Minor Disaster

Maiby and I went to visit my mom this weekend, since James had his Army stuff and I wasn't in charge of primary, even though she wasn't feeling too great since the middle of last week. She actually slept in the car on both drives, which hasn't happened in about a year, so things weren't too bad. Until she woke up on the way home, with about 30 minutes to go and decided that her new favorite phrase ("No, Mommy, no!") and screaming were the only acceptable options.

So we got home and went grocery shopping and then went to pick Daddy up from school, but he was staying late. And the second he told me that, I started crying. I'm blaming it on the hormones, but it wasn't very fun. I had been looking forward to seeing him and having some help with our recovering girl, but the two of us went home.

Before we went shopping, I had made some Crystal Light-type punch and it was sitting on the shelf in the fridge. When I was putting away the groceries, there wasn't enough room on the bottom shelf to put in the milk in the right spot after shopping, so I used the milk jug to push the butter over just an inch or two, and then...

red liquid EVERYWHERE!!

2 quarts (minus 1 1/2 glasses) makes quite the mess. It took 2 full-size towels and several paper towels to clean up the mess. I had been hoping that I wouldn't have to clean the fridge until just before we moved, but it's done! So I guess I can check that off the list, at least until May.

Luckily, as I looked at the red mess, I remembered a talk I heard year's ago at women's conference - there is a fine line between laughing and crying, and luckily I chose to laugh (but only in my head, because I still wasn't super happy). But it helped enough to put away the nagging thought of eating out that night.

Coincidence or Conspiracy?

When we got married, we were given a set of measuring spoons from two people. They were both nice and we liked the look of them, so we kept both. After realizing how convenient it was to use more than one set at a time after needing some from the sink, I opened the second one.

It wasn't long after that when I needed a Tablespoon for a recipe and grabbed one. It was bent at the handle, so I decided to gently bend it back. Unfortunately, as soon as I put a minor bit of pressure on the handle, it snapped off. Irreparably.

But we had a second set, so no big deal, right? Right. Until a few months after that we lost the other Tablespoon in an unfortunate incident with a disposal. Tragedy.

So we bought another set of measuring spoons, even though I know that 3 tsp = 1 Tbls, but it's so much easier to pour liquid from a big container (think milk or oil). And right before Christmas, our last Tablespoon attempted suicide. Luckily, James rescued it from the imminent disaster when he noticed something down the disposal. Take that rotten fate! We'll see if it survives the move in a few months...

Cookie Party

So we took down our desktop to make room for the Christmas tree, and with James' schedule being extra busy and school is ending, it's a little more difficult to find time to use his computer, so I haven't posted last week's recipe yet. But I have a couple minutes right now to let you know that this week's party will be on Wednesday at 315 again. We will try out Christmas Sandies, and I will post both recipes together before Sunday.

Cookie Party

This week we will be trying out some Ooey, Gooey, Chewy S'more Bars. Wednesday, 315.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Filling

Sorry, no picture today - I forgot until it was too late. But the cookies turned out to be delicious, and the red color was very pretty.

1/2 c butter, soft
1 c packed brown sugar
2 Tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour (I added an extra 1/4 cup after the 1st batch came out of the oven)
1 1-ounce bottle red food coloring, or 2 Tbls

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Alternately add flour and buttermilk in several increments, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Stir in red food coloring.

Spoon dough from a rounded measuring teaspoon 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on sheet 2 mins, then move to wire rack.

When they are cool, spread Peppermint Filling on flat sides of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down, pressing lightly together.

Peppermint Filling -
In large bowl, combine two 3-ounce packages of cream cheese**, softened; 3 Tbls butter, softened; and 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. Beat with mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 3 cups powdered sugar. Add milk, 1 tsp at a time, to make a filling of spreading consistency. We also crushed up some peppermint candies and added it to the filling (the recipe says to put them on top, but we liked it inside).

**I think this is too much cream cheese - our filling turned out pretty good, but you could definitely tell there was cream cheese in it. I think next time I would use 1 1/2 packages of cream cheese.

To store, layer the cookies between sheets of waxes paper in airtight container. Store in fridge up to 3 days. Let stand at room temp 15 minutes before serving.

Next Cookie Party

This week we will be making Whoopie Pies!! Isn't that a great name for a cookie? My magazine has about six recipes to choose from, and the one that won out this week is Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Filling.

Come on over Thursday at 330 to play, talk, and enjoy some delicious cookies.

Mint Crinkles

Obviously I messed up the name in the last post, BUT the cookies are pretty good.

3/4 cup finely chopped layered chocolate mint candies (about 24) - I used Andes mints

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

extra mints for the tops, chopped (I think I used 12 or so, but next time I would use a few more, probably about 15-17)

In a heavy small saucepan, heat and stir the 3/4 c chopped mints until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on med to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat until well combined. Beat in cooled chocolate, eggs, and vanilla.** Beat or stir in the flour. Cover and chill 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

(** So my bowl is kept in a cupboard that stays really cold, and it was still cold when I was using it, and it made the chocolate get hard pretty fast when I added it, so some of the cookies had big chunks of chocolate when I was rolling them into balls - just something to watch out for)

Preheat oven to 350. Roll into small balls, about 1 1/4". Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, or until edges are set (the tops should crackle - hence the name). Sprinkle a few pieces of the remaining mints on top of each cookie and pop them back in the oven for 1 minute. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 36 cookies (this is pretty accurate - I ended up with 33).

Store between layers of wax paper in tightly covered container. Store at room temp 24 hours or freeze up to 3 months.

Enjoy!

Weekend of Firsts

Maiby and I took a quick, unexpected trip up to CdA to visit my mom today after we dropped James off for this Army weekend. And it was worth it; mainly because Maiby just adores my mom and can't get enough of her - she gives her the best and longest hugs ever. But she also got to experience a few new things:

Grandma finally talked Grandpa into putting in a swing in one of their trees. It was a hit.

And Maiby got to help Grandma make cookies! Chocolate chip, of course.

Mixing it up.

Having fun.

And Grandma loved seeing the many taste-tests that went on.