So I got it in my head that I wanted to try baking and decorating some sugar cookies. This first started at Christmas but life (and Christmas!) got in the way. Last week, though, I got to thinking about it again. A lot. So, despite my pneumonia and bronchitis, I decided to give it a shot.

I managed to decorate 5. The others are just plain and they are staying that way. Good thing I don’t get paid by the piece.

Truly, this is difficult. Just getting the icing into the decorator bags makes a mess!

And then the edges bled when I tried to flood the cookies.

I did better when I gave up on the whole flooding thing and just went for pretty designs, like swirls and plaids.

I guess, in the end, they looked pretty good and I know they tasted pretty delicious.

It was a learning experience, that’s for sure. I think I’ll try this again when I don’t have pneumonia. Ya know?

You may know yesterday as Valentine’s Day but if you’ve been around this blog a while then you know, in our house, it’s Cream Puff Day. You can read the whole story here.

Luckily I was feeling a bit energized yesterday and was able to whip up 2 batches of the little devils in the morning. That’s one batch for us (which really means Dale) and one batch for his dad.

Normally Dale is not one for over-the-top stuff. When we eat chips ‘n dip he puts very little dip on his chip. Cheese ‘n crackers is always a small smear of cheese for him. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have so little peanut butter I don’t think they should even be legal. But cream puffs? When it comes to cream puffs he is always urging me to stuff in more cream.  He has said for years that cream puffs are really just an excuse to eat whipped cream.

And he did. And it was good. Happy Cream Puff Day!

Okay, not really wordless, but just about. What with all the shopping, cooking, baking, wrapping and last minute knitting, time for blogging is scarce. So today, a photo of a selection of our gingerbread cookies.

Yummy.

One of the things I enjoy about Christmas is making special treats for people I love. Last year I made this toffee brittle with chocolate and sea salt and everyone really loved it – so I made it again for this year. It is simple and really has all you need in a food choice – fat, sugar and salt. Ahem.

I don’t have permission to reprint the recipe so I’m just going to link you to it. Toffee Brittle With Chocolate and Sea Salt.

I do have permission to show you all my photos, though, to help you as you make it yourself.

First you toast the nuts. I used pecans but last year I used walnuts and that was just as good.

Then you cook the butter and sugar to the hard crack stage. Just keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

Spread your toffee in a butter baking sheet. It really is shiny at this point.

And then top it with chocolate chips. The heat from the toffee melts the chips within a few minutes. So simple!

When it has cooled for a bit sprinkle sea salt on top of the chocolate. Don’t knock the salt and chocolate combo until you’ve tried it. It’s goooooood.

After it has cooled you can break it into bite sized pieces and store it in a pretty tin.

All that’s left to do now is share. And eat. Mmmm.

When I was in Vegas I had a drink called the Spicy Lover at the Rhumbar at our hotel. It was delicious! So delicious, in fact, that I was determined to learn to make it at home. I finally succeeded last weekend and of course I want to share my success with all of you.

Spicy Lover
3 oz. silver tequila
3 slices english cucumber, peeled
fresh cilantro
1 oz. lime juice
1 oz. sweet agave nectar
3-6 drops Tabasco

Muddle cucumber, cilantro, agave nectar and lime juice. Pour into a cocktail shaker and add ice, tequila and Tabasco. Shake &  strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cucumber wheel.

Sip. Dream of Vegas.

Sigh.

Here we are with the final installment of Thankful Thursdays. I have so enjoyed writing these posts and reading everyone else’s posts, too. I think we should do this every year! And today, on Thanksgiving, I am thankful for food. My family has more than enough to eat and I am grateful that I have never known real hunger.

In particular, on this day of feasting, I am thankful for:

1. Turkey. It’s the star of the meal and while I love the white meat for a sandwich, when it comes to the Thanksgiving dinner itself, pass me the thigh.

2. Stuffing. Call it dressing, call it stuffing, call it whatever you want just please make mine with celery, onion, oysters, and lots and lots of Bell’s Seasoning.

3. Mashed potatoes and gravy. This combo rounds out any meal nicely but on Thanksgiving it’s the best part of the meal.

Of course there is also squash and turnip and cranberry sauce. And no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without the relish tray, stuffed dates and figs, and pie – my own contribution to the holiday meal.

Whatever your favorites, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s Thanksgiving Week here in the United States and that means I’ve got food on my mind. Well, pie . So I thought I’d share a pie I made this weekend.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Pie

20 Oreo cookies
3 T butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Process oreos in food processor and mix with 3 T butter. Pat into pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 oven.

Meanwhile, combine peanut butter, heavy cream and vanilla in a saucepan. Heat until peanut butter melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and pour into pie shell. Chill at least 3 hours. Drizzle the top with melted peanut butter before serving.

I brought this to a gathering on Sunday and it was a hit. It goes a long way because it’s so rich that you really only need a very small slice to be satisfied.

Simple, easy and delicious. It doesn’t get better than that.

A few weeks ago we went to a party and the hostess served a delicious appetizer of shrimp, basil and prosciutto.  It was really wonderful and I’ve wanted to try making this myself ever since.  So last Friday night I gave it a go.

I bought jumbo shrimp and some imported prosciutto at the grocery store.  I picked basil leaves from my herb garden.  I soaked some bamboo skewers in water.  And I cleaned the shrimp.

I then took a shrimp and wrapped a basil leaf around it.  Then I wrapped a piece of prosciutto around the whole thing and stuck one of the bamboo skewers through the whole deal.

I lovingly placed them on the gas grill and cooked them on medium heat.  I turned them a few times to make sure they cooked evenly.  These shrimp were pretty big so they probably took about 10 minutes to cook through.  You could definitely do this with smaller shrimp.  They’d cook faster and be easier on your wallet, too.

And here they are – grilled to perfection.  The shrimp was tender and the prosciutto was crispy and the basil added just the right flavor to the whole combination.

Simple!  Delicious!  Impressive!  The perfect summer appetizer.

What a weekend!  5 parties in 3 days.  It was fun but it was tiring.

Friday night we went to a 40th birthday party.  Saturday morning I went to a baby shower – the Viking hat and Trellis sweater were both very well received.  Saturday afternoon we went to a high school graduation party for Hannah’s boyfriend and then later Saturday evening we went to a college graduation party for a friend’s son.  Sunday afternoon we went to yet another high school graduation party for the daughter of a friend at work.  Whew!

In between all the parties I found time to make 4 dozen graduation hat pops.

I followed the directions on Bakerella’s blog and they were pretty simple.  I don’t think putting the peanut butter cups in the freezer helped to keep the sides intact, though, and I didn’t wait long enough for them to thaw so I broked quite a few inserting the lollipop sticks.  Otherwise, they were pretty simple to make.  A bit fiddly but well worth the time and effort since they were such a hit at the two parties.

The blue and yellow ones were for Hannah’s boyfriend, Rob.

And the red ones were for my friend Amy’s daughter, Rose.

The kids got a real kick out of the treats.  They were taking pictures of them with their cell phones – and then they gobbled them up.

Hannah’s already adding up how many she wants me to make for her graduation next year.  Uh oh.

I have lots of pictures to show you and things to tell you about our visit with the kids last week.  Sadly, Firefox keeps crashing every time I try to upload a photo.  I’m not alone in this so I’m hoping someone else will figure out how to fix it.  In the meantime, here’s a random list of stuff that’s going on around here.

~ Ambrynn calls Jimmy Buffett “Jiminy Muffin” and she likes him because she likes muffins and she ate English muffins at Nana and Grandpa’s house last week.  I’ll take it.

~ Dale’s dad is in the hospital recuperating from hernia surgery.  The procedure was a lot more complicated than the doctor’s anticipated.  He’s strong but he’s 82 so any good thoughts and healing vibes you can send his way are greatly appreciated.

~ Hannah’s boyfriend is all done with school and finals and she now has to walk to school again.  She thinks this is a tragedy.  I think it is a riot.

~ We’ve watched a couple of movies lately.  I didn’t much care for Twilight but Rachel Getting  Married was pretty good.

~ I’ve been knitting quite a bit.  I’ve got a nearly finished baby sweater, a nearly finished shawl, a nearly finished baby hat, and a nearly finished pair of socks.  All of this nearly finished stuff should be showing up here on the blog very soon.

That’s all I’ve got for this Monday.  Let me know when y’all fix that Firefox thing.