Thursday, December 3, 2015

It's The Last Day Of The Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop

I've been in sweet treat heaven this week!
Have you been loving all the recipes that were shared during the 
Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop? I have! 
 It's the last day (darn!) and I really wish everyone had come to my house to exchange cookies 
 so I could taste those treats right now! What's a few extra calories among friends!
Thank you, sweet ladies, for sharing your recipes.


Well...now it's my turn to share some recipes!

I love chocolate.
 I love oatmeal.
I love nuts.
 I love anything with the above combination, so...
I made some Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies!


Layering the ingredients in a one quart Mason jar makes for a great way to share them with others.



Baking instructions:


*Right click on the candy cane framed recipe and instructions to save them to your computer.

Hints to make adding ingredients easier:
Wash bottles and make sure they are completely dry.
Use a wide mouth funnel to add ingredients.
Be sure to tamp each layer down firmly before adding next ingredient.
Using the flat bottom of a narrow glass works for tamping down.
Use a spatula or paper towel to wipe bottle edges after each addition.

Want a little variety in those gift bottles?

You could replace the walnuts and chocolate chips with...

 M&M's


White Chocolate Chips


Peanut Butter Chips


Almonds, Craisins, Chocolate Chips


I ran across an easy recipe using Ritz crackers, which were yummy in the recipe I made a couple
years ago using them with chocolate and mint (find it HERE.) These were pretty darn good, too!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies



It's surprising that a Ritz cracker can taste so good as a sweet cookie!

. 

The Monkey Boys made some, too. The little monkey ate his own cookies,
because for some reason no one wanted the ones he made.


One more cookie recipe...
My side of the family came from Norway, so I grew up eating lefse and hearing my
great-grandmother talk with her heavy accent. I thought we were the only Norwegian's around!
Then I met my hubby and learned his family was also Norwegian.
His mom had a recipe from "Aunt Emma" for Norwegian Butter Cookies.
They are delicate cookies shaped like a wreath or pretzel. Mine never turned out so good.
Of course, my mother-in-law's were always perfect.
I gave it another try for this hop and tada...success! Okay, a little lopsided, but still good.


I used a cookie scoop to get consistent sized balls/cookies.



Since I don't always have success making those little loopy cookies,
and sometimes I'm a bit lazy, I just made them into balls, flattened them,
sprinkled them with sugar, and baked. They are just as yummy!



More yumminess:


Merry Christmas...a long time ago



Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the recipes!


Sunday, November 29, 2015

December 1st There Will Be Sweet Treat Recipes

I can't wait for those sweet treat recipes in the Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange blog hop!
My friends, family, AND ME will appreciate some new kind of baked goods for Christmas.
Be sure to come back on December 1st!


I made the cookies in the photo above last year. They were delicious!
Here's the recipe again just in case you want to make some cookies today and can't wait
until the blog hop. Those caramel filled kisses made these cookies over-the-top good!

Peanut Butter Blossoms
One big bag of Hershey's Kisses (unwrapped, of course), about 100 of them
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of butter, softened (that's two sticks)
1 1/2 cup of peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla
Extra white sugar to roll the cookies in

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the butter and peanut butter until combined.
Add white and brown sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add eggs, milk and vanilla; beat until well combined.
Gradually beat in the flour.
Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in white sugar.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet an inch or so apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately press a Hershey Kiss in the center of cookie.
Let the cookies sit on the pan for a couple of minutes before removing them to a wire rack.
Cool.
Eat.
Yum!


See you on December 1st!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

No More Turkey But There Were Monkeys

The turkey is all gone and those homemade rolls my daughter made have disappeared, too.
Everything was so good and the company was the best ever!
I even managed a little Black Friday shopping with three of the five Monkey Boys.

I think they had fun!


Next week is the Virtual Cookie Exchange...yay!


I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Block

It's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer...in a block!


For the first time ever, I bought the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine.
It was so fun to see some of my favorite blogger's blocks in there!
One of them was Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts with her reindeer block...too cute!


I finished Rudolph, but there are still eight more reindeer blocks to go...
"You know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen; Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen."
With Thanksgiving coming, I think I'll wait to finish the rest until the turkey and stuffing are eaten.

Speaking of Thanksgiving...

Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks made this cute pot holder using one block from my row pattern.
She said I could share her photo here. Thanks, Carla!

This would look great on the Thanksgiving table. So sweet!


Oh, and I've been busy doing a little baking.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Christmas Is In My Heart Begins Today

I know we still have turkey to eat and family to eat it with, but Christmas IS coming soon!
To get us ready, today is the first day of the Christmas Is In My Heart blog hop...so exciting!
Marian at Seams To Be Sew has organized this hop and done an amazing job. Thanks, Marian!

While checking out The Graphic Fairy Christmas graphics, I saw this very unusual Christmas card.
It reminded me of my Monkey Boys!


Here's the list of blog hoppers:
November 12

November 13

November 16

November 17

November 18

November 19
If checking out the projects in the Christmas hop gets you in the mood for baking,
come join the Virtual Christmas Cookie Hop and share your favorite recipes.


Bake up a batch of your favorite cookies, create a blog post, and add your recipe.
You could also include an old or new Christmas quilt and/or some of your Christmas traditions.

Send me an email letting me know you're in!


Be sure to include:
Your name
Your blog name
Your email address
Your URL to your blog

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Happy Vegetarian, I Mean Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day or according to my five year old Monkey Boy... 

Happy "Vegetarian" Day!

My daughter was talking to the grandson about my hubby today:

Monkey Boy: "Did you know he's a vegetarian?"

Daughter: "You mean a veteran?"


Monkey Boy: "Yeah, that's it!"


The Hubby In Uniform




Thank you to my grandson for that laugh-out-loud conversation 
and to all of you who have served this great country!

---------------

Things going on this week:

Trunk Full of Quilts HERE

Voting for Dog Gone Cute Dog (mine is #9) HERE

Christmas Is In My Heart Blog Hop begins tomorrow HERE

Sign-up for Virtual Christmas Cookie Blog Hop HERE


Dresden Carnival In Rikstacket

C heck out the Summer 2026 R IKSTACKET quilt magazine that my friend, Britt-Inger, sent me  from Sweden. It was such a pleasure and an hono...