OMG. How cute is this?
I think I might make this a little differently ... large poster board, maybe?
Oh, how I love Pinterest.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Chocolate Peanut Butter Dreams
Hello.
Remember me?
I used to have this blog about cupcakes and stuff?
Then my daughter got chickenpox, strep throat and almost pneumonia all in one week? Then I got sick? Then everyone started avoiding me like I had the plague? Then I stopped posting because I was knee-deep in snotty noses and calamine lotion?
Yeah, welcome to my December.
Ugh.
In the midst of all of that gunk, you want to know what my saving grace was? Oh, it was cookies. Yummy, salty, sweet cookies.
And they are STUPID easy to make. Like, you could be hopped up on cold meds and STILL rock out these cookies.
Shall I share? Oh, I think I shall.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Cookies
Listen, first of all, you cannot make enough of these. My husband eats them by the plateful. They're seriously THAT good. That said, here's the recipe for a "smallish" batch. You will eat more than you intend. Keep that in mind.
Ingredients:
36 Ritz crackers
6 tablespoons peanut butter
4-5 squares almond bark (8-10 oz)
Sprinkles, nuts, etc., for topping -- totally optional (also totally cute)
Directions:
Put 1 teaspoon of peanut butter between two crackers. You can spread if you want, but you could also just plop it in the center of a cracker and smush the other one down carefully, so as not to break them. Your call.
Make all cookies and set on a lined baking sheet (aluminum foil works fine -- don't feel like you have to waste your wax or parchment paper on this).
Melt the almond bark according to package directions. DO NOT BURN! Burned almond bark is sad and smelly. Mix to smooth chocolate.
Using two forks, submerge each cookie one at a time into the chocolate and drag bottom of cookie along the edge of bowl to get most of the excess chocolate off. You don't want to sit the cookie on a big blob of chocolate. It will look prettier the more attention you spend on this step.
Before the chocolate sets, top with sprinkles, nuts, etc. Once the cookies cool and harden, EAT. Eat so much you cry with happiness.
Remember me?
I used to have this blog about cupcakes and stuff?
Then my daughter got chickenpox, strep throat and almost pneumonia all in one week? Then I got sick? Then everyone started avoiding me like I had the plague? Then I stopped posting because I was knee-deep in snotty noses and calamine lotion?
Yeah, welcome to my December.
Ugh.
In the midst of all of that gunk, you want to know what my saving grace was? Oh, it was cookies. Yummy, salty, sweet cookies.
And they are STUPID easy to make. Like, you could be hopped up on cold meds and STILL rock out these cookies.
Shall I share? Oh, I think I shall.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Cookies
Listen, first of all, you cannot make enough of these. My husband eats them by the plateful. They're seriously THAT good. That said, here's the recipe for a "smallish" batch. You will eat more than you intend. Keep that in mind.
Ingredients:
36 Ritz crackers
6 tablespoons peanut butter
4-5 squares almond bark (8-10 oz)
Sprinkles, nuts, etc., for topping -- totally optional (also totally cute)
Directions:
Put 1 teaspoon of peanut butter between two crackers. You can spread if you want, but you could also just plop it in the center of a cracker and smush the other one down carefully, so as not to break them. Your call.
Make all cookies and set on a lined baking sheet (aluminum foil works fine -- don't feel like you have to waste your wax or parchment paper on this).
Melt the almond bark according to package directions. DO NOT BURN! Burned almond bark is sad and smelly. Mix to smooth chocolate.
Using two forks, submerge each cookie one at a time into the chocolate and drag bottom of cookie along the edge of bowl to get most of the excess chocolate off. You don't want to sit the cookie on a big blob of chocolate. It will look prettier the more attention you spend on this step.
Before the chocolate sets, top with sprinkles, nuts, etc. Once the cookies cool and harden, EAT. Eat so much you cry with happiness.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Saltine Cracker Toffee
These are super yummy.
I made these to go in a treat box for my son's teachers. Fortunately, there were some leftovers.
There are no leftovers now.
Burp.
There is no final picture. Please go here for that.
Again, burp.
 |
| Line a cooking sheet with a single-layer of crackers. |
 |
| Add caramel sauce to the crackers. Bake for 5 minutes. |
 |
| Add chocolate chips. Don't add marshmallows. Trust me. |
Ingredients:
1 sleeve saltine crackers
1.5 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Place saltines in a single layer on foil lined baking sheet.
Melt butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and bring to low boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
Pour mixture evenly over saltines. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes or until the entire layer is bubbly. Watch this closely.
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over saltines. When the chips begin to melt, spread the chocolate evenly over saltines making sure to spread all the way to the edges.
Place baking sheet in freezer for about 15 minutes until the entire layer has hardened. Break into pieces and enjoy!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Kitchen Sink Cookies
These are just plain fun cookies. Fun to make, fun to eat.
OK, they're probably a little more fun to eat.
Why are the kitchen sink cookies? Not too hard to understand this pun -- they have everything in them but the kitchen sink.
Some people call them monster cookies. I call them delicious.
I started with this recipe and tweaked it. It's worth it. Quick, easy and YUM.
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
OK, they're probably a little more fun to eat.
Why are the kitchen sink cookies? Not too hard to understand this pun -- they have everything in them but the kitchen sink.
Some people call them monster cookies. I call them delicious.
I started with this recipe and tweaked it. It's worth it. Quick, easy and YUM.
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup crushed pretzels (keep them chunky)
1/2 cup M&Ms
Directions:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or greased aluminum foil.
On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour, baking soda and salt until just combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, pretzels and M&Ms.
Make balls of dough (about 3 tablespoons in size) and drop onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. (*note -- they will still be soft! Don't keep cooking until they're firm). Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour, baking soda and salt until just combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, pretzels and M&Ms.
Make balls of dough (about 3 tablespoons in size) and drop onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. (*note -- they will still be soft! Don't keep cooking until they're firm). Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Easy Sand Dough Ornaments
I think we've found our new Christmas tradition!
Sand dough ornaments!
A friend of mine gave me the recipe, and honestly? This was one of the easiest and most well-received crafts I've done with the kiddos. They think they're cookies, but the dough comes together MUCH quicker than any cookie recipe I've ever used. Plus, it was really two crafts in one -- first, making, cutting the dough, then painting/coloring after they've dried.
Ready for the step-by-step? You got it.
 |
| Best shot I have -- the kiddos haven't painted theirs yet! |
Sand dough ornaments!
A friend of mine gave me the recipe, and honestly? This was one of the easiest and most well-received crafts I've done with the kiddos. They think they're cookies, but the dough comes together MUCH quicker than any cookie recipe I've ever used. Plus, it was really two crafts in one -- first, making, cutting the dough, then painting/coloring after they've dried.
Ready for the step-by-step? You got it.
- Mix together 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt and 1 cup warm water until the dough looks like a pie crust.
- Place the dough on a well-floured surface and roll out to 1/4" thick. If you do it too thin, it may break easier once dry and will also NOT hold up to a handprint.
- Cut out whatever shapes you have on hand with cookie cutters and place the shapes on a Pammed (I verbed Pam) cookie sheet.
- Use a straw to poke a hole through each ornament and remove the center. This is where the ribbon will go after you paint to hang on the tree.
- Bake for 6 hours at 200 degrees. Let cool overnight, then paint, marker, color away!
Fun!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wax-Dipped Pine Cones
Remember when I said I had a special idea in mind for these?
Well, I finally got around to finishing the craft. Over the summer, my family and my husband's mom/brother/grandmother/aunts/cousins/foreverandeveramen went to the lake.
It was a bittersweet trip, as it ended up being the last that we'd spend with my husband's Aunt Lori.
Because we knew at the time that things weren't going the way we'd hoped they would for her, I wanted to do something special to remember the trip. While we were there, I spent quite a while scouring the ground for perfectly shaped pine cones. I had an idea for small gifts for the family.
Originally, I thought these would make great additions to Christmas presents, but I decided to make them as "Just Because" presents instead.
My mom died when I was 20. I was a sophomore in college and it blindsided me. We didn't have a fantastic relationship -- we hardly had one at all. But it was still really hard. Unexpectedly hard.
Two months before she died was the last time I saw her. It was Christmas and she gave me two dollar store candles. I remember being mad that she gave me cheap candles -- especially because they weren't scents I liked (Apple Pie and Cinnamon Spice). How horrible of me. Absolutely horrid, childish behavior.
When she died, I kept the candles on my desk. Each time I moved after that -- from a dorm to an apartment, to my next apartment with fewer roommates, to my own apartment in Oklahoma, to this house where I've started my family -- I've kept the candles out.
I burn them whenever the loss is particularly acute. When my kids have a new adventure and I wish I could tell her about it. When I dream of her and wake up lonely.
I wanted to do the same for her family with these tokens from the lake trip. I melted scented tea candles (Apple Pie and Cinnamon Spice) on a double boiler over high heat, then dipped the pine cones in the wax and sprinkled them with sugar.
Whenever the mood strikes, you just throw one of these in the fireplace. The wax will melt and smell wonderful and the sugar will spark around the pine cones until it burns off.
I hope these pine cones are, in a small way, the same comfort for everyone this first Christmas without Lori as the candles have been for me.
Well, I finally got around to finishing the craft. Over the summer, my family and my husband's mom/brother/grandmother/aunts/cousins/foreverandeveramen went to the lake.
It was a bittersweet trip, as it ended up being the last that we'd spend with my husband's Aunt Lori.
Because we knew at the time that things weren't going the way we'd hoped they would for her, I wanted to do something special to remember the trip. While we were there, I spent quite a while scouring the ground for perfectly shaped pine cones. I had an idea for small gifts for the family.
Originally, I thought these would make great additions to Christmas presents, but I decided to make them as "Just Because" presents instead.
My mom died when I was 20. I was a sophomore in college and it blindsided me. We didn't have a fantastic relationship -- we hardly had one at all. But it was still really hard. Unexpectedly hard.
 |
| My mom & dad in the late 1970s. |
Two months before she died was the last time I saw her. It was Christmas and she gave me two dollar store candles. I remember being mad that she gave me cheap candles -- especially because they weren't scents I liked (Apple Pie and Cinnamon Spice). How horrible of me. Absolutely horrid, childish behavior.
When she died, I kept the candles on my desk. Each time I moved after that -- from a dorm to an apartment, to my next apartment with fewer roommates, to my own apartment in Oklahoma, to this house where I've started my family -- I've kept the candles out.
I burn them whenever the loss is particularly acute. When my kids have a new adventure and I wish I could tell her about it. When I dream of her and wake up lonely.
I wanted to do the same for her family with these tokens from the lake trip. I melted scented tea candles (Apple Pie and Cinnamon Spice) on a double boiler over high heat, then dipped the pine cones in the wax and sprinkled them with sugar.
Whenever the mood strikes, you just throw one of these in the fireplace. The wax will melt and smell wonderful and the sugar will spark around the pine cones until it burns off.
I hope these pine cones are, in a small way, the same comfort for everyone this first Christmas without Lori as the candles have been for me.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Photo Card
Gifted Tag Christmas
Design your Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com.
View the entire collection of cards.
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