Good things to eat, and themes!

I think it's a conspiracy ?
I was hopping around in the "blog-a-sphere" and reading recipes--
I happened upon two that I liked. Pumpkin roll and Pumpkin Dessert
And then either my fingers,my computer,my printer or ... my lack of knowledge
caused me to print out 16 pages of which, I only needed two-- grrr... and then to top it all off I infringed on a copyright-- not my best day at the computer!
So, I wanted to link to the two blogs that had these GREAT recipes and then share one of my own.

Hop over if you will (please!) to LoudMonkeys and AntiqueMommy
leave them a comment if you will ? Comments, can make great amends! :)

This is a recipe that when I was a teen, my mom would ..."engage" my "help" to make .
My mom is a very sneaky and sweet lady-- she knew I wasn't much into kitchen work, but she also knew that I enjoyed cranberries.
I spoke with her today and she can't remember who gave her the recipe or even it's name-- and I do think that we never really made it the same twice!
(This is a trait that seem to I share with my family... make it, eat it, make it again, try and make it better-- eat it and then in the near future tweak the recipe and make it again! ...LOL)
So, hopefully my brain can remember the recipe correctly? or at least the best tasting version?

1 bag frozen Ocean Spray Cranberries
1 cup or so of plain white sugar
1 tub cool whip
diced apples, diced walnuts
Mandarin oranges, and maraschino cherries for garnish.

1. grind up the cranberries, we used to use a meat grinder-- what WORK! --



2. add sugar to cranberries put back in freezer overnight



3. dice apples and walnuts



4. fold cool whip into cranberries, then add apples and walnuts



5. garnish with maraschino cherries and Mandarin oranges...



6. This needs to stay cold -- so that the cool whip doesn't disintegrate.

I finished a Christmas gift ... but since there is a small chance that the recipient might read this... I can't show you it... darn it...(as I stamp my foot) I started the project in one way and then ended up doing it a different way-- I made 4 of these "things" and in the end the last two ended up -- almost like I wanted!

One day I will learn to stick to a pattern and FOLLOW the directions-- yeah right...This must me a theme for me.,... sticking to a plan and staying with the directions.?

how about you, do you follow directions with grace? or do you make it up as you go along?