Christmas Cookies

It's that time of year, time to bust out my awesome Kitchen Aid mixer and cookie sheets!

Every year I make snickerdoodles at Christmas time.  It's a tradition, I suppose.  And Christmas just wouldn't be the same if there weren't any snickerdoodles.  I've always liked the light sugar cookie texture they have, and coupled with the cinnamon and sugar that the cookie was rolled in before baking gives it the perfect touch of sweetness.  I always like my snickerdoodles to be soft, so I bake them just long enough to cook through then I whip them out of the oven so they don't dry out.  My dad, on the other hand, likes the cookies to be crunchy, so I usually do at least one cookie sheet just for him - crunchy.

Last year I stumbled upon a recipe for pumpkin-oatmeal raisin cookies.  I found it in a magazine and it was boasting that the it was a more 'healthy' cookie, though I don't recall why (it has a cup of sugar AND a cup of brown sugar!).  Maybe it's the oatmeal?  Anyway, I didn't buy the magazine but found the recipe online after doing a search.  It a light cookie (not rich or too pumpkin-y) but after making one batch I decided to add a teaspoon of cloves to give it a little more flavor, which totally worked and now is more of a holiday cookie than it was before.  I finish off the cookie with a light smash with a sugar-coasted fork (kind of like one would do to a peanut butter cookie).

My mother usually makes persimmon cookies at Christmas.  She adds golden raisins to her recipe, as well as a nice little swath of vanilla frosting on top.  With the frosting, they are perfect Christmas cookies!

Next week I will need to bring about three dozen cookies to a moms function at church and I can think of no other cookie to take than my fabulously delicious Christmasy cookie.  Then later this month I am planning to go to a cookie exchange and I'll need to take several dozen cookies, like, I'm talking A LOT of cookies, not just a few dozen.  So I'm not sure if I want to take my snickerdoodles, they take too much time to make into balls then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then bake.  So I'm not exactly sure if I'll go with the pumpkin or persimmon cookies.

Do you have a Christmas cookie that you make every year?  A tried and true recipe you'd like to share??

It's So Fluffy I Could Die!

I pulled out the artificial tree the other day, and now it's all assembled and lit!  Now all that needs to be done is to fluff out the branches so it doesn't look like the tree has been crammed into a box for the last 11 months.  And since Mae is home 'sick' today (really, she is sick, but it's amazing how quickly she recovers after I get home from taking Caleb to school.  ok, so it's not that quick, but she is feeling better and its too late in the school day to take her to school) so I'm putting her to work on fluffing the tree.  She doesn't seem to be getting the point.  I showed her this clip from Despicable Me to give her inspiration.



I want to walk into the room, look at the tree and say "IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!"  Is that asking too much?

Heebie Geebies

Is anyone else creeped out by this commercial??



Frankly, it does not make me want to go out and buy any.  In fact, it has the opposite effect.  I'm thinking the ad department went in the wrooooong direction on this one.

Ewe.

Oh No She Didn't!

**warning, some content may be considered harsh, untrue, and at times, vulgar.  descriptions and verbatim comments told here are NOT the views of this author and should not be considered as such.  read at your own discretion.

Mae is clearly not my child.  And if she is (which is highly doubtful after what she has said) then I disown her here and now.

The other day, the kids and I were making Christmas ornaments and even though it was just days before Thanksgiving, I thought it was appropriate to put on some Christmas music.  I opted for my very favorite, When My Heart Finds Christmas by the one and only Harry Connick Jr.  We decorated and talked all while listening to Harry C and his orchestra belt out some of my favorite holiday tunes.  We even sang along.

*stop reading at this point if you are of weak constitution

Later, Mae was looking at the cd case and commented on Harry's picture.  She then asked me (brace yourself, Harry fans!) if I thought he was strange looking. Of course I said HECK NO!!!  Mae disagreed and even went as far as to say that (prepare yourself!) he was kinda weird and (gasp!) freaky looking.

How can Mae, a child whom of which I brought forth into this world and given such love and care, say such things?

Where did I go wrong?

How could I have made such error in her upbringing?

Answer:  She's not mine.  Another sweet, pretty baby must have been switched at the hospital!  I can think of no other reason.

Night Out

Tonight I finally had a date with my husband.  It's been over four months since we last got out for an evening.  That's too long, in my opinion.  Life gets busy with small events here and there, then couple that with sitters that have busy lives themselves and that's how you go four months with no date night.

So, needless to say, we had a nice time out.  The evening was simple.  Just dinner and a movie (with thanks to a gift certificate that we got for our anniversary....four months ago!).

I only hope it doesn't take another four months to go out again.  Who knows, there could be a Christmas miracle for us next month!

Thanksgiving

We prepared food.

We ate food.

Then we had pie.

All with some family and friends.

Yep, it twas a great day.  

My favorite part may have been this morning when Isabel said "It's Gis-giving!".  I'm thankful for the cute little things that little girl says.

The Calm Before The Storm

This is my range.

Of which I just finished cleaning.

The day before Thanksgiving.

Which, also, will be the commencement of all kinds of spills and messy carnage that will occur on top and all around (and inside all kinds of nooks and crannies).

I don't know why I bother cleaning it.  For no one will see it in this state of cleanliness.  Except for you, my most loyal of blog follower(s).  But it gives us a great starting point for tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  May you eat, fellowship and give thanks to The One who blessed you with it all!

One Day Left

....to shop for Thanksgiving, that is.

I've got my shopping list together.  And Ryan has already purchased the turkey.  But I have, like, 50 other things yet to buy.  And only one more day to tackle it.

*sigh*

I hope that I'm not too late and that the shelves are still stocked with the things I'll need.  

A Rigid Search Has Ended

Yep, I did it.  I bought me some pretty red ruffley shoes!!!!

If you recall, the other day I found these perfectly priced pretties but couldn't decide if I should a) get them in size 7 and have them be a teensy big.  b) buy the 6 1/2's even though they were an itsy bit small. c) not buy either and keep looking for a pretty pair of red flats.

I went back to the store today and went with option A.  You see, I had a idea.  I can sum it up in one word - inserts.  Yep.  I put in a pair of inserts and now the 7's fit juuuuuust right.

Now I an tap my heels together and say "these red flats make me happy"!

Whoops....

....almost didn't make it today!  Whew, just in time too!

My major accomplishment of the day (aside from slipping this post in under the wire, of course) is I have two people taken care of for Christmas.  If I keep this up, then maybe I'll have extra time to play!

Goldilocks Looks For Red Flats

I've been a hunt for the perfect pair of red ballet shoes.  They can't be just any 'ol pair of red ballet shoes either.  I'm just picky that way I guess.  It all started when a friend showed me these

And that was when the bar was set.  The only problem is that pesky little thing called 'the price tag'.  These little beauties are normally about a hundred bucks.  Which is too much, in my opinion (or is it only because I don't have a hundred dollars to spend on shoes?  Doesn't matter, I'm not buying them. *sigh*)

Then today, I found a pair that might make me mostly forget about the above-mentioned/pictured-shoes.  Some very lovely red ballet flats with a few ruffles.  They kind of look like these

Only, the ones I found were a tad different, they have an extra ruffle.  On me they look like this

As awesome as they are, I didn't buy them.  Not yet anyway.  Normally I wear a size 7, but the 7's felt just a wee big.  And the 6 1/2's felt a teensy bit tight.  So I have a delima - do I buy the 7's and deal with the extra wiggle room?  Or do I get the 6 1/2's and hope they stretch just a bit?

*sigh*  

I just don't know.  Priced at thirty bucks, they're totally right!  But I'm just not sure.  Maybe if they are still there tomorrow, then I'll buy them.  Or....if they aren't there, then I'll know they were the ones!  Isn't that how it is, the one thing you're looking for is always gone?  Especially when it comes to shoe size.

To Be Continued.....

Too Tired

Long day.

Long night.

Must.  go.  to.  bed.

Completed Projects - The Dining Room

Completed?  Well, not exactly.  But it's a whole lot closer than it was when we moved it. So to me, that's progress!

Here it is, the 'completed' dining room.  (please overlook that there are not curtains, or rug, and also the light fixture isn't really our style and one of these days we may, or may not, replace it).  (also overlook that  I do not have a 'before' picture to show off the grand scale with which I have 'completed' the room).

I guess when I really think about what I put into the dining room, it isn't much.  I bought the tablecloth (that brings in the dark brown and turquoise from the living room).  And I bought the mirrors at Ikea and painted one turquoise, then arranged them just so.  So, yeah, there isn't too much there than what I started with.  But when I look over at my living room and see that the two rooms flow together, the dining room gives me a pulled together feel.  And that makes happy.

Preview

It's late and I'm having a difficult time putting words together for a decent post.  I've got one coming tomorrow, I promise.  In the mean time, here's a little sneak peek of what I'm working on.

The Other White Meat

I was digging around in the freezer yesterday and came across a package of pre-cooked ham slices.  I want to use what we've got, but I had no idea how to use the ham slices.  So I went to my trusty ol' computer.  I typed in "ham slices recipe" and among the results was this recipe.  I looked it over and printed it out.

The recipe was super-easy, I couldn't pass it up.  Including the ham, there were only three ingredients; cranberries, honey and cloves.  I must admit, however, that it sounded weird to me.  Honey?  With meat?  But then I thought about honey-cured ham and how tasty that is, so I figured it couldn't be too off-base.

So I whipped us up some Cranberry Ham Slices and served it for dinner.  And the crowd!.....went!.......wild! (insert crowd-pleasing cries here).

Ok, fine, so all I got was a 'this is good' for an accolade.  But I'll take it!

Burden Lifted

I completed a big project today and I feel elated!  A couple months ago we bought a Groupon for two photobooks for ten dollars each from Shutterfly.  I had over two months to upload photos and think about and put together layouts.  But why rush?  I had time.  Which is why I wait until there is, like, two weeks before the cutoff.  Actually, there is very good reason as to why.....

Can you say pro.  cras.  ti.  na.  tor.  ???

Yeah.  That's me.  I must work better under pressure.  Or, I must really really really like stress.  Because I do this to myself all the time.  For all kinds of reasons and occasions.

So, anyway, I just finished putting together the two photobooks.  Whew!  What a load off my mind!  But really, it's not that bad.  The cut off isn't until the 22nd.  So you see, I had time to spare.  Which makes me think that maybe I set a precedent for myself.  I got something done early!  Watch out America, Christmas shopping will be done ahead of schedule this year - by the 23rd, and not a day later.  Ah yeah!

Under The Wire

Dear NaBloPoMo,

I almost forgot about you today.  I'm about to turn in for the night and yet you have this ability to keep me from following through.  Speaking of following through.....this posting every day thing is getting to be a bit much.  Do I have to really have to post every day?  Seriously?  I know, I know, I signed up for it, it's not like you made me do it.  But I thank you for your persistence and keeping me on track for daily posting.  Kind of.

Alright.  That's enough for today.  Adios.  Goodnight.  See you tomorrow.

Regards,
D

Today

Saw a children's musical with the family.

Cleaned the leftovers from the fridge (gotta make room for Thanksgiving!)

Started house-wide laundry.

Vacuumed all the rooms of the house (even the kids rooms because they CLEANED THEIR ROOMS!!)

Went to Saturday night church.

Tucked kiddos in bed.

Folded laundry.

Sat on couch and started watching Notting Hill.

Full day, time for bed.

Completed Projects - The Living Room

One of the rooms that we have finished putting together is the living room.  This is the first house that we've had that has two living spaces.  Well, maybe that's not entirely true.  The rental we were in before this house had two living rooms.  We used our garage-sale-futon to furnish the second room in the rental, but I sold it before we moved, so when we got to this house we had no furniture for the front living room.  I had a rug, old storage chest, and a lamp, but that was pretty much the extent of the furnishings.  Over the months of this past year we have bought a few pieces of furniture for the living room.  And now that I have picked out the curtains for the room, I feel like the room is finally complete.


before

I've never really put a room together before.  But after watching too many HGTV design shows, I feel as though I've received an interior design education, of sorts.  While thinking of this room, I remembered the rules of design that Karen McAloon always talked about on Find Your Style.  Karen would talk with the homeowners about choosing the main color and metal/wood finishes for the room as well as what style to stick with when shopping for furnishings.  I knew what our style was -modern (clean lines, no foo-foo) and we wanted to incorporate dark brown since one of the walls had already been painted a striking shade of chocolate before we bought the house (I'll feature the brown wall later).  The finishes were an easy choice, chrome, since that's what we tend to like.  The only thing left was to choose an accent color.  Turquoise is 'in' these days, and goes well with dark brown, so turquoise it was!

So, after a purchase of a couch, lamp, side table and a few accents of color.....here is our finished room!

After buying three different curtains, I've found the ones I want.  Of course, now that I know what I want, I can only find one curtain and I need two.  Frequent trips to Target are in my future as I continue to check for updated stock.  For now though, my newly put together living room sports only one curtain (with two lovely graphics mums, I might add).

Wrong Number

Dear people who are calling for Kate So-n- So,

She does not live here.  Nor is there anyone at this residence that answers to that name.  We have had this phone number for over a year, and within the last few months we've received a lot of calls for Kate.  Next time you see her, can you please let her know that she's giving out the wrong number?  You may also want to mention that she needs to pay her bills.

Regards,
The Real Occupants of This Phone Number

Gingerbread Cake

First off, let me just say that I made the gingerbread cake last night for a church event that I was attending today. I'd like to say that it turned out well (buttermilk substitute and all).  The piece I had today was good.  But it wasn't mine.  You see, there are lots of ladies that bake for the monthly gathering of moms that we have.  There is a group of ladies that all make the same recipe, then bring it and share with all the ladies that attend the event.  The baking committee is a great way to serve in this large group of ladies.  I love it!   Anyway, the piece of gingerbread cake I had this morning did not come from my own making, but I'm pretty sure mine tasted the same.  At least, I hope so!  I guess I'll know for sure if I'm ever asked to serve in another area.

I made another batch this afternoon because there weren't any leftovers for me to bring home to my family.  I felt bad for them.  It's hard to sit by and watch baking loveliness being made, and smell the delicious aromas that fill the house but not be able to have any.  And it's just plain sad to watch my son scrape crumbs out of the pan so he can have a smidgen of a taste of what used to be.

It's an easy recipe and the outcome was pretty tasty.  I think it's a good addition to any holiday baking as well.  So I'd like to share it with you!  

Gingerbread Cake

1 box (1 lb) dark brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 1/2 sticks butter, cut into small cubes

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soada

2 eggs, unbeaten

1 cup buttermilk

Place brown sugar and flour into large bowl.  using a knife or pastry blender, cut butter into mixture until moist crumbs form.  Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set aside.

Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and baking soda to the bowl.  Add eggs and mix well.  Lightly stir in buttermilk.

Pour batter into ungreased 9x13 pan, and sprinkle the flour/sugar/butter mixture on top

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

What I Learned Today

Did you know that you can make buttermilk?  Well, I had heard that bit of information before, so maybe I knew it. But I didn't know it enough to be able to use it  for a recipe when I realized I was lacking buttermilk (and it was late, and I didn't want to go to the store to buy some).  So what's a girl to do when she finds herself in such a bind?

Call her mommy, that's what!

But what can that girl do when her mommy isn't home (and her dad has not the information to correctly advise her)?

Google it!

Turns out, buttermilk can be made with one teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice and adding it to a cup of milk.  Let it sit for five minutes and wah-lah, you have buttermilk.

I can go to bed tonight with having learned something.  As well as a fresh baked gingerbread cake filling my house with lovely aromas.  But I don't advise forsaking ones mother for Google.  It's not an adequate substitution.

Completed Projects - The Bookshelf

As I've mentioned before, we've been in our house for a year now.  The house was in move-in condition and nothing 'needed' to be done.  However, we have taken on a few projects.  For instance, there is a built in bookcase in the living room, and Ryan took it upon himself to redo it.  Granted, it wasn't constructed very well.  So we dreamed of what we could do to make it better.  There were ideas of making it just plain, but where's the fun in that?  Then we thought of lining the inside back wall with cool graphic wall paper.  But in the end we decided to stain the back inner wall of the bookcase.  

Ryan took apart the upper bookcase and left the lower cabinets alone.  Then he thought about how best to go about reconstructing the shelves.  After figuring out his plan, we went to work.  Ryan measured and cut all the wood (sometimes more than once), while I painted all the (numerous!!!) pieces of shelving.  After the back stained wall was put into place, Ryan assembled the shelving system.

And wah lah, this is what we got!

A Day Of Rest.....

and so I'm 'resting' today.

From blogging, that is.

Enjoy the respite, for I'll be back tomorrow!

Name That Tune

What do these have in common.....

Row, Row, Row You're Boat


Who Let The Dogs Out?


Fire, Fire, Fire On The Dance Floor

They are all songs that we have heard being belted out by our son.  As he showers.  Pure awesomeness!

She Gave What She Could

Mae.  My nine year old.  She had her own way of contributing to my birthday the other day.  There was a lovely birthday message on her chalk board, which was also decorated with pom poms, and on the chalk ledge was a little metal tin and pencil.  The tin and pencil was my gift.  Mae gave much thought to my gift.  She knew that my favorite candy from her Halloween stash was the Reece's peanut butter cup.  So inside the tin I found a lovely handwritten birthday card/note, as well as two little milky way bars, a tiny Hershey bar and a Reece's peanut butter cup.  Bestill my heart, she gave me her last peanut butter cup.  Mae also gave me a beautiful pencil.  I know that she gave it to me because it was pretty (and unused) but I couldn't help but laugh as I read what was written on it.

"May is Mental Health Month"

Health and Human Services Agency

Behavioral Health Services

Access and Crisis Line 1-800-123-4567

I hope Mae isn't trying to tell me something!  Although, it is a lovely pencil.

The other thing that Mae did that day was sprain her ankle.  It was just one of those things that just happens.  Playing with friends and falling 'just right' caused the injury.  This required most of Wednesday to take her to the doctor, get x-rays, and a boot to wear for the next three weeks.  I am grateful that she did this on the day of my birthday and not the day before.  At least I didn't have to spend my actual day in the doctors office.  That would have been a bummer.  Of course I am also grateful that her injury wasn't worse and that she did not need a cast.   And let's not forget that the timing of this injury is pretty good as well.  It could have happened in the heat of summer, when swimming and beach going was in full swing.  

this boot was made for walkin', and that's just what she'll do....

**I finally figured out the problem I was having with posting pictures, so I was able to add the picture of me and my lovely birthday boa.  scroll down two posts and you'll find it. :)

Only Day 4??!?!

I'm not doing so well with NaBloPoMo, am I?  Here it is almost 10:00 and I'm only writing this so I can post it and meet today's deadline.  How sad is that? (don't answer that)

It has been a busy day.  Good, but busy.  I do have an excuse, or, um, reason for not getting over here sooner today.

Thursdays are good days for me.  It's day two during the week when Isabel goes to school.  This enables me to help in Mae and Caleb's classrooms, which I do, but it also gives me time to go out to lunch with a friend or do some shopping/errand running sans kids.  And that's what I did today - lunch with a friend (what were you thinking.....that I did something productive and crossed some errands off my list?  no, they're still there.  I'll get to them, hmmmm..... next week. Yeah, that's a good idea!).  After my Jamba Juice lunch, it was time to pick up two thirds of my kids from school (stinkin' early release day), and after chatting with a friend, it was time to get Isabel from her school.  And so begins the 'after school routine' of snacks and 'get your homework done!'  Before you know it, it's time to start getting dinner ready and then it's off to bible study.

So see?  I've had a busy day.  Not really bloggable stuff, but hey, it is what it is, and it's NaBloPoMo so you get what you get.  I do hope to have something of substance tomorrow.  Hope being the key word.

Then end.

The Day After

I had a great day yesterday!  It was filled with so many good things, including (but not limited to); numerous emails, facebook messages and texts wishing me a happy birthday, as well as a much anticipated bible study attendance, and lunch with good friends afterwards, a pretty pink boa (which may have been one of my favorite parts of my day, surprisingly!), a lovely slice of cake to go with lunch, dinner out, and my choice of lemon meringue pie for desert.  So many good and wonderful things, and in light of the video I posted yesterday - I jump in it!

Thank you for all those who wished me the best yesterday and made me feel loved and so very blessed!!!

Most Premium Day

Today is my birthday. Yep, 35 years ago today I began life here on this planet. And what do I plan to do on this most momentous day? Well, since everyone in my family is in good health, I will go to bible study! (which sickness has kept me from these past two weeks!!!) Then I plan to go out to lunch with a few friends. Technically I already have my birthday present (a pea coat from Costco that was purchased last month, however, it's too bad it won't be cool enough wear today) so I'm not expecting anything else, other than a night off from cooking (which I already know is coming my way....or am I heading there? (destination is still undetermined) :) But maybe it's not too late to ask for one more thing.....how about a tiny giraffe? Why not, it's my birthday?!?!!!

It's That Time Again - NaBloPoMo 2010!

The month of November is National Blog Posting Month, and I'm all signed up.  I've participated before, and some years I've done well and actually posted every day in November.  Other years (like last year, I think), I didn't.  But I tried though and that's gotta count for something, right?

Last year I tried to do a 'thankful' post every day, and while I liked that theme, I don't think I'll do that again.  Not every day anyway.  But I'll still be thankful!  So stay tuned.

Happy NaBloPoMo!  Who's with me??