Good thought for facing tomorrow . . .

"You can't cross a sea by merely
staring into the water." - Rabindranath Tagore

Finishing up Christmas Projects . . .

I just have one, more shawl to finish crocheting and two shawls to finish off the loose threads and that part of my Christmas prepartions is complete. Some of them have to get in the mail soon so I'm keeping myself out of trouble in the evenings working on this! The picture doesn't show it but these are triangular shawls. I also knitted three, long oblong ones earlier in the year but they are done, gift-wrapped, and out of my 'worry' list already!

The End of the Baking Day . . .

I had just completed the baking for my husband's meeting, tomorrow, when he called and said he might not be going as his boss may be out of the office, too, with jury duty. Sigh . . . No problem! My husband can take these to his office and just tell them it's a prelude to Christmas!

Soft Sugar Cookies with Almond Frosting

The last of my efforts today. I figured I made good time in baking four kinds of cookies in five hours including clean up! I don't know if the cookie or the frosting makes this cookie. The cookie has a slight, outside crust with an almost soft interior. The frosting is vanilla/almond and goes great when you bite down through it and the cookie.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies - in person!

Yes, I just had to try out the Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies today, too. The pictures show my 'journey'. Not a complicate recipe but some picky work. In spite of my slight worry, the chocolate dough stretched around the peanut butter filling quite easily and not a single cookies leaked out the peanut butter during the baking. The best part was giving a cookie to my son for the first time. He bit into it and was happily surprised at the soft, peanut butter center.

Browned Butter Shortbread . . . with a twist!

I had a slight inspiration today. I had splurged, yesterday, and enjoyed a bowl of hot, buttered popcorn in the evening while watching television. Not something I do very often but it had been a busy day and my husband insisted I deserved the treat. Must be obedient to one's husband, right?

I put the leftover popcorn in a Ziploc bag. I was thinking about my baking plans, this morning, and suddenly wondered  how it would be if I made a Browned Butter Shortbread but add the tasted of buttered popcorn to them. I ground up the leftover popcorn in the blender and, as you can see by the upper, left picture, it powdered up quite nicely. I went on with the recipe, as usual, and just folded in the powdered popcorn with the flour. It needed a tablespoon or two of shortening to compensate for the extra addition but, all together, it went together well. The baked results were just as tender and the taste, while not exactly like popcorn, had an interesting taste and texture. My teenage son, the cookie expert, ate five immediately and pronounced them a success.

Chocolate Cranberry Bars - completed!

My husband needed cookies for a meeting at work tomorrow so the recently posted Chocolate Cranberry Bars were first on my list to make today. The orange juice and zest in the cranberries really brightened up the taste. It wasn't a difficult recipe but there were breaks while the cranberries and chocolate cooled down. A picture of the finished product is seen in the lower, right-hand picture.

Peanut Butter Munchies

I just made this recipe today http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/peanut-butter-munchies/ and my son declares that all my other baking efforts pale in comparison to this cookie! Okay, that doesn't mean he isn't chomping down on cookies at will but this one rates very, very high on his list of all-time favorites.

The recipe takes some time but it is simple. I like the fact that the recipe tells you exactly how many cookies you can expect which makes forming the filling easy - just make the same number of filling pieces and it all matches up wonderfully!

If you like the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, this recipe elevates that taste sensation to a whole new height. Can you tell I very much recommend this recipe?

Interesting link . . .

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/5-myths-about-pro-lifers-and-how-to-refute-them

Raising Children . . .

"Come to the edge, he said. They said:
We are afraid. Come to the edge, he
said. They came. He pushed them,
And they flew..." - Guillaume Apollinaire

Our Lady of Guadalupe - feast day 12/12/2011

“Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.” ~Our Lady of Guadalupe

Chocolate Cranberry Bars

One of my favorite flavor combinations is cranberry and chocolate. This is a moist, gooey way to incorporate those flavors into a cookie bar. In fact, it may be on my 'work' schedule today! I like the contrast of the bright red cranberries and the deep brown of the chocolate.

Chocolate Cranberry Bars
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cubed roughly
1 cup regular oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
zest of one orange
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves and nutmeg

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and  vanilla in a large bowl and mix to form fine crumbs. Add oatmeal and mix. Put one cup of crumb mixture aside and press the rest into a crust in a parchment-lined 13x9x2 baking pan. You can also use two smaller pans if necessary. Bake crust in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

While the crust is having a preliminary baking, combine the orange juice, zest, andcranberries in a cooking pot. Bring to a boil, reduce, and stir occasionally until the mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the spices.

Melt the chocolate chips until smooth.

Spread the melted chocolate over the oatmeal crust. Layer the cooked cranberries over the chocolate. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the cranberries. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool completely in the baking pan on a cooling rack. Cut into squares and serve.

These are good as a bar cookie or you can dress them up for a dessert with whipped cream.

Note: If you have whole, frozen cranberries, they will work equally well as you are basically cooking them down to a thickened filling for the cookies.

Another Day of Rain . . .

Okay, I wanted the rain, I like the rain, but does it have to be so wet and cold? Our dog is also posting her personal reflections on this matter, too! The other evening, when I had to wait until midnight to get a head start on enrolling my son for a college class, I let the dog stay in until I was done. She was curled up on her pillow by the backdoor for almost four hours straight. Last night, she was very disappointed to not have a repeat of this event. Don't think we are cruel to Chick. She has a great dog house with plenty of blankets and pillows on the back porch . . . but, she thinks she is a 'people' and is waiting for us to come to this realization, too!

Not sure what my day is going to entail as is depends on my husband's work schedule. He is supposed to attend a meeting tomorrow and bring along snacks for the potluck. Last night, he realized is boss was still on jury duty so, depending on everyone else's schedule, might have to skip the meeting and cover at work. I'm waiting to find out if I'm to bake the cookies and snacks for that today or get the day for making my Christmas candy.

My older daughter returns, diploma in hand, from college tomorrow. She always wants to know who is picking her up from the airport as I seem to always end up parked in the wrong place and we have to walk a distance with her luggage. Bad news for her - I'm the designated one tomorrow!

We have a very efficient and kindly mailman in our neighborhood. He and my daughter have a running joke about all the boxes that get sent home every summer from college. Since she lived in a college apartment, it took twelve boxes to send home her small appliances, books, paint supplies, and clothing. Every summer, we'd hear a bump at the door and find him piling up the boxes he had to deliver. He would look up, as we answered the door and pretend to snarl, "She's home, isn't she?" I gave him the 'good news', last month, that my daughter was graduating from college . . . in December. His smile faded as he realized the boxes would be coming in during the busy Christmas season! Not to worry, I always have a nice Christmas gift for him!

My younger daughter returns for vacation on Saturday. She graduated in September but stayed at her school to take extra classes plus attend the community college across the street from her apartment.

My older son can't afford the airfare home so we have our fourth or fifth Christmas without him. We miss him but what can you do when they grow up and get scholarships overseas?

Quilting? What's that? Yes, it has been a long time but I'm hoping the New Year will give a a little more time to finish some projects. Time just goes by too quickly.