SOME HALLOWEEN BAKING!!!

on top of everything else i got accomplished today, the biggest was some halloween baking. i think when everything was said and done, i made six dozen cookies in three different varieties.


the kitchen with a ton of baking stuff all over the place. cooling cookies everywhere.


irrestible peanut butter cookies w/ reeces pieces



got this recipe from jif. very good cookie. love the texture.

ingredients

3/4 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda


directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.


2. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooling cookies.

3. Combine Jif peanut butter, Crisco® Shortening, light brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl.

4. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.

5. Add egg. Beat just until blended.

6.Combine flour, salt and baking soda.

7. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

8. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

9. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

10. Bake at 375ºF for 7 to 8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

oatmeal/pumpkin cookies



i took this recipe that i got over at baking sheet and tweeked it a lil bit to add some fall flavor to it.

2 cups ap flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
quite a few good shakes of pumpkin pie spice (i like a lot...you can adjust this)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), firmly packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs (large, extra or jumbo)
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350F.
Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl.
Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl until well combined. Beat in vanilla, canned pumpkin and eggs until light, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour mixture. Add oat. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 11 minutes at 350F. Cookies will be lightly browned.
Let cool for a few minutes on baking sheet, then move to a wire rack until completely cooled.

oatmeal/pumpkin/walnut cookies with cream cheese frosting



same recipe as above except add some chopped walnuts. once cookies have cooled, spread with the following cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with more chopped walnuts.

cream cheese frosting
recipe from recipezaar

1 (8 oz) pkg. of cream cheese,softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups powder sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla

mix with handmixer until smooth.

note: i made a half batch of this recipe and it frosted two dozen cookies!

hope everyone's hungry :)

HALLOW-EVE DINNER!!!

tonight for dinner, we had some yummy chili accompanied by halloween shaped pasta, cheese, and halloween shaped tortilla chips. and of course, a piece of the cake that mikey won during the cake walk.

it was pretty SPOOK-TACULAR!!!


yummy chili!!


halloween pasta. came in shapes of a spider web, a ghost/martian, & a pumpkin.


tortilla chips. shapes: ghost, pumpkin, & bats. this were really good. i got them at walmart. they have a really light and airy texture to them.


chocolate snicker cake that mikey won. i haven't had a piece yet, but mikey said it was delicious (i think its mostly b/c he won it :)

HALLOWEEN GOODIES!!!

these are the halloween goodies i put together for mikey to bring to school tomorrow. a kit kat (which happens to be orange on the outside, crispy wafers on the inside) with halloween pencil taped to the front of it. lil message letting them know its from mikey (address label with information placed on some scrapbooking paper) tied with orange ribbon, and VOILA!!!!

A HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL!!!!

well, today the major's (the boss) church was having a halloween carnival. we decided to take the kiddos there knowing that it would be good fun. the kids got a bag (for the goodies) filled with tickets (for the games). we first grabbed some hamburgers and hotdogs and had a seat in the yard of the church and had us a lil halloween picnic.

after the picnic, the kiddos were ready to play some games. they had so much fun and won lots of great prizes. we also participated in a musical chairs version of a cake walk and mikey won a chocolate snickers cake. this is going to be for dessert. yum!!!

bella's name got called out and won a door prize. the cutest stuffed monkey. i knew she would pick that one out.

we had a wonderful time there.


entering the carnival.


captain jack sparrow (aka mikey)


lil halloween witch enjoying her lunch (which consisted of cookies and soda for her).


bella playing a game.


mikey making a great toss!


this is what happens when i try to get a good picture of michael and he makes a silly face at the last minute. didn't think i would post this pic did ya dear???? maybe you won't make silly faces anymore :)~

I *HEART* TARGET!!!

today, we got up early and made a trip to mobile, alabama to do some shopping. i got some new shoes (i swear i'm an addict), i hit joanns, we ate at olive garden (since ours is nothing but a parking lot and a slab), walked around the mall, hit a coffee shop to buy some goodies (see below), and then hit the mack daddy of all discount retail stores....TARGET!!!

i luv target and the closest one is in mobile which is about a 30+ drive. my main reason for going to target was to see their new line of chocolates called choxie. i have been seeing commercials for them and i have been dying to get my hands on them.

below is a few of the other goodies we got there.


choxie chocolates...do i really need all this chocolate? the answer is YES!!


rosemary olive oil chips made by archer farms (target brand). i got addicted to these chips when i was in knoxville for mike's graduation and the past few times that we have gone to target, they were out! i bought three bags :)


italian soda...again by archer farms and is very delicious. mike opened up the lemon one and it tasted like mike's hard lemonade (minus the alcohol of corse...drats!)


finally found the fresca black cherry. lemme tell ya, i think this tastes delish. like some fruity candy. very good!!


these are the goodies that i got at the coffee shop. i also got two other things, but they are for my girl greta and she will have to wait till monday to get em. so girl, if you're reading, do NOT call me and ask what it is.

i cannot wait to brew a cup of the pumpkin spice coffee tomorrow morning.


we had a wonderful day today. filled with good food and good shopping. while we were out and about, we decided to take the kiddos to toys r us to let them them use some gift cards they received (again, another location that is currently closed right now). i also found a few old cards, that i thought possibly had balances on it. boy where the kids lucky. between 3 cards there was a enough for them to each get $30 of goodies (and believe me, this helped with the "i wants" throughout the day). bella racked up on some cinderella stuff and mikey got some more army stuff. the best part though is, when we first got in the store, i saw they had some lil event going on. one of the employees asked if we wanted to go on a lil scavenger hunt and when we found everything, to report back to them and get a goodie bag. of course we were game. the kids had fun reading the clues and finding the location. they also loved everything in their goodie bags.

gotta luv the free events at toys r us!!!


the clues


bella makes a new friend.



on a completely different note, things are coming along okay with the art/craft fair. i would like to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragement. this week has been a hectic one filled with exhaustion on my part (we're talking about being in bed reading at 830 and asleep at 930). i am so glad that mike is finally working a more decent schedule to help out with some things around here. i am beginning to feel the pressure. what if i don't get everything made in time that i want to get done? i think i'll be okay though. i got a few scarves done and some zippered pouches. i know i will have the energy (fingers crossed) to get a lot done this week.

wish me luck :)



note: i forgot to add that next weekend, targets are supposed to be giving out samples of their new choxie line. i had one of the chococate peppermint sticks shown.....can you say yum!!! and they are huge :)

LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER!!!!

when i was getting bella dressed on tuesday morning, i didn't even realize that i was putting her in the exact same outfit that i was already in until her pants were going up!!

i just wish we would have shared the happiness over it. you can see how thrilled she was to have her picture taken at 630 in the morning :)

WELL, I'M GONNA DO IT!!!

after much encouragement from my wonderful hubby and from greta i decided to go for it.

what do i have to lose?

so i spent the weekend working on some owls and some cute lil zipped pouches.

after work, i went down to the library, paid, and picked out my table spot. i'm very excited, but now that the payment has been made and i feel the committment, i am a lil nervous.

i plan on working on some cards during the week.

don't worry, pics will be up soon.

HMMM...A DECISION TO MAKE!!!

about a week ago when i was driving on the main strip here in big country, i noticed that on the 19th of november, the library is having a arts and crafts fair and a book sale. of course i was excited to go see some crafting (and maybe buy) and scoop up some books/magazines for super cheap.

i decided to take the kiddos up to the library today to get library cards and to check out some books (that will be in another post) and i noticed that there was a sign up for tables to sell your stuff at the arts and crafts sale.

the dilema now is if i want to get a table and try to sell some goods. it would be the very first time that i have ever sold anything (except for that zodiac picture i painted in highschool and sold to my art teacher).

i don't have anything made up and would have to make a buncha stuff by the 19th. i have to make my decision by the 11th of november.

i just don't know what to do. i know its not that big of decision, but i am afraid that if i don't jump on the bandwagon and do it, that once i go there i am going to regret not doing it.

i think tonight i may work on a few things since mike will be at work and see if i like what i have come up with and base my decision on that.

what do you guys think?

COCONUT OATMEAL COOKIES!!!

coconut oatmeal cookies

2 cups ap flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), firmly packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs (large, extra or jumbo)
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl until well combined. Beat in vanilla, milk and eggs until light, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour mixture. Add oats and coconut.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 11 minutes at 350F. Cookies will be lightly browned.
Let cool for a few minutes on baking sheet, then move to a wire rack until completely cooled.


okay, i seriously think that i have become addicted to nic (aka baking sheet) and her beautiful blog filled with recipes. if you haven't hit one of the many links that i have already up about her site...i am begging you to run over there.

i got this recipe in her archives and lemme just say that i think that this is one of the top 5 cookies that i have ever made (and i have made a lotta cookies). this is definitely a keeper.

can't wait to see what the people at work think of these.


NOTE: *i also made about half a dozen with nestle swirls chips in chocolate and caramel instead of coconut. DELISH!!! i will def. play around with this recipe. maybe try nuts, dried cranberries, etc.

ELIZABETH NEEDS!!!

after i finished the last post, i decided to surf around my links. over at misocrafty i saw where she posted to google your name with the word "needs" next to it and post the top 10 things.

here we go...

Elizabeth Needs Protection

Elizabeth needs to be loved, pursued and reassured (this musta really been written about me...seriously!!!)

Elizabeth needs the indirect image of Darcy in this portrait to view the man

Elizabeth needs a nuk

Elizabeth needs to stick around, and be featured a bit more

Elizabeth needs to find something quick, and she only remembers a few
keywords related to it, she uses Omea Pro's Desktop Search functionality

Elizabeth needs to be able to express her feelings to someone she trusts (again, really about me).

Elizabeth needs to show more emotion (if you ask anyone that knows me, they would prolly say that i need to show less emotion..lol)

Elizabeth needs to follow up with Margaret to confirm she is OK with this.

Elizabeth needs housewares, like bedding and gadgets (who can't use more gadgets?)

that was fun!! another great site is googlism. type in your name and see what happens.

here's are a few of my favorites:

elizabeth is waiting to be found

elizabeth is smart and brave

elizabeth is fine

elizabeth is mine

elizabeth is caring

elizabeth is as lucky as she is shrewd

elizabeth is a tour de force of imagination


what are your favorites about your own name???

PAPA RONI'S AND COCONUT BREAD...YUM!!!

i've been promising the kiddos delivery pizza for the past two weeks, however, the only pizza place around me that delivers is a mom and pop place called papa roni's and they haven't been delivering the past couple of weeks. so i left work a lil early to go pick one up before i got the kiddos.

that is the first time that i have been inside in such a long time. i love the whole small, quaint italian restaurant feel to it. in the bakery cases i saw cannoli shells, tarts, cheesecake,and cookies. the smells were devine and you are able to see them (the owner and her teenage kiddos) cooking up some yummies!

as i stand there on teepie-toes taking sneak peeks of what they are doing back there, i wish that i could work there. i wanna make pizza and cannoli. i almost think i am going to open up my mouth and ask if i can work one day a week. even if its just to make cannoli filling.

then that reminds me of my dream....my dream to bake all day long. before i got pregnant with mikey, i had received the application to attend a local culinary school. i was going to attend the culinary school, master in pastries, then one day have my own show on the food network. believe you me, i have plenty of practice. for as long as i can remember, when i would whip something up in the kitchen (and i did this quite a bit when i was little up until highschool...me and my bros were latch key kids) i would talk as if i was talking into a camera. i giggle now as i think about it.

but thats the dream.

to bake.

all.day.long.

maybe one day.

for now, i have the pleasure of baking for my wonderful family and the officers who visit my office on a regular basis.


chocolate cannoli


pizza delicioso


a loaf of tomato & basil bread for lunch tomorrow.

speaking of baking, i am completely addicted to baking sheet. while checking it out today at work, i came across a recipe for bills coconut bread. bill has quite a few restaurants in australia and a couple of cookbooks that i would like to get my hands on.

once i saw the recipe, i knew i had to try it. i did however have to adjust a few things based on what i had on hand (like i didn't have any milk, so i used coconut milk, and i don't know what caster sugar is (which i plan on looking up) so i used regular ol white sugar).

i've already tried a lil piece and it is devine. when i first read in nic's post, she mentioned that she couldn't wait to toast it in the a.m. and put butter on it. i kinda thought that that didn't sound real good, but after tasting the bread, i see how that would be delish. its sweet without being too sweet.

here's the recipe with my substitutions in ( ).

Bill's Coconut Bread

2 eggs
300ml (1 1/4 cups) milk (same amount, only coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla
350g (2 1/2 cups) flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
225 g (1 cup and a bit) caster sugar (same amount, only white sugar)
150 g (2 cups) shredded coconut
75 g (1/3 cup) butter, melted


Preheat oven to 180C /350F.

Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon. Stir in sugar and coconut. Make a well in the center and pour in egg mixture. Stir until just combined.
Add butter and stir until just smooth, being careful not to overmix.
Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean.
Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

nic's notes: I have used lowfat milk to no ill effects in this recipe. I have also used sweetened coconut and reduced the amount of sugar slightly. Bill Granger suggests that this loaf will yield 8 slices, but I probably cut it into 12. Enjoy it plain, or toasted with butter!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!

well, i needed some baking therapy tonight and i decided to try some yummy looking chocolate chip cookies that i saw over at baking sheet.

unfortunately, i was on the phone with mike was i was making them therefore, i added both eggs whole instead of one whole egg and one egg yolk. i don't know if that contributed to the fact that my cookies look completely different than hers or not.

they are still very yummy!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(thanks to the Best Recipe)
2 cups plus 2 tbsp ap flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (12 tbsp), melted and cooled until just warm
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, followed by chocolate chips.
Drop by (scant) 1/4 cups onto the baking sheet and pat lightly so the cookie is an even thickness, not a ball shape. Cookies will spread as they bake and this ensures a more even spread.
Bake at 325F for 15-17 minutes, until just turning light brown all over. The edges should only be very slightly more brown, if at all, from the rest of the cookie. Allow cookies to cool before removing them from the baking sheet.
Makes 18-24 large cookies

MORE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING DONE!!!

while i was over at wee wonderfuls, hillary posted some amazing toys that she found while surfing the net. on of the items she had were some lace up cards from a website called genius babies. i knew i needed to check them out. they would be perfect for bella and she can "sew" with mommy.

once i got to the site, i saw a ton of cute things. here is what i ordered:


bella's "sewing" cards


a united states bingo game for mikey


a united states map puzzle for mikey


and some candy dominoes for me that are going to turn in to some really cute crafty things.

and the best thing, is shortly after i ordered the items, i got and email saying that they were already shipped and will be here on thursday!

talk about customer service!!

SOME NEW BLOGS!!

i've been meaning to post some new blogs that i have been checking out. maybe tomorrow i will get them over to my daily obsessions :)

i heart sensible shoes
tania
polka dot stripe
baking sheet
cupcake cottage
creature comforts

here lately i have really been into food related blogs. ya know how i am about hoarding recipes.

:)


wow! i just found this wonderful source of scrapbooking/card inspiration. i will def. be visiting her often.

self-addressed

THE HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS ARE FINALLY UP!!!

so i finally got the halloween decorations up after promising mikey for the past week. after dinner, mike popped up some popcorn and we go to work. the kiddos had so much fun digging thru the boxes and running around deciding where everything was going to go.


digging thru the spooky goodies.


mike bringing a bat to life.


yummy popcorn.


see how good?


did you see that ghost that was helping us out?

WHO'S YOUR 80'S HEARTTHROB????

mine is....

Your 80s Heartthrob Is

Jason Bateman

Who's Your 80's Heartthrob?

KAFFEEE!!!

this morning, while drinking my morning coffee, i decided to let bella have a lil taste. everytime she sees me drinking a cup, she asks "is that you're kaffeee?". so after is was pretty much lukewarm, i asked her if she wanted a sip. of course her eyes got all wide and she shook her head yes.

i let her take a lil sip and she said "that's good kaffeee!".

glad my girl thinks her mommy can make a decent cuppa kaffeee!

COOKIES, CARAMEL APPLES, & THE ADAM'S FAMILY!!

well, as i mentioned before i have been in a bit of a funk and i knew some good ol cleaning (especially since it was very overdue) and some time with the kiddos was just what i needed to help get me outta it.

the other day while i was surfin' around, i stumbled across a post over at turkey feathers about some yummy looking cookies. i knew after all the cleaning i did friday night and this morning, that this was just the thing i wanted to do with mikey and bella.

the cookies were a success and very, very delicious. we did sprinkle ours with extra orange and purple sprinkles.

harvest moon cookies

Into the mixer bowl combine:

1-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Into another bowl combine:

1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Into a sandwich-size plastic bag:

1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
*Lightly grease cookie sheets if they aren't the non-stick variety.*

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla until blended.
2. Gradually add dry mixture until soft dough forms.
3. Drop dollups of dough onto a lightly floured surface; roll into 2" balls.
4. Toss & coat balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture inside plastic bag.
5. Place balls on cookie sheets about 3" apart.
6. Flatten gently to 1/4" with bottom of a glass.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden around the edges.
8. Cool for 2-3 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
9. Store in airtight containor when completely cooled; but eat a few first!


bella giving the cookies a good shake.


now its mikey's turn.


smooshing the cookies out some.


yum!!!!

after the cookies were done and the kiddos were in their room watching a movie and gobbling them all up, i decided that i wanted to make caramel apples. i have never made them before and its been forever since i ate one. boy were they delicious!!



the adams' family then came over for a yummy dinner of meatball hoagies and alfredo noodles (with cookies for dessert of course). i highlighy suggest buying premade meatballs, throwing them in a crockpot with jarred spaghetti sauce and calling it dinner! very, very good!

all in all saturday was a busy day filled with lots of accomplishments and good company!

RECIPES, RECIPES, AND EVEN MORE RECIPES!!

as we all know, i love to cook (especially bake). so when i see something i know i may wanna cook in the future on the food network, a blog, or any other website, my printer gets to work.

this doesn't sound like that bigga deal right?

well the problem takes place when i have stacks and stacks of paper all over the place. i didn't even make all the recipes i have. then the ones i do use, when i try to find them again, they are in the piles of all the other recipes.

what solution is there for this?

of course there is two problems:

1. not forgetting about some of the recipes i have and actually using them.

2. and of course storing of all them.


for #1, i have thought about really sticking to the whole making a menu thing. i would prolly do it on a sunday night and plan till the next sunday night. i could go thru some recipes and go thru what i already have on hand and plan this way. this would prolly also help if i went thru the recipes around grocery shopping time.

for #2, who knows. i have a recipe box (which really doesn't work for me) and i have two cabinets completely devoted to cookbooks and all those damn pieces of paper. i've thought about bloggin' the good ones and making links to em on my sidebar, but that may be a lot of typing.

so what do all of you cooks do about this? i feel like i am missing out on some good eats b/c i can't find the recipe or i completely forget about it.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

okay, i'm off to print out this recipe ;)

A NEW DO AND A VAMPIRE!!!

i forgot to mention that wednesday i got my hair cut and highlighted. i am absolutely in luv with it and every day i look in the mirror i am amazed that i have never had my hair highlighted before. this picture isn't the best. it was taken right before bed and the lighting was bad. and why is that in pictures, my nose looks HUGE in but when i look at myself in the mirror, it doesn't look that big??? does this happen to anyone else???



oh and i have to mention something funny...this a.m. while i was helping mikey get ready for school, i noticed that when he put on his shirt that he didn't tuck down his collar. i said "come here baby so i can fix your color" and he said "but i like it that way. i look like a vampire".

BLAH!!!

i haven't posted anything this week b/c i have felt completely blah! my mind is swimming with all of things that i have to do and then i forget those things b/c my mind then starts swimming with other things that need to get done.

thank goodness tomorrow is friday. maybe after the weekend i can get back into my groove.

A DAY OF BUBBLES!!!

today we went to mom's to grill out. my aunt had sent the kids their bday presents and inside were bubbles. i knew this was a prime picture taking opportunity. i hope to get the rest of the pics up on flickr....but ya know how that goes.


mikey blowing bubbles.


isabella giving it a go.


mikey took this shot of me blowing bubbles. he is quite the photographer.


me and mike.


a pic of me and mikey in the reflection of the door. i luv this pic and will prolly print it out at some point.