Big, Soft Ginger Cookies

It is finally getting cooler outside and i felt like this was just the excuse I was looking for to break out my favorite holiday cookie recipe. Now I wish I could take credit for this recipe but alas it is from better homes and gardens. I only make it slightly better by replacing the shortening with real butter... it makes a huge difference. I can only make these a few times a year for the sake of my waistline they are Delicious!

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Big, Soft Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

4 1/2

cups all-purpose flour

4

teaspoons ground ginger

2

teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

1

teaspoon ground cloves

1/4

teaspoon salt

1 1/2

cups Butter

2

cups granulated sugar

2

eggs

1/2

cup molasses

3/4

cup coarse sugar or granulated sugar

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds to soften. Gradually add the 2 cups granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and molasses. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture.
3. Shape dough into 2-inch balls using 1/4 cup dough. Roll balls in the 3/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar. Place about 2-1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are light brown and puffed. (Do not overbake or cookies will not be chewy.) Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Makes twenty-five (25) 4-inch cookies.

We've been Booed

I had my door bell rung yesterday evening and i got to the door just in time to see tail lights rounding the corner of my culdesac. I was a little puzzled as to why someone would just ring and run but I found a lovely little supprise on my door step and my confusion was replaced with a huge smile. We've been Booed ;) I have never thought of doing something like this for Halloween. When I was a kid my absolute favorite christmas activity was doorbell ditching our neighbors with Holiday treats. Ususally my little brothers Lincoln and Landon were sent to do the running (since they were the fastest) but I always loved the thrill of sneaking up to the door, praying not to get caught and then running for my life back to the van so we wouldn't ;) My instructions for this halloween doorbell ditch is to do this to at least 2 other families in our neighborhood. I am super excited to spread this fun on to our neighbors and I might not be able to help myself going to more than two houses. I honestly have been trying to get the energy to make halloween cookies with my kids for a couple weeks now (thanks to my pregnancy stealing all my energy and making me sick) this hasn't happened yet. But now I have new motivation and Oh boy is it going to be fun.

Halloween... here we come

So Jace has been talking for weeks about how he wanted to be a T-Rex for halloween. This has been quite troubling for me since we are being very strict with our budget and all the T-rex costumes I could find anyway were made for toddlers not giant 5yr olds the size of a 7yr old. So we had to put on our serious thinking caps to come up with a way for Jace to be a t-rex for halloween this year.

Honestly I was stumped. I had no idea where to even begin. My Brilliant husband came to the rescue. He found a cardboard box that was just the right size for a head and drew on teeth for me to cut out. he also cut a hole in the bottom just big enough for his head to fit through. Next we took an egg carton and cut it up to make eyes for the top. My kids had a blast helping me paint the head. We gave everyone brushed and 4 colors of paint and said ready...set...go. They did a great job.....made a HUGE mess but did a great job.

Next we needed to come up with a body. I found some old green pillow cases that were part of a failed DIY bedroom make over project I had attempted last year. They were just the right color and size. I used one for the body and another I sewed into a tail that I stuffed with an old pillow. (See honey sometimes its good not to throw everything away). The spikes were from an old sheet I had torn up to sew into something else as well. I cut up another card board box and sewed it into the spikes for some stiffness.

 I purpousefully only made small arm holes so his arms could only stick out so far since T-rexs have small arms. Hopefuly he should still be able to get plenty of candy.

After all was said and done I spent $3 on some thread and that is it!!! I think it all came together pretty nicely and judging by that smile on his face I think he likes his costme.

Front door redo

 As you can see my front door was clearly in need of a makeover... So I had a free evening and wah lah!! Just in time for christmas. Only took one pint of semi gloss paint, a foam roller, a small brush a litte painters tape and batta bing batta boom. Although something to keep in mind when you are painting your front door you need to leave it open to dry. This is something I didn't think about when I started. It was a very interestin task keeping the kiddos inside while the door was drying.

Holiday Cookies

Browned butter and cinnamon frosting on Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Regular old oatmeal chocolate chip cookies turned gourmet with the addition of a little drizzle of browned butter with cinnamon frosting yum!!!

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup white flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup (1/2 of a 12oz package) chocolate chips

Cookie directions:
Soften butter and cream with sugars. Add egg and vanilla beat well. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt baking powder and soda. mix dry ingredients with butter mixture and mix well. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips last. Drop tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12min or till lightly browned.

Frosting
1/2 stick butter (1/4cup)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp milk

in a small sauce pan heat butter over medium heat until golden brown stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add vanilla powdered sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Add just enough milk to make and icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle on warm cookies

I am a potty training genious!!!

Yes I am bragging a little bit.... deal with it.

Ok I'm sure you're wondering what in the world would make me make such a bold and outlandish statement. Well... I am very proud to say that I have sucessfully taught 2 children to go potty in the shockingly short amout of time of 1 1/2 days each.

I'm sure you're all wondering how I achieved this amazing feat and I certainly can't take all the credit (I'm trying hard though) I had lots of help and advice from lots of sources. I mainly talked to my husband's aunt Diane (thanks Diane) that potty trained almost all of Steven's cousins. She had alot of really good advice for me and then I got an e-book about the 3 day potty training method.

Jace and I rocked the 3 day potty training method around christmas time. All you do is pump them full of liquids and put them in underwear. (crazy I know) It took him one whole day of accidents and the morning of the 2nd day it just clicked and he was pee trained. We did so well that this week I decided it was Nellie's turn to give it a run.

We started Tuesday and things went even better than they did with Jace! She had only a few accidents the first day but its mostly where she starts in her underwear and we run to the potty and then she finishes. They actually say thats a good sign that she is them learning how to controll their bladder. She even stayed dry through nap time!! We didn't stay dry the first night but it she got it the 2nd night and I tell you my friends (beaming with pride) we haven't had an accident since.

The best part of this whole thing is...

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!! YAY!!!!!

I'm totally up for training other people's kids but its gonna cost ya... ;)

Nellie's last picture in her diaper

Diapers... you will NOT be missed

Yes its been a while...

Sorry guys I know its been a while since we've posted... Steven changed the password on his blogger account and Its taken me a while to figure this new one out. Ok so I really just wanted to share a little piece of inspiration I got the past couple weeks.

I just recently finished a great book called "how to bake a perfect life" By Barbra O'Neal, and overall I was very impressed. I've actually looked at this book several times over the last few months every time we have been at Target. I finally decided I needed to buy it and read it and I'm so glad I did. It was a great story, easy to read, and it even came with hidden treasures... recipes. The book was all about how a woman dealt with difficult times in her life by baking bread. I have been left so inspired... seeing as how this is a very difficult time in my life this was perfect book for me. Couple this great inspiration with the

great baking book for christmas, thanks Scott and Penny I think I have a great combination here. I've already made some great Whole wheat and oatmeal bread that was absolutely fantastic (especially as french toast yum!) The only thing I'm wishing now was that I had a kitchen aid to help me with my mixing. I'm hoping for one for my birthday or christmas this year (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)I think I'm definately on to something here... baking my life better...