By Request

I have been asked for a lot of recipes this week so I am sharing them here with all of you! By request, here are two of Gram's Christmas cookie staples.

Mom made this for me for my birthday!

Peppernuts

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar syrup (I am assuming this is corn syrup? Help, Mom!)
1 tsp soda dissolved in a little hot water
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
1 Tbsp anise oil (Gram always bought this at the drug store!)

Roll in long strips. Cut. Bake. Bake approx 350-375.

These are Gram's exact instructions.  I can try to get more details from Mom if anyone wants to make them.
We cut ours into dime size pieces, filled a cookie sheet and baked them until they were golden brown. I have no idea how long that was.  Then we turned them on to newspaper to cool and kept them in a big glass jar with a lid.  They are best when dropped in a hot cup of coffee and fished out with a spoon!



Thumbprints

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 egg yolks, reserve whites for later
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Finely chopped nuts

Cream sugar, butter, vanilla and egg yolks until light and fluffy.  Gradually add flour and baking powder and mix well.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Dip top of each ball into lightly beaten egg whites and then into finely chopped nuts.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  With thumb, make an imprint in the center of each cookie.  Bake at 350 for 11 to 14 minutes or until golden brown around edges.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen.

I fill mine with buttercream icing but you can use whatever filling you would like! I also leave the nuts off of mine, just for Adriane.

Giant Ginger Cookies

Sometimes called brown cookies at our house, these cookies are a family favorite. So much so that they made an appearance on the milk and cookies bar at my sister's wedding last week.  And to no one's surprise, they were quite popular and enjoyed by all.

Photo from BHG

Here is the recipe for you to enjoy as well! From Better Homes and Gardens.

4 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ginger, soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until softened.  Gradually add the 2 cups of sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs and molasses, beat well. Add half of the flour mixture, beat until combined.  Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. (I never do this. I just add it in and overwork my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer.)

Using a 1/4 inch ice cream scoop, shape dough into 2 inch balls. (I used the large Pampered Chef scoop.)
Roll in the coarse sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart.

Bake in a 350 oven  for 12 to 14 minutes until cookies are light brown and puffed.  DO NOT overbake!
Let stand for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Cool.

Makes 25 4 inch cookies. (Again, giant.) 

And the days go by

Here it is, October 26th already.  October is a busy month for us.  Anniversaries, birthdays, more birthdays, Halloween, Reformation, you name it, it seems to happen in October. 

So today, quick before the month is over, I have decided to make a few pumpkin flavored things. I have also decided to share them with you, since pumpkin season is just beginning.

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

Here is the original recipe I found.

1 16 oz container Cool Whip, thawed
1 5 oz (small box) vanilla pudding mix
1 15oz can pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Mix all together and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with graham crackers.

Here is what I actually did.

1 16oz Cool Whip, not quite thawed well enough to mix well
1 5oz box pumpkin pie flavored pudding mix
1 cup pumpkin because I had used the other half of the can for something else
And I forgot the pumpkin pie spice.

I am serving mine with apple slices. Wish me luck!

I also made these bars for the pot luck tomorrow.  Light and Spicy Pumpkin Bars but I am sure I will frost them with real cream cheese frosting and not the light version that came with the recipe.

One other pumpkin thing that I highly recommend. The Pumpkin Pie Martini. Rumchata, pumpkin pie vodka, and ice.  Did I mention I highly recommend it?? 

I was too busy to bake and pumpkins for pies but maybe when November 8th is over with, I can add that back to my list!  What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?  I would love for you to share!

Throw back to Halloween 2010

Cheerios Mix 'o Goodness

My grandmother loved being in the kitchen. She loved taking care of people by feeding them. ( I see nothing wrong with that.)

Here is her recipe for a Cheerios snack mix that was a favorite of everyone's.  I made it to take with me this weekend to share with my sisters. 

CHEERIOS SNACK MIX
------------------

  6 c. Cheerios
  1 c. raisins
  1 c. peanuts
  1/2 c. butter
  1 c. brown sugar
  1/4 c. corn syrup
  1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix together Cheerios, raisins and peanuts. In a medium sized saucepan, mix butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Pour the butter mixture over the Cheerios mixture and coat. Place in a jelly roll pan and bake at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool. Break apart. Store in a sealed container.

Inventory

Buntings may be the theme of the month this month. Lauren texted me pictures of a few new ones she was working on. That was followed by a Facebook conversation in which her husband may or may not have tried to curb the bunting production at her house.   My cousin posted pictures of a cute bunting she was working on for her little boy's play room.  (She blogs at Husband, Wife, Blessed Life and we love lots of the same things.) I have plans to put this bunting print bedding to use in Cil's room this week which means I will need to make a new one for her too.  All this made me think that we have a lot of buntings at our house.  They are pretty, they are colorful, they are inexpensive and they add a new dimension to the space that they fill.  As an added bonus, they take very little time to make. Unless you are mom and you ask for my help. Then they take forever, right Mom?   So let me give you a bunting tour of my home.

The living room.

All the extra buntings that live in the basement.

Cil's room.

This one is a gift from Lauren and I love it!  It is currently draped across the island. 

 There are buntings in Grace and Josie's room and in our room.  I just don't have pictures of ALL of them!  I am sure this trend will disappear as quickly as it came but for now, I am going to enjoy every minute of it.

Pictures are all courtesy of Jan.  I know this surprises you.  She's like my own personal photographer.

 

This Week in Cookies

Technically, these aren't all from this week. Since I finally got my computer repaired, I am playing catch up and am happy to report that all my stuff, whatever that is, is still on my computer. Hooray!

Quilted Coin Purses, thanks to the great tutorial from Sweet Sugar Belle

Guitars for a little girl 's birthday party.

Cole's 1st Birthday mustaches

Yo, Adriane, sorry your party got cancelled but glad you liked the cookies.

Getting it Together

I consider myself a fairly organized person.  I am busy with the girls,  I manage to keep up with the house, and I have plenty of time for baking and cooking.

I am  also able to waste time with the best of them.  I could look at Pinterest for hours and rearrange Pyrex all day if that was an option!

The one thing that I have found that keeps me on track the best is a dead line.  Sure, I have tons of stuff that I would like to do but if it doesn't come attached to a specific date, there is a good chance it may never happen.

That being said, I have some new deadlines and I am pretty excited to get to work.  July is filled with fun little summer things. The splash park, baseball games, bike riding and lemonade stands.  I also have cookies orders and a few other events to get planned.  All this because August means vacation, a visit from Grandma, a big birthday and back to school!

So here I go, off to get to work on my ever growing lists.  Here are a few projects I am most looking forward to.

1.  Painting  4 folding chairs and giving them fabric seats.
2.  Moving Cil to a twin bed which means some serious room rearranging.
3.  Finding a home for all the books I have been stashing away in boxes.
4. Some patio decor that is yet to be determined.
5.  Figuring out how to make a decent cinnamon roll.  Jan? Can you help me?

What's your summer list look like?

Keys to Success Graduation Party

The Hedstrom's have the perfect yard for a party!

Congratulations on your graduation Ashleigh! 

Thanks for letting us be a part of your celebration. 

Check out the  inspiration for this party.

Mmmm. Chicken salad tarts.

Mini Tirimisus at the request of the graduate.

 It's not a party without cookies. I think that is my new motto.

 

The recipe for this can be found here. I highly recommend it!

Congratulations again!

Having a Ball

Cookies can be time consuming little things.  But when they turn out like this, I guess I don't mind too much. 

Happy Birthday again to my grandmother who turned 92.  It sounds like I missed a lovely party!

10 in 10 Thursday Style

Lauren  suggested we all do a 10 in 10.  10 pictures in 10 hours.   Here goes.

Breakfast. She eats a huge breakfast!

Coffee and list making go hand in hand.

Lunch.  Yes, I make heart shaped sandwiches every day.

Sleeping cutie.

Grace coming out of school.

Josie coming out of school. Why they didn't come out together I don't know.

Supper staple.  A veggie plate.

Choir Assessment about The Sound of Music! It's due Friday, you know.

She's lost three teeth this week.

She's lost one.

And I spent my evening pondering how to transform this thrift store  steal.  

 

 

I forgot to get a picture of my mid afternoon coffee with Laura :)  And several other things that went on yesterday. For not having anything on my calendar, it turned into a busy day!

That's So 27 Seconds Ago

I love that saying.  It makes me smile and laugh every time I get the opportunity to use it.  So, you can only imagine the chuckle I got when I saw the cover of the first issue of Flea Market Style Weddings.

It features a great paper flower bouquet.  Obviously the trend for paper flowers is still going strong :)

Go here to check it out. 

I don't have a copy of the magazine yet but if it is as good at the regular version of Flea Market Style, it will be money well spent.

Here's to many more laughs and lots more uses for my vintage book collection!

Plain Ole' Chocolate Chip

I don't always make chocolate chip cookies, but when I do, I cool them on old WSJ with articles about Pinterest in them.

I added some red and white sprinkles for Valentine's Day. Awwww.

And since I moved to this higher altitude, I always use this recipe.
It comes from the High Altitude Baking site and they turn out perfect every time!

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

© 1999 Letty Flatt CHOCOLATE SNOWBALL

ThreeForks Book/Falcon Publishing

This home-size recipe from Letty Halloran Flatt’s recipe book CHOCOLATE SNOWBALL,
is altitude-adjusted for 3500 feet altitude and above; over 9,000 feet, you can cut 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter.
Yield: 12 jumbo (4-inch) or 24 medium cookies.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
Preheat oven to 325°F. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla, then scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix them into the creamed butter. Scrape bowl. Stir in chocolate.
Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment or oil lightly with canola oil. To make jumbo cookies, scoop dough into twelve (1/3 cup) mounds, 4 to a sheet, 3 inches apart, or scoop smaller cookies by the tablespoon. Bake until cookies are flat and light golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes, depending upon size.

Valentine's Day + Cookies = Love

  

Especially these little cuties! 

 

 

 

If you would like to order any of these  cookie treats for Valentine's Day, please send us a message and we can work out all the details!  The coffee cups and cookies can be shipped, the three tiered stands, probably not :)

1 coffee cup + 6 heart or star cookies = $15
(a variety of cups and cookie colors)

Valentine Cupcake Cookies = $3 each

3 tiered cookie stands with mini cookie treats = $15 each

Cookies are made of butter and love.  ~Norwegian Proverb

Happy Valentine's Day 

*Special thanks to Jan for taking all the pictures. 

A little game called Cookie Catch Up

I bake a lot of cookies. I take a lot of pictures.  I ask my friends to take pictures.  I send the cookies to my family and friends. I send the pictures, well, lots of places. 

So today I am taking a minute to catch up on my cookie pictures on this blog.

I have one big unorganized mess of these two particular items so if you've seen these before or already, sorry.  My attempt to get caught up is so I can post some more pictures later of the Valentines cookies I have been working on! 

Happy Birthday little Willa!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

These cuties were late for their own party.

For Tight Line Adventures.  Thanks again Sarah!

And thanks to Katie too!  These we so fun to make!

I

Primary mixing bowls anyone?

These were fun too! 

Thanks Linda for letting me make these!

And thanks to Mom for feeding my desire to experiment! These turned out so cute.