christmasy cookies

I've literally made hundreds of cookies this year!!! I've made some by myself. Liam has helped with some, Riley has helped with some. We've cut out, rolled out, decorated and sugared the crap out of these cookies! I took lots to work to share with co-workers. December 19th was our girl-family cookie exchange party at my sister Rachels house.. I made 3 different cookies. I made tons of the ginger-snaps that I make every year(I still have dough in the fridge-enough for 4 dozen)
I made Fudge Ecstasies...a very chocolaty cookie. I found the recipe in a Christmas cookie magazine.
I also searched online for a recipe that would go with a mold(I have a rocking horse mold) I found an orange spice cookie recipe that is supposed to keep the shape of the mold. Some cookie recipes would puff up the cookies while baking and this recipe didn't have baking soda or powder so the cookie kept pretty flat.

Fudge Ecstasies:
12 oz semi sweet chocolate pieces
2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
2/3 C sugar
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 C chopped cashews, pecans or almonds (I used almonds)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet(I didn't do this and should have..I thought my cookie sheet was stick-proof-enough).

Heat in a saucepan 2 Cup of the semi-sweet chocolate and all of the unsweetened chocolate and butter.
Stir over low until melted. Remove from heat

Add eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, baking powder. Beat w/ a wooden spoon until combined(I put everything into my mixer). Stir in the rest of the chocolate and the nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2-inches apart onto the cookie sheets. (I used my new scoop from my sisters Pampered Chef party).
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are firm and surfaces are dull and crackled.

Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 min. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. makes 3 dozen(except I only got 2 dozen because I used the 2Tbsp scoop)

These cookies were soooo chocolaty..It was almost like eating a piece of chocolate. -Have to have milk and will only be able to eat 1, maybe 2 at a time.

Orange Spice Recipe I found at this website: RECIPE

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one on my most favorite holidays! I did not make any costumes this year. We went to the halloween store and the kids picked out their costumes. We had lots of opportunities to get dressed us..Halloween seemed to go on and on and on..

Our girl scout counsel had a Trunk or Treat on the Thursday before Halloween. (Wednesday we walked around the neighborhood for an hour collecting canned food for donation) Our trunk was a beanbag toss

Friday before halloween was Rileys school carnival

Saturday was set up for the church carnival and after we took our kids to the pumpkin patch.
Sunday was the church carnival

Monday was Halloween. William and the kids decorated the front yard while I made stew.
We carved our pumpkins and then my sisters showed up with their kids and we walked around the neighborhood trick-or-treating
The weather was perfect..not hot, not cold. It was a school night so the little kids were tired. We went around a few blocks and came home for home-made stew.

2012 service project

My work does a community project each year. This year we helped out the Challenger Learning center in Atwater, Ca
I havent ever been there so it was surprising that there was a very cool kids museum so close by. I deffionately plan on taking my kids there. It is a hands on science museum.
For our service project we did lots and lots of painting. We installed a new door, built benches for a seating area.. We also were given a demo of the projector/globe..which was awesome.
(this was an image of a sunami)

Birthday Month!!!

September is Birthday month at our house. Liam: 9/1, Me: 9/6, Riley:9/20(and niece Nicole 9/20)
13
Instead of 1 big party for both of my kids, they each wanted a separate birthday. William took Liam and a friend to Boomers for the day. When they got home the Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins came over for the cake ice cream.

Riley wanted a barbq and slumber party for her birthday (on a different weekend)we had the whole family over again and then 4 girls stayed to sleep over9

sponge bob cake

I was asked if I would make a cake for the 4 year old of a work-friend. It was more time consuming than I thought it would be...I would have wanted (had I had more time)to put arms and legs on..
I made 2 different cakes. The first layer was vanilla. Second layer was chocolate. I put a strawberry filling in the middle and made buttercream frosting in the yellow, white and brown. The rest was fondant and I had that in a package but had to add food coloring.
I only had one evening to work on this so I think it turned out pretty good.

my favorite chocolate cake recipe

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft(plus extra for greasing pans)
1 3/4 C. all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting pans)
4 Oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsley chopped
1/4 C. Dutch-processed cocoa
1/2 C hot water
1 3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 C buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
4 Lg eggs, plus 2 lg egg yolks

oven: 350 degrees
grease 2 9" round pans and dust

combine: chocolate, cocoa, hot water in medium bowl
Set over saucepan w/ 1" simmering water and stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is melted (~ 2 min). Add 1/2 C sugar and stir till glossy (~1-2 min)
Remove and set aside to cool.

Whisk: flour, baking soda, salt in bowl

Combine: buttermilk and vanilla in sm bowl.

In bowl for mixer fitted w/ whisk: whisk eggs & yolks on med-low speed until combined. ~10 sec.
Add 1 1/4 C sugar, beat on high until fluffy and lightened in color ~2-3 min.
Switch to paddle.
Add cooled chocolate to the egg/sugar and mix until blended ~30-45 sec
Add softened butter gradually
Add 1/3 of the flour then buttermilk then flour then buttermilk then flour.

bake 25-30 min until toothpick comes out clean.

Last summer getaway

We just celebrated out 17th anniversary. Origionally we were going to leave the kids at home but my mom and sister were both out of town so we decided to have a family trip. This was the last weekend before school started...we tried camping in Yosemite. We drove the whole way there only to find the entire park full, plan b: we drove to a hotel(full), c: another hotel(full), d-?: etc... finally in Oakhurst we were told, at yet another hotel, that all lodging from Yosemite to Fresno was 'No Vacancy'.
I love being spontaneous, but it sucks when everyone else has a reservation.
So we went home that night.

Saturday morning I got on the interwebs and made a reservation for a hotel in Berkley. We decided that everyone was in the mountains so it might be safer to go to the coast. We spent the first day in Berkley walking around, had a lovely dinner and Saturday evening took the kids to the IMAX theater to see Harry Potter in 3d. Sunday we spent at the ocean. We went to the Pt. Reyes light house and spent the rest of the day at Drakes Bay Beach. The weather was a perfect 60 degrees. The sand was warm. The water was cold. We had fun drawing on the sand, the kids had fun picking up shells. I was barefoot all day. We drove home in the evening - back to the 90 degrees.

Summer shorts for Riley

Camera Bag/Simplicity 4391

I made 2 camera bags.. They turned out very cute. I didn't use any d-rings and strap adjuster pieces that the pattern called for, so the strap is not adjustable. The thicker straps looks more 'camera bag'like but I think I prefer the thinner strap a bit better. I think I would make the flap shorter if I made this one again.




this last photo Im adding 8/12, after a weekend trip. Riley brought this along to use as her own camera bag.

Land of painted caves

I was so excited when this book came out. I bought it in march or April, right around the time when my thyroid medication was lowered and I started having problems because of that. One of the problems is that I get brain fog and I can't focus. I read a paragraph over and over and can't hear what I'm reading so I have to put the book down. I picked the book up last week when I started taking the correct dose. I red the whole book in 3 or 4 days.

For my niece Kennedy

butterfly kids purse
My niece asked me to make a purse for her(a few months ago actually). For her birthday I whipped up this cute, purple, butterfly purse. I used the camera bag pattern (Simplicity 4391 G)and enlarged the pattern 25%..making the perfect sized kids purse. It has a Velcro close.
I made the butterfly.. using freezer paper to make the pattern and clear thread to stitch over all the seams. The last bit was to hand-stitch her name.

A little summer sewing :-)

Mommy-made:
My daughter, Riley, has had a huge growth spurt! She's grown out of most of her clothes. I recently bought her and Liam new tennis shoes. I bought a summer dress and some other clothes..But it gets alittle bit expensive so I've been 'Maria Vontrap' this summer...making play clothes(but not out of my curtains). Last year Joannes fabric shop had a $1 pattern sale. I bought 20 (plus) patterns. Handbag patterns, halloween costumes, clothing patterns for me and Riley, PJ patterns for Liam and Ri.
Soooooooooo
I made these shorts. It was the simplist shorts pattern: 2 pattern pieces doubled and elastic for the waist. I bought a plain purple Tshirt and sewed a ruffle to make it a matching outfit. The whole outfit cost me $2.50(the price of the Tshirt) and a little of my time. I used fabric I've had for a few years.

I made a second pair of shorts with the same pattern in a blue batik fabric.
She still likes mommy-made things. Liam said last year, "why cant I get a store bought ..." (heavy sigh..)

After I made these, Riley said that she wants a sewing kit to make her own shorts..

Summer is 1/2 over

Boo. It doesn't seem right. One month of summer is done. We haven't gone anywhere yet, except to girlscout camp in Livingston---whopping 20 miles away. There was a week of day camp. And fair week. The kids entered artwork and cookies. Liam was old enough to earn money for his blue ribbons($11 prize money). Riley has to wait another year. She did get blue ribbons for everything she entered. This was the 1st year that I've missed the fair. I worked late every day that week. Luckily my mom and sister volunteer to take the kids for me.
In the past month I wave been to the gym once and I have only had a handful of bicycle rides...so that tells how my big fitness plans have been going. Riley has moved up to level 4 gymnastics. It means more more hours per week. -it's actually where I am now. Sitting watching her class. They're on beam now. She is trying learning the level 4 routine. Liam is at my sister rachels house getting tutored in math. It last quarter report card wasn't the greatest. Luckily Rachel teaches that grade at her school and uses the same book so she can help him catch up.
Baseball season just ended. It was such a cold season it only go hot here a couple weeks ago. We had rain and cold days until the end of may.

We have camping to look forward to and swim lessons. And a few days with lena's family in the mountains. I have the next 2 day off of work :)

Riley has overgrown most of her clothes so I have actually been sewing. Not alot but I made 2 simple pairs of shorts and a cute top to match one of them. It's only 4 pieces of fabric sewn together with an elastic waste.

Grilled Chicken Ratatouille Recipe | MapMyRUN Stories

Grilled Chicken Ratatouille Recipe | MapMyRUN Stories

Garlic

I absolutely love having an iPhone in my pocket. I have instant answers....no more wondering
Anyways, my friend Maylynn asked if I knew how she could get the smell of garlic off her hands. My first thought was, why would you want to? Garlic smells good.
Apparently it's a popular question. I googled: "how do you get the smell of garlic off your hands". The answer is stainless steel. Rub your hands on stainless steel. There are kitchen stores that sell bars of stainless steel that look like bars of soap.


I searched for "stainless steel soap bar" and tons of images popped. these are only a few

Computer desk

My computer desk is in my room(our room). The kids have another computer that they use. This is where I sit and type, play citiville, roam the world wide web..and sew. The desk was my grandmothers when she was alive. I built the shelves. I stained them and added a decorative trim to the front and William cut them to the right width and helped me hang them.
I like to put music on or a dvd. Then I move the keyboard away and set up my sewing machine so I can be entertained while sewing. I used to have a tv with a cable box in our room..but William convinced me that the computer can do the same(and more) so there's no need to pay for second cable box...he was right(of course)
And I've moved the printer to the other computer so I can have more desk space.
The only things being sewed lately.. girl scout badges, sewn onto Rileys uniform.
Mending. My purse/bag and two other purse/bags before christmas. I have a few patterns cut out and waiting to be stitched together.
I did a bit of hand quilting on a really old project.

My cycling partner..

Spring 2011. It's been very busy for me and my family. Liam is playing baseball this year. His last regular game was Thursday. Next is the playoffs. It was a very rainy cold baseball season. Alot of practicesand the first 2 games were cancelled due to weather. Most of the games were cold.
Riley passed level 3 gymnastics and is a 'team girl' now(level 4).
We have Had alot of scout events going on. Me and my mom are co-leaders. We took the troop camping last weekend to McConnell state park. The kids had so much fun. We had 7 girls from our troop. There were 5 or 6 other troops that all camped in the same area. Each individual troop had a camp and slept in tents and had meals separately. But we all came together for activities and campfire.
What else have we done...we went to the snow(twice) for a family day. I've been back on my bicycle. I'm trying to ride more on my bicycle. I crashed into a pole on mothers day and fell off of my bicycle. My hand was bruised. It was very sore but I'm mostly healed now.
Me and William drove to Tahoe to watch the tour of California. It snowed all day long and stage 1 was eventually cancelled.
My sister Carrie got married to Leo from Finland. The whole family all worked to helps beautiful wedding. I made the bouquets and helped with some of the decorating. My parents bought a house for them to live in. We've been bowling and out to play pool since leos been here. We had an adult only game/drinking too much party(which I vow never to do again). Game playing was fun. My sisters get super loud the more they drink. I, myself, got a we little bit sick and had to work early the next day so I was doubly published.
We went to yosemite and took Little Rachel also mom leo and carrie went. for her first time ever to yosemite. I sat in a car one night with my mom, Leo, and Carrie(while waiting for sister Rachel to get home) and played an innocent game of truth or dare in which I dared my mom to lick the steering wheel...and she did it. I should have dared her massage my feet for an hour.
I don't even know if I can remember everything we've done lately...2011 is 1/2 over. The first 1/2 has been good..

Happy Valentine 's Day!

Riley worked on her valentines...I worked on this little handbag. This was the first time I used the pattern for this bag. I wanted to make a bag for Riley to take her Valentines to school in. The size could have been a bit bigger...It was very full but the all the Valentines fit :-)
I used buckram so it would be stiff and stand up. But canvas or denim would work too.

Home At Last!!!

7 days! I just spent 7 days in Sonora, California for work. I've never been gone from my family for so long - away from any type of family. I've never stayed in a hotel by myself. It was deffionately a different type of week for myself and because I worked 56 hours while there I didnt have alot of time to feel lonely.

I helped train new employees for 7 days. I had a nice hotel room and all my meals were paid for.

in my hotel room

I went there with a sinus problem and didnt feel 100% the whole time I was there. I also ate all my meals in restaurants....which means.. I'll start my diet tomorrow....My stomach didnt feel good for a couple days. I'm not used to restaurant food.

Everyone I met was super nice except for one old guy who reminded me of a smoking, mean old version of Mr. Bean+Gomer Pile. He was not welcoming at all. (He might have been threatened because I'm younger and a female)...He told me been with the company for 5 years and "didnt know why I was sent"----even though he did not follow company policy on too many things-he could have learned a few things from me if he wasnt such a ####! I ignored him and worked with the other new employees who seemed very happy to have me there to train them all to learn our system/computer. I did as much as possible, in the 7 days I had.

Last Tuesday I drove the kids to stay(and get spoiled) for 5 days with their Grandparents. I dropped them off and visited Lena, my friend since age 7?... She has 2 babies now so I got to meet the newest one, Emily. I LOVE the sweetness of new babies...they smell so good and they cuddle and look so adorable..this one is especially sweet. To me she looks just like her mommy Sam and Emily
Her toddler, Sammy, is at the funnest age! I had total fun playing with him. He has endless energy..he ran around in circles and was soooo busy. My kids havent been toddlers for awhile so I was reminded how much time it takes for little ones. It's totally all about them(not you). Your life is not your life. It is now their life, for a while. Everything you do is for their needs, usually sacrificing or delaying your own needs for them... Then they grow up and you get a little of yourself back...

So I stayed at the Aladdin hotel Wednesday through Tuesday.
The aladdin inn website says they have wifi and HBO. I asked at the desk and the girl said they havent had HBO since she's worked their(5 mo).
She did give me a wifi passwork and it worked in the lobby and some of the hallway but not in my room... I was dissapointed about that BUT the room was clean and comfortable so I was able to do with out wifi for a week. The room also had a microwave, fridge and a mini coffee maker.
The day I drove up to Sonora it rained durring the day. By 10pm the water on the roads (from the rains) froze over. It froze so fast it looked like water still on the road - it was solid ice. I almost slipped in the parking lot twice that night. (it was 11 degrees at the lowest that night) Everything was frozen solid. People were driving super slow. A couple days later we heard about cars hitting black ice and spinning out and going off the road.
I, unfortunately, noticed that night that my right headlight was out..so I was driving icy roads, barely able to see(I went very slow and always tried to stay behind another car)
William had planned on come up Saturday after work and stay one night with me before he went to pick up the kids. It was nice because seeing him in the middle of my stay helped not get homesick. And we had dinner together and he fixed my headlight. We drove around the old part of Sonora..it's a very cute mountain town.

I spent New Years Eve alone in my room sewing. I cut out a pattern for another bag..this one will be bigger than the two I made for Christmas presents. I ironed on the fuseable.. I had to buy a new pair of scissors and pins at the store(I for got mine at home). I brought my iron, sewing machine and everything else except for pins and a pin cushion(I rolled up a pair of socks to make a pin cushion)


My last day in Sonora started out with lots of frost and ice on my car. By 8am the sun was up and the whole day was bright and cheery. -Of course the last day there would be nice. If the whole week had been like that I would have gotten out and walked for exercise...frost on my car

oh well ..Im just so happy to be home with my family now and sleeping in my own bed. Having a computer and working wifi and good cable tv and ... netflix and dvds...people that I love to talk to and hug and smile and laugh with.
I first got home and saw some drawings that my daughter made of snow covered mountains..and a person standing..I think she was imagining where I had been.
I missed seeing her drawings. Liam showed me his lego creations that he's been doing..
I spent today with my husband, took a nap, made homemade Turkey Meatballs for dinner...helped the kids with homework. A perfect evening.
Im home now back to my life and a pile(mountain) of laundry and valley fog(no sun here)and a couple days off until I go back to my real job.
:)