Sugar Cookies!

Sugar cookies seem to be a treat that can be made year round but always make an appearance at my house around Valentine’s Day!  Nothing like a big soft sugar cookie shaped like a heart covered in frosting and sprinkles to show you love someone!  I don’t have very good step by step pictures on this one because I had some “help” but it is an easy recipe. 

Egg Nog Cream Pie

I am finally coming out of hibernation and contributing to the blog again.  We are still trying to get unpacked, which has become quite a chore with two little ones "helping" but are now feeling more at home in our new home. 

A couple of weeks before Christmas we were preparing to attend our church Christmas Party.  In church they asked that those who could, please bring a salad or dessert.   We were running errands all day and ended up back at home about 30 minutes before the party started...  I was frantic to come up with something to take.  After checking out a couple of cookbooks, I was more frustrated than ever.  Then the thought came to me, How about an Egg Nog pie!?!  So, I started pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator and cupboard, and threw it together.  It turned out to be pretty fantastic!

Snow cones

What do you do when it snows over a foot and the power is out. You make Snow cones!

Luckily we live in the country and have clean air. Not that yucky stuff you can see, so after the first snow storm we start making snow cones. Now that all the kids have moved to the city. Grandma’s house is the only place with ‘clean’ snow so it has become a winter tradition at Grandmas.

No my cup doesn’t have a leak in it. I’m a messy pourer. That's why there is something under my cup.

GINGERBREAD HOUSES

It’s finally the Christmas season. I will admit I’m one of those that gets excited when the stores start putting Christmas out even though it isn't’ even Halloween. I bought Trudi some ornaments I found the first of Oct. They were perfect for her tree so I had to do it. Then every time I go to a store I go through the Christmas isles again and again. As I cleaned house on the Mon. before Thanksgiving I figured I might as well put fall away and Christmas out as I took things off to dust. I LOVE Christmas!!!!

One of our family traditions is making gingerbread houses. I am going to make them with the grandkids this year. But since they all live a ways apart we will be doing it multiple times. I’m so excited, it will be so much fun.

Citrus Enfused Turkey (or Chicken)

This is a little twist on the traditional Thanksgiving turkey that I learned from one of my favorite professors in school.  He was as Italian as you could get and brilliant in the kitchen. 

Typically I would have placed the turkey (chicken) on a platter and dressed it all up nice, but well, I had a houseful of hungry people and I was one of them.  So we went ahead and ate it right out of the baking dish :)

Halloween Chips

A few years ago I was making dinner for a neighbor that had just brought home baby number 2.  She already had a toddler at home and since the focus tends to be on new baby, I wanted to come up with something fun for her.   It was close to Halloween so I took my family’s tortilla recipe and created Halloween Chips.  

White Chicken Chili

Life for my small family has made quite a few big changes this year.  In August my Husband took a new job about 2 hours away from home.  We moved out of the house we’ve been renting for the past 6 years and into my parents basement to save a little money and find a home to buy closer to the new job.  While we’ve appreciated the opportunity to be with my parents, it has been hard.  My oldest daughter is a “Daddy’s Girl” and I think the change has been hardest on her.  So, I’ve been trying to find the things that we enjoyed and made us feel comfortable at our old house (which my daughter talks about all the time), and I find one of the most comforting things is soups, chili’s and stews.  This recipe is so easy, yummy, and very comforting!