A Couple of Burritos or is it Cookie Dough?

 Cookie dough for sure! Yes, I am still baking Christmas cookies. The thing is that I bought a cookie making kit and then The hubs bought a whole bunch of cookie making supplies (i.e. semisweet chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips, coconut, etc.) I am still working my way through everything.  My thought at this point is, to stop baking cookies. By that I mean, I am going to make the dough,  shape it into cookies, and then freeze it to bake next year. This way we can have fresh cookies on-demand as we forge through the rest of winter.

Where did I get such a great idea?  A cozy mystery!  In The Diva Runs Out of Thyme, the main character Sophie keeps frozen chocolate cookie dough on hand so she can throw a sheet of cookies into the oven whenever there is a cookie emergency.  Genius idea. 

Speaking of cozy mysteries, I just finished listening to Booked for Death by Victoria Gilbert. You can read my review below 

Booked for Death by Victoria Gilbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm ready to book a vacation for me and the Hubs to Chapters! If you are a lover of mystery books, you really need to add this to your TBR pile. Charlotte is the new owner of a Bed & Breakfast she has inherited from her aunt. In a break from many murder mysteries, the murder doesn't take place in the first chapter. In this story you the reader get a chance to meet the characters and then someone dies, which allows you the fun of guessing who is going to get the ax and why.

In addition to the murder, there is a subplot about Charlotte's aunt and her potentially shady past that we get to delve into as the past and present connect.
Great news for those of you that don't need or want a romance in your cozy mystery. This book doesn't have a romance subplot. The reveal of the killer and their motivation takes place with all the suspects in a room together which fits very well with a mystery taking place at a book-themed B&B.

I enjoyed the setting, a book-themed B & B in coastal North Carolina, Charlotte is a retired teacher who is able to take all the patience she has developed from those years of teaching and put it to use managing the guests at her B& B and now solving a mystery. I look forward to seeing what other mysteries will take place in this series.

This book would make a really nice gift for anyone who likes to read mysteries. I listened to the audiobook which I borrowed from my local library. The reader for the book is Suzie Althens whose work I enjoy.


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5 Days Left, I Recommend Eating More Cookies

We have reached the point where you can count the number of days until Christmas on one hand. This is when random people will start asking you "So are you ready for Christmas?"

Most people who ask me this are surprised when I say no. I always say no. I'm never ready for Christmas. There are always a couple more gifts I could have bought, a DIY decoration I was meaning to try to make, or a new cookie recipe to bake. 

My philosophy is to be one with the not doneness of the season. I'll do what I can, and we'll see how much I manage to pull off between now and 12/26.

Christmas: It is what it is. And just to clarify, I'm not one who has gone crazy burdening myself with expectations and complicated traditions for the holidays.  I've always thought Elf on the Shelf was creepy, I don't make handmade cards, and my decorations are a pittance of Clark Griswald's.  However, this time of year there is so much one can want to do,and I find I always have too many to-dos. Thankfully, today is the day this year that I give up on my self-imposed holiday expectations and go with the flow.

I recommend giving up as the best self-care from this point forward.  I also recommend homemade chocolate covered Oreo cookies.  Sugary satisfaction at its best!

All you need to do is melt almond bark--taking care not to  liquify the bark--if it is too hot the Oreo's will separate-- and coat the Oreo in bark, sprinkle some sprinkles and let the cookies cool. 

Merry do less Christmas!

xoxo

How many cookies is too many cookies? Let's find out!

More Adventures in Cookie Baking- Day 10! My freezer is getting very full. Youngest Daughter says what are you going to do with all these cookies?  I say for the 44th time, I'm going to give them away. This time she answers "Ok."  Apparently she wasn't listening the many other times I said I was making cookies to give away for Christmas.

Onward.

As my life has been quite busy with work, and picking up and dropping off kids and attending Holiday events; I decided if I wanted to continue baking, I needed to  chill some balls.  to that end, I rolled these lemon cookies and then let them chill in the fridge overnight before glazing and baking them.

Katie C. recommended this recipe from Martha Stewart.  She likes to make these cookies into Christmas Wreathes.  I took a cue from Katie and decided to put some festive sprinkles on mine.

Let's say you are sitting around wrapping presents and would like to indulge, I recommend these cookies with a nice prosecco. How delightful! You could even, take it to the next level by adding some fresh raspberries to your plate or to your glass.  Lemon- raspberry is such a lovely flavor combination.

And while I'm here just 4 days left to enroll in the ACA ! Get Covered!

Adventures in Cookie Making Day 2

I really like Oatmeal Scotchies. Or should I really say I think I remember really liking Oatmeal Scotchies.  I know that they must have orange zest to be great and so you can be sure I zested an orange instead of using vanilla extract for this recipe. Below is the original Toll House recipe for Oatmeal Scotchies.  Now I followed this recipe with precision, however my cookies cooked in much less time than instructed and spread flatter than a pancake.  Should I have used more flour and less oats?  Was it the baking soda?  I went online to see what other bakers had to say.

According to the reviews, for this very recipe on the cookie morsel website, I am not alone, super flat scotchies abound. It's not me; it's this recipe.  I also found a blog done by a wise woman who on her first time out the gate with this recipe reduced the oats by 1/2 a cup. Her resulting cookies look thicker than mine. 

When my first dozen came out so flat and brown, I put the remainder of the dough in the fridge and then made the rest with chilled dough.  Alas, that didn't matter. Sigh. Can't win them all I guess.  I have seen there are recipes for Oatmeal Scotchie Bars, maybe next time I'll try that --or better yet if I want a butterscotch treat- I should try a no bake option and make butterscotch haystacks. 

Tomorrow with assistance from Anna I'll be tackling a recipe called "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" 

Happy Tuesday xoxo! 

Need Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Your Ear Holes? Listen to the Dresden Files!

Death Masks by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listen to this series on audio, I don't read any of the books--James Marsters is perfection as Harry Dresden. This is book #5 of this enjoyable series that I tend to pick up, listen to a book and then a few months pass and then I pick it back up. There is enough reiteration of who the main players in the series are to help you remember if you don't binge read the series. I am going to make more of an effort to get through this series in a more timely manner. I have to say I don't really care about the romance aspect of the book, but if Harry is happy I'm happy. Whenever Harry talks about his cat Mister, I think anew that Mister is the perfect name for a cat. And speaking of perfect character names, I hope the next book has more Murphy- the perfectly named police detective- in it.

Love that this book takes place in Chicago. Nice that Harry and modern tech don't get along as this is handy for plot building. The pacing of this book was good, I personally wouldn't mind if there had been a bit more downtime - like maybe 2 fewer battles, but that's just me. I'm going to go see if my library has book #6 before I get distracted by another book on my TBR pile.


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 #ThursdayThought :  Today marks  the 4 week countdown until Thanksgiving.  😱😱😱😱  I'm hungry right because it's lunchtime and my mouth is watering as I am adding to my Thanksgiving Feast Pinterest Board.  Click to see what I'm planning on serving this November. I've also begun creating a Christmas menu as well.

Happy Thursday!

xoxo

Only 5 weeks (and change) until Black Friday- Do you have Cash Back Apps?

Do you shop Black Friday?  If so are you planning to shop in your pajamas? Are you planning to get out there in it, shoulder to shoulder, wrestling strangers for that one damn thing your kiddo really, really really wants under the tree?

Me, I like Black Friday shopping.  We live in an urban metropolis so I have my pick of stores that are conveniently located.  This year I'm planning to check out JC Penney's during my Black Friday shopping and this is because, I'm a fan of Tracee Ellis Ross and she has a new holiday collection.

To be the first to see the JC Penney's ad, as well as Target, Kohl's and Menards (that's one is for the Hubs) I subscribe to BF Ads they are reliable source for all the leaked ads!

A great way to double down on your savings this holiday season is to use apps that give you cash back on purchases now and then use the cash back or gift cards when Black Friday arrives.

Now many stores have rewards programs themselves so make sure you have the Target Cartwheel app, the Kohls Yes to You Rewards , and the Kmart/Sears Shop Your Way . These are all super handy because you don't need to have a store credit card to get the rewards. Also all of these stores have ship to store pick up so you can shop online and go pick up your order to avoid shipping charges.

The best way to earn cash back  is to get yourself an Ebates account.  You sign up and  when you are ready to shop go to Ebates, type in the store name and shop.  When you are done shopping cash is rebated to you and put in your Ebates account.  Then they send you a check when you request it.  This way you get all the deals of the store reward program plus you earn cash back!

For grocery shopping, I use the Ibotta App. You click on what grocery store you are going to and then you click on the various rebates they have available. You do your shopping and then you scan your receipt and Ibotta adds rebates to your account. When you rack up $20 in rebates, which is not too hard to do, then you can tranfer the money to apps like PayPal or redeem for gift cards! You also earn bonuses for various purchases and for referrals.  My referral link is here.  

Holidays are almost here and it's always a good time to save money! I hope these tips are useful!
xoxo

Talking Turkey

So when it comes to Thanksgiving where do you stand?  Are you planning a feast?  Or planning major shopping?

Even though I enjoy Christmas, and I really enjoy watching all the Hallmark Channel movies, I like the gift-free gratitude-filled -ness that is Thanksgiving.

It's also fun to try new dishes.  Especially since I have lots of opportunities to create new dishes with our Tastefully Simple products and I have lots of hosts who love to share awesome recipes with me! I'm a lucky cooker as the kids used to say when they were little.

Recently my host Annette, who is an awesome cook, made the yummiest dressing. 
If you are looking for a way to wow this Thanksgiving I must recommend it.

Here is the recipe from our website:

Creamy Wild Rice Stuffing
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
Creamy Wild Rice Soup Mix
5 cups hot water
2 tsp. Garlic Garlic™
2 - 3 Tbsp. Onion Onion™
6 - 8 slices diced bacon
4 stalks diced celery
14 oz. unseasoned breadcubes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Combine first 4 ingredients; simmer, covered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauté bacon in large skillet until browned; add celery. Cook until celery is tender. Toss bread cubes in large bowl with bacon mixture and cranberries. Add prepared soup, season to taste with salt and pepper; mix well. Place dressing in greased 9 x 13 baking dish; cover with foil. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 10-12 servings.

Cavemen and Cookie Creation

Over at Hayesville Elementary School the 4th grade recently completed a unit on prehistoric life. I think Miss Anna's report is charming. She thinks her picture is not good enough to share.  Where do you stand?

Ah yes, so the picture is sideway.  I resaved and re-uploaded it, like 5 times and it will not change it's orientation. 

Anna would say that is karma for posting it in the first place.

"A Day in The Life of a Nomad"
by Anna Hamel, age 9

First I would wake up, then I ate some berries and nuts. Next I went into the woods and got some birch wood.

Then I saw a Mastodon and I called everybody and we raced to get it and then I shot it with my bow and it wasn't even close to being injured.

Then the Mastodons ran away and we had to move so we packed up and moved. Then when we move it was like heaven how much animals there was so then we settled in and we could not wait to eat dinner and so then my dad and my brothers killed a giant deer.

After they brought it back we skinned it we ate it and then my mom made our bed and then we went to bed.

I think a Mastodon would taste like chicken, really good!

**********************************

Yesterday I got a little creative with my cookie making.  I wanted to do something a little different with our Citrus Sugar Cookies.

I added some Clementine Zest, I don't have a zester, so I used a cheese grater.  I had some walnuts on hand, which I never do, and so I got out my Pampered Chef rotary grater and ground up walnuts.  I rolled the cookie dough in the walnuts instead of the sugar packet included in the box. 

Next up I think I am going to try to take our Classy Chocolate Pound Cake and make it into something with more chocolate and chopped up candy canes. *Sigh* holiday dessert making, it's a tough job but someone has to do it.

Do you make cookies?

I do, but only for the holidays. And hey, guess what? 

Holidays are here. Yippee!  I have a short attention span for making cookies, so I need fast recipes.  Too bad I don't get bored with eating the cookies...That's a topic for another day.

Here at Tastefully Simple we have Citrus Sugar Cookies this year, just add and egg and butter.
Speaking of eggs, I have to share, if you like to eat cookie dough, use egg substitute and you don't have to worry about the salmonella!

Bonus on the cookies is that $1 goes toward Share Our Strength to help end childhood hunger  in America.  Recently there have been reductions in the SNAP benefits, so now more than ever ever $1 helps.

For my open house I dipped the Citrus Sugar Cookies in White Chocolate.  Here you can see them a bit.

 Mine pale in comparison to the awesomeness to be found on our Tastefully Simple blog! How yummy do these look?

If you hope over to tsrecipes.com you can see the recipe, it doesn't look too hard, I think I'll give it a try. How about you?  Do you enjoy cookie making?  cookie sharing? or cookie eating?