Yummy Things To Make

SUGAR COOKIES

One of my favorite Christmasy things to do is throw on some good Christmas tunes and bake and decorate Christmas cookies. When it comes to decorating Christmas cookies at my parents' house we always have at least 4 colors of frosting, a bazillion sprinkles, and red hots (little cinnamon candies)! Over the years we've gotten pretty creative in our cookie designs. My sisters like to swirl the frosting so it looks like the cookie has been dunked in tie-dye. But my dad is always the one who gets super into it. He will sit at our kitchen table with his tongue sticking out in concentration while he frosts away! His cookies usually look the best, too. 

In the spirit of Christmas and sharing, I thought I'd share our sugar cookie recipe with you. It is a recipe we got from my grandma and it is the only sugar cookie recipe I have ever known or used. I hope you enjoy!

Happy Baking!

-Kate

Sugar Cookies:

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar

1 cup lard or shortening

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 cups white, all-purpose flour (or more)

Instructions:

1.) Mix sugar and shortening together

2.) Add eggs. Beat.

3.) Add vanilla. Mix.
4.) Sift salt, baking soda, baking powder, and a few cups of flour together.

5.) Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, alternating with the milk. A little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk, etc. 

6.) Continue to add flour until at a good doughy consistency. 

7.) Roll out dough, cut with cookie cutters and place on baking sheet.

8.) Bake at 350^ for 8-10 minutes.

Frosting:

Ingredients:
butter

powdered sugar

milk

peppermint extract (optional)

food coloring

Instructions:

1.) Melt a tablespoon of butter and mix a little powered sugar in a mug with a little milk. Adjust with either more milk or sugar until you have a good frosting consistency. 

2.) Add a small drop or two of peppermint extract to frosting if you like it to have a hint of mint. (This is something my family has always done to our frosting. It's delicious!)

3.) Add food coloring to get desired color.

4.) Make more in various mugs or bowls with various colors.

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Silver Bells...Deck the Halls...I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I don't think I can explain just how badly I want it to officially be Christmastime! By officially I mean Thanksgiving Day. I try really hard not to listen to Christmas music or put up Christmas decorations until Thanksgiving Day. Some might say you should wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but honestly, Thanksgiving is about as long as I can make it. If I had to go another die I might die of sadness. So here is some holiday cheer and joy! Below are some of my favorite things about Christmas!

Cheers!
-Kate

1.) I love Christmas music. You know how we often wish our lives had soundtracks? For me, when it comes to Christmastime and music my life does have one. The music that makes you warm and fuzzy and all cozy and nostalgic? That's how I feel at Christmas and that's the same feeling Christmas music gives me! Some of my favorites are Michael Buble's album, "Christmas." I will also always have a love for Michael W. Smith's Christmas album titled "Christmastime." Track number 8, "Christmas Waltz" is my favorite!

2.) I love Christmas lights on buildings and houses! It turns our ordinary, boring homes and buildings into something magical at night. But may I say, I am more for the classly decor and the "less is more" mindset. All the tacky plastic figures and the explosion of lights is just too much for me. The one soft spot in my heart for that is a plastic Santa figure that was always in my grandparent's house as a child. Then we got one for my dad who has a soft spot for that old Santa, too. 

3.) FOOD! We always seem to find a way to work food into our traditions, especially holiday ones. What other time of year is it appropriate to give people gifts of just cookies? Plus, have you ever given or received more food than you do over the course of the Christmas holiday. Put on a Santa hat, turn on some Christmas jams and suddenly even my mom, who doesn't often like to bake, wants to make Christmas cookies!

4.) Christmas movies make my heart happy. Here are some of my top favs: White Christmas, The Holiday, The Grinch (Jim Carey version), Love Actually, The Family Stone, Christmas with the Kranks, While You Were Sleeping

5.) Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches! They truly are lovely, and I think I love just about everything about them. I love going to pick one out with my family and carrying it back home. I love decorating it with lights and ornaments. I love turning all the lights out and sitting in front of the lit up tree. I love the smell of sap and pine needles. I love sleeping under it on Christmas Eve, a tradition I hope to continue with Andy and Alex this year! I think the only thing I don't love about Christmas trees are all the pine needles that need to be swept up. Plus crawling on your belly to pour more water in the base is never fun either. 

6.) Last, but not least, SNOW! People are always getting down on snow. I know that once it gets to be February we all just want it to be spring, but can't we enjoy the snow for a little while? I know it's cold and wet, but it's also so beautiful and picturesque! I love the big, fluffy flakes that fall gently in a swirling motion and it makes you feel like you're in a snow globe. Oooo! And when the trees get all frosty and sparkly--pure beauty and joy! 

Yummy Things to Make!

Whether I've actually mentioned this or not I don't know, but I am a lover of baking and cooking and it is a goal of mine to share some delicious recipes with you all. A few weeks ago I posted the recipe for the scrumptious black bean burgers. Today I bring you the joy of a good cookie: Oatmeal Cookies with Pecans and Cranberries (and if you're me, Chocolate Chips!). These cookies are insanely addicting. I find myself eating more of them at one time than I care to admit, but I like to tell myself that since they are made with oatmeal, nuts, and fruit that they're mostly healthy.

Not only are they a great bake, they're also an easy one as well! Nothing better than easy, tasty cookies! It is really hard to mess up this recipe. Unless you're me and use all your baking powder on a previous recipe. I Google searched "substitutes for baking powder" and read that if I use 2 parts cream of tartar and 1 part baking soda that I should be fine. I was not fine. You may or may not know this but baking powder (and soda for that matter) are leavening agents, and without baking powder my cookies were flat as pancakes. Don't get me wrong, they were delicious, just flat. Moral of the story: Read the ingredient list carefully so as to avoid discoveries like mine when halfway through a recipe. Another moral: cream of tartar and baking soda are never a good enough substitute for baking powder. End of story.

Now, without further ado, the lovely and delightful recipe: Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries and Pecans

Yummy Things to Make!

I have always loved to bake. It started out just being chocolate chip cookies made from the recipe on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip bag which makes me think of an episode of Friends. Watch the clip to see what I mean. But, I now like to cook as well. Tonight we are having some friends come over and we are going all vegetarian: black bean burgers and corn on the cob with jalapeno chimichurri! The burger recipe is from cookinglight.com and so I thought I'd share the link so that you may all enjoy the goodness that is these easy to make, hard to screw-up burgers! Click the link to find the recipe!  Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa