We are featuring several dessert recipes this month to help you fill your holiday table with goodies for your children and family. Merry Christmas!

The following Jello recipe was contributed by Peggy Bostic, Gastonia, NC. Thanks Peggy for this dessert treat!

Serves 8-10
1 Large Box Cherry Jell-O
1 Can Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 Can Crushed Pineapple (drained, reserving juice)
2 Cans Mandarin Oranges (drained, reserving juice)
1 Cup Chopped Pecans

Mix Cherry Jell-O in 2 cups boiling water
Using the reserved juice from the orange and pineapple, add water, making 2 cups.

Mix in the remaining ingredients.
Chill until set
PB, Gastonia NC

Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1 scant cup walnuts (3 oz), chopped
1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 oz)
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup honey

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

Makes about 13 cookies.

Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookies

2 cups (packed) dried sweetened cranberries (about 10 ounces)
1/3 cup orange juice
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
11/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup chopped unsalted natural pistachios
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

Butter 3 baking sheets. Combine dried sweetened cranberries and orange juice in small bowl. Let stand until dried cranberries soften slightly, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Whisk all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until just blended.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter and golden brown sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg, minced ginger, vanilla extract, and grated orange peel and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour-spice mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts, chopped pistachios, coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, and dried cranberries with any juices that have accumulated.

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing tablespoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until golden and almost firm to touch in center, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool cookies completely. (Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature.)

Makes about 48.

Do you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share? Email it to: OSSJournal@ossone.com. If your recipe is chosen you'll receive a Free "Thank You" gift so be sure to include your name and address!

Although it's a time of parties and presents, family gatherings and celebrations, the holidays are also all too often a time of stress for all of us. According to the American Psychological Association, the leading causes of holiday stress are lack of money, the pressures of gift giving, and lack of time.

In the office, the end of the year usually brings its own complications. Plus, with so many people out on vacation, the workload has to be handled by fewer people. Add in all the personal responsibilities and chores of the holidays, and you have the makings of a very stressful environment.

However, there are ways you can help minimize stress and deal with conflict in the workplace. The most important thing you can do is plan ahead...

Check past records to see vacation patterns and be sure to add on seasonal and part-time help if needed
Understand that employees have personal demands during the holidays, so create schedules that provide free time for them to meet their at-home responsibilities
Plan events that capture the spirit of the season — parties, decorating, charitable work, and events for employees' children can keep everyone in the Holiday mood
Identify situations that lead to disagreements and be prepared to diffuse these situations with positive, solution-based strategies

Fighting Stress Requires A Team Effort And Personal Contributions.

To Continue Reading this article please click on the link below.

Ruth. Dear, sweet, elderly, Ruth. Such a beloved lady and friend to all who knew her.

Ruth had belonged to the same church for almost all her adult life. She saw many members come and go, bond and feud, but she had always remained faithful to her beliefs, and she was highly respected, and cherished, among all the other parishioners.

Poor Ruth. She wasn't a young spry chicken anymore. She was well into her 90's, and not quite as energetic and bubbly as when she first visited the church so many years ago.

Christmas 1999 was not destined to be a very kind year to Ruth. She had suffered many losses. She lost her beloved husband six years before, but this year she seemed to have lost it all. After her dear husband passed away, she had moved in with her daughter, Becky, and her young granddaughter, Jennifer. They saved her from the loneliness she endured without their love. They grew closer every day, and each new day, life brought them more to be grateful and appreciative of. They knew they were blessed, and always remembered their blessings in prayer.

Jennifer was only two years old when Ruth first came to live with them. Cute as a button, rambunctious, outgoing, and always joyful and singing. She made a house a home. Becky and Ruth used to kid how it took the two of them to even half keep up with the whirlwind they nicknamed "Sunshine". Jennifer was curious as a cat, and filled the day with endless questions - some deep, some comical, and each one needing answers! Her mother and her grandma were careful never to carelessly brush her questions aside, or grow impatient. They answered each and every one, if not with wisdom, then at least with unbridled love. Jennifer grew into a brilliant young lady, and everyone predicted a bright and sunny future for the special little girl.

Life is funny. Predictions sometimes don't come to pass. Future's sometimes only last today. One night, driving home from the store, Becky and Jennifer were hit, head on, by a drunk driver. It was a mistake. A horrid mistake. If it weren't for a flat tire, they would have been home long before the intoxicated man drove down their street. Nobody can predict the future. Their shining future ended that night. Their dreams, and plans and goals scattered among the broken glass, and the disfigured steel. They were gone - forever. Once again, Ruth was alone.

The sorrow and remorse that lived in Ruth's heart surely will kill her, she thought. The agony of losing those closest to her, the loneliness of being all alone, in a house as quiet as a tomb, and the emptiness of having nothing more to live for were more than she could bear.

Every Sunday she continued to go faithfully to her church, pray to her God, and she was always polite, but oh so sad. She had changed - withered, depressed, feelings of loneliness, emptiness. She seemed to hardly be able to put one foot in front of the other. Her joyous laughter was seldom heard, her excitement and zest for life was simply no longer a part of who she was. She no longer loved life. Zombie-like instead of lifelike. Just waiting for her turn to go be with her loved ones. Naturally, all the other parishioners saw the change. They felt her sadness, and loneliness. She had always been such a pillar of strength, a friend in need, someone who could be counted on when the rest of the world had checked out. She was always there, in every way, for everyone. But now, she wasn't there at all, and nobody seemed to know how to comfort and help her. But everyone saw. And everyone knew - from the oldest members, to the toddlers. They all saw the change, and the grief, and the pain.

Months passed. It was now December, and the holiday season was proving to be harder than Ruth imagined it would be - and lonelier. She still went about living, kept up appearances, prayed, and was kind to everyone she met. Yet she felt like she was melting - dissolving - dying, slowly inside. She wondered if she would see Christmas this year, or go to spend it with those that went before her - the ones she loved and missed so dearly. Then, the second Sunday of December, a Sunday School Teacher came to her with a special request. Would she be kind enough to help with trimming the tree that stood in the middle of the children's classroom? Each child had handmade a special ornament, to place on the tree, and they needed assistance, and adult supervision. Ruth tried to gracefully decline, but the teacher smiled, and said that the children had requested that she be the assistant this year. It was important to them for some reason, the teacher whispered.

The night of the special event, Ruth was present. She was dressed as immaculate as always, and wore the best smile she could muster. The sight of the young children was bittersweet. The laughter and playfulness were refreshing, but they also held memories of her dear, granddaughter, Jennifer, who had passed away just four short months before. For the first time in months though, you could occasionally see her eyes shining, through a veil of tears. She decided she was happy that the children had thought to invite her, and thankful that she had decided to come join in the merriment. She felt more alive than she had since that dreadful day in August 1999.

Most of the ornaments had already been placed on the tree when an excited, almost giddy group of children came to her and took her by the hand. They led her to an ornate, red velvet chair that the teacher must have pushed into the center of the room, and they begged for her to sit down. Curious, and a little apprehensive, Ruth obeyed goodheartedly. You could see a tiny smile light up the corner of her mouth as she wondered what the little gremlins were up to.

A group, of five girls and four boys, sat in front of her splendid chair, smiling up at her with eyes moist with tears of happiness, and mouths trying not to prematurely babble the secret they were about to share with her. In the middle of the group sat a magnificent gold, gift-wrapped box addressed to: "Our Grandma, with Love."

Eight year old Christine stood before Ruth, tears overflowing, smiling from ear to ear, eyes dancing at the speed of light. Christine had always been special to Ruth, for she had been Jennifer's best friend ever since she could remember. They had spent much time together over the years, and they had grown close. She placed the box in Ruth's tiny lap and the whole group rose in unison, and began to sing for an amazed and delighted Ruth, who seemed to be crying and laughing and praying all at the same time! With pride in their eyes, and love in their voices, and their notes sometimes off-key, they musically told her the reason that she was there. It was easy, yet touching to see that the children had written the words, and the song just for her. A gift to be cherished. Wonderful memories to last forevermore.

Each of the nine small children either had no grandmother any longer, or had never even known theirs. This was a very special celebration and union - a new family meeting, and bonding, and growing and loving - and sharing a very special Christmas. One by one, they unpacked the special ornament they made, and proudly showed her their surprise. Each ornament was addressed, "To my special Grandma, with Love - on our First Christmas". Every ornament was unique, special, splendid, and every one was a miracle beyond belief, to a heart so desperately in pain.

Once again, proving that predictions don't always come true.....Christmas 1999 wasn't unkind to Ruth whatsoever. No, Christmas 1999, was a new beginning, a brand new start, and nine new reasons to celebrate many more Christmas's to come. The next two weeks Ruth became a human dynamo! She baked, she decorated, she sang and filled her house with so much cheer until at last it warmed up again, and became a home. She invited her nine special grandkids over and celebrated a Christmas as only a very special, wonderful grandma knows how to do, filled to the brim with magical memories that only the nine most special grandchildren on earth could ever have provided.

You see, dear sweet Ruth wasn't the only one in need that Christmas. She wasn't the only lonely soul who felt the emptiness and a void which needed filling. The children in their infinite wisdom saw her need, and in filling her need, they filled their own. There is no love as pure and unpretentious as a child's love, no mind as wise and true as a child’s mind can be when given the opportunity to flourish and grow. Every single child is a miracle you can mold and design. Parents have the power, the opportunity, and the responsibility to teach their children love and compassion, peace and kindness. The future is in the hands of our children, but our children are first placed in our loving arms, and under our tender guidance. Teach them love. Teach them the true meaning of Christmas. Not only one day in 365 days, but 365 days each and every year. Each new day providing an opportunity to celebrate, and rejoice, and give the gift of love. The gift of grace and abundance that grows, with no chance of diminishing in time.

Christmas is magical. You can see it, feel it, smell it, hear it, taste it. Christmas is a blessed event, that makes believers out of the staunchest cynics at times. Its wishes being granted - dreams coming true, prayers answered. But most of all, it has to live, all year long, deep within your heart. Christmas isn't for a day - it's all year long. Christmas is a lifetime affair. Merry Christmas to all....today, tomorrow, and forevermore.

-DH