Rudolph's Nose Treats

I have been looking for round pretzels for the past three years to make these easy holiday treats. I finally found one bag last weekend.

In addition to the pretzels, you need Hershey Kisses and M&M's.  Unwrap the kisses (the toughest part of the entire process).

Use a silpat or aluminum foil to line a cookie sheet. Then put the pretzels on with a kiss in the center.

Put in a preheated 275 degree oven for about 2 minutes. Remove and immediatley put one M&M in the center,pressing to flatten the chocolate.  When you get the whole sheet done, put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to harden the chocolate.

That's it!

 You now have Rudolph's Nose Treats (the red ones). Some people call them Santa's belly button. No matter what the name, they are tasty little sweet/salty treats for your Christmas gathering.  I still need to make a couple more sweet treats for my table.

This morning I made some shortbread/caramel bites.  I will show you those later.

I took today and tomorrow off  as vacation days to get organized for my C.Eve party.  Today I found all the treasure hunt items and made sure they were all listed on the check off sheet.  I hide these same items every year.

 All the guests have a list and they check off each item as they find it.

Last year my sister hosted the party and I took these items to her. She hid them and I got to play the game for the first time. I had so much fun trying to find them all. When they find them all, they get to pick a small gift. I wrapped 24 little gifts today

and my sister, Dee will bring at least that many more.   She is such a big help with the party, always willing to bring gifts, extra appetizers, etc. We play a number of different games and everyone goes home with at least one of these mini gifts--usually 4 or 5.   This year I made up a family trivia crossword puzzle. I think they will enjoy that one. 

I am expecting my son to arrive any moment. He has not been here for Christmas in a few years so everyone is looking forward to seeing him on Christmas Eve. 

I think I am pretty set now for the big night.  I am not one to wait until the last minute to get things done.  I already have all the ingredients set out for the appetizers I will make. Tomorrow I will wash the Martini glasses I got for Christmas last year (and never used yet). Two week ago I made my Christmas  Vodka/Peach Schnapps Slushtinis and those glasses will be perfect! The glass makes the drink--don't you think?  I would never think of serving my Slushtinis in a tumbler...a stemmed glass is a must! LOL. :)

I hope your plans are coming along nicely, too.