01.01.70

So besides Christmas music and holiday movies, the virtues of both I extolled in my last column, one of the other things I love about the holidays is the holiday potluck.

A good Midwestern girl, I love a good potluck. The best potlucks are those where there's a good mix of ages, genders and cultures, but I have to say women of a certain age make the best potluck dishes. They're the ones who haul in the crock pot for their fabulous meatballs or legendary crab dip, grabbing the primo spot on the buffet table. Don't dare move it; they earned that spot, darn it. Work around them.

These women usually have a cache of casseroles in their potluck repertoire but tend to have a signature dish that they've perfected over decades' worth of gatherings. My mother-in-law, for instance, passed down her recipe for Sausage Slices in Mustard that my husband and I have made 100 times if we've made it once for our work potlucks. Though she admits she got the recipe out of a magazine, it's still "Darlene Nordberg's Sausage Slices in Mustard." Ownership is based on where we got it, not where they got it, hence our recipe book is filled with entries of "Tina Mitchell's Ribbon Jell-o," "Judy Monticello's Reception Salad, "Sue Scanlan's Marinated Mushrooms" and "Ramona Backman's Cheesy Wild Rice Soup." Ramona and I both know she passed on the recipe from "Taste of Home" magazine, but to me, it reminds me of the first time we visited Ramona and her family on a cold winter's day at their house, then under construction, and I tried, without success, to teach Ramona to knit. I have made that soup many times, often for potlucks, and wonder whether Ramona ever found a better knitting teacher.

Source: Daily Mining Gazette

by Kit Bennett

Scissors, construction paper, heart shaped cookie cutters and a Dollar Store visit are all you need to throw a Valentine’s Day party the kids will adore and your wallet will love! If your hosting a group of ten kids (or less) you really can throw a party for less than fifty dollars! If it’s a classroom party your hosting, the cost is even less, because many of the supplies can be provided by the teacher and treats will come from parents.

Cut invitation post cards from red paper and use gel pens to write the party details. Then add some glitter to the envelope before mailing. You’ll need a lot of Valentine paper hearts for decorating so involve the family and start early. Still have some red or white Christmas ribbon? Use it to hang the paper hearts from the ceiling with curling ribbon and tape several to the walls, windows, party chairs and front door....

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by Julee

While you’re filling plastic eggs and adorning cupcakes with jelly beans, I thought I’d share with you the making of America’s most loved gourmet jelly beans, Jelly Belly.

The Jelly Belly Candy Company produces some of the most flavorful jelly beans with flavors ranging from buttered popcorn to cherry and everything in between. It’s a company that was started in America in 1869, just two years after brothers Gustav and Albert Goelitz emigrated from the Harz Mountain region of Germany.

Reuniting with an uncle who had migrated five years prior, Gustav, age 24, set up an ice cream and candy store in Belleville, Illinois and Albert, age 21, took to a horse drawn wagon to sell their confections to surrounding communities.

The Goelitz brothers by no means invented jelly beans. These tiny jelly candies have been around since Biblical Times, known as “Turkish Delight”, which originated in Instanbul, Turkey. The original jelly bean was a citrus, rose water and honey gel that had a firm outer coating and chewy center.

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