My Everything Corner

I am up to my ears in sweets! Gingerbread houses, (made from graham crackers) and all kinds of different candy; I've baked shortbread, sugar cookies, and gingersnaps.  Then there are all those squares I bought to support our school's fundraiser. If we eat these treats at a reasonable rate, (which some of us will not) we'll still be eating them in July. It really is a lot of fun though, and my 12 year old boy is fairly certain this is what Heaven is all about. I hope you are all enjoying your baking and your giving of baking and your eating of the baking and mostly that you have a very Merry Christmas!

A huge thank-you to Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose for this recipe .  We loved them, and will definitely be making them again.  Soon.  I might just try using a lemon cake mix next time to see how that tastes. I think I'll head back over to Stephanie's and browse more of her recipes.  The rhubarb turnovers   look fantastic and my rhubarb patch is looking so fresh right now. I hope you are all having a great week!

While browsing a few of my favourite blogs yesterday, I found a recipe that I was eager to try at The Enchanting Rose .  These chewy lemon cookies looked divine and I suddenly had a craving.  I headed to the pantry sure to find a white cake mix, but only came up with chocolate.  I'm sure I could have made a very similar cookie from scratch, but I have never tried using a cake mix before, so I whipped up the chocolate one in exactly the same way, (sans la extroit de lemon) and I was so very not disappointed.  Fresh out of the oven - incroyable! Cooled down - formidable. And frozen on the next day - delicieux. Why all the french you ask?  Doesn't a foreign language make it sound better?  That, and I really should try to use a little of a language that I studied for no less than 8 years. I encourage you to give these a try, except maybe if you are a French cook or a purist, and anything out of a box offends you.  I picked up the ingredients f...

I love a good chocolate chip cookie, and I love the batter even more.  On a day when I feel like treating myself, nothing but baking my family's favourite cookie will do.  We all share in a reasonable amount of the batter, and at least one fresh cookie.  As soon as they are cool, they are frozen, and that's how we enjoy the rest of the bag.  I'm not sure why they taste better frozen, but once they are more than a day old, that's how they taste their best.   Today I turned this common process into an opportunity to practice my photography.  Of course, I will also give you the recipe. 1/2 lb unsalted butter 3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt a generous tsp of vanilla 1 cup of chocolate chips (more or less) Cream together softened butter and sugars and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each one.  Add flour, soda, salt and mi...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Halloween Day.  Our weather is not cooperating at all.  It is raining and very windy.  The forecast is promising that it well stop before the evening though and even clear off for Trick-or-Treating.  Even though we are stuck indoors, we are still thoroughly enjoying our day.  We carved jacks this morning and are watching the first Harry Potter while enjoying a few early treats.  The plan is to set the jacks out on the deck when the rain stops and do a photo shoot in our costumes. Here are a few shots from around the house:   Add caption

This is what I got when I asked my dear husband to help me decorate the Christmas cookies.  I knew something was up when he started giggling.  Then he showed me this guy, the angry snowman.  Who knows why he's angry?  I think it all started with his lack of talent when it comes to creating something cute.        I knew he had come up with something worse when he moved from giggling to laughing outloud.  And here is our angry snowman's victim.  How do you like the black eye and bloody stump where his arm once was?       Needless to say, neither of these cookies made it to the trays of goodies I put out for friends and family.  And although our kids were pretty much in shock that their Dad could defile an innocent gingerbread cookie, they were doubled over with laughter. I wonder what Dad would have said if it had been one of his children who created this monster and its victim?

This is what we spent a good portion of our day doing yesterday. In the morning we baked, and after lunch we decorated. A large portion of cookies went undecorated and will go to my Son's Kindergarten class tomorrow. Using pink, purple, red, white and a few sprinkles, we put together a beautiful assortment of cookies to celebrate each other. Several days ago, we also created little boxes so that we could create Valentines for each other and have somewhere to keep them until we open them on Tuesday. We will be celebrating a day late because that's when Daddy gets home from camp. . . . . . . . . . The kids picked an assortment of different shapes. These are Kaitlynn's cookies and included here are hearts, flowers, birds and kitties. Also, being the super-duper kid that she is, she handmade all of her Valentines. She did 25 for her class, and several for her family as well. I can't wait to see what she put together. . . . . . . . . . . . . These are Jared's cookies. ...

My Grandfather always had a bag of 'Dad's' cookies on hand. Out of all the choices, the chocolate chip ones remain my favorite. I love to bake, and I rarely buy cookies, but about once a year, I come across a bag of these, and there in no resisting, (and yes, this is the big bag). One bite, and I'm transported back to a young girl on a warm autumn day, waiting for Grandpa to come back into the yard, turn off the tractor, and invite me to share his lunch with him. He always brought extra, and he even let me have some of his coffee, just a sip. It was the perfect afternoon moment. Later on, when Grandpa could no longer farm, we visited him in town. There was always a bag of cookies sitting by his refridgerator. He must have spent more money on cookies than any other grocery, because there were 5 of us Grandaughters, and we were constantly there, eating his cookies. When we got old enough, he sent us uptown with the money and a list, and I would always, without ...

We finally had some sunshine here yesterday, and not a moment too soon. Everyone has been feeling a bit low with all the unseasonably cold weather and rain. Along with the sun, the familiar colours of Fall finally came out of hiding and inspired us to make these delectable little morsels. Sugar cookies cut into oak leaves and acorns and decorated with the colours of the season became the highlight of the day. The kids also wanted to decorated some sort of animal, so they chose cats, and along with acorns and leaves, we also had some very interesting looking kitties. After enjoying a few of our homemade goodies, we headed outside to start cleaning up all the plants that the early frost had put to an end. The kids mostly spent their time saving the slugs from ending up as compost, and thank goodness, because what is a garden without those wonderful, little, slimy critters? Our next job well be to download the collection of spider pictures my Daughter collected from the backyard and ...