More Christmas Cookies

 Cutout Cookies

 One of my favorite Christmas songs is Christmas Cookies by George Straight.  It's fun to sing while making cookies, too!  I already showed the Snowball Cookies we made earlier.

We made the cutout cookies again this year and instead of doing the colored icing, went with an all-natural milk chocolate.  Some of them turned out cute... some not so much!  These cookies taste better, believe it or not, with the powdered sugar icing instead of chocolate.  But they're fun anyway.

My chocolate helper!

Getting Ready

Boy am I sore today.  Yesterday, Baby Sarah was turned from her breech position via an external version procedure at the hospital.  It was rough, but successful.  The sorest is the lower side of my protruding belly - right about head level for Rebekah and Elizabeth when they come running up for a hug.  : |

Aside from that, we've been spending the week getting ready.  To be ready for my contribution to the Christmas dinner, I made 2 double layer pumpkin pies and put them in the freezer, and am attempting to have the Christmas sweet potatoes ready so they're in the freezer, too.  Hopefully they won't turn to mush when they come out to finish baking!  Also stocked up on brown & serve rolls and the green beans & seasonings are waiting for the big day.  And I've got cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

 Kids looking at Santa in lights

For our family's consumption, I made 2 loaves of pumpkin bread (one is almost gone already, the other's in the freezer), one loaf of banana bread in the freezer, snowball cookies and will probably make more cookies in the coming days.  Haven't decided which seasonal cookies to do, but my family always wants chocolate chip.

 Elizabeth by the PINK angel, of course!

All the Christmas gifts are bought & wrapped!  My BFF got her box yesterday and they loved the curtain!!!  I put a box in the mail today for my sister... forgot to send it with Lauren!  And I received a package from my sister with two of the softest, most beautiful, hand crocheted newborn hats!!!  I forgot to take pictures before putting them into my suitcase, but they'll be cuter to see when Baby Sarah can model them.

 Elizabeth & David by the big flag

I have given up on having the new stockings done this year... again.  Dad is the only one with a new stocking hanging.  I found enough other stockings to have one for all 4 kids hanging.  I don't have one, but at least it won't be hanging there empty on Christmas morning!  I also gave up the neighbors' cookie boxes this year.  Too much other stuff going on this year.  I'll re-introduce the idea next year and perhaps with the kids a year older, they'll be old enough to enjoy the giving, too.

On Tuesday we enjoyed a great evening strolling through the Christmas lights!  The kids were soooo excited about every light we saw.

 

Rebekah didn't want to stop free roaming to be in a photo

Two More Days!

Oops... I forgot yesterday was Tuesday! It was after lunch before anyone noticed that I had wrapped some presents & put them under the tree last night. Elizabeth suddenly gasped, then screamed, "PRESENTS!!!" David came running across the room to see and started yelling, "I see a present with my name on it!!!" Elizabeth, "Me, too!! Me, too!!!"

Tonight he picked up his present and shook it. Must be instinct. Then he said reflectively, "Huh... it doesn't make any noise. I hope it's Legos." I said, "You don't want Legos for your Christmas Eve present, you wouldn't have time to play with them before going to bed." (trying...) As he walked away he asked, "Is my present pajamas?" Little stinker.

His bedtime prayer? "Help me to have no bad dreams, only good dreams. Help me to get Legos for my Christmas Eve present. Amen."

There he is diligently working on one of his presents that he's giving. : )

Elizabeth had to work on something, too. She asks, "Mom, can I do my school work, too?"

I made these Peppermint Meltaway Cookies this weekend, except we went all natural and left out the red food coloring and red stripped candy topping. Still they are really, really yummy! I love them, but they are a little too "melty" (aka crumbly) for the little folk. They're all gone now.

I used the extra peppermint icing on the last of Aunt Wee's chocolate pound cake... oh. my. The combination of chocolate and peppermint is heavenly. It's all gone now, too.

I was on a peppermint kick that day, so I added peppermint to the hot chocolate at lunch time. Elizabeth enjoyed it with her peanut butter sandwich.

Day before yesterday, Dad asked me when I was going to make *his* cookies. Here ya go. Made them last night.

Earlier I also made a loaf of bread, a triple batch of hot chocolate mix, a batch of chocolate milk powder, and a batch of Swiss Mocha mix. Washed a load of clothes, set a load of diapers to soak overnight, ran a full dishwasher twice. AND I cooked lunch AND dinner AND went grocery shopping! Now that was productive day!

Dad brought me the little Christmas tree that I wanted when he came home from work today. Isn't it cute?!?!? Thank you, Babe!

'Tis the Season... for Cookies!

I just finished making cookies for David's Thursday School Christmas party. My sister is hosting her second annual virtual cookie exchange, so I thought I'd chip these in. (pun intended... chocolate chip... get it?) : )

"MY" cookie is chocolate chip. I've been perfecting my recipe for years. Dad loves them (cooked or uncooked). The kids love them. This is not them. If you want to see my version of the chocolate chip cookie, check out last year's cookie exchange.

This year, we are eliminating artificial things from David's diet. My butter flavored Crisco had to go. : ( Sometimes change is a good thing, though, because you find something new that's just as good or better.

This is my recipe made with real butter, added oatmeal and an extra egg. They've been eaten just fine and I have few left to take to the party tomorrow, so I had to wait for the beggars to go to bed & tried a couple of new recipes.

Healthy No Bake Cookies

These are actually pretty tasty. However, the recipe only made 15 small cookies, and as a new recipe, I had to test it out. Now I need David & Dad to test them, too, to see if it's a keeper recipe. That leaves me with only 11 cookies for the party, because Elizabeth will want one, too. Next...

Chocolate Cowboy Cookies

Mmmm... these are good! I did my usual substitutions of double vanilla and milk chocolate chips. Wow. I'm already thinking of ways to make them even better... like getting some mint in there somehow!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

David helped finish the Christmas cookies for the neighbor's tins yesterday. Now Dad wants us to make a batch for him!

On with the Tiny Talk!

While sitting on the potty one day

Old McDonald had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

And on his farm he had a potty

E-I-E-I-O

With a flush, flush...

Old McDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a fire truck
E-I-E-I-O
With a whoo-oooh, whoo-ooh...

Saturday morning at 7:30

David: Mom, get up!

Mom: Why?

David: Because I'm being up!

Play-doh Day

(Elizabeth's first Play-doh experience!)

For our Christmas Tiny Talk, we present a song:

AND, flash back to an August day for this rousing rendition of Jingle Bells:

Before going to MawMaw's house to play yesterday, we went by the little library in town & got some more Christmas books. So far, David's favorite book has been My First Christmas Magnetic Adventure. For more Tiny Talk, join us over at Not Before 7, where Mary is still hosting the Christmas Giveaway for all December Tiny Talk participants!

After a week of sickness (both me and the kids), 2 prescriptions per kid, a box of cough drops for Mom, and a lot of hacking coughs & snotty noses, I think we're finally starting to get better. At least the kids are!


David perked up considerably to finish the Christmas Cookie Bake-a-thon today. We finished baking the chocolate chip cookies, mint reindeer patties, pumpkin pie tarts, and a full size pumpkin pie (which is in the freezer waiting for Christmas). We just have one batch of peanut butter cookies left to make to finish up our neighbors' cookie boxes.

We're going to try to read a Christmas book every day from now until Christmas. Today's book was The Animals' Christmas Eve (Little Golden Book). It's a really cute book where the animals are recounting the night Baby Jesus was born from the point of view of the animals in the stable that night. Also works in some counting. David enjoyed the book and asked for it again. I highly recommend this book for your little ones. It would make a great Christmas Eve gift, if your family does that.

More Christmas Fun

While picking up some chocolate chips last week, I happened across a bag of Andes Crème de Menthe baking chips! I love the Andes mints, so the possibilities of mint flavored cookies started spinning around in my head. I wanted a chocolate cookie, so I used my sister's Reindeer Patties recipe.

Saturday morning, David & I gave it a try. Since the mint chips had the green layer, I thought about calling them Grasshopper Patties, but I think we'll just say our reindeer have been eating grasshoppers! David, as always, enjoyed in his "helper" role.

Saturday afternoon, David & I helped Grandpa decorate his golf cart for the GV Christmas Parade. David thought it was pretty neat after dark. If you look closely, you can see Grandpa to the left side of the picture, grinning as he watched his littlest grandson.

Aunt Sissy said she enjoys seeing what ends up in our nativity scene. Today, a small airplane of pirates landed to honor the newborn King.

Cookie Exchange #3: Chocolate Chip

Dad's Favorite

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 stick of Butter Flavored Crisco
6 t water
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c packed dark brown sugar
1 T Mexican vanilla
2 large eggs
2 bags of Milk Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375*. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat Butter Flavored Crisco, water, both sugars and vanilla until creamy, but not too much. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Lick beaters well.

Stir in chocolate chips. Stick your fingers in it to make sure it still tastes right.

Scoop spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet or stone. Lick spoon.

Bake 9 minutes & take out just before they look done because they will continue to cook after removed from the oven.

The first batch may take a couple more minutes or you may have to adjust the baking time based on your oven.



Cool on paper towels. Test while still warm & gooey to make sure they turned out right.

Visit my sister's Virtual Cookie Exchange for more recipes!

Cookie Exchange #2: Candy Cane Cookies

This was one of my favorite recipes that I remember making as a kid. I think this was my favorite cookbook, too, Betty Crocker's Cookie Book. In case you can't read the recipe, here it is (the cookbook is a little more wordy):

Candy Cane Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375*. Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and flavorings thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping or sifting. Mix flour and salt; stir into shortening mixture. Divide dough in half. Blend food coloring into one half.

Roll a 4" strip (using 1 tsp dough) from each color. For smooth, even strips, roll them back & forth on a lightly floured board. Place strips side by side, press lightly together and twist like rope (see sketch).

Bake about 9 minutes, until lightly brown. While still warm, remove from baking sheet with spatula and sprinkle with mixture of candy & sugar.

This cover below sure looks a lot fancier than the cover to our old book!

Visit my sister's Virtual Cookie Exchange

for more recipes!

Cookie Exchange #1: Ginger Molasses Cookies

This recipe was given to me in 2002 from a Creative Memories Consultant who lives in Minnesota. I made them for my Open Houses and now Dad requests them every year. After this year's cookiefest, looks like it may be one of David's favorites, too!

Ginger Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup Butter Flavored Criso
4 1/2 teaspoons water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mild molasses
2 1/4 cup flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium bowl, add Butter Flavored Criso, water, sugar, molasses and egg. Beat well. In a larger bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together. Add the first mixture to the second mixture and mix well. Chill for at least an hour.


Roll dough into one inch balls.
Roll balls in granulated sugar to coat.
Place balls on a greased cookie sheet. (I used cooking spray.)

Bake at 375* for 5-10 minutes, but no longer than 10 minutes.




To make them just a tad bit prettier, sprinkle a little granulated sugar on them as they're cooling.


I'll be doing another recipe later! Visit my sister's Virtual Cookie Exchange for more recipes!