Snowball Cookie

A snowball cookie is different from a Russian Tea Cake. Snowballs have chocolate chips, Tea Cakes have nuts. No nuts for me thanks.

Christmas Gift Tags

Tag Blanket

I made this taggie blanket for my niece. The loops are all quadruple reinforced with zigzag stitches. I hope she likes it.

Painting Smock

Matching painting smocks for your favorite 2 year old and her doll.

Asian Pork Medalions

Pork on a stick
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 splashes soy sauce
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Combine ingredients and marinate while you are at work. Grill under broiler for 10 minutes each side. Served with vegetarian noodle soup and grilled zucchini.

Apron

It's times like this when I wish I had a child sized dress form.

Chair Cover

I made a slipcover for D's office chair. It kept rubbing against the wall making black marks, so we needed a quick solution. I like this fabric. I was thinking of making my bedroom drapes out of it.

Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight). Preheat oven to 350*. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Candy Cane Cookies

2 1/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C. unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 C. sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 tsp. red liquid food coloring
1/2 tsp. green liquid food coloring

In a bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg and peppermint extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Remove half of the dough from the mixing bowl. To the remaining half add the red food coloring and beat on low speed until well blended. If you find the dough too soft, cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Repeat with other half and green food coloring. Take a piece of red dough and a piece of green dough. Separately, roll each color on a lightly floured surface, into a long rope. Place the two ropes side by side, gently press together, and twist the two ropes to form a spiral. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Shape each cookie into a cane shape by bending one end into a hook shape. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for about 8 - 10 minutes or until set and the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool completely on baking sheet. Cover and store in an airtight container for about a week. Yield: 2 dozen cookies.

Double Chocolate Cookie

2 1/2 C. flour
3/4 C. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 C. (2 sticks) butter room temp.
3/4 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. fresh hot coffee
1 1/2 C. chocolate candies (4 packages of pretzel M&Ms)

Preheat oven to 375*. Sift dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar and eggs. Add flour mix to butter mix, add coffee and vanilla. Fold in M&Ms. Drop spoon fulls of dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-11 minutes. Yield 3 dozen.

Sugar Cookie Bars

Bar Sugar Cookies
Recipe Source: Land o’ Lakes

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 9x13” baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl if using hand mixer). Beat at medium speed, scraping the sides as needed, until well mixed (about 3-4 minutes). Spread dough into the bottom of the 9x13” baking pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until they just start to brown. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting
Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Food color, if desired

Directions:
Combine powdered sugar, ½ cup butter, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix slowly with a hand mixer, adding enough milk for desired consistency. Add food coloring if you want tinted frosting. Spread over cooled cookie bars and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Cut into squares.

Yield: approximately 24 bars, depending on size.

Baby Pants

I am making my nieces coordinating pajama pants for lounging around in. This was my first attempt at making button holes for draw strings. Why are button holes so complicated? The solid pants are elastic and the polka dot pants are draw string with ribbons. Blue and green, pink and purple. Looks like the girls get matching book bags for their pj's too! Thanks Momtastic.

Stroganoff

I just got a heck of a deal on 1.5 lbs of fresh mushrooms, and couldn't think of anything else I would enjoy more!