Roundup of Christmas Cookie Recipes

I have been a buys little baker lately. I have a few favorites recipes that I make every year around the holidays, but I try to add in a few news one here and there to see if they could become favorites. Every year I make shortbread cookies from an old family recipe, and oatmeal craisin cookies from a Southern Living at Home book that I have. Last year I added Candy Cane Kiss sugar cookies (pictured above) from Recipe Girl to my annual baking.

This year I decided to try these:

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Frosting. I used the whoopie pie recipe posted on bakerella.com, but I bought Betty Crocker Peoppermint Frosting to pipe between the cookies. I used a Silpat liner instead of parchment paper and it worked like a dream!  I haven't tried these yet, but I rolled the edges in red and green sprinkles so they look very festive!

Butter Toffee Cookies from recipegirl.com. Instead of sprinkling bright white sugar on top, I dipped half the cookie in milk chocolate. They look fancy!

Peanut Brittle from recipegirl.com. This was my first attempt at peanut brittle. I bought a new candy thermometer, just for this recipe. It turned out awesome!

Peanut Butter Blossoms from allrecipes.com. These are fantastic! The recipe made about 7 dozen cookies too!

Holiday Baking Spread 2011

(ETA: I also made chewy coconut cookies and eggnog pound cake. Both were awesome!)

For breakfast I'm going to make these to go with our traditional cinnamon rolls:

 Blueberry Danish Puff from Chef in Training

The Puff I made at Thanksgiving

and Mini Maple Pancake Muffins from Bakerella.

These are so great when you have a crowd for breakfast!

I'm looking forward to eating all of these yummy treats, but I'm not looking forward to the diet I'm going to be on in January!

Merry Christmas!!! 

Getting Through the Holidays

Our last Vermont Thanksgiving

For me, the holidays have always been a joyful time of year. Time to be with family, be grateful for what we have, make some good memories. This year is the first year that we are celebrating without either of my parents, and it is hard. Really hard.

Growing up, we spent Thanksgiving with my mother’s side of the family. Everyone would get together at my grandparents’ house and we would share in all of the responsibilities that go along with feeding and entertaining 20-30 children and adults.  It was the day that Christmas card photos were taken and memories were made. We sang, we played games, we ate and we laughed. I have so many memories of that time spent with my family, and I am so grateful for each and every one of them. I want that for my kids. I hope that they will one day cherish their memories of the holidays as I do mine.

I managed to get through Thanksgiving pretty well, mostly because I was busy spending time with my husband’s family, and trying to make the holiday special for the kids. Now it’s December, and all eyes are on Christmas, but I’m having a hard time feeling the joy of Christmas that is usually radiating from me this time of year.

                                         

It’s December, the “Season of Giving,” and I have only bought a few small things at Five Below. I’ve only made half a batch of cookies, and my wish list is only 2 items long. I just can’t seem to get into it this year. Of course, because I have kids, I am faking it the best way I know how - by sticking with tradition.  I made shortbread cookies and we all decorated the tree together while listening to Christmas music. I hung our stockings and put up the rest of the decorations. The hard part came when the boys went to bed, and it was just my husband and I in the living room, looking at the tree and listening to the music. Sitting there in the dim light from the Christmas tree, all I could think about was what I was missing: my Mom and her exuberant laugh, and my Dad with his warm smile and generous spirit. Looking at their stockings hung above the fireplace made me realize that for the first time, neither of them would be filled Christmas morning. There would be no extra presents under the tree. I haven’t sat in the living room since.

My father died two weeks after Christmas, almost 5 years ago, and the pain has lessened, but it’s not gone. My mother died almost 4 months ago, and the pain from her passing has only been pushed aside by sheer willpower on my part to keep it out. My resolve is crumbling though, and it’s getting harder every day to keep my feelings at bay. I want to feel the spirit of Christmas. I want to sing Christmas songs with my kids, and get excited with them for Christmas morning. Instead I am dreading the whole thing. I wish I could put my head under my pillow until it all blows over…but I’m not going to do that. I’m going to find a way to make this holiday just as special as those in the past, for me and my family!  I may shed a few tears along the way, but I guess that is to be expected. I still have 3 beautiful, healthy children and a husband who adores me. I have a sister in France, and a brother in California who will be here to share the holidays with us, and we will make plenty of new memories together. I owe it to my kids. I owe it to my parents.

ETA: This post was written a few weeks ago and was scheduled to post, but didn't. Last week I made 4 batches of cookies and today I finally went Christmas shopping. I've also spent some time alone in the living room, and it's not as haunting as it was at first. I'm getting there! :)

Be Careful What You Wish For

Have you ever gotten exactly what you wished for, and then wonder why you wanted it in the first place? The reason I haven't blogged AT ALL in the last 5 months is because I got a job. A full time job. Something just for me, so I could feel fulfilled. Yay me! I also now have guilt, stress, exhaustion and a longing for the way things were.

Until recently I had not worked full time since I becoming a mother, except for when I was a nanny and took my oldest son to work with me. Since then I have worked as a server and bartender,  and I have been a real estate agent for a few different local firms. I am fortunate enough to have a husband who is willing to stay home with the kids while I work nights and weekends. He does a good share of the household chores and he does most of the cooking. I really can't complain. But I did.

As much as I loved being home with my kids, I didn't feel like my work was fulfilling to me personally. I felt unchallenged intellectually, and felt my chances of using the education that my parents paid for were slipping away with each passing day.  In addition, as the kids got older, and we had more of them, I started to resent having to share my nights and weekends with work obligations. It was necessary for me to be earning something, but I didn't want to give up my family time to do it. So my solution was to put my youngest son in daycare and get a full time day job. I wanted to prove (mostly to myself) that I was more than "just a mom" with a sewing machine, a crazy sweet tooth and a blog. I needed to show the world that I had more to offer and I could do it between the hours of 9am and 5pm, so my family time would be uninterrupted.

So about 6 months ago I applied for a job with a small staffing agency. The owner saw something in me that she could work with and she ended up offering me the Staffing Coordinator position with her company. She said I would be difficult to "sell" to her clients because I had never had a full-time office job, but I had a lot of marketable and translatable skills that she could utilize and enhance upon. I was thrilled. Ecstatic even! Finally, somebody saw me as something other than a wife, mother, or caretaker.

I began my job in June and by July I had already received a raise. By August I was on the fast track to becoming a senior recruiter and the head of business development. I felt like a million bucks! I never saw coming what happened next.

On the way home from work one day I received a phone call that my mother was in the hospital. Three weeks later, and on my son's 3rd birthday, she died. It.was.awful. I'll save the details for another time, but suffice it to say that after losing 2 parents in 4 years, I was very overwhelmed with grief. I managed to suppress that grief by focusing on my job, and all of the new obligations that my mother's death bestowed upon me. But instead of giving me comfort, my job has done nothing but cause me more stress. I am just trading one emotion for another.

It's amazing how the death of a loved one causes us to reorganize our priorities. All of a sudden, my need to feel fulfilled seems so petty compared to the needs of my family. I had everything that I (previously) wanted, but I was no longer happy! I probably should have quit my job immediately when my mother got sick, but hind sight is always 20/20, right?! I didn't quit right then for a number of reasons, but mainly it was because I'm a chicken and I hate confrontation.  It's also because I have been trained and groomed more than any person in my position before me. I am literally half of our staff, and my boss has come to rely on me heavily.

It was so hard to tell her that I needed to leave, but I finally did it. It was a huge weight lifted from my shoulders! My last day is December 16th and I am looking forward to spending more time with my friends and family, and giving back through volunteering!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea- Stamp of Approval

I went to the craft store the other day to get supplies for my soccer cupcake tower and I came home with this. I actually came home with a lot more stuff, but this was my inspiration.

I spray painted the letter (First letter of teacher's last name) and the wooden "bag" and then covered the front and back of the bag with scrapbook paper. When the letter was dry I hot glued it to the front. I placed a stamp pad and 2 school related stamps in the tissue paper and tied it with a little ribbon. I made a card with the following message and signed my boys' names:

"As a teacher, you have earned my STAMP of approval. "

I made one for my other son's teacher, knowing that she is really into lady bugs. I love how hers turned out too! I found these wooden lady bugs at A.C. Moore and hot glued them to my finished project.

Once the teachers take the stamps out, these "bags" can be used as pencil holders, a desk caddy, or even a candy dish! They were super easy to make, and even easier on my wallet! :)

ETA: Both teachers loved their gifts! The boys were very proud to be giving them as well, so it was a win-win!

Tuesday Tutorial: Cupcake Tower

I have so many projects that I want to write tutorials for, and I've yet to put a single one on my blog- until now. I'm going to start a new series called Tuesday Tutorials.  Sometimes the tutorials will be my own, and sometimes I will spotlight one of my favorite online tutorials with my feedback from the project. Today's tutorial was inspired by a few I've seen online, but I added a few of my own twists. So here goes...my first online tutorial!

DIY Cupcake Tower

Supplies needed

Supplies:

3 cake rounds ( or 3 different size cardboard circles)
6 spools (I found mine in a pack at JoAnn Fabrics in the wood section, but you could use empty thread spools)

Spray paint

Themed wrapping paper, cardstock or scapbook paper (to cover the circles)

Spray adhesive

Ribbon

Hot glue and glue gun

Gorilla Glue (optional)
Styrofoam ring

Instructions:

1. Spray paint your spools to match your cupcake tower theme.

Cutting the paper

The bottom tier

2.  Spray your biggest cake round (I use 12" rounds for the bottom since most scrapbook paper comes in a 12x12 sheet)  with adhesive and put it face down on the backside of your themed paper. Cut around the circle with a craft knife on a cutting mat.

3. Repeat Step 2 for the next 2 cake rounds. When you're done you'll have something like this. Don't worry if the edges aren't perfect because you'll be hiding them with ribbon. If you want to seal the tops with mod podge, now would be the time to do it.

All 3 Tiers covered

4. Glue your styrofoam circle to the bottom of your biggest tier. This will allow the ribbon to hang from the tier. 

Bottom Tier with styrofoam base

5. Use a hot glue gun to glue the ribbon to the edge of each of your now covered cake rounds, making sure the line up the edge of the ribbon with the top of the cake round.

6. When your spools are dry, glue 3 spools on top of each other to form the supports for the tiers. You'll have 2 stacks of 3. I use gorilla glue for this because it holds so well. You can probably use your glue gun if you don't have any gorilla glue. 


7. When the glue is dry, glue the tiers together with the spools in between. I usually flip the top 2 tiers over and mark the center with a pen. Glue the stack of spools to the center of each tier and then to the top of the tier below it. When you're done you'll have a completed cupcake tower! 

3 Tier Cupcake Tower

Note: This cupcake stand is made for cupcakes that will have piped icing and toppers on them like the picture below. If you won't be using cupcake toppers, you could probably get away with 2 spools between the tiers and one smaller tier on top. The same would be true if you were making this for mini cupcakes. You can find printable cupcake toppers to go with this soccer cupcake tower here.

Mickey Mouse Cupcake Tower

You can see more of the Mickey Mouse Birthday Party here. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know. If you make one, I'd love to see it!

 I've linked this post to Sugar Bee Crafts Take-a-Look Tuesday. Hop on over and see what everyone else has been making too!

Soccer Party Printables

My Oldest Son Playing Around at The Soccer Fields

Last weekend my kids played their last soccer games of the season. They were also the last games they would play with their father as their coach. My oldest is moving on to a challenge league where my husband does not have the skills to coach. My middle son is going to be playing football in the fall, despite his natural talent for the game of soccer. I will miss watching him play. Until next spring I will be seeing a lot of this:

My Middle Son who LOVES football

In a few years, we'll be watching this one play on a team too! 

My Youngest Likes to Play Soccer already!

Tomorrow night is the end of season soccer party for both of my sons' teams, and we are doing what we always do- meeting at a local pizza shop for the all-you-can-eat buffet where we'll hand out trophies and talk about what the boys will be doing next season.  This year I thought I would do something special, since it will be the last season of its kind. I decided to make some cupcakes (because any reason is a good reason to make cupcakes) and a special cupcake tower (tutorial to follow tomorrow). I think the boys will really like it. They love to brag about my baking to their friends, and they really love to eat what I bake, so it's a win-win for everybody!

I made these cupcake toppers for the party and thought I would share them with all of you! You can download and print the soccer cupcake toppers here. If you have never made cupcake toppers, there is a good tutorial here from The Tomkat Studio. For these, you can just cut out the squares and stick them to a lollipop stick.

Before I go, here is a sneak peak at the tutorial I'm going to post tomorrow:

Soccer Cupcake Tower

What do you think?

In with the Old, Out with the New

That's what it says on the doors of my gym, and I love it! This week it is especially true for me. I have set some personal records at the gym (on the treadmill) and I am starting to feel like a new person. It's a fantastic feeling! My question is this...

When can you start to call yourself a "runner?"

My entire life I've used the excuse that I'm just not a runner. I never really developed the lungs for it. The mile run in P.E. class was pure torture and running laps during soccer practice wasn't much better. It's not that I was, or am, against exercise. It's just that I prefer other forms of it. Lately, I've been on a Zumba kick. I joined this particular gym because of its class offerings, so I could take a Zumba class almost any day/night of the week. What I am finding though, is that I don't always have time to take a Zumba class any day/night of the week. Sometimes I have to get in and out of the gym in under an hour. So I have started using the treadmill.

I had a dismal start on the treadmill. I could only run for about 6 or 7 minutes at time at a speed under 5.0 until I had to walk again.  Slowly I got better, and I began to really challenge myself.  I now run at a speed of 5.0 or higher and I have pushed myself each time to go a little further. This week I ran 2 entire miles without stopping- for the first time EVER in my life! My next trip to the gym I did 2.5 miles. My next goal is to do 2.5 miles in less time. I'm not trying to run marathons or anything, but I feel like it's good to have goals. Which brings me back to my original question...When can you call yourself a runner?

Are you a runner when you complete your first mile? Or two? Or ten?  Do you have to run a 5k, or train for a half marathon? Most runners would laugh at my 2.5 mile personal record if I used it as proof that I am a runner. Wouldn't they? Maybe. Maybe not. In the meantime, I've done some thing that I never thought I would do. I feel better than I thought I ever could about something I've hated to do my entire life!  I am getting fit, and I finally have the lungs to run!  I guess that makes me a runner!!!

So now I'm curious...If you run, or used to run, at what point did you start to consider yourself a runner? I'd love to hear your stories!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

Last fall I bought a Taste of Home magazine in the grocery store checkout isle. It was a Fall Baking Cookbook with 200 "Oven Fresh Treats" inside. I initially thought that I would try several of the recipes, because they all looked so scrumptious! The problem was that after I made this recipe, I didn't need to make anything else! Every time I made these oatmeal cream pies, they disappeared with requests for more! I've now made them several times, and I now have my own version, which is only slightly different from the original.  The way I make them, you can get almost 40 sandwich cookies from each batch, but don't try to make a double batch unless you have a HUGE mixer. This recipe has a lot of batter!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Adapted from Taste of Home

Cookie:

1 1/2 C.   Shortening

1 1/3 C.   Dark Brown Sugar

1 1/3 C.   Light Brown Sugar

         4     Eggs

 1 Tbsp.   Vanilla Extract  ( I use the good stuff, not imitation)

2 1/4 C.   All Purpose Flour

    2 tsp.   Ground Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

     1 tsp.  Salt

  1/2 tsp.  Ground Nutmeg

        4C.  Old-fashioned Oats 

Filling:

   3/4 C.  Shortening

      3 C.  Confectioner's Sugar

    1 Jar   (7 oz.) Marshmallow creme

1-2 Tbsp. Milk

Directions: Cream the shortening and sugars together in your mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl with a spatula between each one. 

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg and stir with a whisk. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients already in your mixer bowl and mix slowly. Stir in the oats by hand. 

Using a small cookie scoop (for similar shape and sized cookies) drop the cookies onto a non-stick cookie sheet (or a lightly greased cookie sheet) and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the tray for a few minutes before removing them to wire racks to cool completely. 

Once the cookies are cooled completely, put the filling mixture into a piping bag (or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off) and pipe a swirl on half of the cookies like this: 

 Don't get too close to the edges because, if you do, the cream will spill out when you put the top on!

When you are done you should have about 38-39  Oatmeal Cream Pies to devour ravenously enjoy! I promise, you will never want another Little Debbie oatmeal cream pie again!

Chocolate Chip Irish Creme Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream Frosting

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

If you have Irish heritage, I'm sure you've been looking forward to this day for a while. It's a great day to eat stew or corn beef and cabbage, and drink lots of beer! Since we aren't as young as we once were and can't drink ourselves silly anymore  we don't have a lot of Irish heritage, we don't really make a big deal of St. Patrick's Day. I did want to do something though, so I decided to bake something...shocking, I know! I found this post from Recipe Girl (one of my favorite go-to blogs) for Irish Creme Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream frosting. How could I say no to that? We LOVE Bailey's around here, only we tend to only drink it around Christmas time for some reason.

So first I had to go the ABC store, because we didn't have any Bailey's on hand. I decided to buy some Creme de Menthe as well to maybe put on top of the frosting (which didn't turn out so well). The only other thing I needed was mini-chocolate chips, which was easily remedied with a quick trip to Walmart. Let the baking begin!

Fresh out of the the oven

The cupcakes baked up nice and moist. I think that this was the first time I've made cupcakes with cream cheese in the batter, and I loved it! :)   The frosting is basically a simple buttercream with 4 Tbsp. of Bailey's in it. Did I mention these aren't for children? The Bailey's flavor is definitely stronger in the frosting, but it is oh so yummy!  I sprinkled the frosting with green sugar and then made these cupcake toppers from TomKat Studios and voila! The perfect adult cupcake for St. Patrick's Day!

Hoo Are You? from Night Owl Crafting

Night Owl Crafting is hosting Hoo Are You? #34 

Visit her blog if you want to play along! 

Here are this week's questions 

(and my answers)

1. Do you make a budget and keep it, or just fly by the seat of your pants?

We have a vague budget, i.e. don't spend more than you make! 

2. Do you do spring cleaning and if so which month?

We "spring" clean when the mood strikes, or when I can't stand it any longer!

3. Are you a yard sale lover and do you have them and go to them?

I only have yard sales when the entire neighborhood has a joint sale. I don't typically go to yard sales either.

4. What do you take when you have a headache?

I take whatever is closest..Tylenol, Aleve or Advil. 

5. Name 3 things that you feel lucky to have in your life!

I fell very luck to have 3 happy and healthy little boys. They are my light! 

I also feel lucky to have a wonderful husband and a great group of friends!

Recipe Review: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Recipe Girl

First thing this morning I turned on my computer and looked at my Google Reader, which pulls in new blog posts from the blogs I subscribe to. The first one to catch my eye was from Recipegirl.com. She shared a recipe for Cinnamon roll pancakes in honor of National Pancake Day! Who knew there was such a day? I sure didn't, but I'm glad Recipe Girl did!

I decided to make these for dinner since I didn't have enough ingredients on hand to make them for breakfast. Come to think of it, all I was missing was enough butter, but I stocked up on a few other essentials like milk, eggs, and powdered sugar. Fortunately, I did so without having to leave the house! My sweet hubby stopped at the store on the way home and got here just in time for me to make the yummy cream cheese glaze.

I wish I had the forethought to take pictures of these while I was making them, but Recipegirl did a great job with hers. Check them out when you click to find the recipe! There were a couple of steps to this recipe, but none of it was difficult. Put some stuff in a bowl, and wisk it together. Then put some more stuff in another bowl, and wisk it. So easy!!!

The hard part was coordinating all of the steps. I'm usually a baker, not a cook, so my timing is not always good. I made the batter and the cinnamon/sugar "filling" before I started cooking the pancakes but had to wait for butter to make the glaze. I tried to put the filling in a plastic bag and didn't cut the hole big enough  so the bag busted when I squeezed too hard. Then I tried a pastry bag with a piping tip, and the tip wasn't big enough. I changed out the tip and thinned the filling with a little milk and finally made it all work before I burned the pancakes.

The mess occurred when I flipped the pancakes. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, like maybe had the heat of the stove too high, but the cinnamon filling oozed all over the griddle when I flipped the pancakes. It then started to smoke  after I removed the pancakes. Fortunately, by that time, I had run out of filling and we were making the rest of the pancakes without. So my hubby cleaned the griddle and we started fresh. I put the already cooked pancakes in a messy stack on a plate (burning my thumb on boiling sugar) and put them in the microwave on warm, (probably not my best idea!). When I took them out to serve, they were all stuck together by warm, goey cinnamon. Thankfully, my kids don't mind messy. I gave them each a few cinnamon roll  pancakes and topped them with the cream cheese glaze and they were instantly in heaven...a few minutes later, the bacon was ready!

Both of my older kids (the ones who talk) said this was their very favorite pancake recipe they'd ever had. My oldest son just went on and on about how good they were. Hubby was really wowed by the cream cheese glaze too! I have to admit, that the finished product was well worth the effort and I am glad I tried it!  Next time though, I'll be putting the batter into muffin cups and stirring in the cinnamon filling before baking, or maybe sprinkling it on top.

Let me know if you make some of these! I'd love to hear about it!

Potty Training my 2 Year Old

Once upon a time there was a girl (me) who said she would never be the kind of mom to talk about her children's bowel movements and potty habits in public. She swore that it was unnecessary and rather gross. That was a lot of years ago, and she has since grown up to be a suburban mom of 3 boys. Now, nothing is off limits, especially potty training!

Today, my youngest son, who is not quite 2 and a half, peed on the potty for the first time! He had previously only pooped on the potty, and that was only because it was right next to the tub and I caught him just in time! This time I asked him to sit on the potty and stay there until he peed...and he did!

We've been talking about potty training for some time now, but I've been lazy had a lot going on! The kids were tracked out for most of January and then they were all sick. They're all finally healthy again, and in an attempt to save money, my youngest is no longer going to preschool 2 days a week. So I fear that I have no more excuses and it's time to get on the stick!

What are the chances that I could have 3 boys who were all potty trained before they turned 3? My oldest trained at 2.5. We moved into a new house and gave him about a week to get settled before we took his diapers away. He did fantastic! He only ever had 1 accident and it was at night, while we were on vacation. My second son was trained a few months before turning 3, and he took a little bit more work, but still trained fairly quickly. I don't remember a lot of accidents during the day and only a few at night. I can only hope that my third son follows in the footsteps of his brothers!

I have to admit that this moment is bittersweet. I am so excited to be on the precipice of never having to buy diapers again, but the end of diapers signifies an end of babyhood! I am not looking forward to the extra laundry or going out in public for the first time without a diaper, but all in all, this is a good thing! My little man is growing up, and as sad as I am about that, this is an important milestone. He too will join the big boy club and start moving toward independence. I'm terrified and thrilled at the same time.

How did you handle your last child growing up? Did you hold onto babyhood as long as possible or encourage independence from day one?

Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

My youngest son is really into Mickey Mouse. We took him to Disney World for the first time when he was 4 months old, and then again when he turned 2. He watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (MMCH) all the time, and has almost every MMCH toy they make. It's something we indulge because my husband and I are also Disney fanatics! When his second birthday came around we didn't even have to decide on a theme. It would of course be Mickey Mouse, but I didn't want to just do the really commercial MMCH theme that you can get at the party store. I started with some ribbon that I found at Walmart. It is black ribbon with alternating yellow and red Mickeys. That was my inspiration for the whole party. Here is what I ended up with:

For the place settings I used white plastic forks wrapped in black napkins and tied with red ribbon. The plates came from Party city and the hats were left over from a previous party. I went with a plain yellow table cloth to have a solid background for the colorful plates and cups.I used the Mickey Mouse cups to hold the goody bags, which were made from red and yellow tissue paper and tied with red ribbon. Each one had a few Mickey Mouse trinkets like paper, crayons, a bouncy ball and stickers, and I tucked a blowout in each cup to finish them off.

I made the cupcake stand (and the cupcakes) myself. (There is tutorial here.)  You can see the ribbon that inspired me on the top and bottom tiers. I used red and yellow cupcake liners and red and yellow colored sugar on the frosting. To make the cupcake flags, I bought a pack of Mickey Mouse stamp/stickers and cut out a paper square for the back. I put a toothpick in between the layers, and voila!

The birthday boy's cupcake

Can you see the little bowl on right side of the picture? I bought 4 little bowls that matched the black/red/white/yellow color scheme at Homegoods for $10. I filled them with black, yellow, red and white M&Ms. I bought each color separately and then mixed them up in a bag before filling the bowls. It really added a nice touch, and was easier than picking out colors that I didn't want from a regular bag of M&Ms.

For the dessert table, I made a bunch of other goodies, including Mickey shaped sugar cookies and mini cupcakes! I used more M&Ms on this table for color.

For lunch we served Mickey Mouse pb&j's, fruits, vegetables and chips and dip. We also had some mini Hebrew National hot dogs that are always great for parties! Here are the Mickey PB&J's.

The other side of the room was decorated too. We used all of my son's little Disney stuffed animals to decorate the mantle along with a Mickey Happy Birthday banner. We made sure to set up all of the MMCH toys in the living room for the kids to play with.

Here is a picture of the birthday boy before the party with his presents from us and his grandparents.

All in all, the party was a huge success! I can't wait to decide what we're doing next year!

Brownie Bites from Scratch

I have been craving chocolate something fierce lately. Since I worked out 4 out of 5 days this week, I decided to indulge myself tonight. Besides, I was tapping into my inner Betty Crocker already today.

I've used this recipe a few times now and just love it. It's a recipe from Betty Feezor who used to be on TV. Because I always have the ingredients on hand, I never buy brownie mixes anymore!

Scratch Brownies from Betty Feezor via Cyndi Allison

• 1 cup butter or margarine (melted)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup cocoa
• 2 cups plain flour
• optional - nuts, raisins, chocolate chunks, caramel pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream margarine and sugar. This works well with a mixer, but you can do it by hand.
3. After the creaming stage, do switch to a spoon for mixing. Brownies tend to get tough if worked too much.
4. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix just until smooth.
5. Pour in cocoa and flour. Again, mix until smooth and lumps are broken up. But, don't go to wild on the mixing.
6. If you want to add extras, just fold those in easily.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes in 2 pans size 8 inches by 8 inches. You can use a larger pan like the 9 x 9 and cook for a little longer-25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. If you use a single pan, then the Scratch Brownies are thicker.

I have made this recipe in an 8x8 pan and they turned out fantastic. Tonight I split the batter into two bowls and added white chocolate chips to one, and Andes mint chunks to the other. Then I scooped the batter into greased mini-cupcake pans and baked them for about 14-15 minutes. The result was delicious, homemade brownie bites, perfect for indulging my chocolate craving! 

Craft-it-Forward in 2011

A friend of mine just posted her status on Facebook about "Crafting it Forward" and I've decided to participate. Instead of doing it on my personal FB page, I'm participating through my Cul-de-sac Mom Fan Page. The premise is that you commit to send 5 handmade things to the first 5 people who comment on you page. In turn you agree to post the same promise as your status, or on your blog. The only rule is that you must send your handmade items before 2011 ends. So who is in?

If you want to participate go to the Cul de sac Mom FB Fan Page and leave me a comment. Then leave me a link to your page, or blog where you posted your Craft-it-Forward message! Easy, right?!

If you're not one of the first 5 people on FB, you still have 2 chances to receive something handmade by me. First Follow this blog (click follow on the right sidebar) and then leave me a comment on the this post. Then go to my FB page and "like" it, or add me to your page's favorites. Then come back here and leave me a comment that you did so.  I'll pick one person using random.org to pick out a lucky 6th person!  You have 1 week to enter! No entries will be accepted after midnight, 1/13/11.

My Christmas Hangover

I have had the worst Christmas hangover this year! And it's not from drinking too much! The month of December brings so much happiness and cheer, and by Christmas I have my family surrounding me, participating in all of our Christmas traditions. We drink, we eat, we play games and watch movies. We laugh, we cry and we laugh some more. And then it's over. Christmas ends and they all go home. The tree comes down and the decorations get put away. The house feels empty (and bigger), and strangely quiet. All that is left is my Christmas Hangover and a big mess!

I'm not sure why this year is so much worse than recent years, but I just can't shake this feeling of sadness. I wrote an entire blog post yesterday about what I was feeling, and then I left it as a draft. It was good to get it out, but I don't need to whine where the whole world can read it! I don't really have anything to whine about, really, other than missing my family and feeling a little lost in my career (or lack thereof).

So today I made the decision to pull myself up by my bootstraps (who came up with that saying anyway?) and shake the doom and gloom cloud that I've been under. I need to get my house in order, spend some quality time with my kids, and start to figure out what I really want to be when I grow up! No one is going to do any of those things for me, so I better just jump in with both feet and get started.

So far, my plan is working. I've done 2 loads of laundry, washed the windows in my dining room, and took down the outside Christmas lights and decorations. The kids are playing nicely together (shockingly!) and I feel a little bit better about the New Year! I know there are a lot of good thing in store for me this year. Now I have to go out and find them! I really believe that our destinies are up to each of us, and I'm not letting mine pass me by!