Happy Holidays!

It's been a while, but I just want to quickly share with you what I've been working on this Holiday season...

Did a bunch of sewing!  2 Christmas quilts for my mom and dish towels (from Walmart) embellished with some fun fabric:

And of course LOTS of cookie making!  I did myself a favor this year and made all of my dough ahead and froze it.  Now I can just bake as I need them.

*I really wish I had taken a better picture of these...this one doesn't do them justice.  I still have to make more, so maybe I'll update later :o)

Here is a quick recipe for Matt's grandmother's Candy Cane Cookies:

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c butter (room temp)

1 c sifted powdered sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter, use 1 tsp)

Topping:

About 6 candy canes, crushed...as fine as you can get-the chunks tend not to stick to cookie.

1/4 c granulated sugar

Mix first 6 ingredients until smooth.  Whisk flour and salt together and slowly add to wet mixture.  Remove 1/2 of the dough to separate container and color the other 1/2 with red food color.  Chill for just a little bit.

Preheat oven to 375 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil.  (This really just makes for easy clean up)

Roll about a teaspoon of each dough (Red & uncolored) into "noodles" and twist together.  Place on cookie sheets about an inch apart.  Bake for 9 minutes or until just set, not browned.

Mix crushed candy canes and sugar together and sprinkle over cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.

Yield: 4 dozen

I hope you try these!  They are a little time consuming to roll out, but they are my new favorite Christmas cookie and I think you'll love them!!!

If I don't post again before...Have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Beware: Holiday Price Gouging

I'm sure all of you ladies are savvy shoppers.  Especially when it comes to holiday shopping.  But I would just like to take a moment to remind you to shop around before you make purchases (any time of year, really).  

I was in the market for the Aquadoodle for my niece and nephew for Christmas.  The first place I always go to is Amazon.com.  I looked at a few different versions, I think they are up to a jumbo size by now...they ranged in price from $19.99-$40.00+.  But I noticed that even with the "deluxe" sets, it only came with one pen.  OK, fine, I'll need to buy an extra.  So I clicked around and found a set with a pen, brush and stencils for $12.99 (not including shipping and handling).  Seemed kind of high to me for some plastic accessories that don't even have ink in them!  Then I found a brush and pen set for $19.99!  Woah there partner.  

Off to Walmart I went (after a lovely dinner with my siblings and husband), only to purchase the Aquadoodle Classic Mat for $15.00 (Rollback price) and the accessory kit (with brush, pen, stencils and spill-proof cup) for...wait for it....$5.00!!  I probably should have known Walmart would have had it cheaper, but sheesh!

I'm not going to bad mouth Amazon.  I've gotten some great deals from them in the past, but just do your research, know what you're buying and make sure you shop around before you fully commit to a purchase.  This was just my small example of what goes on in the retail world.  It's just shocking that stores would try to take advantage of customers in the current state our economy is in.

P.S. Stay tuned for some Holiday projects and gift ideas Tina and I will be posting over at The Clumsy Spider in the coming weeks!  I'll also be posting some of my favorite holiday recipes right here!