Cookie Party 2012

One of my favorite holiday traditions is the cookie party that my friend Marilynn hosts. This year, I made some yummy Macaroon Kisses... they are delicious (and I usually don't like coconut!)

Macaroon Kisses


1/3 cup butter (softened)
3 oz. cream cheese (softened)
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 cups coconut (divided)
48 kisses (dark chocolate)

Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolk and extract.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add gradually to creamed mixture.  Stir in 3 cups of the coconut.

Refrigerate dough 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle (if desired, I didn't find this to be necessary).  Shape in 1” balls or use a small cookie scoop and then roll in coconut.  Place 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (or until lightly browned.)

Remove from oven and push a kiss into each cookie.  Allow cookies to sit on cookie sheet 2-5 minutes until chocolate is soft.  Transfer cookies to cooling racks.

If you want to check out some other pictures and recipes for delicious cookies, check out the Christmas Cookie blog!

Sunflowers

This yummy recipe, a fancy decorating tip, and some mini chocolate chips helped me make these beauties:

Maybe not quite as artistic as Van Gogh, but much tastier.

Best Corn Ever

We are thrilled to finally have spring-like weather... even though it keeps getting interrupted by periods of rain and gloom.  Our favorite new recipe for corn comes from my favorite new recipe source, Our Best Bites. Find the full recipe for Elote--Mexican Style Corn on the Cob here.

First, you shuck the corn and remove all the stringiness you can...

Then, grill it so it's blackened and tasty...

And spread on the mayo/sour cream mixture that is flavored with fresh lime juice, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and kosher salt (I know, it sounds weird, but trust me, you'll be glad you did)...

Grate up some cotija cheese...

And spread it to cover the corn. This is especially delicious while it's piping hot. Make sure you clean your face and floss your teeth after, because it makes a delicious mess! It is SO worth the extra effort.

Soph-a-loaf loves corn... we leave off the sauce and cheese off of hers though :).

**Have you tried this type of corn before?
**If not, will you?

Easter 2011

We had a wonderful Easter, celebrating with...

...new ties for the boys...

...new skirts for the girls (thanks to Tina from Sewing Tink who made darling skirts and hair clippies for Soph and Liv)...

...a smily, wobbly Sophia, who is successfully taking several steps at a time before plopping down on her behind or falling over.... (She thought it was so wonderful to toddle and crawl around finding eggs filled with treats. She dutifully picked up each of her eggs and plopped it in her basket.)

...lots of hidden candy and treats...

...sugar cookies dipped in chocolate and toffee bits (recipe courtesy of Our Best Bites--I just got their cookbook from my dear friend and I have been baking and cooking my way through it... these cookies are a variation of their sugar cookie recipe--they were tasty--get the sugar cookie recipe here).

...and more sugar cookies with traditional cream cheese frosting. We had (have) sugar overload at our place. We are still working through the piles of candy....

But most of all, we felt grateful for the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He Lives! I loved this message and wanted to share it, even though Easter has passed.

Valentine's Treats

We tried out a few yummy new recipes for Valentine's Day. I don't know if you need any new treat recipes, but I thought I'd share the links in case you do!

First are some irresistable Nutella sandwich cookies. They are made with oatmeal and some whole wheat flour... healthy, right?  I heart Nutella in many forms, and these did not disappoint. The recipe is from my amazingly talented cousin, Katie at Kate's Plate. She has a plethora of great recipes on her blog.

My sister in law Laura is always experimenting and making delicious desserts. I love that she shares the recipes (and the treats!).  She made and posted about these Chocolate Mousse Filled Cupcakes with Ganache... hers are much prettier than mine because she used pink non-pareils and cute Valentine's toppers, but ours were just as delicious! They are a chocolate lovers dream.

And finally, strawberries with cream... Yum. Laura provided this recipe and inspiration here. We had some cream left over and some other strawberries that made delicious crepes this morning.

**What Valentine's treats did you enjoy?

Just in case....

...you need to cook another holiday turkey, Olivia has written down her recipe for you:


Ingredients:

Cranberry Sause
Poatoes
Sttuffing
Rasberry chpotle saucse
Sault
Pepper
Butter
Turkey

Directions: Chop off its head. Parlize it and put it in the oven for 30 min. Put the oven temp. at 450. Get out after 30 min. Let it sit for 30 min. Then put the ingredients on the turkey.

(Warning: Following this recipe could result in consuming feathers, turkey feet, gizzards, and coming down with salmonella or a host of other food borne illnesses.)

First Harvest

You know you are a superb dietitian when your 8 year old daughter harvests the first zucchini of the summer and says, "Oh, yes! We get to have chocolate zucchini bread!"

(Photo and recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
3 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix oil, melted butter, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and eggs. Stir in zucchini. Add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Pour into three greased and floured 8-in X 4-in X 2-in loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

(You only have to eat half a loaf to get a full serving of vegetables!)

Caramel Popcorn Heaven

One of our favorite weekend snacks is caramel popcorn (my dentist loves that I love it so much... I am sure I owe at least two root canals to my caramel popcorn habits). I've shared the caramel recipe before because it's the same recipe I use for anything that calls for caramel: apples, ice cream topping, turtles, pretzels, etc. but why not share it again?

1 cup butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar, packed

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Bring it to a boil and cook until it reaches the soft ball stage. Pour over popcorn, stirring to coat evenly. (The amount above is enough for 5 or 6 batches of air-popped corn, so I usually cut the amount in half.)

**Do you love caramel popcorn too?

The Leprechauns Strike Again

St. Patrick's Day brings leprechauns to our house... the kids wanted to lure them with drawings of rainbows and pots of gold and four leaf clovers. They made sure to wear green jams so they wouldn't get pinched during the night. (Too bad for Coleman he fell into the toilet just before bed... we had to scrounge up some mis-matching pajamas, but at least we got the green on.)

They woke up to find that the leprechauns had turned their toilet water green and the milk in the fridge (copycats from last year!) and had spread the kitchen table with M&M goodness, plastic "Kiss Me I'm Irish" necklaces, some green shirts... and an iTunes gift card for Ry (those leprechauns are smart and know what we like!). The kids had even been kissed by the leprechauns and had a green mark on their noses.

We had toast made with green bread (I must have had extra time on my hands being home with sick kids) for breakfast...
...and green hot chocolate (Stephen's French Vanilla... it was tasty!).
Liv's green dot had mostly come off, but Coleman's is there is full force.

For dinner we had beef stroganoff (I can't bring myself to make or serve beef brisket or corned beef and cabbage) and we dyed the noodles green (did I mention I had some extra time on my hands at home today?).

And finally we made some green Snickerdoodles to finish off the day. Green cookies with green milk is a great way to end a holiday, if you ask me.

We love Snickerdoodles... especially my Grandma's recipe.

Here it is if you feel inclined to make them:

Grandma W.'s Snickerdoodles

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 3/4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cream together shortening, sugar, and eggs. Mix in dry ingredients. Dough should be dry and stiff. Roll dough into 1" balls (or use a cookie scoop) and roll in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!



**Did you have any leprechaun visitors at your house this year?

Bread, Glorious Bread

It's a well known fact that I would not be a good on a gluten-free diet. I love all things carbohydrate, particularly those made with wheat.

In an effort to be more self-sufficient, I have started making bread with the wheat we have in our food storage.

Despite the fact that my mom makes homemade rolls all the time and that she is a pro at making bread, baking bread has always scared me a little bit (will I kill the yeast? will it rise? will it taste good? do I really have ALL DAY to spend making bread?) but I was determined to find a way to do it. I got a great recipe from a Relief Society activity, but it made too much (My Kitchen-Aid will only mix so much and I don't have 5 loaf pans).

I was so excited when my sister-in-law Kristen gave me a fabulous book of her best recipes for Christmas which included her bread recipe, aptly titled "Best Bread Ever." We've made it several times, and we've always had success. The thing I love best is that it's super simple and it takes just over 2 hours, start to finish. We have LOVED having fresh bread with our dinners and for toast in the morning. With her permission, I'll share the recipe with you (because I never have "extra" bread to share, unless you trade me cookies or something).

Best Bread Ever1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp oil
2 cups water
3/4 cup milk
6 to 8 cups flour (You can use all white flour, all wheat flour, or a blend of white and wheat. I have loved it with about 2 cups of white flour and 5 cups of wheat flour, freshly ground.)

Put all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl (I put the dry ingredients in my Kitchen-Aid). Put liquid ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave until it's very hot to the touch. Pour liquids into the dry ingredients. Knead with hands or mix in mixer for 10-12 minutes. If dough is sticky, add flour sparingly. Let rise for 45 minutes. Punch dough to flatten. Remove from bowl and divide in half. Shape two loaves and put into greased bread pans. Let rise for 40-45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

And just because I love bread, I wanted to share another great recipe from my friend Elaine. I love pumpkin things, especially during the fall and holiday months. The other day though I had a hankering for this yummy bread and thought, what the heck, who cares if it's February, I can make it again.

Pumpkin Bread

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Alternate mixing in dry ingredients and pumpkin until it's thoroughly mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Spray pans with Pam and bake two large loaves for 60 to 65 minutes (5 small loaves for 50-55 minutes or muffins for 20-25 minutes).

I love making this bread in small loaf pans so I can use a few for our family and take a few others to friends.

**Do you make your own bread?
**Do you have season-specific foods?
**Is your mouth watering?

100 Things I LOVE...

This is my 100th blog post! I thought it would be fun (at least for my own personal record) to list 100 things that I love. After reading some of my previous posts, you'll know that many of those things will be food related. I'll probably do a lot of plugs for various restaurants and TV shows too :).I'll start off with a new favorite, a great homemade ice cream recipe that came about by combining a few recipes that I couldn't decide between, and the result was amazing! It was so flavorful and creamy and had a really rich pink color with the right amount of frozen bits of berry. This recipe takes a little extra work, but it's worth it! This is for a 4 quart ice cream maker.

4 cups half & half
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 (24 oz.) container plain yogurt (I like Activa by Dannon because it's so smooth and creamy)
4 (6 oz.) containers fresh raspberries
1 (12 oz.) package frozen red raspberries

In a large bowl, mix half & half, cream, sugar, and vanilla with a wire whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Rinse the fresh raspberries and put in the blender with 1 cup of the cream mixture. Blend for 1 minute or until the raspberries are pulverized. Pour the raspberry mixture through a fine sieve with a bowl underneath to remove the raspberry seeds (be patient, it will be very thick and might need some stirring to get it through, but you'll be so glad to get rid of all those nasty seeds). Stir the raspberry juice/cream in with the remaining cream and add the yogurt. Stir in the frozen raspberries and pour the entire mixture into the ice cream maker tub. Follow your ice cream maker's directions for layering rock salt and ice and churn until it's thick and creamy.

Now... on to my favorite things... in no particular order at all:

1. Above mentioned homemade raspberry ice cream
2. Being married to Ryan
3. Being the mother of Liv and Cole
4. Coleman's goofy sense of humor
5. Olivia's sensitive and kind nature
6. Ryan's smile and the knowing looks we share
7. Spending time with family
8. New clothes and shoes
9. Frozen York peppermint patties and Junior Mints
10. Going to lunch with Grandma Cole
11. Frozen Thin Mints (Girl Scout Cookies)
12. Grandma Wirthlin's caramel apples in the fall
13. Going to the cabin in Midway and pushing kids on the swing there
14. Fresh flowers
15. Newly painted rooms
16. Clearance rack at Old Navy
17. H&M
18. Great Harvest oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
19. Wheat bread, hot out of the oven (homemade raspberry jam is a bonus!)
20. Cinnamon and sugar toast
21. Book Club
22. Long, hot baths
23. Showers (baby showers, bridal showers) and parties
24. Cafe Rio pork salad with black beans, hold the cilantro and pico de gallo
25. Lemonade (the real stuff, not from the powder)
26. San Diego Wild Animal Park
27. The beach
28. Having a tan (I know it's very unhealthy, so I've been trying so hard to be good about sunscreen, but I just feel better when I have some color)
29. Pedicures
30. Foot Rubs (Ryan gives the best)
31. Flip flops
32. Clearance at Target (clothes, home decor, household goods, etc)
33. Roberts' 40% off coupon
34. My paper cutter
35. My new tape gun (makes paper crafting a breeze)
36. Reading blogs--of people I know and don't know
37. My laptop (when it doesn't crash/freeze, which isn't nearly as often since Ryan has rebuilt it four times!)
38. Gift certificates (I said in a previous post that I don't like to give them as gifts, but I LOVE to receive them!)
39. Date night
40. The Temple
41. The Book of Mormon
42. The feeling after teaching a great Relief Society lesson
43. Costco
44. General Conference
45. Ryan's Frozen Berry Lemonades
46. Sour peaches and sour apples
47. Sincere smiles and compliments (from me and for me)
48. Being in Primary
49. Cheese empanadas and completos (hot dogs with diced tomatoes and avocadoes) both Chilean specialties
50. Good friends
51. Fox TV: Arrested Development, House MD, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, 24
52. NBC TV: The Office, Medium, Heroes
53. Music videos
54. Sting
55. U2
56. Dark Chocolate--Haagen Daaz bars and Dove chocolates (especially their little messages, like one that I got said "Chocolate, the gift that loves you back")
57. Meltaway cookies
58. Caramel popcorn
59. Japanese Pan Noodles from Noodles & Co.
60. Honey Seared Chicken from Pei Wei or PF Changs
61. Handmade cards
62. Photos (especially pics of my kids and pics taken by Ryan)
63. Home decor
64. Real Simple magazine
65. A good book--the kind that makes me want to put of everything else so I can find out what happens
66. Hand me downs and great yard sale finds
67. Comfortable shoes
68. Travel
69. Hot chocolate (I love my Cocoa-Latte machine!)
70. Bear Lake with Ryan's family
71. Talking on the phone with my sisters and friends
72. Tickling, giving zerbits (sp?) to the kids, and dog piles with Liv and Cole
73. Creating something new or improving something old
74. Chocolate dipped strawberries or pretzels
75. Disneyland
76. Christmas cards
77. The smell of clean kids
78. Girls Nights Out
79. Making a "To Do" list
80. Crossing things off of my "To Do" list
81. Email
82. Grilled pineapple
83. A great new hairstyle (right now, I'm in desperate need of one.. .any suggestions?)
84. ABC TV: Lost, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty
85. USA TV: 4400, The Closer, Psych
86. Soft-serve chocolate ice cream
87. A clean house (I have yet to achieve it, but when I do, I'm sure I'll love it!)
88. Outlet stores
89. Exercising (at least when I'm finished with it)
90. Being right
91. Cookie dough and cake batter and brownie batter (even though it's bad to eat because of salmonella... I don't usually let my kids eat it, but I can't get enough)
92. Key Lime Pie (Mike's Pies in Tampa, FL or Costco for something a little closer to home)
93. Paris with my dad and sisters
94. Drixoral (how I miss this never-fail allergy med that is no longer being made/sold in the US.. I have yet to find a suitable replacement)
95. Good mail
96. Thunderstorms and the smell of rain
97. Family Gatherings at Granddad's, especially after General Conference
98. Having everything in it's place (and having a place for everything... still a work in progress)
99. Battlestar Galactica (new series on SciFi channel)
100. Blogging! Even if it doesn't enrich YOUR life, I am glad to have a record of the things that are happening in my life. I recently read in a news magazine that many psychiatrists recommend blogging to their patients as a way to cope with life. It's especially effective because you have a built in audience and it can be anonymous (I threw anonymity out the door with the creation of this blog, though). So if you made it this far, thanks for being my audience.

**Do we share any favorite things?
**Do you agree that I love a ridiculous amount of TV and treats?
**Do you think blogging is therapeutic?