It almost feels like Santa brought me a doll for Christmas.
I will never ever forget the excitement of picking out a doll from the Sears Christmas Wish Book. It took days of looking and dreaming, to decide on the perfect doll, and Santa always brought the right one,
but this doll did not come from Santa...
Isn't she adorable?
Only once, did Santa fail to bring me the doll I had circled in the Sears Wish Book, and that was the year of the Tiny Tears doll. Every little girl must have asked for one and Santa simply ran out. That's when my daddy stepped in. He had a business trip to New York City. Not only did he bring me the perfect Tiny Tears doll, but also brought me one of the new 22" walking, "Saucy Walker" dolls.
Back to my new doll...
she has the sweetest face, and just look at that baby fine, wispy hair
she is the size, and has the feel of a real baby
perfect to hold in my arms. I gave her the hat and booties.
Nope, Santa didn't bring this doll. Shelby and I were in the Goodwill store in Wake Forest a few days before Christmas, and there she was, this beautiful baby doll, thrown in a plastic bin with the stuffed animals. Lucky me to have spotted her there.
and here is a very special picture...Daddy, showing me the right way to hold my doll's arms to help her walk...
and in this next picture, a birthday party for my doll...
that's me holding my baby brother Randall, and Becky, the little girl who lived next door.
That sure is a raggedy old card table and the room we're in doesn't look much better. That room was the den, where we played and watched TV. At that age, I was torn between playing with my dolls, watching The Mickey Mouse Club, or American Bandstand, that came on every day at 4:00. Most of the time the dolls came first.
Now to the recipe...those darn crock pot chocolate covered peanut clusters!! I could not rest until the last one was gone!! and that eight pounds I had lost, well, it's back!!
These are absolutely delicious!! Salty nuts covered in chocolate...
(Donna, hope you try these)
I will never ever forget the excitement of picking out a doll from the Sears Christmas Wish Book. It took days of looking and dreaming, to decide on the perfect doll, and Santa always brought the right one,
but this doll did not come from Santa...
Only once, did Santa fail to bring me the doll I had circled in the Sears Wish Book, and that was the year of the Tiny Tears doll. Every little girl must have asked for one and Santa simply ran out. That's when my daddy stepped in. He had a business trip to New York City. Not only did he bring me the perfect Tiny Tears doll, but also brought me one of the new 22" walking, "Saucy Walker" dolls.
Back to my new doll...
Nope, Santa didn't bring this doll. Shelby and I were in the Goodwill store in Wake Forest a few days before Christmas, and there she was, this beautiful baby doll, thrown in a plastic bin with the stuffed animals. Lucky me to have spotted her there.
and here is a very special picture...Daddy, showing me the right way to hold my doll's arms to help her walk...
and in this next picture, a birthday party for my doll...
That sure is a raggedy old card table and the room we're in doesn't look much better. That room was the den, where we played and watched TV. At that age, I was torn between playing with my dolls, watching The Mickey Mouse Club, or American Bandstand, that came on every day at 4:00. Most of the time the dolls came first.
Now to the recipe...those darn crock pot chocolate covered peanut clusters!! I could not rest until the last one was gone!! and that eight pounds I had lost, well, it's back!!
(Donna, hope you try these)
CHOCOLATE PEANUT CLUSTERS
(2) 16 oz jar dry roasted peanuts
(2) 12 oz bags milk chocolate chips
(8) blocks white chocolate
Pour peanuts into crock pot
Add chocolate chips (not to touch sides of pot. chocolate will burn)
Add white chocolate on top
Heat on low for 1 1/4 hours
Stir until mixed well
Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper lined pans.
The clusters harden quicker is you sit the pans in the refrigerator for a while.
and...
BROWN SUGAR CHEW BREAD
(1) stick butter
(1) box light brown sugar
(1) tsp. vanilla (pure)
(3) eggs
(2) cups self-rising flour (sifted)
(1) cup chopped pecans
(1) cup Angel Flake coconut
Mix in order given. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes (til toothpick comes out clean) Do not over cook!
Goodness, what a post. Thank you for putting up with me!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Love,
Henny
Oh your chocolate covered peanuts sound delish! But my stomach would probably revolt if I made a batch and ate even one or two of them. Getting old is just terrible when your body starts to fall apart. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteShe's a sweetie and it looks like she's found a good home. Love peanut butter clusters, but I eat too many of them.
ReplyDeleteI found an old box of my toys from youth the other week, sure brought back some memories. There's a lot of stuff from my childhood I would like to see retro-remade to be 95% the same just for the nostalgia
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ReplyDeleteThose peanut clusters sound absolutely delicious. I don't know whether I dare copy off the recipe. My son is diabetic and so can't eat any and my husband hates nuts of any kind so there would be only me to eat all the clusters. Oh my, who would be as big as the side of a barn after eating even half of that??????
ReplyDeleteThe doll baby is just perfect. I can see why you picked her out of the bin to take care of. I can't imagine someone getting rid of her. Don't little girls save those precious dolls any more. I still have my "Johnnie Doll" that I got when I was about 4 or 5 years old.
I love old photographs and those are especially sweet. I've been on a holiday eating spree, too. I think that is why every magazine that you see at the check out counter for the month of January has a new diet on them. We start with Halloween candy, then there's Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, not to mention all the company in between. I don't know about other people, but our family doesn't get together without there being food involved, LOL.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Connie :)
Oh I love your baby doll! When you get tired of her you can pass her along to me!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I miss family get togethers. I remember spending many of a Christmas with you and your family. I love you all! Happy New Year to you and Poppy!!
ReplyDeleteNice seeing the old photos!!
ReplyDeleteI think your baby doll has a sad face, so she really needs you. : )
Happy New Year my friend.
ReplyDeletexx oo
Carla
I love your new doll! I have always been a doll lover and still have some antique dolls that belonged to my mother and an aunt. Your new doll does have the sweetest face! Have you named her? Thanks for the recipes - I do have a weak spot for chocolate. Henny may you and Poppy and all your sweet fur babies have a wonderful 2018 filled with lots of happy surprises!
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful doll, but what I like most is how happy you are with it!
ReplyDeleteAnd that photo! How precious is that!
Happy New Year! We can cut back on the chocolate in January. It is, after all, still the holidaze.
Oh Penny, what a delightful post 😊 your babydoll is just darling and the memories, so sweet. I’m trying to eat less sugar, but those are truly delicious 😋 happy new year to you!
ReplyDeleteYour new doll has the most wistful expression on her face. I'm so glad she found a lovely forever home! It's hard to believe she was just thrown in among various teddy bears and stuffed toys. I always look at the teddy bears when I'm in the thrift store and if they look at me sadly I have such a hard time not bringing them home.
ReplyDeleteI love the old pictures. I didn't have a very nice father so I'm always happy when others did. As you obviously did. I'd never mention it on my blog because my sisters read it and they would object ( even if they would have to agree!). Have a wonderful time with your new 'baby'!
That sure is a pretty little doll baby. I remember some of my babies fro my childhood. I had a Chatty Cathy, Kewpie doll, and of course all the Dawn dolls. My favorite doll was one named Suzi and she walked along with you, if her arm was held up just right. Suzi was a big girl at 3ft tall! I love that doll but I think my sister inherited her when she was born.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try the Chew Bread, tomorrow. Sound delightful!
Grace & Peace,
Pam
That was delightful to read. I enjoyed the old photos of your childhood. Those recipes both look wonderful! I have something to add about the peanut clusters. If you have a recipe that calls for chocolate chips, and you need for the chips to MELT and be gooey and smooth, then be careful what kind of chocolate chips you buy. Some chocolate chips are made with "chocolate liquor" as a primary ingredient -- these do not melt. They are designed to hold their shape in a chocolate chip cookie (which is grand), but they are horrible in recipes where you want a melting chocolate. So read the ingredient list and look for ones (like Tollhouse Semi-Sweet) that have cocoa butter listed, but NOT chocolate liquor. Just a heads up! I've made this mistake twice, much to my regret.
ReplyDeleteI did not know this! Thank you!
DeleteOnce a dolly lover, always a dolly lover. I love dolls, too.
ReplyDeleteI was up 5 pounds, so I guess I have been over indulging, too. Oh well.
Happy New Year, sweet Henny.
Happy New Year Henny! Both recipes sound just yummy! :)
ReplyDeleteHave a beautiful new year Henny and your dolls.
ReplyDeleteYour doll is so cute, especially in the outfit you put on her! I think she has a sad face though, well that was my thought when I saw the first picture, although the more I look, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteHope 2018 is a wonderful year for you and Poppy and all your critters!
Thank you, Henny-I'm going to save the crockpot chocolate peanut recipe-still have quite a bit of goodies here and I have to draw the line somewhere! Happy New Year to you all, stay cozy!
ReplyDeleteI really did not need to hear that peanut cluster recipe!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the pics of you and of your dad.
Such a beautiful doll, so glad she has found a new home. Best wishes for 201.
ReplyDeleteMy best Christmas was at 7yrs.old, receiving a Chatty Cathy with a wardrobe full of her dresses and 3 pair of shoes! I still have her. I hope you still have all your old dollies.
ReplyDeleteWhoa Girl! I'm on a sugar high just reading that bread recipe...a whole box of brown sugar? I got out the crockpot and started those chocolate peanuts right away though. I'm a sugar for anything that starts with chocolate chips.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipes, Henny, I have often wondered about the "chew bread". I love that you are so generous with your recipes. Also, I just love that photo of you and the one of your dad with the doll. I was so nostalgic, I just cleaned my friend's house out and it had linoleum like that in the 1950s and I wanted to take it up and take it home for my own floor, but it is too old and looked new, but it was cracking. I miss the floors of those times for sure. Happy Holidays! Terry
ReplyDeleteoh I love that picture of the tea party and loved hearing about your dolls! I still love dolls, and often pick them up from thrift stores. Are those the amazing old fashioned aluminum tumblers on your party table there?---gosh, sure wish they still made those...
ReplyDeleteYes, those are the old tumblers. I remember just how those aluminum glasses felt, holding them and drinking from them. Thank you!
DeleteI am the one who wrote about the Saucy walker doll we both had etc. I got my Tiny years when I was 6 and in first grade. Mine was the one with a wig of black 'hair' with tight curls. My sister later got one with I am not sure rooted hair or a wig of short golden hair. I still have the blue and white rattle my doll had. But after our days of playing dolls was over our toys got stored in our attic in Ohio and over the years Tiny's rubber arms and fingers got messed up. My Mother gave any of our dolls that got messed up to one of the local doll hospitals in case they could use any of their parts. Boy did I love my dolls. Plus we usually got a set of metal pots and pans or broom and dust pans or such too each Christmas so we could play Mommy and keep our make believe homes clean too!! Such innocent years. And such fun!! Sarah
ReplyDeleteOh Sarah, thank you so much for commenting again. I just felt terrible knowing that you had read my posts and left comments and I never knew. My Tiny Tears had the short dark curly hair too. Back then, she was beautiful. Have you ever looked at the Tiny Tears for sale on ebay? Occasionally I do. Most of them look very old and played with, but recently someone had one listed for over 200.00. I often wonder where my Tiny Tears and Saucy Walker dolls ended up. Mama and daddy divorced after 25 years of marriage. I joined the Air Force at 17. Everything in our house disappeared. It was all very sad. Thanks again. Hope you will keep in touch. Henny
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