Family Fun

  • Family Recipe: Chocolate Crackle Top Cookies

    I remember Mom making these cookies as a kid.  There are many variations to the Chocolate Crackle Top cookies but below is my Mom’s recipe.  I was hoping to make these during our Christmas Baking day to share with our neighbors, I am making them for another Holidays event with with family and friends.

    Chocolate Crackle Top Cookies

    • 7 ounces Bittersweet or Unsweetened Chocolate, chopped into small pieces
    • 7 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
    • 1/2 cup Sugar
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
    • Pinch of Salt
    • 1 1/2 cups Confectioners’ Sugar, for coating

    1.  Grease a large baking sheets.  In a saucepan melt chocolate and butter over low heat until smooth, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.

    2.  Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Gradually stir into the chocolate mixture in batches to make a soft dough.  Cover dough in the plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour, until the dough is firm enough to hold its shape.

    3.  Preheat oven to 325°  F.  Place the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl.  Form the dough into a small balls.

    4.  Drop the balls, one at a time into the confectioners’ sugar and roll until well coated.  Remove each ball with a slotted spoon and tap the spoon against the bowl to remove extra sugar.  Place the balls on the baking sheets about 1 1/2 apart.

    5.  Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until the top of  each feels slightly firm when touched.  Let set for 2 minutes.  Transfer to cooling racks and allow them to cool completely.

    Makes about 20 cookies.  I am looking forward to making these for the Holidays.  Hope the girls enjoy them as much as I did when I was a kid.

    Picture compliments of Allrecipes

  • Family Recipe: Simple Potluck Corn

    My husband had to make a side dish for a work event.  The main course was BBQ so we wanted to come up with something that would compliment the main dish.  The challenge was it couldn’t be something that required refrigeration or heating up right before the meal but had to make it four to five hours so they could eat it at lunch.  Several years ago my Mom shared a recipe for corn that cooked in a crockpot it was simple, easy and delicious.  Since Jake has a plug at his desk at work, I put together the corn recipe, stuck it in the crockpot and sent it with him to work.  He stirred it a few times throughout the morning and it was ready just in time for the potluck lunch.

    Potluck Corn Recipe

    • 32 ounces Frozen Corn
    • 8 ounces Cream Cheese
    • 1/2 stick Butter
    • 2 tablespoons Sugar
    • 6 tablespoons Water
    • Salt

    Cook on low in the crockpot for 4 hours.

    The Potluck Corn recipe was a hit.  Even though the crockpot went to work completely full it came home empty.  Glad it was enjoyed by the Jake’s co-workers.  It is always a joy to share with others.

  • Book: “Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food”

    My Mom gave me this book for Christmas 2005 Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food.  The girls were still small then but it has been a great book that all of us have enjoyed over the past few years.  We love looking through it and have tried many of the recipes; several have become family favorites.  It has creative recipes that the girls love helping me with and some they can do almost on their own with a little adult supervision.  Once they start reading it will be even easier for them.  There are are pictures along with creative ideas for cooking and parties. If you are looking for a great gift for a young child or Mom and they like to cook this may be an awesome book for them.

  • Recipe: Cheerios Christmas Trees

    We made these little Christmas Trees on our Christmas Baking Day.  These were super fun but a little more difficult than I first anticipated.  The trees were a little hard to make into the correct shapes and it took a little extra time to decorate.  I had to keep reforming the trees but they did end up pretty neat once we figured out what we were suppose to do.  I don’t think they looked as amazing as the ones from Betty Crocker but they looked cute and the kids thought they tasted great.

    Cheerios Christmas Trees

    • 6 cups Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal
    • 6 tablespoons Butter or Margarine
    • 4 1/2 cups Miniature Marshmallows
    • Green Food coloring
    • Red Cinnamon Candies, Decorative Pearls, Sprinkles, Icing, and String Licorice

    1. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. (May want to lightly grease because our stuck a little when pulling them off)

    2.  Pour the cereal into a 4 quart bowl.  Set the bowl aside,

    3.  Place the butter and marshmallows in a 3 quart saucepan (I used the microwave instead).  Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth.  Remove the saucepan from the heat.

    4.  Stir in the food coloring until mixture is evenly colored.  Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and stir until the cereal is evenly coated.

    5.  Lightly spray your hands with cooking spray.  For each tree, shape about 1/4 cup of the cereal mixture into a Christmas tree shape on the cookie sheet.

    6.  Press the candies into the trees to decorate.  Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.  Store the trees in a a loosely covered container.

    Makes about 18 trees.  I did the whole box of cereal which was about 1 1/2 of the recipe.  Our recipe made about 25 trees.  Thankfully I had someone around to keep spraying my hands with spray because it was really sticky and I had to keep reforming the trees.  They ended up looking pretty cute and seemed to be holding up okay but would probably be better if you ate it the same day.  The Honey Nut Cheerios flavor really comes out in this recipe so if you like the cereal you’ll probably enjoy this too.  You could do with any flavor of Cheerios, I think next time we’ll try the Multi-Grain Cheerios for different flavor and color.  It was fun to do something a little more unique!

  • Family Recipe: Great Grandma Albrecht’s Corn Bake

    I have so many wonderful memories of my Great Grandma Albrecht.  Thankful for the opportunity to learn from her.  She was beautiful, a great cook, crafty, and full of spunk.  At my bridal shower she brought her Corn Bake as one of her favorite recipes.  Even after age 90 she was still baking!  When she arrived with the Corn Bake and recipe in hand we were curious about the blue dots in it.  In her hurry to get ready and cook she accidentally put a box of blueberry muffin mix into the Corn Bake instead of the Corn Mix.  She waved her hand and just laughed.  It was interesting, but still tasted good.  This is just one of many memories of Great Grandma Albrecht that make me smile.

    Corn Bake

    • 1 small Onion (optional)
    • 1 small pepper (optional)
    • 1/2 cup of melted Butter
    • 1 can Whole Kernel Corn
    • 1 can Cream Corn
    • 1 (8 oz) box Corn Muffin Mix (or Blueberry Muffin Mix if you want to venture out a little more)
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1 cup Sour Cream
    • 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

    Saute onion and pepper in the butter.  Mix in corn, muffin mix, eggs, sour cream and cheese.  Put in a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

  • Recipe: Chocolate Pretzels, Snowmen, & Snowflakes

    We were getting tired by the time we got to making the Chocolate Pretzels, Snowmen, and Snowflakes on our Christmas Baking Day.  Despite being tired these turned out pretty well.  Brina was determined to “help” us make them which slowed down the process but we got enough to share with our neighbors.  The purple didn’t set right and the blue got a drop of water in it so it was done within a matter of minutes but we had plenty of the red, yellow, white and brown colors to make it look festival.  We added crushed candy canes for a minty flavor and a Holiday flair.  The neat part about these is the kids can pitch in and help.  They enjoy making special candies for others as well, however, I do not recommend starting around 9:30 in the evening after baking for several hours.

    Chocolate Pretzels, Snowmen, and Snowflakes

    • White Chocolate
    • Milk Chocolate
    • Mix of Colored Chocolates
    • Candy Molds – we had Flower Pretzel Sticks, Snowmen, and Snowflakes

    Melt the chocolates over a double boiler or slowly in the microwave (microwave for 15 seconds, stir, microwave for 15 seconds, stir) because they can burn easily.  Use the molds you have chosen to place the chocolates into.  You can paint the chocolate into the mold using a toothpick then fill in the reminding amount with a solid color.  When doing the pretzel molds paint the flowers, fill with solid color, then roll the pretzel stick to coat.  We stick the chocolates into a pan of warm water on a griddle to keep the chocolates melted while decorating, just make sure to not get any water in the chocolates at it will ruin the entire bowl.  Once the tray is complete freeze for about 10 minutes, turn the mold over and the items should pop out quickly.  Repeat the steps as many times as you like or until you run out of chocolates.

  • Recipe: Peanut Butter and Candy Cane Cookie Cups

    These are super easy and add fun to the any meal or snack.  We made these during our Christmas Baking Day.  I remember first making these yummy treat when I was in high school.  It is one of the easy recipes that I continue doing because they are such a hit with family and friends. It is basically a sugar cookie dough baked in a mini muffin pan with a Peanut Butter Cup or Candy Cane Kiss added at the end once it has started to cool.

    Peanut Butter & Candy Cane Cookie Cups

    • 1 package (18 ounces) refrigerator Sugar Cookie Dough OR here is our recipe for Sugar Cookie Dough if you want to make it from scratch.
    • All Purpose Flour (optional)
    • 12 unwrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
    • 12 unwrapped Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses

    1.  Preheat oven to 350° F.

    2.  Grease 24 (1 inch) mini muffin cups or you can put them directly into a greased mini muffin pan.

    3.  Make Sugar Cookie Dough according to directions or if you have purchased it from the store unwrap it.  Sprinkle the dough with a little flour to minimize sticking (if necessary).

    4.  Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to drop about 1 rounded tablespoon into each of the 24 mini muffin cups.

    5.  Bake at 350° F for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven. Let cool for about 5 minutes.  If you do not let it cool long enough the Peanut Butter Cups and Candy Cane Kisses will melt completely, you want them to remain recognizable. Press the 12 unwrapped Reese’s Peanut Cups and 12 unwrapped Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses into the mini sugar cookies.  You should have half Peanut Butter and half Candy Cane.  Let cool for an additional 5 to 10 minutes then gently remove them from the pan and place on a decorative dish or wrap in a pretty bag to give to family and friends.

  • Recipe: Cinnamon Star Cookies

    Recently, I spent a few hours on a Saturday doing a Christmas Baking Day with Ashley from Reflecting on the Simple Things in Life baking treats to give to family, friends, and neighbors.  One of the recipes we made from Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food was the Cinnamon Stars.  We made Stars, Christmas Trees, Snowmen, Bells, and many more fun shapes with this delicious recipe.  The recipe was easy to do and  delicious!  The girls helped with this one recipe by picking out the shapes and sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the top of the cookie cutouts.

    Cinnamon Stars

    • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
    • 3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
    • 3/4 cup Butter or Margarine, softened
    • 2 Egg Yolks
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 package Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe French Vanilla Cake Mix

    1.  Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.  Set aside.

    2.  Combine butter, egg yolks and vanilla extract in large bowl.  Blend in cake mix gradually.  Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface.  Cut with 2 1/2 inch star cookie cutter.  We used a variety of cookie cutters when we made our cookies.

    3.  Sprinkle cookies with cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Bake at 375° F for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute on baking sheet.  Remove to cooling rack.  Cool completely.  Store in airtight container.  We put separated ours out into Christmas bags to distribute to family, friends, and neighbors.

    This is a quick and easy recipe you can do with little ones helping.  The recipe makes about 3 to 3 1/2 dozen Star cookies at 2 1/2 inches, however, our recipe made closer to 3 dozen since we used a variety of shapes.  We had plenty to divide out and give as gifts.  If you are looking for an inexpensive and easy recipe for the Holidays you may want to try this one.

  • Love It – Lenovo G460 Laptop

    I am very excited!  I just received my first “new” laptop!  My husband was able to get a great deal on a Lenovo G460 Laptop a few weeks ago.  When it arrived my husband let me open the package first.  It was shiny, sleek and running in a matter of only a few minutes.  It is much faster and one of the nicest pieces of technology I have ever owned.  Love that it is quick, portable, and looks great.  I never thought a piece of technology could be so awesome!

    Why did I need a new laptop?  Having a computer is wonderful but like any technology it doesn’t always run perfectly.  The last few months my “hand me down” laptop screen got a crack and other issues were starting to pop up.  I had to keep decreasing the screen size as the crack spread. It was hard to transport the old one because movement would cause the crack to worsen.  Although I was grateful for a computer and it got the job done (most days), but with the crack and more issues we decided it was time to consider upgrading.  I have been very fortunate to not have to purchase a computer for many years.  In the past, my husband has been able to piece together computers for me with parts that he has and I am thankful for a man who is very knowledgeable in doing that because it has saved us a lot of money.

    My sweet husband has been looking for a couple months for a great deal on a new computer for me.  We were thinking that a laptop would be the best fit because it is light, portable and fits with the projects that I have been doing recently.  Since I spend a lot of my time working on the computer this allows me to be more mobile and efficient.

    I have been using my new Lenovo G460 laptop for only a couple days and I am still amazed at the difference!  Very thankful for such a wonderful computer and for a husband that researched to found the perfect one for me.  I plan to use it for many years to come!

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