Paper Bird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Black-bird fly
Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night
Black-bird fly
Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings
and learn to fly
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Date Cookies

Makes 30-35 cookies

The Dough
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups semolina flour
2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon powered gum arabic
Pinch mahlab (optional)

The Filling
2 pounds pitted dates, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Powdered sugar

To prepare the dough: Melt the butter and let it cool to room temperature. Add to the semolina and mix thoroughly. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight. Mix together 1/2 cup warm water, yeast and sugar in a measuring cup. Cover and set aside in a warm place for about 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to semolina, along with nutmeg, gum arabic, optional mahlab and 1/2 cup room-temperature water. Knead by hand until thoroughly mixed.
To prepare the filling: Mix dates with olive oil and cinnamon. Form date mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls and roll into 4-inch logs.
To assemble: Position a rack in middle of oven. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, then roll into 4-inch logs. Flatten dough with your fingers and place a date strip in the center. Crimp edges of dough to seal date mixture inside. Shape dough into a ring and crimp ends together. Using a fork or wooden skewer, indent surface of cookie, taking care not to puncture dough. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to racks to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.
Note: Mahlab and gum arabic are available at Middle Eastern stores.
Per cookie: 180 calories, 2 g protein, 31 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat (3 g
saturated), 14 mg cholesterol, 3 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.

Nify Box

Check out this link to see how these boxes are made. As you can see, you could use them to gift or organize a variety of objects.

Cute Baby Shoes

These cute shoes are easy to make, and incredibly adorable!! I chose some leftover quilting fabric and sandwiched a layer of polar fleece in between so they would be plush to wear like slippers should be.