Tag Archives: Christmas cookies

Disconnected

15 Dec

Tis the Season. Ho. Ho. Ho. I just can’t get up the Christmas Spirit this year. I am so tired. I’ve tried everything:

1) I thought maybe decorating would work. My husband got the tree put up, thankfully it is a pre-lit artificial tree. Oh, wait, the pre-lit lights didn’t work so he threw on some other lights that move around and do fancy things like the fountain at the Bellagio.

However, the thought of having to dig through the 8 bins of decorations and get out ornaments, snowmen, the cutesy door decorations, the stockings, the Christmas card holder and gah! So we went to the dollar store and bought red and gold ball ornaments and garland, stockings, glitter glue and cheap plastic “no damage” hooks to stick on the fireplace. As Christmas cards come, I hole-punch and string them up on the curtain rod in the livingroom with red ribbon. Still, it takes me 3-4 days to get the latest ones up. But I have to say, it does add some festivity to the livingroom. We decorated our new stockings just last night and hung them on the fireplace with care. We needed new stockings anyways as Big A and Little A’s both said “1st Christmas”. I had intended to make new ones for them on their second Christmases. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I didn’t make that mistake with Hiccup’s this year.

2) I thought an obscene amount of baking would get me into the spirit. I promised family I would send cupcake bites as Christmas presents so I spent one weekend making those and Christmas Tree Pops. Another weekend making peanut butter blossoms. Most of this week was spent making toffee and chocolate covered pretzels. Oh and I volunteered to make stuff for the bake sale at the kid’s school. Tomorrow night and Saturday morning I am making more peanut butter blossoms and this brownie candy cups recipe I found on Bakerella’s site. Yum. I think I will be done after that. Unless we spend Christmas Eve with the boys making cookies and reading Christmas stories. That will be nice. Oh, but look what she does to the peanut butter blossom cookie. I just found this as I went to grab the links! It’s the cuppie one I am talking about further down the page…lower…lower…yeah, right there! Double Yum!

3) I thought listening to Christmas music would help. OMG. I absolutely HATE the songs “Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time” and “Last Christmas”. And since everyone and their brother has re-made those songs, they are played even more than they used to be!

4) I tried Christmas shopping. That never is a good idea to get into the spirit. You kind of have to already be there to put up with that nonsense.

5) My last attempt was to do something fun for my husband. A friend of mine’s husband used to give her a gift on every day of the 12 days of Christmas. I am not sure if he still does it. I always thought that was cute. So 3 days ago, I gave my husband a pack of Apple Pie gum. He loves pie. Then on the second day of Christmas I gave him finger lights to work in the dark on his computer. Our office is also Hiccup’s room so often he is in the dark playing his game while Hiccup is sleeping. I thought the finger lights were pretty cool. Today, the third day of Christmas, I gave him 3 sticks of beef jerky. He loves this stuff. We shall see what tomorrow brings!

This last attempt is working a little bit. I love giving presents. I also dropped a tin of my baked goods off at an office where a bunch of friends work. That felt good, too. I can’t keep that s%&t in my house. A moment on the lips, forever on the hips, bloggers…there is still a bunch of toffee in the fridge. Hubby came home, looked at it, shook his head and said, “Nothing says I love you like crack cocaine in your fridge. Thanks,babe.”

Is it weird that that gave me a warm fuzzy? I don’t think so. :)

Twelve Posts of Christmas – Post 6 – 6 Christmas Miracles

19 Dec

So, if you thought there would be 6 amazing stories of miraculous happenings at Christmas time here, I apologize. I tricked you into coming to read my blog. Post 6 of the Twelve Posts of Christmas is about cookies. In my opinion, the cookie is a miracle. So I would like to share my 6 favorite Christmas miracle recipes with you.

You’re welcome.

#6) Peanut Butter Kisses: (anyone can get this recipe off a bag of Hershey’s Kisses)

1/2 c. shortening

3/4 c. peanut butter

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1-1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

sugar

48 Hershey’s kisses

Directions: Heat oven to 375. Take the wrappers off the chocolate. You do not want to be doing that at the last minute! Beat shortening and peanut butter until well blended. Add 1/3 c. sugar and brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat some more. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt separately and then gradually beat into the other stuff. Shape dough into balls – about 1 inch in size. Roll them in a plate with some extra sugar. Place on a cookie sheet, but don’t grease it first. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. IMMEDIATELY press a kiss into the center of each cookie. Don’t worry if the cookie cracks around the edges-that’s normal. Remove cookies to cool. Don’t forget to eat them! Yummo! (Makes 4 dozen)

peanut_butter_kiss1

#5) Chocolate Snowballs a.k.a. Rita’s Pitas (this recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Rita. They are a Pain-In-The-Ass to make, but so worth it!)

1 c. sugar

1 c. shortening

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp cocoa

2 c. flour

1 tsp salt

Powdered sugar

Directions: Mix all that shit together and roll into balls. I’d save the flour for last and add gradually. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. When cool enough to touch, but still really warm, roll in a plate of powdered sugar. (makes 30 – double that recipe cuz 30 is not enough for all that hard work!) (If yours do not look like this picture below, that is probably OK. This is just a picture I found on the world wide web.)

17902

#4) Lisbeth’s Molasses Cookies (this recipe is from my mother-in-law)

1 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 c. buttermilk

4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

4-6 c. flour

1 c. molasses

Directions: Preheat oven to 375. Mix the sugar and shortening and add molasses. Mix all the spices, baking soda and salt with 2 c. of the flour. Add the buttermilk and keep adding flour to make a soft dough. Pat out to thickness desired on floured wax paper. Cut in circles and bake for about 8 minutes. Do not over bake.

History: These cookies originated over 100 years ago in a cook’s shanty and were called Lumberman’s cookies. Hubby’s great grandmother cooked them in a lumber camp.

molasses-cookie-for-blog

#3) Buttery Lemon Bars (not cookies, I know, but still a Christmas favorite and to die for!)

Crust:

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Filling:

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice (that’s right, get some lemons, none of that bottled stuff)

2 tbsp flour

grated peel of 1 lemon

powdered sugar

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Combine all crust ingredients in a small bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes until crumbly. Press onto the bottom of an ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Combine all filling ingredients except powdered sugar in another bowl and beat until well mixed. Pour the filling over the hot crust and continue baking for 15-18 minutes or until filling is set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cool completely. Cut into bars and sprinkle the powdered sugar again. Tasty, tasty!

lemonbars

#2) Toffee (Again, not a cookie, but a favorite! Makes great gifts. I got this recipe from a friend named Janna. I haven’t seen her in years and wonder where she is now?)

1 c. butter

1 c. dark brown sugar

36 saltine crackers

11 1/2 oz. milk chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 375. Cover a cookie sheet (10×15) with aluminum foil and butter lightly. Place a single layer of saltines (bumpy side up) on the foil close together. In a saucepan, medium-high heat, blend butter and brown sugar. Heat to boiling for 4 minutes. Pour over the saltines, spreading evenly. Bake for 5 minutes. IMMEDIATELY cover with chocolate chips. Allow to soften and spread evenly over crackers. Sprinkle with nuts. Let harden and break into pieces. This part is messy. Once it is all broken up, you can serve or place into baggies with cute ties as gifts! Also DELICIOUS!

caramel_toffee_l

#1) Sugar Cookies (everyone has their own recipe, I am sure! Go with what you know!!)

1/2 c. butter

1 3/4 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 tbsp milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 375. If using a dark cookie sheet, reduce heat 25. Cream butter and sugar and then add egg and mix. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours! (You could get in a really good blog during this time.) Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Dip cutters into flour before each use. Place dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and decorate! You could use prepared frosting or make your own and add food coloring.

Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

any food coloring

Directions: Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and milk, beating to desired consistency. Stir in vanilla and food coloring. Makes 1 cup.

cookies3

Have fun! By the way, calories from these cookies don’t count if you bake with a friend, if you give to friends or play Christmas music while you bake.

Which one of these will you try?

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