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Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category

Sugar Cookies

Posted in Christmas, Desserts, Entertaining at Home, Holidays, Recipes, tagged , , on December 17, 2010| 4 Comments »

Most everyone has a favorite cookie recipe and this is one of mine. I make this for Christmas every year and have been seen I was about 17.

I loved to bake when I was a kid and received my first Easy Bake oven when I was 5. That was a great Christmas. I remember whipping up something to give to my grandma who had come to stay with us for the holiday.

Experimenting with recipes was something I did, and still do, enjoy. It was this love of experimenting that led me on a quest for  the best sugar cookie when I was in my early teens. It had to be soft and moist, light and flavorful. After many, many trials and errors, I came up with this recipe that never fails to deliver soft, delicious cookies.

In fact, when I made them last night, Captain Cavedweller wandered in as I was pulling the last tray from the oven. Before I knew what had happened, he inhaled eight of  them, some before they were even frosted. For someone who rarely eats sweets, he was really going to town on them. I had to stand guard over the rest just to get them frosted!

Give them a try and let me know what you think. And hopefully you can get most of them frosted and decorated before they disappear!

Ingredients for Sugar Cookies

Cream butter and sugars.

Add in eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.

Mix together dry ingredients and add gradually to creamed mixture.

Chill dough, once mixed, for about an hour.

When you are ready to roll out the dough, make sure your surface is adequately floured. The dough can be a bit sticky.

Cut out your favorite shapes. Mine would be snowflakes!

Pop into the oven and bake until just set - about 6-8 minutes.

Let cookies rest in the pan when you remove from the oven for just a minute before moving to a wire rack to completely cool.

Frost and...

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of lemon juice

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups flour

Frosting

Cream together butter and sugars. Add in eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix dry ingredients together and gradually add into creamed mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Generously flour a flat surface and your rolling pin. Scoop out half the dough and roll until about 1/4 inch thick. You want to work fairly quickly at this point because the warmer the dough gets the stickier it becomes and you don’t want to add more flour. Cut into shapes and bake about 6-8 minutes or until cookies are just set. You do not want them to get brown at all. Cool in pan for one minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Frost and decorate then watch them disappear.

You can use a royal icing if you are of a mind to stir up a batch or, if you are a lazy slug like me, I whip out a can of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting and frost away. I also like to use decorator gels, especially the sparkly variety, along with sprinkles!

Enjoy!

Happy Holiday Entertaining!

The Cookie Guardian

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How to Make an Easy Holiday Centerpiece

Posted in Centerpieces, Christmas, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , , on December 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Ever wanted a show-stopping centerpiece but just didn’t want to spend a small fortune or know how to make one?

Let me show you how! It is so easy. I spent about $5 on the materials on the day after Thanksgiving sale at our local craft store.

The materials you will need to make this centerpiece. A wreath, poinsettias (I used velvet), fake berries, some sparkly stems and ribbon. And don't forget the hot glue!

First, fluff up the greenery so it looks a bit more natural. If you are using a live wreath, make sure you set it on top of something that will catch sap and needles. I like artificial because there isn't any mess involved. After you've got your wreath all flouncy, start placing on the poinsettias.

Get them situated where you want them then hot glue them on (you can wire them, but glue is so much faster!).

 

Once you have the poinsettias glued on, start adding in little sprigs of berries. You can keep it sparse or go with my theory that more is better! (I use that theory with chocolate... a lot!)

The next step is to add some sparkle. You can use glittery branches, sparkly stems, whatever tickles your fancy.

Ribbon is the final touch to your centerpiece. You can weave it around the wreath, or just tie a big bow and attach to the front. I would recommend wiring the bow on because it is easier to handle than trying to glue.

Finish with a hurricane and a candle. If you don't have a hurricane, use a footed bowl. If you don't have one of those, just put in a clear glass bowl and filled with ornaments or nestle in some votives.

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Gifts for Guys

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Hubby, tagged , , , on December 15, 2010| 1 Comment »

Do you have a man in your life who is hard to shop for?

Wow, look at all those hands raised out there! I’m not alone!

Captain Cavedweller, my beloved Hubby, He… is absolutely impossible to shop for. Seriously. Categories of gifts he refuses to accept include clothes, anything that remotely resembles a household item, or anything that has a useful purpose and might require future exertion on his part. He only likes to read sports and outdoors related books. His main hobby is tormenting me.

Do you see what a challenge this is?

So I recently began some in-depth research into the realm of what guys would really like for Christmas.

Several gift ideas had me chuckling out loud. I hate to tell the people who came up with these suggestions, but no guy – especially an extra picky outdoorsy kind of guy – is going to be excited about a set of matching pajamas for the entire family, a funky shower curtain or a diary to collect all the ticket stubs from their most special movie moments that they will treasure always and forever.

Are you kidding me?

So let’s look at some other options.

How about a ghillie suit? Not only will he blend into the landscape while hunting, you will never again have to purchase a Christmas tree. Just dress him up in this, let the kinds hang lights and ornaments on him and tell him he can practice standing still and quietly (just like in the woods while he waits for that trophy buck to wander by) from Christmas Eve right on through Christmas Day. Wouldn’t that be fun?

If your guy has had some bad hair days, or is heading into no-hair days, get him Flair Hair, complete with a visor. He’ll be out the door with what appears to be a small deceased rodent or shag carpeting on his head in record time!

Every guy needs a union suit. Right? I mean, who wouldn’t want to be zipped into a one-piece garment that goes from ankle to neck with a zipper heading both north and south. It’s not like the zipper would ever malfunction and you’d be trapped in said suit. Nah, that would never happen.

How about a pair of flaming steel-toed shoes. Because these would be just the thing to wear out to a construction site full of other men who would bring your guy to his knees in embarrassment within five minutes. Everyone needs a pair of flaming shoes don’t they?

Ok, enough with the silliness.

Here are some real gift ideas for those guys who are truly difficult to shop for and, like mine, tend to like the outdoorsy things best.

If your guy spends any time outside in wet weather, a boot dryer is a fabulous thing to have. You pop the boots on, plug it in and his boots will be dry and toasty in no-time. Hubby uses his daily when it is wet outside.

Hat lights might look dorky at first glance, but let me tell you – they are a handy thing to have. Especially when your guy is trying to work on something in the dark that requires both of his hands and he can’t find any willing help to come hold a light. (I’m going to have to talk to that Heinous Cat again about shirking his responsibilities!).

Designed from a military pack, these sling bags are a rugged outdoorsy version of a backpack. If your guy likes to hunt, hike or hang out in the great outdoors, these bags are a great choice.

If your guy likes to cook at all, this slow cooker is a great option. There is nothing girlie about it and maybe, just maybe, it will result in you arriving home to a wonderfully warm dinner that you had no involvement in preparing.

A lot of guys are really overgrown children. They love toys! Think about getting him something cool like the Nerf Blaster. But be warned! Any toys you buy that involve moving parts, particularly moving parts that can be aimed and shot, will most likely be aimed and shot at you at least a dozen times Christmas Day alone. Just saying…

When thinking of gifts for your guy, think about his hobbies, his likes, his interests and go from there. Choose something you know he would enjoy, not something you would like for him to enjoy and you can’t go wrong!

Happy Shopping!

The Desperate Guy Gift-Buyer

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Hot Chocolate Station

Posted in Christmas, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , , on December 14, 2010| 5 Comments »

Baby, it’s cold outside… and one of the tastiest ways to warm up is with hot chocolate. If you are hosting a gathering, think about setting up a self-serve hot chocolate station. This allows your guests to get a cup of hot chocolate created the way they want it and adds a bit of fun to your party.

Start by setting up an area dedicated to your hot chocolate station. Make sure you have plenty of mugs available and within easy reach.

A beverage server like this one keeps drinks hot (and cold) for a good hour or two.

 

You can either mix up chocolate and put in carafes or beverage servers to keep warm or simply have hot water and let your guests mix their own chocolate.

If you are mixing the chocolate, it is easy to do with a can of chocolate mix. If you plan to let them make their own, hot chocolate packets keep things neat and simple.

Have a tray full of goodies they can add into their drinks like marshmallows, whipping cream, peppermint and cinnamon sticks, mini chocolate chips, and sprinkles.  You can also have flavorful extracts or liqueurs to add in. Let your imagination run wild!

Make sure you have plenty of spoons and napkins handy.

One really fun thing to do is to put marshmallows on peppermint sticks, dip in yummy chocolate and top with sprinkles to stir into warm mugs of liquid deliciousness.

Here's what you need to make Marshmallow Peppermint stirrers.

 

 

Mount the marshmallows on the peppermint sticks. I like the soft sticks rather than candy canes.

 

Dip Marshmallows into melted chocolate. Just follow directions on the dipping chocolate. So simple!

 

Put sprinkles into a shallow bowl.

Then dip away!

 

Ready for a cup of delicious hot chocolate!

Happy Holiday Entertaining!

She Who Loves Chocolate

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