Cookie Making Extravanza and Other Recipes

 The Great Cookie Making Extravaganza (GCME) was a huge success!

We made the dough for Chocolate Caramel cookies, then forgot about it chilling in the fridge.

We also made pumpkin chocolate chip bread, ginger and cream sandwich cookies and soft apple spice cookies with shredded Granny Smiths!  OOH they were all good!

The recipes are hidden on a Good Housekeeping website that I don't have access to so I guess I'm not allowed to share them either.  Maddy will bring her copy this weekend and I'll get the recipes then.

Meri also brought a few protein bar recipes to make too.  We baked the oatmeal and nuts a little too long but the bars still came out pretty tasty!  I just had one this morning.  The others came out too crumbly or not done all the way, but it was mostly peanut butter and no eggs, so that's ok.

The girls made up several plates of cookie varieties to give to our pastor for Pastor Appreciation week as well as to Leon's mom and some for his dad too.  Also a plate for my friend Ada and her husband.

Leon wanted to make peanut butter cookies with butterscotch chips in them.  That turned out super yummy too and he brought most of those to his mom's later that on Sunday.  But I ate several along with the others and that's probably why I weigh three pounds heavier today than Saturday morning!

For lunch yesterday, I made a dear friend's Taco Salad recipe that she always brought to our church potlucks and was Ryan's absolute favorite.  Well, he wasn't here but Maddy, Matthew, Meri, Ryan (bf) and Leon and I were so we enjoyed it.  I made too much so for supper, I heated up a skillet, gave it a quick spray and stirfried some rice, peanut butter and soysauce for a bit before adding a good dollup of the taco salad and stirfrying that as well.  

I was prepared to hate it, but surprisingly enough, if you add enough peanut butter and soy sauce to anything, it turns out pretty good!  I ate what I made and will probably eat more of the leftover taco salad like that until it's done.

Here is Georgeanne's recipe.

Got to run!  I have lunch with Ada today.  The diet can start again tomorrow!

Fabri-tainment with cookies and cats

Anyone looking for a new Fabri-tainment center?  We're getting rid of an entertainment center today.  Probably on one of the local swap pages.  I guess I need to take measurements as people who are paying pennies are the dollar tend to be picky. ;)

Last night, I pulled out the Pumpkin chocolate chip cookie dough balls that I'd frozen a couple months ago with Leon and baked them.  I made some quick frosting and dolloped some on top of about half.  That's when I noticed that they were still so doughy that the frosting was making the dough soupy...  

So yep, I put the whole shebang back in the oven for another 5 minutes.  The ones under the frosting were like pumpkin pie...  Still super soft... mmmmmm  

According to Leon though, THUMBS DOWN and "Musgusting"!

Fine.  More for me.

 Found out later on FB that Jill from Blessings of a Stay at Home Mom made exactly the same kind of cookies yesterday too!  What a co-ink-i-dink!

Go check her out and give her some love today.

Leon found a neighbor cat this morning while waiting for the bus.  The bus rolled up the street and he was SO anxious that the cat might cross that sidewalk and get in the way of the bus.  Um no...  It's survived this long without getting hit by a bus, it will be fine boy.  GET ON THE BUS!

Looking forward to a super productive day!  At least I should hope so.  Yesterday was a bust although I did vacuum.

Have a good one!  It's almost the weekend!!!

It seems early...

 I noticed that our Black-eyed-Susans were already blooming yesterday!  The yellow ones have a LONG time to go and usually bloom the week or so that the kids go back school in August.    But the pink ones are going full bore now.  Oh well.  We can enjoy them longer.

Speaking of early...  Leon was REALLY wanting to make cookies yesterday.  So I pulled out my favorite cookie cookbook and let him pick something.  If we didn't have the right ingredients, I would have told him to move on to a different one.

He chose Halloween pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  Don't they look cute in the mag?

We wondered if the spider was real...

Luckily we had everything.  Well, two tries on the canned pumpkin.  I opened the first can and it just didn't look right.  Checked out the bottom of the jar and it said a 2015 expiration date.  Whoops!  I dug for another can. FOUND ONE!  I had til 2018 for that one.

I scooped up the ingredients and he dumped them in.  He is also very good at breaking eggs into a bowl for me AND he knows how to hit the 30 second timer on the microwave to soften frozen butter for me.  

While they baked, I got the next batch ready and then we colored some frosting to squirt through a baggie on to the cooled cookies.  He put enough green food coloring in to make his poop green for a week.  I think he's looking forward to that...

The two cookies towards the bottom were too warm when we started decorating.  

Leon said that was pumpkin blood...

Yeah... Those are Grandma Maggies as she hates chocolate.

So he's in the Halloween spirit already (seems a little early) and we got a few packaged up for him to take to his mom's last night.  But they got left in the car by accident.  I'll get those stuck in the freezer soon.

I froze the rest of the cookie dough in little lumps and they're ready for more batches whenever anyone else wants to bake them.  While they tasted delicious, they didn't do anything for my dieting...

Waiting to weigh myself too.  I'll wait another day or so.  It seems too early.

Oh Goody Goody!!!

On Monday of last week, we sent Meri off to take some finals and then Maddy and I got to work on our cookie baking spree.  Actually we had to wait until she was done having coffee with an old friend and I ran some errands... But RIGHT at the stroke of 10:35am, we got down to business!  We pulled out my heavy duty mixer and tied on some aprons!

 We made SO many cookies on Monday and Tuesday, it's not even funny...  TONS of molasses cookies, which aren't pictured here at all.  The ones above are basically a basic sugar cookie (with 1.5 cups of butter in it... :) ) and then crushed Jolly Ranchers baked in the middle.  Word of advice...  Unless you like crunchy jolly ranchers interfering with your cookie experience, don't try this.  The JR's get stuck in your teeth and cookie mushes apart around it.  Otherwise they were very good!

We made some just circle ones too and loaded all of them with frosting.

Another word of advice... Don't hide the cookies in tins above your kitchen cabinet.  I think it gets too warm there and some of the Jolly Rancher centers melted onto the foil... :\

We also made chocolate meringue hearts with mini chocolate chips inside! YUM!!!  Don't burn them.  It's hard to tell which ones are burnt and the burnt ones aren't as delish as the good ones!

THEN we made Christmas mice.  LOTS!  I still need to ship some off but not sure if they'll make the journey to Colorado.  I might just whip up some more mice tonight...  They were so cute and a lot of fun to put together!  Another tip... Buy the licorice whips NOT the usual licorice sticks.  Because if you get the sticks, then you have to cut them into whips.  Not as realistic without the licorice whips...  But still cute!  

These are the basic peanut butter cookies, baked with the mini choc chips for eyes, a mini M&M for the nose and two peanuts for the ears.  THEN before they cool too much, you gently put the tail in.   

We also made a ton of fudge, various types.  We only put those in the bags we were handing the people directly, so there is a lot left over.  I'm not complaining...

I'm sure I will when I step on a scale, but that ain't happening for a while.

When Meri came home after lunch, we sicced her on doing the orange/cloves project. 

 It got as far as this photo and then sat for several days before we got back to it.  By that time it was too gushy to stick a fork, much less a clove into.  So I pitched it.  As Robb would say, We'll "wreck another perfectly good orange" again next year.

 The cookies were made into gift bags for various folks and either shipped off or given out on Christmas Eve.

What kind of Christmas goodies do YOU make?

GOOD & Fattening!!!

Regarding Meri's first Holiday party, some of Meri's friends didn't come because of their church youth group activities.  Some didn't come because of the snowy weather and wow did we GET it!  Even today, they're talking negative windchills... REALLY??  In November??  

 

Oh well, I'm glad I pulled out the winter gear a couple weeks ago!

 

She ended up with 3 true blue friends that braved the weather and even brought treats of their own to share!  Meri and I spent the morning shopping, then spent the afternoon with housework and cooking.  Her first friend showed up at 4 and Meri had her help with goodies.

 

Meri made Puppy Chow, ranch flavored oyster crackers, two kinds of cake mix cookies and I made the Christmas crack.  

 

All of it was pretty addictive as I'm sure my hips can attest to.

Melted snowmen cookies.  Turned out SO cute!  The frosting hardened nicely.

The closest I got to sewing on Saturday was moving my cutting board off to the end of the dining room table so we could lay out the spread! 

One of the girls is a foreign exchange student from Germany so Robb and I tried out all the German we could remember from high school and Hogan's Heros.  I think we really surprised her with Ya Wohl!  and Ya, da ist ein Schnitzelbank!  I REALLY could have impressed her with Da ist ein hund. (that is a dog), but I didn't remember it until the next day...  or Du bist ein hund. (You are a dog) but that would have been a slam...  And she was nice.  I typically only used that on my sisters.

 

 

I made pizza for supper.  The hamburger pizza went over well!  Surprisingly... I made 4 so there are PLENTY of leftovers even today.

 

They watched movies, played spoons and when it was time for Leon to go to bed, the girls went down to Meri's room and played spoons some more.  They could get loud...  Two of the girls stayed overnight.

Meri had a great time and I'm sure she'll have another actual Christmas party in a few weeks again.  The kids didn't really get into HER movie!  Maybe the wrong crowd for BBC humor...  Or maybe the sugar was kicking in and they just couldn't sit for another movie.

Here is the example Ipod pillow that I made.  Leon is modeling it.  I decided not to keep it a secret as I'd chosen the wrong fabric for the first one...  I'll make some more, but I gave my beta pillow to Meri.  She really likes it!  And even at one point, ran downstairs to get it because she'd taken it down earlier.  I'll probably make her one for each floor.   

 

Leon likes it too!  This was them last night while Meri got her homework done.

What fattening foods did you make this weekend?  

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

This was a good weekend! Friday night was Robb's office Christmas party. And him and Doe (one of his co-workers, Hi Doe!) requested that I leave the camera in the car. FINE! However I did have my cell phone camera and the place looked so pretty... So I couldn't resist. GREAT prime rib!
On Saturday morning, Meri & I went out to my bestie's house for the annual cookie bake goodies/decorating with a bunch of other ladies from our church. Some ladies decorated the tree. Meri worked on a clove/orange pomander ball. It smells wonderful! We ladies left a bulk of our goodies there for her to use throughout the Christmas season. My family and I visited her again yesterday and I may or may not have eaten my weight in chocolate... I'm not going to say... but the scale will not like me for several months I'm sure. AND I'll need to sew myself some new clothes or let some out.My cookies were Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies and due to the fact that I used real butter instead of shortening, they ended up looking like little hats! So before they cooled too much, I folded up the sides so now they look like tri-corner hats. I put some chocolate over the top and they taste great! I'll know better next time. I'll share the recipe another day this week.

I also made the guts for some truffles, but it was a different recipe that I usually make so they didn't turn out. Little dabs of chocolate sitting in her freezer not hardening at all. dang. Actually while typing this, I may have come up with an idea on how to fix that... Maybe microwaving it all back together again until it's all bubbly? hmmm... I'll try that tomorrow when I'm there again.

I've got to tell you about our game nights this weekend, but I've been gabby enough this morning and don't have time. Tune in tomorrow!

What did you guys do this weekend?

Molasses Sugar Cookie Biscotti Recipe

I've got a Biscotti recipe that uses cinnamon chips as well as chocolate chips... and it is awesome! I usually only make that when it's close to Christmas time because I don't have cinnamon chips on hand all the time.

But what Biscotti is, is this. A hard baked cookie that you dunk in coffee or cappuccino or lattes. So I've been wanting to try making biscotti out of a regular cookie recipe with ingredients that I typically always have around. These are basically yuppie cookies...

The weekend before last, I made a sugar cookie recipe into biscotti and also tried molasses sugar cookie dough for biscotti. I think the molasses sugar cookie dough wins for biscotti, hands down... The regular sugar cookie recipe turned to mush and dissolved into the hot drinks.

Warning - These WILL chip your teeth if you try to eat them without dunking, but trust me... after dunking they are the best ever!

Molasses Sugar Cookie Biscotti
based off of Taste Of Home Best Loved Cookies & Bars magazine 2008.

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
additional sugar

* In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil and molasses. Add egg, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger & cloves. Add to the sugar mixture and mix well. A hand mixer works well for this whole process. For thicker biscotti, chill for an hour or so before continuing. Otherwise dig in.
* Shape dough into two long logs and roll the logs in sugar. (hint: dip your hands in the sugar first before handling the dough.) Coat the logs completely in sugar and lay out on parchment paper.
Flatten slightly.* Bake at 375 degrees for roughly 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Set out on counter until cool enough to touch.* Cut the dough loafs at a diagonal slant in 1/2 inch cuts, as shown below. dip each piece into the plate of sugar and coat the cut sides. Lay them all out on the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Trust me again... parchment paper is KEY!

* Bake one side for 5 minutes, then flip each piece over and bake for another 5 minutes.
* Let cool entirely and store in a jar on your counter for easy access!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and please share when you try it!

And for your baby viewing pleasure... My nephew Caleb.The most mis-matched baby that could easily pass for a baby dressed by his father. (but wasn't...)

Don't Push My Buttons...

Wow, it's been a crazy week! What with work being extremely busy and clients being extremely demanding and then with my kids schedules and what they're doing. ARGGGDDHHHE!!!!G!

*Do I sound like a pirate?* *or that I'm choking?*

Oh! I mowed over the dog chain in the yard... I think it was shortly after that that I was short with a neighbor... Yeah, I'm not the nicest person this week...

But switching gears....

I wanted to show you the best biscotti in the world!
It looked like this earlier... I baked a whole loaf of Molasses cookie dough, sliced it and then baked each slice on each side. Maddy has claimed the whole batch but I sneak a piece out every now and then, when she's not looking... AWESOME stuff to dip in my cappuccino! We'll be making more this weekend and if Meri's not dressing up every day next week, I'll post a tutorial and recipe.

Speaking of dressing up. Text me, beep me, if you want to reach me!

Today is Drug Free/Cell Phone Day, which of course Meri started off with a high caffeine homemade cappuccino! Hey, caffeine is not a REALLY BAD drug! So of course, Meri took it to the extreme and made herself into a human cell phone.
Last night she took a bunch of my scraps of batting, a billion safety pins and then sat studying the buttons on her phone to make sure each button was anatomically correct. Then for her shirt she wore her "I'm a drug free puppy" tee that we got from a motivational speaker a couple years ago.

I think tomorrow is "Let's REALLY freak out your mom" day. But I'm not sure...

Oh, on Tuesday when she dressed up as Spiderman, only 2 other people dressed up for the Hero day. Out of her WHOLE school! Wednesday, for college day, a lot more kids dressed up in college clothes but Meri's college building was pretty awesome and her teacher loved it. In fact, she insisted that Meri wear it to lunch and enjoyed watching Meri try to toss food into her mouth.

Yep, there are consequences for forward thinking... I think Meri might get poked with a safety pin today...

Colorful Creations

I used the counter top mixer on my Easter Story cookies on Saturday night and they turned out great! I think next year, I'll make it mix for 15 minutes instead of 12. I think it will rise higher... But as it stands, they were good! The kids forgot to open the tomb oven until Sunday afternoon, but the cookies were hollow and tasted delicious! As I munch and type....Great breakfast at church and the men cleaned up! I'm going to have to remember that hidden talent for future pot lucks...

And I left my camera at church... But remembered that I have an Ipod! So I took pics the rest of the day with that.

ALL the kids wanted to do the hunting and not be the hider! Okey doke! So Robb (first year in a LONG time) and I hid all the eggs and candy. His favorite hiding place was sticking the whole full 18 count egg box on a branch and call it good... At my laughing insistence he hid them individually. I hid the candy everywhere.When the kids began the hunt, I was surprised that they knew HOW to pick up in the yard. Another hidden talent I'll need to tap in the future. However they left all the Mr Goodbars because none of them liked them...Hello!???! I like them! Pick them up for me!

Here are the girls Easter dresses. They just grabbed whatever shoes to go egg hunting...Of course, Ryan found the most of the real eggs and someone was upset because of that... So after wards they dumped everything out on the table and they traded this for that and eventually everyone was happy and sugared over sufficiently.

Then they played with their food...

Guess what I had for breakfast?!
Pretty eggs.

Cookies this side of the barrel

Maddy had some friends over last night for a movie/trampoline/bonfire evening. She had asked me to make some cookies when I got home from Taekwondo. ok. We had agreed on Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and after texting her at the trampoline a few times, (is it bad that I communicate with my kids with texts even tho we're all home?) decided I would only make 24. The season premiere of Warehouse 13 was on and I wanted to catch a little of it... so I didn't want to sit in the kitchen all night.

I found a recipe on the back of the oatmeal barrel that had the title of The Best Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookie ever. I thought, Hmmm.. Can't go wrong with that! We were out of butter before I left for class and Robb had picked up some margarine. I don't make cookies with that... But the recipe called for veg shortening and I had some. Typically I'd use straight butter, but oh well.

Because our oven gets hotter than it should, we're in the habit of pulling things out of it about 5 minutes earlier than what the recipes call for, so it's kind of a guessing game... Especially with cookies that only need to be in there for 13 minutes, according to the recipe.

I pulled them out of the oven at 9 minutes and they looked overly brown. The kids came in about that time and one girl ate one saying it was good. I didn't think they looked that good. The picture makes them look delish! But I was sure when they cooled they'd be crispy little burnt things! The boys were just interested in starting the movie, so they didn't even try one.

So this morning, ALL the cookies except the one that her friend ate are still sitting on the cooling rack. darn. They must have look too burnt. I ate one and they were pretty good! Soft and not burned at all. I definitely prefer the butter taste tho, but oh well. next time.

Those kids don't know what they missed out on!

But now they're MINE now I tell you! All mine!