Shelly's Snickerdoodles Recipe

Merry Christmas ya'll! I wish you lots of turkey, baked goods, presents and joy!

You might want to sit down for the news I'm about to share... This is the first of four cookie blogs I'm hoping to post over the next week (Kiss Me Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies) !  I had a marathon Christmas Cookies baking session spanning three days, which was super exciting for me and now hopefully for you! Stay tuned!

So if you don't know what a snickerdoodle is, don't feel bad. I'd never heard of them until a few weeks ago when in am across them on a top 10 Christmas cookie list. Essentially they are a light and fluffy sugar cookie rolled I'm cinnamon sugar. They taste like cinnamon buns and heaven.

Shelly's Snickerdoodles (original recipe here)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lard
11/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
2 tsps white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsps cinnamon
3 tbsps white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400. Ideally you want your butter and eggs to be at room temperature. 
2. Cream butter and sugar together then add eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla and vinegar. Don't worry you won't be able to taste the vinegar- but it's important as it acts as a leavening agent.
3. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. 
4. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. Roll 3/4 inch balls and drop into cinnamon sugar mixture until evenly coated.
5. Pop on a pan at least two inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and place on cooling rack. This makes about 4 dozen.

How to decorate a Christmas tree

It's not even December yet and I've already decorated FOUR Christmas trees this year. I did my own tree last, so the first three were pretty much just practice. I think at this point I am a qualified expert on Christmas Tree Decorating. I might even make myself a Certificate. And yes, I do have that much time on my hands.

OK, step one is Get Prepared! You are going to need a snack and a beverage handy. I decided on popcorn and a Kahlua milkshake. You will also need music. I decided on Drake. Most importantly you need a tree and decorations. If you don't have those, hit the dollar store for decorations and the forest for your tree.

Then, get your tree all set up and test the lights. Everything's working? Great, You were born for this! Now we are ready to decorate! Time for some swag!

Step 3. You're going to want to start with some kind of garland or maybe ribbon. If you've collected any Mardis Gras beads this year, that's great, because you're going to need them! You'll want to string the beads about a foot apart around the tree. I am not too careful with this step as the ornaments will disguise any sloppiness.

If your tree is thin in parts like mine is, you can stuff it with tulle or sneak some ribbon in there. If you like the Charlie Brown look, you can leave it bare.

Wait did I mention you need a helper? If you can't enlist a human friend, your fur friend will suffice.

Step 5 - Spread your ornaments everywhere so you can see what you're working with. You should start with your largest decorations. Space them evenly around the tree. Next, put up any special or unique decorations. From there I start with matching sets and spread them around the tree. 

Uh oh, you broke something? Just pretend it's part of the tradition and yell OPPA! If you borrowed your ornaments from your Mom, remember to tell her The Cat Did It. Also remember to buy her a really good Christmas present.

How's it looking so far? Still have lots of decorations left but think your tree looks great? You are wrong. Keep going. No decoration shall be left in the box. Your tree should look like Christmas threw up all over it. 

If you're having trouble finding spots to hang stuff, remember you can go in deep! Adding decorations towards the centre of the tree just adds depth! 

Are you covered in sparkles yet? No? Then keep going! Yes? Ok, good news. You're almost done.  If you haven't put up your star yet, go for it!

Put down a tree skirt... What? You don't have one? *Face Palm* Put down a blanket or a towel and cover it in sparkles so it looks fancy! Ta-da! Congratulations, your tree is complete. Now it's time for the big reveal. Plug your tree in and turn the lights off and revel in the glory that is Christmas!

Christmas in July.

Oh.... you don't celebrate Christmas in July? *insert awkward silence. I would explain it to you, but I don't think you're ready for it.

We are a Christmas family. This past Christmas we switched things up and went to Mexico. I will take the liberty to speak for the rest of the family and say it was the best trip ever, but that we all felt a little Christmas-blues. No turkey on Christmas? It's blasphemous. I'm pretty sure Jesus would frown upon that. We had Italian food. it was delicious. It absolutely did not taste like Christmas. We spent the day drinking margaritas at the beach, seadooing and playing (and winning) bar games. Carol, god bless her, found us a mini pink and purple Christmas tree. She decked them with smarties balls, which was mind blowing! Smarties balls are a total re-hash scenario from the only other Christmas the Little's spent away from home- Whistler circa 10 years ago -another Christmas fail. The only part about our Mexican Christmas that felt like the holidays was the hangover I felt in the morning!

And all that rambling brings me to the point of my story...we need a DO OVER on Christmas, and no, we absolutely can not wait until December to make this happen. Christmas in July, folks! The second annual! Attended by various friends and family, this event features a FULL TURKEY DINNER and a sick amount of Christmas baked goods. I am hoping that someone either finds egg nog or goes to town and makes it from scratch!

 I was super excited at the prospect of breaking out my Xmas cookie cutters again and was debating between gingerbread and shortbread. Unfortunately, I was told that cookies were taken, so I defaulted to cupcakes. Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter cream. Total cheater cupcakes- I used a box cake mix and doctored up store bought frosting. I will not let you hold that against me, they are adorable and allowed me to also get my car washed and laundry done tonight!

THE SECOND ANNUAL CHRISTMAS IN JULY CELEBRATION IS UPON US! Coming up this Saturday, I am stoked for delicious treats, turkey, fake Christmas trees, and out of season decorations! Tis the (fake) season! Happy holidays. xo.

Behold.

Michelle's Christmas in July Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Aunty Shelly

Big News Bears presents:

A BABY ON THE WAY!

Don't panic, it's not mine (the world is still safe from my demon spawn).

I am soon to be an Aunt. Aunty Shelly, I will be. My big sister Lisa is with child and is due in early fall. We are ecstatic. I have taken up singing baby songs like Row Row Row Your Boat and even eating baby food in preparation. Mashed peas and carrots?MMM yes please. OK OK, I'm lying. I don't sing Row your boat, that song is only good in harmony.

Now, I've never been an aunt before, but I think that matters not. I have been (and still am) a niece to many Aunts (and Uncles, of course). I know all about being a niece. I especially know what nieces look for in Aunts!

I am fairly confident that I will be able to slide seamlessly into the role of an Aunt.. With a little practice I think I will inherit the title of Best Aunt Ever. She is going to love me so hard! Ok Ok, I don't know for sure that La Bebe will be a girl, and if she is a he, that is fine with me. It will be refreshing to have a boy around who adores me and perhaps even drools over me (although ON me might be a more apt description).

Here's what I know about Aunts: I know that Aunts should be fun. They should be a mix between an older sister, a second mom and a best friend. Old and wise, but still young and fun. They kidnap their niece for a day of fun and adventure and bring her back late at night, tired and sticky and sad to be leaving the company of their favourite person ever. They buy the best Christmas and Birthday presents. Aunts babysit, without qualms or questions, when Moms need time off Mom duty.

Aunty Shelly. Sounds right, doesn't it? I can't wait to take La Bebe to the park and the zoo and teach her how to count and how to bat her eyelashes for maximum effect. I will buy her adorable outfits and hopefully coax her first word out of her. She will be my little sidekick and I won't even mind if she crys a lot, becasue I listen to my music so loud.

I will, however, pass her to her other aunts when it's time for a diaper change. La Bebe will be the luckiest girl around as she will have lots of "Aunts", the kind who aren't quite related by blood, but love you super hard regardless. They are your mom's friends and you get to spend a lot of time with them, because they don't have kids of their own yet.

 I'd like to take this line to say Thanks and Love you to all my real and fake aunts who made and make my life so wonderful. Sappy, but it was just one line, so get over it.

Baby Countdown: 20.5 Weeks



I one day aspire to be half as good an aunt as Aunt Jemima is a syrup.