Lis’Anne here. I’m sorry I’ve been absent from the blog for awhile. Some health problems have sapped my energy and unfortunately, my creativity. But it’s Christmas and traditions must be carried out no matter what! In our home, we have many. Peanut butter balls, fudge, cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast, and many others. One of my favorites is homemade Mexican Wedding Cakes, also known by those other names in the title. There are many recipes all over the Internet for these awesome little bites of heaven, but I think mine is the best. 
I don’t know if I ever told y’all that my husband is a construction
sub-contractor specializing in interior trim. He was contracted to trim a house on a piece of land next to an abandoned pecan tree farm. The new owner said we could gather pecans to our heart’s content. Last night, I sat on the couch and watched Christmas movies while shelling enough nuts to make a double batch of my MWCs and a pecan pie. This is one of the small containers of our haul. 
Lis’Anne’s Mexican Wedding Cakes
1 cup softened butter (room temp)
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar (aka confectioner’s)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup toasted pecans
Extra powdered sugar for coating
Beat the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then the flour and salt. Finely chop the pecans (use a food processor and pulse until very fine, but don’t turn it into paste!) and add to the dip (aka dough-in-progress ). I used my mixer to do all the mixing. Cover the dough and place in the fridge for
I have no idea why the camera made them look green.
at least one hour. Once it’s chilled and firm, roll into balls and place on an un-greased baking sheet about 1 inch apart – they don’t spread – and press down just a tad. (I try to make mine bite-sized. It never fails when I take a bite out of one I end up with powdered sugar all over my shirt.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Don’t brown them! They’re done when they look/feel dry on top. The bottoms will be lightly browned. As soon as they’re out of the oven, use a spoon to roll them all around in a bowl of powdered sugar. I use extra to cover them even more in the container I use to store them. 
These things are so good, they almost melt in your mouth. Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without them. I hope your holiday traditions make your Christmas the best one ever!
P.S. I painted these branches to hold the special ornaments my sister sends us every year. I think they came out fabulous! And here’s a view of my tree and fireplace almost finished.
As a little bonus, here are a few of the crafty Christmas items Roberta, our former blogger known as Herb Girl, and I put together when she came to keep me company. We like to turn trash into treasures.
Made from coffee cans, homemade pom poms, and the scarves are from an old shirt.
Angels made from the pages of an old hymn book.
Flower ornaments made from the pages of the old hymn book.
Mr. & Mrs. Snowpeople made from styrofoam balls.
Flower ornament made from toilet paper roll.
