• Recipe: Orange Dreamsicle Cookies

    Our family enjoys baking special goodies for family, friends and neighbors.  The Orange Dreamsicle Cookies are from The Ultimate Cookie Kit by Scholastic.  It is a great cookbook for kids and comes with a rolling pin, wooden spoon, measuring spoons, cookie cutters, frosting bag, and tips.  If you like orange creamsicles you’ll enjoy these cookies.

    Orange Dreamsicle Cookies

    • 1/2 cup Orange Flavored Powdered Drink Mix
    • 3/4 cup White Sugar
    • 1 1/2 cups Vanilla Baking Chips
    • 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1/2 cup Butter
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

    1.  Preheat oven to 350° F.

    2.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix the butter, egg, and vanilla.  Pour into the dry ingredients and blend completely.

    3.  Roll heaping tablespoons into balls.  Place 2 inches a part on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

    4.  Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes or until tops are very lightly browned.  Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Makes about 24 cookies.

  • Gift Giving: Delivering Christmas Goodies to Neighbors

    Brina & Karlie Delivering Christmas Gifts to our Neighbors

    We had a blast on our Christmas Baking day last weekend but I think the biggest joy came when we delivered the goodies to our neighbors.  Once the girls realized that we were not giving every morsel of the baking goodies away they were excited to share.  I think they were worried that we did all the baking and they wouldn’t be able to taste any of it.  Although, they definitely got their share of sampling the day of the event.

    Sunday afternoon we put the baked items into gift bags, added a photo mug of the girls full of candy, put in a Christmas Card with the traditional annual picture we give to the neighbors, and tied the packages with ribbons to deliver.  The girls got bundled up in their coats and mittens to help me deliver the goodies.  We have 6 neighbors on our street.  Most of our neighbors are retired couples that enjoy seeing the girls and getting their annual card with a picture.  I found out the hard way the one year how much the yearly pictures meant to our neighbors when we didn’t give out Christmas pictures and one of our neighbors showed me her refrigerator with pictures of the girls from every Christmas.  Oops!

    Karlie carrying the next gift!
    Brina rang the doorbell!

    It was cold and windy day delivering the goodies but our street is pretty small and we were so excited about handing out the presents to those on our street.  Only 3 of the 6 neighbors were home or answering their doors on a Sunday afternoon.  We headed back out on Monday to hand deliver the rest of the goodies, but it wasn’t until later in the week we were able to successful hand deliver all our treats to the neighbors.

    The amazing blessing came when we delivered the presents.  Seeing the smiles, joy and gratefulness on the faces of our neighbors made it worth all the time and energy it took to put together the packages.  It is a wonderful blessing being able to share with others.  Not to mention it opens doors into the lives and hearts of those on the street near you.  We look forward to more opportunities to share with our neighbors.

  • 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!

  • 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.

  • Borders 50% Off Coupon (12/14 to 12/16)

    Borders has a coupon that takes 50% off the list price of any one item.  Good from December 14, 2010 to December 16, 2010. In store use only.   Must be a Border Rewards member, free to sign up for a Membership.

    Terms and conditions:

    Valid with Borders Rewards membership only. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer, promotion, sale pricing, coupon, or discount, including group discounts, except Borders Bucks, Borders Rewards Plus 10% off purchase-price and Personal Shopping Day 10% off purchase-price discounts (10% off purchase-price discounts are taken after all other discounts are applied, including this offer and Borders Bucks, if any). Offer Excludes: Borders Rewards Plus memberships, previous purchases, special orders, shipping, gift cards, coupon books, newspapers, magazines, comics, eBooks, audiobook downloads, music downloads, vinyl LPs, Rosetta Stone® software, video games, and all electronics (including eReaders), and eReader Protection Plan Packs. Single-use only: One coupon per customer during the valid period. Original coupon must be relinquished at time of purchase. Void if copied, transferred, and where prohibited by law. Any other use constitutes fraud. Cash value .01¢. Not redeemable for cash. Valid 12/14/10–12/16/10 at U.S. Borders, Borders Express, and Waldenbooks stores only. Not valid at Borders.com.

    Looking for a Borders location near you – Store Locator

  • The Kids Christmas Tree

    When Jake and I were first married we didn’t have a Christmas Tree so his Mom gave us a small one that she had and wasn’t using anymore.  We used that little Christmas tree for several years!  It was easy to put up and take down.  Plus, a lot of the Holidays we were traveling to visit family so a real tree didn’t work well for us.  We were in an apartment at the time and the tree was perfect.  When Jake’s Mom moved to Seattle she gave us their family tree.  It has been nice being able to decorate a full tree for the Holidays, especially now that we have kids, even though it is more work we have a grand time.

    Since we no longer use the smaller tree as our main one we have let the girls adopt that tree to put up in their bedroom.  We put the tree up on a small folding table and they do all the decorating.  The ornaments on their tree are wooden or plastic so if they should fall off they will not break.  It has been a lot of fun seeing them decorate and re-decorate their cute little tree.  Every year they have gotten better at spreading out the ornaments and decorating. They love falling asleep with the Christmas lights glowing on their tree.  It has been a fun Holiday tradition we started three years ago that has really been a hit for the girls.

    Do your kids decorate their rooms?  What do they do to get their rooms ready for the Holiday season?

  • Recipe: Sour Spiral Cookies

    Here was a fun recipe we made during our Christmas Baking Day on Saturday.  It was a good one to do in between recipes because several steps required some time in the refrigerator.  Although it does not take up a huge amount of room you’ll need space in your fridge and freezer to complete this recipe.  I doubled the batch so the cookies came out pretty big but they were a huge hit with everyone.  This was my favorite recipe that we made from Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food on our Saturday baking day because it was unique and tasty.  I made my cookies with red and green spirals for the Christmas Holidays but you can do any two flavors of gelatin.  These are colorful, fun, and have a mix of sweet and sour all mixed into one delicious cookie.

    Sour Spiral Cookies

    • 1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough (Here is our recipe for Sugar Cookie Dough if you need one)
    • 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Lime flavored Gelatin (original recipe called for Blue Raspberry, I did Lime for the Christmas Holiday, however you can do any flavor)
    • 1/4 teaspoon Gel Green Food Coloring (match the color your gelatin mixture)
    • 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Strawberry flavored Gelatin
    • 1/4 teaspoon Gel Red Food Coloring
    • All Purpose Flour

    1. Remove dough from wrapper; divide in half.  Reserve 1 dough half.  Place remaining dough half in large bowl.  Let dough stand about 10 minutes.  Add lime flavored gelatin and green food coloring to dough in bowl; beat at medium speed until well blended and evenly colored.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

    2.  Combine reserved dough half, strawberry flavored gelatin and red food coloring in large bowl.  Beat at medium speed until well blended and evenly colored.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.

    3.  Roll green dough to a 10×6 rectangle on lightly floured waxed paper using lightly floured rolling pin.  Repeat with red dough.  Refrigerate both dough rectangles 1o minutes.

    4.  Place green dough rectangle over red dough.  Remove waxed paper from green dough.  Starting at 10 inch side, roll up jelly-roll fashion into tight log. Wrap in plastic; freeze 30 minutes.

    5.  Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease cookie sheets.  Cut log into 1/4 inch slices.  Place on prepared cookie sheets.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are firm.  (Do not let cookies brown.) Cool on cookie sheets 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

    Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.  I doubled my batch of cookies since we were sharing them with family, friends, and neighbors.  It is a great cookie to make while you are doing other baking since it has time in the fridge and freezer.  The girls helped me make this one a little bit but with all the steps they will need to be older before doing this one on their own.  These cookies were a hit with my kids.

  • Family Recipe: Sugar Cookies

    Sugar Cookies are a great treat to make around the Holidays.  They are versatile in that they can be made into a variety of shapes and decorated a lot of different ways as well as they are the base for many of other wonderful cookies.  The kids enjoy them and always love helping decorating the sugar cookies with frosting, sprinkles, and more around this time of year.  Sometimes I will make up several batches of Sugar Cookies then freeze the dough so I can pull them out when I need it which helps speed up the process for several other recipes our family enjoys eating and sharing with others.

    Sugar Cookies

    • 1/3 cup Butter or Margarine
    • 1/3 cup Shortening
    • 3/4 cup Sugar
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour

    1.  Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt.  Beat till combined, scraping the bowl so everything is well blended.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Gradually add the flour into the mixture.

    2.  Cover and chill dough for 1 to 3 hours to make it easier to handle when making cookies or cutouts.

    3.  Lay down wax paper and lightly flour.  Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use a variety of cookie cutters to make the shapes you want.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Note: if you will not be frosting but want sprinkles on the cookies do it once the cookies are cut out and ready to be baked.  A lot of times I will do it once they are on the cookie sheet because it catches some of the extra sprinkles. Bake at 375° for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm and light brown.  Cool on rack and decorate.

    Many times I just do steps 1 and 2 so I can use the Sugar Cookie batter base to make a variety of different cookies.  Whether you do sprinkles, frosted, swirls, cups, or whatever enjoy the quick and easy recipe that allows you to share many delicious treats with your family and friends.