Going Green

When Lucy plays in the sink, I make her have the light out, so that we're only wasting one resource at a time. She just told me she's making Root Beer. Her Daddy will be thrilled.

Peace on Earth, good will to men.

I've been reflecting on the Savior a lot this season, about the times in my life I've strengthened my knowledge of him and my relationship with him. He provides the path to true peace and everlasting life. I'd like to let the lyrics to this Children's Song say it for me:

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.

How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.

How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.

What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask?
Live like his Son.

Merry Christmas
Love, Annadotes

Happy Christmas Eve

We're just finishing some wrapping.

Gingerbread cookies

I made about 6 dozen gingerbread cookies this year and they turned out so great, I thought I'd share the recipe I used, as well as the icing recipe. The trick was to roll out the dough thick, so the cookies stay soft.

The recipe comes from McCormick and can be found on All Recipes.com

Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. softened butter
3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. molasses
1 egg

Directions

1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

I used the Royal Icing III by Veronica, also from All Recipe.com, after getting it to the right consistency, I spooned it into a resealable bag, fitted with a tiny round decorating tip.

Ingredients

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 t. cream of tartar
2 egg whites, beaten

Directions

1. In a bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Using electric mixer, beat in 2 beaten egg whites for about 5 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape.

Getting into the spirit of things...

My shopping is 95% done. Just one more gift to get. The wrapping is about 85% done. We've been having a lot of fun around here. We delivered some treats last night and have more to do tonight. We had fun looking at all the light displays. Cookie day was a huge success, I learned to make meringues and found a great gingerbread cookie recipe. It's been a fun season.

We went to Tony's work party last weekend at the Motor City Casino. We had a great time mingling with his co-workers and eating yummy food. They had a wonderful dessert spread. I think I could have bathed in the cinnamon sauce. They also had a cracker type bread that I would like to add to my list of things to learn to make. It was sad though, to witness the disparateness between the huge, bright, shiny casino and the burned-out, abandon houses, literally across the street. It reminded us of the scenes in Back to the Future where Biff has taken over and they live in that hotel-it was just like that. It seemed sad.

On Saturday night, Lucy and I went to the Ward Christmas party. We had a great time visiting with family and friends and seeing Santa. There was a nice Christmas message and I sang with the Young Women. I wondered how Lucy would respond to Santa this year; I thought maybe she would be nervous or scared, she surprised me and she ran up to him, open-armed with reckless abandon. It was pretty adorable. She told him she wanted candy and toys. Luckily we don't watch commercials so she really hasn't figured out how to ask for specific things and we still get to give her whatever we think she'll like, (and some things she needs-parents are lame like that). It's been a lot of fun shopping for her this year.

A few more preparations and then time to relax.

Three sizes.

I am so excited for Christmas this year. We've had two, Christmas themed Family Home Evenings and Lucy is understanding the difference between Santa and the meaning of Christmas. I am working on her Mary costume for Christmas Eve, I can't wait, I have some leftover blue fabric and am just going to make a simple, pull-over, smock and a wrap for her head. We still have a couple more gifts to get and all the wrapping to do, plus figuring out what to make for Christmas Eve appetizers. Mmmm...I'm thinking about making these potato nests. Only without the Salmon, and with a little crumbled bacon, so it will be like a baked potato bite. I'm also going to do Cranberry Puffs, again.

I've been working on some crafts for Christmas gifts and they have been really rewarding, they turned out better than I thought. I'll post pictures after Christmas so as not to ruin the surprises. Today, Jen and I are baking cookies. Christmas is such a fun time of year, the tree and decorations are mostly up, I need to get batteries for the indoor twinkle lights. I'm even enjoying the Christmas music on the radio-for the most part. I guess I'm not as much of a scrooge as I thought.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Big Sister.

Make your own bagels.

I've always been under the impression that bagels were hard to make. After all, the recipe called for broiling, boiling, and baking. However, they were easy and turned out perfectly. I used this recipe and did the broiling method. Before baking them I added Sesame seeds and kosher salt. For a first timer-I think they were perfect. They were chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. Next time, I'll make them bigger and make the holes a little larger so they are more distinct.

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks so my pseudo-Catholic upbringing, I get to celebrate a lot more holidays. I have a special affinity for St. Nicholas' Day, St. Patrick's Day, and May Crowning. Last night, as tradition dictates, we put out our shoes to see what would be left in the morning-treats if you're good and coal or twigs if you're not. We had a house full of treats today.

Cookie Fail

I tried to make the "window pane" or "stained glass" cookies I've been seeing in all the magazines this year. I didn't like them. I guess I like my cookie and hard candy separate. Also, it was difficult to keep the crushed candies from getting onto the edge of the cookie. The cookie part tasted really great so maybe I'll use the rest of the dough for plain cut out cookies. Lesson learned.

Martha's Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Martha's Recipe.

**Notes**

• If you're going to do peanut butter filling, like I did, either half the filling or double the cookie recipe, I had lots of filling leftover.
  
• HEED the chilling time-Martha knows what she's talking about.
• I had a variety of thin and thick cookies-the thicker ones were better, more like a quarter of an inch instead of an 8th.
• Enjoy.

The Best Breadsticks

Here is the recipe, makes about a dozen:

3/4 c. Warm (105-115 degrees) water-I like mine on the warmer side.
1 1/2 t. Sugar
1 1/2 t. Yeast
1/4 t. Salt
1 1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour (you many need more depending on how absorbent your flour is)

Seasoning:
2 t. Kosher Salt
2 T. Garlic powder
2 t. Oregano

I use my stand mixer for this, with the whisk attachment.

1. Combine water, sugar, yeast and 1/4 C of the flour. Whisk on medium speed for about 30-60 seconds. Let stand 5 minutes or until the yeast is good and bubbly

*switch to dough hook*

2. Stir in the salt, and in the rest of the flour a quarter cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Grease a large bowl and place dough inside. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk-about 45 minutes.

4. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle. Cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Make them as reasonably thick or thin as you like. I like mine on the thin side.

5. Twist each strip and place on a prepared baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise another 30 minutes. Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.

6. Butter the tops and sprinkle on the seasoning mix (I just keep the extra in a little storage container). There is something about the butter and kosher salt that makes these irresistible. Enjoy.