Beautiful weather, sad day.

Ah a very sad day today in our house. Tom had to take his beloved dog Cookie to the vet and have her put to sleep. He is a bit of a wreck as Cookie was his number one girl. She lived a long and wonderful life of 14 years and really that was due to Tom's TLC, she had cancer twice and other health hiccups along the road and it was only in her last few weeks that she was not the Cookie that we knew. I had the kids make Tom cards while he was at the Vet and then I told him not to feel guilty about golfing this afternoon. The weather today is in the mid 60s and spectacularly sunny with those clouds that make the sky look exactly like the Simpson's sky they show in the opening credits.

Tom is golfing today with his cousin Mark who is having surgery this coming week, so doubly (sp?) the reason for him to go out.

I had my last Spring/Summer Tastefully Simple party last night, it was a great party with two ladies scheduling parties for the fall and both of them may very well just go for it and become consultants with the $99 special for September. At home I am working on experimenting w/our new products.

I was feeling adventurous this AM and I actually took the pampered chef springform pan that I don't even know when it got it, out of the packaging and used it to make a cranberry Tangerine tart. Since the Cranberry Tangerine Cheesecake Mix (a new Tastefully Simple product) has most of the work of a tart already done, I felt like I could branch out and give the scary springform pan a go. And the tart is now in the fridge and I think I might just have a big slice of that for dinner...hey it has fruits in it and dairy and even eggs and a graham cracker crust so that covers the 4 food groups, IMO.

I rented Sunshine Cleaning and I think I'm going to go into the bedroom and watch it, since the kids are being quiet and entertained w/the 2 Nintendo DS games we rented yesterday. At least I hope that is why they are being quiet.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I am in a cooking making mood. I got a new mixer yesterday from Target ($14.99) and so today I am making:

Double Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Peter Pan Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Blue Bonnet-stick (1/2 cup = 1 stick)
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 pkg (10 oz each) peanut butter morsels
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine flour and baking soda in small bowl; set aside.
Beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, Blue Bonnet and shortening in large bowl with electric mixer on medium-high speed until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add vanilla. Stir in cereal and peanut butter morsels. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely. Store in air-tight container.
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I don't have any shortening, so I am using all butter. Also I have baking powder not soda, so I'll be using that instead. This is the first time I am trying this recipe we'll see how it goes.

Today I made a recipe out of the Chicago Tribune for Butternut Squash...tomorrow I am going to be looking for an acorn squash recipe!

Roasted butternut Squash w/thyme (this recipe is vegan)
1 butternut squash, peeled, cubed
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp salt
Heat the oven to 350, Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, tossing to coat; spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet or wide, shallow casserole dish. Roast until the squash is cooked through and lightly caramelized, 40-50 minutes.
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Tomorrow is Bryce's birthday, but I think they might have it marked down in his class at school as today he came home wearing a crown? Seeing the crown inspired Anna to wear a Barbie Princess outfit all day.