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Happy Martin Luther King Day! This holiday is not just about celebrating civil rights but also about serving your community. If you have the day off today, why not try spending it helping others? From volunteering at an animal shelter to helping the homeless, there are hundreds of ways you can make your community a better place to live. Have a great holiday!

Happy New Year’s Eve! Have a great time welcoming the New Year tonight! We hope that you are able to achieve all of your resolutions for this upcoming year. Fun fact: the ancient Babylonians were the first to establish the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. That means that people have used this time of year to set goals for themselves for thousands of years!  If one of your resolutions is to be more environmentally friendly, remember that an upgrade to your HVAC system can make a big difference in your house’s energy efficiency!

Everyone at Saddleback Plumbing wishes you a very Merry Christmas! We hope you enjoy spending time with family and opening lots of presents. The holidays are all about appreciating what you have, and we are very thankful for all our customers. We hope that you get everything you want under the Christmas tree tomorrow!

To help make your Christmas a little sweeter, here is a recipe for Molasses Sugar Cookies:

Molasses Sugar Cookies

“These are a wonderful chewy spice cookie. They are drop cookies that keep very well. I make them at the beginning of the holiday season and they keep all the way to New Year’s!”

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups shortening

2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

4 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt the shortening in a large pan on the stove, and cool.
2. Add sugar, eggs, and molasses, beat well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together and add to the pan. Mix well and chill 3 hours or overnight.
4. Form into walnut-size balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes.
6. Store in an airtight container to keep from getting overly crisp. If they do lose their softness, an easy way to restore it is to place one slice of fresh bread in the container with the cookies for a couple of hours or overnight and they will be soft again!

For more details, visit allrecipes.com

If you haven’t had your annual maintenance visit, we recommend you do so soon. Regular maintenance will keep your system running efficiently all winter long, which will help you save money on your utility bills! It will also give you early warning if there are any problems, and an early fix now can save you from a lot of trouble in the future!

Everyone here wishes you a Happy Hanukkah!  Whether you have a Menorah or a Christmas tree in your house, the holidays are all about spending time with family.  We hope you have a great holiday and enjoy eight days of gift giving! One of the great Jewish traditions for this time of year is great food, so here is an excellent recipe for potato latkes:

Potato Latkes

“Shredded potatoes and grated onions are bound with flour, salt and eggs, then fried in oil to make delicious potato pancakes that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.”

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups peeled and shredded potatoes

1 tablespoon grated onion

3 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup peanut oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible.
2. In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
3. In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels. Serve hot!

For more details, visit allrecipes.com.