The best way to shop . . .

After Mass, this morning, my son and one of my daughters headed out for the stores. My son had in hand a gift card from Best Buy and one for Barnes & Noble Books. Since each card was valued at $25, we didn't expect to spend much of our own on this venture. Having had several bad experiences at Best Buy, we weren't sure we'd be able to find anything. My son did his research, however, and got himself a cover/shield for his IPod.

Going to the bookstore wasn't a problem at all except at narrowing down the choices to stay within the limit of the gift card. A stop for some Chinese food and it was said to be a good day.

The weather has turned and we are having Spring weather which always confuses our orange tree. Besides being loaded with golden orange fruit, it is now starting to sport orange blossoms!

My husband patroled the backyard before we went to sleep last night to make sure the cat didn't wander in, again, to set off the Chick alarm! The dog went to bed on time and slept as did we.

Orange-Scented Oatmeal Short Bread

The one cookie I never got around to baking this year was shortbread. Although I very much enjoy a plain, buttery piece of shortbread, I also like oatmeal. This is one of those recipes that have both the buttery texture/taste with some bite with the crusted sugar and oatmeal. The orange zest and glaze only enhances the whole experience.

Orange-Scented Oatmeal Short Bread
½ cup regular rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
Dash of ground cloves
½ cup butter, cubed
Milk as needed
1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and toast the oats until lightly brown. Let cool completely. In a food processor, combine 1/3 cup of the oats; flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, orange zest, and cloves. Cover and process until oats are ground. Add butter pieces to food processor. Cover and pulse until mixture just comes together.

Pat dough into an 8-inch circle on an ungreased baking sheet or one lined with parchment paper. Form an edge around the circle. Brush dough circle lightly with milk. Sprinkle with the remaining toasted oats, coarse sugar, and press oat-sugar mixture lightly onto circle. Cut circle into 10 wedges (leave wedges in circle).

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Re-cut circle into wedges while warm. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Drizzle with Orange Glaze and let set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Orange Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
Enough fresh orange juice to make a glaze.

Benjamin Franklin said it best . . .

Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. ~Bill Vaughn

　

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

　

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

　

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. ~Author Unknown

　

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

Heading into the New Year . . .

I'm starting of the coming New Year in a good frame of mind . . . I finished the quilt I started before Christmas! It has been sitting on my sewing table since the beginning of December. With so many extra activities and chores to do, It remained a fixture there. I had finished my Christmas crocheting projects and needed something to keep my hands busy the other night and pulled out my pin cushion and thread and took up the plight of my incomplete quilt. There was nothing but hand sewing yet so a perfect occupation while I watched television in the evening. I got so busy on finishing the applique work on the back of the quilt that it wasn't until I put in the last stitch, last night, that I realized I hadn't looked at the front and couldn't quite remember how it looked! I had literally forgotten about my striped border I had pieced. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the outcome and it was totally pieced out of scraps for the quilt top. Lots of memories in all those bits and pieces of fabric.

Just to grin a bit . . .

"I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places."
-- Henny Youngman

"You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward."
-- James Thurber

Chick the Night Terror . . .

As I've mentioned before, we often worry that Chick is not getting enough exercise. As of midnight, last night, we will cease to worry on that score. Around midnight, Chick started barking loudly and regularly . . . right outside our bedroom window. My husband knocked at the window but to no avail, Chick was a dog on a mission to bark. We didn't hear any other dogs in the neighborhood sending canine messages so wondered what Chicken was determining as a problem.

My husband went outside with a flashlight and discovered Chick's source of concern . . . a fluffy, white cat. The cat was about five feet from Chick and poised for flight . . . if only the stupid dog would retreat first. Chick was very interested in this night creature but didn't like the hissing very much. Neither one of them would back down so my husband dragged Chick into the garage with her dog bed. After about 20 minutes, Chick was released back into the wild and all was quiet . . . for about ten minutes. At that point, Chick rediscovered the cat under the tool shed so proceeded to enjoy a noisy, barking scrabble around the foundation. The cat knew it was safe so was probably taking a nap which was not something we were going to enjoy with the dog's antics. Said dog was dragged back into the house for another 30 minutes. The next release was a success as the cat had gone home so Chick curled up in her dog house.

Both Chick and my husband looked very much worse for the wear this morning. When I ventured that I was glad that Chick hadn't the killer instinct 'enjoyed' by our previous dogs vs. cats, my husband said he really wasn't interested in the virtures of either the dog or the cat right now. Unfortunately, while Chick is sleeping off her adventure in her cozy doghouse, my husband still had to go to work!

Easy Dessert Idea . . .

Over the last year, I've noticed that the newest treat idea has been Cake Pops. I read up on a few recipes and the concept is pretty easy with a great outcome which would make you look like a kitchen expert. The basic recipe is to bake a sheet cake from a boxed mix, your choice of flavor. Once the cake has been baked and cooled, you crumble it into a large bowl and then bind the cake crumbs together with either store-bought or homemade buttercream frosting. You need to add enough in order to form balls of 'dough'. You insert a lollipop stick into each of them and freeze the cake balls until firm. You dip them in either candy coating or melted chocolate to cover and form a shell.

Now, that is the bare minimum, however, it seems to me that so much more can be done to enhance these little cakes on a stick.

Ideas . . .
You could include some crushed candy cane in the crumb mix.
Have some ground nuts on hand so you can immediately dip the end of the cake ball into them.
Put some melted coating into a squeeze bottle and drizzle a design on the freshly coated treats.
Dust them with colorful sugar or sprinkles before the coating sets.
Add some tiny chocolate chips to the crumb mix.

If we hadn't been gifted or treated to so many treats over Christmas, I'd be running into the kitchen to try some of these right now. I'm thinking that this would be a great way to pass out some Valentine's Day happiness in February.