Two weekends ago I took a little road trip down to Cary, North Caroline to visit with my OTHER soulmate, Sarah. We met during the first hour of SBU freshman orientation and have basically been inseparable ever since. Well, except for the four hours that now live in between us. We were able to see a lot of each other this year because of my wedding (she was my maid of honor, obvi) but haven’t really been able to have “alone” time to just get back to the way we were when we shared bunk beds, wardrobes and oversized Orlando Bloom posters. We also happen to share a brain, although we don’t seem to have one when we’re together. (We are quite an amusing pair to witness…especially when you give us a beer and an old Usher CD.)

Even though we only had a little over 24 hours to spend together, we decided we were going to a)make a holiday craft (we decided on mason jar snow globes, because seriously…mason jars. duh.)  b) make some sort of holiday treat and c) watch the SNL Schweddy Balls skit, White Christmas and 8 Crazy Nights over and over until we passed out.  And we almost accomplished all three…if it wasn’t for the fact that we spent a total of four hours (one totally spent in Super Wal-Mart alone, looking for glycerin. Fun fact – it is in the pharmacy section, NOT the home improvement/auto/paint sections.) in approximately ten different stress looking for the perfect “figurine” for our mason jars. Another fun fact – NO ONE SELLS CHRISTMAS VILLAGES ANY MORE. My Ma must be livid. We wound up with a couple of snowman ornaments and yes, a polar bear toy…. which Sarah found while wandering in the children’s section of Jo-Ann’s, of course.

We finally got in the car and were ready to roll out when Sar totally bashed her car door into the car next to us….with someone sitting in the passenger seat. She quickly closed her door, waved and mouthed, oh, sorry! while swearing/laughing uncontrollably with me, then proceeded to zoom us in little blue Vibe out of the parking lot, running over curbs and probably sidelining grocery carts on the way out. I may or may not have peed my pants laughing so hard. Lord I have missed her!!

When we finally returned home, we quickly turned on White Christmas, super glued figurines, covered everything in glitter while also smashing Oreos in tiny Ziploc bags (we forgot to buy freezer-sized) and drank goblets of homemade sangria. Therefore, I would not be surprised if there is glitter in the Oreo balls and cream cheese fingerprints all over our mason jars. That’s just how we roll (literally).

Long story short, by the end of my trip we had created a total of four mason jar snow globes, rolled 48 misshapen Oreo balls and probably made approximately 10-12 people really, really annoyed with our shenanigans. It was magical.

Mason Jar Snowglobes 

Ingredients:

• mason jar
• Christmas village figurine or ornament
• super glue
• water
• glycerin (note: found in the pharmacy section!)
• glitter

1) Take lid off mason jar and super glue the bottom of your figurine/ornament to the inside of the lid. Let dry completely. (I waited about an hour.)

2) Fill mason jar with water, leaving about an inch or so at the top of the jar.

3) Put a dash of glycerin in the water (we had no idea how much to use, so we put in about three squirts.)

4) Go glitter crazy! Well, not too crazy. I honestly couldn’t stop.

5) Once figurine is completely glued to lid, turn over and dip into water. Tightly screw rim around the jar.

6) Flip over and wah-lah! Mason jar full of winter wonderland-ness.

Oreo Schweddy Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. mint Oreo cookies (you could also use regular)
• 1 8 ounch pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 bag of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Line two cookie trays with parchment paper.

2) crush Oreos using a food processor ( or, if you’re like us, Ziploc bags and sauce pans).

3) mix crushed Oreos with softened cream cheese until completely coated.

3) using your hands, form into small balls (ours ranged from walnut sized to gold ball sized) and set on cookie trays. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then take out and prepare to give them a chocolate bath!

4) Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish. Then, using forks, toss each ball in melted chocolate, coating evenly. Place back on cookie tray and refrigerate for at least an hour.

5) Devour while watching NPR’s The Delicious Dish with Pete Schweddy. Then make Schweddy Ball sacks for your whole family with the rest of the balls!