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.

Pumpkin Choclate Chip Cookies

In the spirit of Thanksgiving weekend, I'd like to thank chocolate and pumpkin for existing and being such a great team.

Last night I made a double batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Chumpkin Cookies as I like to call them (as of three seconds ago). It's a super easy recipe that produces more of a cake like cookie. I love the spiciness of it with the sweetness of the chocoalte chips. This cookie is a huge winner and is rivalled by none other than my pumpkin swirl brownies (which I'll be making on Sunday).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Here's the recipe:
1 cup of canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 table spoon vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Mix the pumpkin, sugar, oil, egg, spices and vanilla together by hand.Dissolve bakign soda into milk and add to bowl. Mix in dry ingredients. Add choclate chips. Put on cookie sheet by spoolful. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10+ minutes. I always test my cookies by poking them, if they bounce back then they are done.

Adapted from an Allrecipes.com recipe.

My broken clock

The clock in my house is broken. I've tried everything to fix it. The batteries are fresh and the hands have been set and re-set time and time again.

I've had my clock repair man, Lou, take a look and he says the clock is in perfect condition. He told me to be patient, that the clock will come around on its own good time. He laughed at the pun and left.

I've re-hung the clock in a few different spots in case it needed more light or maybe less light. I've hung it high, I've hung it low. I moved it into the kitchen so it could watch me cook, but the clock's hands refused to budge.

Yesterday, I sat down and tried to reason with the clock. I explained how important its job is and how grateful I would be if it would cooperate. I offered it a cup of tea and even a freshly baked cookie. When that didn't work, I sung it a country love song. The clock just stared back at me unmoving. Maybe it doesn't like country music.

Lisa's Cat in the Hat Baby Shower

My lovely little Big Sister Lisa is having a baby boy sometime between now and the middle of September. I personally have bets on the following dates: Sept 6, 7, 8 and 9. Us Littles are always early so I'm pretty certain the prize money is mine. I've already spent it, so I sure hope so.

Last weekend we threw Lisa (and La Babe) a Cat in the Hat themed baby shower. I designed and printed Dr Seuss themed shower invites with the help of my mommy. We went party supply hunting and hit the jackpot at Michael's with some Cat in the Hat paraphernalia such as a 6 foot tall Cat in the Hat poster and party hats (which nobody ended up wearing - boo).

The girls and I spent too many hours the day before baking up a storm. Brownies, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla butter cream frosting dyed blue to resemble Thing 1 and Thing 2, and sugar cookies iced in red white and blue. That's three batches of baking and three sets of frosting, which is a whole lot of dirty bowls and counter tops. Don't worry, Amanda made sure it was all clean long before we were done :) such a good housewife that girl is!

Lisa's best friend made 3 super amazing banners in Cat in the Hat style which we strung up around the living room - I can't even describe how pretty they were. Amanda ordered a Cat in the Hat themed cake which was mind bogglingly awesome. I peed my pants a little when i saw it. The cake sported a quote that said "A person's a person no matter how small.". cute, right?

I came out in costume when we were playing games and we all had a good laugh. The kids were mostly just scared of me. Hmmm... perhaps I will wear that costume all the time as a child-deterrent. uhmm just kidding, I'm not that evil.

I'd like to say I met some cool new people, but I spent most of my time in front of the oven watching things bake and then taste testing them. I then had to sneak out early to drive Jwolfs to the ferry, which means I missed the embarrassing party hat made of of bows and ribbons. It also means I missed the cleaning up- darn, my favorite part!

Overall great party. Super excited for the baby to come. Super excited to see him in all his new outfits and to NOT change diapers. Here's some photos. Get ready to be jealous:

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.

valentinestastic.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 To celebrate, I baked a super duper batch of sugar cookies. I am always concerned when a recipe has less than half a dozen ingredients. How could something so delicious be so simple? Somehow this simple recipe ended up being a four hour project. Myself and my kitchen are covered head to toe (ceiling to floor) in flour, icing sugar and food coloring, which some (cough, katie) may find concerning, but i like to turn a blind eye to things like that...  I'd say the results are worth it. The cookies turned out adorable.  I tasted them to make sure they weren't poisonous and they are delicious. There's about 4 dozen, so if you'd like a cookie fix, come find me- I'll cookie you. xo shelly. 

 

A Case of the Grumps

The Michelle Health Organization (MHO for short) reports that there's been a case of the grumps going around lately. This organization, which is neither very organized nor very healthy, would like to help you diagnose yourself. Not sure if you are suffering from the grumps? Here's a few things that might be a tip off:

• People leave the room when you walk in because they dread being around you and your bad attitude (badittude, if you will).
• You spend extended periods of time wallowing in self-loathing and, alternatively, self-pity.
• The usual good mood-inspiring things do not even bring a semi smile to your face. An adorable puppy in a cute outfit makes you roll your eyes instead of the normal giggle and clap.
• Even eating delicious treats do not make you happy.

Now, drinking excessively may seem like a good idea to dull the pain of your grumptastic mood, but it will not help. Let me repeat: Do Not try to drink the grumps away. It is cause for disaster and you will then be hungover AND grumpy. Please do not fret though, I have some helpful suggestions (that worked for me) to bring you back to Happy Land.

1. You need to go overboard on the things that make you happy. For me, it's baking. This weekend I baked a batch of deliciously low fat cookies, chocolate mousse (not technically baking, but still counts) and mini chocolate cupcakes with peppermint chocolate icing. The delicious end results, combined with the pleasure it brought to those who devoured the treats nearly pulled me out my funk. [see below for photos]
2. Exercise. Again, I suggest going overboard. Get out and work your butt off doing whatever it is you do to stay in shape. Yesterday I spent an hour at the gym and then hit the track with my iPod on the loudest it could go. By the time I was done, I was so frozen, deaf, hungry and tired that I had no room to be grumpy. Pure bliss.
3. Shopping therapy. Simple. Go out and buy things. You don't need to spend a million dollars, feel free to hit the dollar store, walmart or even go to the grocery store and hit the bulk bins real hard. Don't get me wrong, if you have the money and the inclination to make a big purchase, by all means do so. A new TV or car would certainly make your grumps disappear twice or even three times as fast.
4. Go tanning. I hear the WHO (world health organisation- who is actually a real organisation, unlike the MHO) declared tanning a carcinogenic, so maybe this option isn't for everyone...but if you aren't opposed to tanning and your skin could use some colour- jump on in to your nearest cancer box. Not only will you feel better because you will look prettier- you will feel better from that dose of vitamin D that you can only get from the sun, which we probably won't seeing much of for the next few months.
5. If you have completed suggestions 1-4 and are still feeling down then you have no choice but to go to Disney Land. It is the happiest place on earth. If a dose of the magic kingdom, mickey mouse and frozen lemonade can't cure you then you are pretty much out of luck. You can try repeating the above steps, perhaps in reverse order, but unfortunately and most likely, you will need to move onto #5.
6. Strong meds are officially in order. Prozak or some other anti-depressant. It will make you feel like you are living your life in a hazy cloud, not to mention the long list of negative side effects, but hey, it will likely kill the grumps. Murder at its finest. Visit a doctor near you for treatment.

Wishing you all a grump-free afternoon. Good day to you.

smartie (pants) cookies

With my Halloween candy loot I decided to bake some cookies. I had to open 20 stupid small boxes of smarties to get enough for the recipe which was rather annoying. One box did manage to escape so I ate it after I was done with the cookies. No mercy. Smarties are delicious. I am not usually a fan of putting candy in cookies, but hey what's a girl to do with a drawer full of Halloween candy and two hours of free time?

Spookies!

6:06 AM Sunday morning, pouring rain. Sounds perfect for a sleep in, right? Wrong! Time for breakfast and baking. It's sugar cookie Sunday!

Once I put something on my baking to do list it haunts me and yells at me in my brain until I make it. Some items are on my To Do-one day in the future if I happen to have all the ingredients and a special occasion to fulfill-List and others are on my To Do-as soon as humanly possible as my brain will give me no rest until said recipe adventure has been tested-List. Trust me when I say it's a debilitating character trait. It's 6:30 on Sunday morning and I'm elbow deep in sugar cookies. I'm also face masking. Lucky I don't have a roommate, they would hate me. A white-clay faced, sweat panted baking monster who listens to Norah Jones on repeat for hours on end at the crack of dawn. I'd probably hate them for the very reason that they are not OK with that.

The SPOOKY cookie cutters that sara got me for my birthday after finding out the only shape i had was a circle. For a girl that bakes a lot i have an embarrassingly pitiful collection of cookie cutters. I decided the cookies, being Halloween themed should be called SPOOKIES. Spooky cookies. Get it? I used the sugar cookie recipe off the back of the Wiltons cookie cutter packaging. IMHO (that's geek speak for 'in my humble opinion') any brand recipes result in the best baked goods. Think Rice Krispie squares and Kraft peanut butter cookies, both recipes right off the package make delicious treats. I whipped up a batch and went to the gym then came home and decorated them. Viola! Halloweenified. Spooky right? Distributing to any suckers that'll take em.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! May you rot your teeth with sweets and get your pants scared off you by a horror movie or two.