Roll the pizza crust dough out onto a greased cookie sheet. Press out to an even thickness, and then cut in half. Divide the chicken mixture between the two pieces of dough, spreading on only half of each piece to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the filling. Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top. Fold the uncovered portion of dough over the filling, and press the edges together with a fork to seal.

5. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until browned to your liking. Cool for a few minutes, then cut each calzone in half. Each serving is half of a calzone. These can be served with additional barbeque sauce if you like.

Comments
This recipe took a little bit more preparation than some of the other recipes I made because I had to cook the bacon, cook the chicken, cut the vegetables, etc. But it was so worth it. This was my boyfriend’s favorite recipe out of all the ones I’ve made so far.

I made the pizza dough myself from scratch. I used the recipe that is on the Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast bottle. So that took some time to prepare too. It was my first time making pizza dough but it was fun, and apparently I can make better pizza dough than my boyfriend. He likes to make me make the dough now when we have our pizza nights haha.

I didn’t use cilantro because I forget to buy some. I also didn’t have any paper towels so I wasn’t able to drain the bacon which resulted in the Calzones being a little more greasy, but it didn’t affect the taste besides maybe make it taste even better. The crust actually tasted a bit like it was from Pizza Hut. I don’t know if it was the bacon grease or because I greased the pan with butter, but I loved it! I would definitely make this recipe again in the future.

In December I ran around the city trying to find the indoor Santa Claus parade. I managed to find it near the end of the parade but that was okay. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it was going to be.

I learned that my hair actually can be curled! Ever since prom I was convinced that my hair would never be able to be curly because they tried so hard to curl it for prom and it just did not work. But then one day before Christmas as I was shopping this girl at a stand selling curling irons called me over to see if I would let her curl my hair. And it actually worked! My hair stayed curled for a couple days in fact. Winston was nice enough to buy me the iron for Christmas.

Probably the biggest news in my family is the addition of a new baby. My brother and his wife has had yet another baby boy. His name is Noah. I haven’t been able to meet my newest nephew in person now that I live across the country. But I did get to have a Skype date with everyone after Christmas.

Lyrics
Frosted window panes
Candles gleaming inside
Painted candy canes on the tree
Santa’s on his way,
He’s filled his sleigh
With things, things for you and for me

It’s that time of year
When the world falls in love
Every song you hear
Seems to say
Merry Christmas
May your New Year dreams come true
And this song of mine
In three quarter time
Wishes you and yours
The same thing too

Merry Christmas
May your New Year dreams come true
And this song of mine
In three quarter time
Wishes you and yours
The same thing too
Merry Christmas to you

Lyrics
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We’re happy tonight.
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song,
As we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He’ll say: Are you married?
We’ll say: No man,
But you can do the job
When you’re in town.

Later on, we’ll conspire,
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid,
The plans that we’ve made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he’s a circus clown
We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other kids knock him down.

When it snows, ain’t it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We’ll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Lyrics
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth (thweeth)
My two front teeth (thweeth)
My two front teeth. (thweeth)
Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth (thweeth)
Then I could wish you Merry Christmas.

It seems so long since I could say:
“Sister Susie sitting on a thistle.”
Every time I try to speak all I do is whistle: ssssssss.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth
My two front teeth (thweeth)
See my two front teeth.
Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth (thweeth)
Then I could wish you Merry Christmas

Lyrics
(Dave):
Alright you Chipmunks
Ready to sing your song?
(Alvin):
I’d say we are
(Theodore):
Yeah
Let’s sing it now
(Dave):
Okay, Simon?
(Simon):
Ok
(Dave):
Okay, Theodore?
(Theodore): Ok
(Dave):
Okay, Alvin
Alvin? Alvin!
(Alvin):
Okay
(Chipmunks):
Christmas
Christmas time is near
Time for toys
And time for cheer
We’ve been good
But we can’t last
Hurry Christmas
Hurry fast
Want a plane
That loops the loop
(Alvin):
Me, I want a hula-hoop
(Chipmunks):
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas don’t be late

(Dave):
Ok Fellas, get ready
That was very good, Simon
(Simon:)
Naturally
(Dave:)
Very good, Theodore
(Theodore):
He, he, he, he
(Dave:)
Uh, Alvin
You were a little flat
So, watch it, Alvin
Alvin?, Alvin!
(Alvin):
Okay

(Chimpunks):
Want a plane
That loops the loop
(Alvin):
I still want a hula-hoop
(Chimpunks):
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas don’t be late
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas don’t be late

Lyrics
Grandma got run over by a reindeer
walkin’ home from our house Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa.
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe.

She’d been drinkin’ too much egg nog.
And we’d begged her not to go.
But she’d forgot her medication,
and she staggered out the door into the snow.

When we found her Christmas mornin,’
at the scene of the attack.
She had hoof prints on her forehead,
And incriminatin’ Claus marks on her back.

Grandma got run over by a reindeer,
walkin’ home from our house Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa,
but as for me and Grandpa, we believe.

Now were all so proud of Grandpa.
He’s been takin’ this so well.
See him in there watchin’ football,
drinkin’ beer and playin’ cards with cousin Belle.

It’s not Christmas without Grandma.
All the family dressed in black.
And we just can’t help but wonder:
Should we open up her gifts or send them back?
(Send them back)

Grandma got run over by a reindeer,
walkin’ home from our house Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa,
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe.

Now the goose is on the table.
And the pudding made of fig.
And a blue and silver candle,
that would just have matched the hair in Grandma’s wig.

I’ve warned all my friends and neighbors.
“Better watch out for yourselves.”
They should never give a license,
to a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves.

Grandma got run over by a reindeer,
walkin’ home from our house, Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa,
but as for me and Grandpa, we believe.
(Sing it Grandpa)

Grandma got run over by a reindeer,
walkin’ home from our house, Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa,
but as for me and Grandpa, we believe.

Merry Christmas

Lyrics
Santa Baby,
Just slip a sable under the tree
For me
Been an awful good girl
Santa Baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby,
A 54 convertible too
Light blue
I’ll wait up for you, dear
Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Think of all the fun I’ve missed
Think of all the Fella’s that I haven’t kissed
Next year I could be just as good
If you’ll check out my Christmas list

Santa Baby,
I want a yact and really that’s not
A lot
Been an angel all year
Santa Baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa Honey,
one little thing i really need
The deed
To a platinum mine
Santa Baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie,
Fill my stocking with a duplex
And checks
Sign your ‘x’ on the line
Santa cutie,
and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations bought at Tiffany’s
I really do believe in you
Let´s see if you believe in me

Santa Baby,
Forgot to mention one little thing
A ring
I don’t mean on the phone
Santa Baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry…tonight