Cookie Swap

Cute Stuff Inside is hosting a virtual cookie swap. I happened to make some of my favorite cookies to take to work tomorrow and I wanted to share. These may not be fancy cookies, but they are delicious. Your cookie jar will empty out quite quickly!

Pecan Pie Bars

Crust ingredients:
1 Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1 egg
1 stick of softened butter

Topping Ingredients:
1 1/2 c chopped pecans
1 c brown sugar
2 TBSP flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13 X 9 baking pan. Mix crust ingredients and press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Mix topping ingredients. When the crust come out of the oven, immediately spread the topping over the top and return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Kid's Favorite Jumbo 3 Chip cookies (yields 3 dozen)


Dry Ingredients:
4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 c butter
1 1 /4 c sugar
1 1/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla

1 c milk chocolate chips
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c white chocolate
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix the 3 dry ingredients and set aside. Beat the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in mixer. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Make large balls of cookie dough. Bake 10 - 12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets at 350.

Candy Bar Jumbles

1 1/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 c oats
1 1 /2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate mixture:
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

5 chopped snicker's bars

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl beat brown sugar and maragarine. Add in vanilla and the egg. On low speed beat in oats, flour, and soda, and salt. Reserve 3/4 a cup for topping crumbles. Press remaining batter in a 13 X 9 ungreased pan.

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Poor over crust. Sprinkle with chopped snickers and remaining batter.

Bake 32-37 minutes. Cool for 2 hours.

Holly Jolly Snack Mix

9 cups Rice Chex

9 cups Corn Chex

12 ounce bag of holiday M& Ms

4 cups of pretzels

2 c brown sugar

1/2 c light caro syrup

2 sticks of butter

1/2 tsp of baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spray a large roasting pan and dump Chex into it. In a heavy sauce pan, melt and mix butter, sugar, and syrup over medium heat on the stovetop until it boils. Remove from heat, stir in the soda. Pour over the Chex and stir with a rubber spatula (scraping the extra liquid from the bottom of the pan. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15. Cool for 5 minutes. Dump the contents onto wax paper. Break apart large clumps. Stir in M& M's and pretzels. Allow to finish cooling. Bag.

From our kitchen to yours, Merry Christmas!

We now resume normal blog posts.

Here are my bags for buddy's teachers. I used charm packs and quilted the squares diagonally. On two of the bags, I used the lining to look a bit more like binding around the top. I personalized the bags, so his teachers wouldn't get them confused.


Here's a buddy update! He sure is a busy kid.

Reading, well kind-of. . .

Decorating the tree, he was a great helper this year.

Playing in the snow. Check out those cute cheeks!
I will be back tomorrow folks with some cookie recipes! Be sure to check back in!

Okay People, What is wrong with this picture?

I should start this post with a bit of a warning. Around our house, when I throw out the 'Okay People' it usually means mama here is in a bit of a mood. It means things are not as they should be. For example, father and child are horseplaying instead of getting around to leave or someone has moved something important. I think you get it.

We all know I have been in a bit of a rut as far as the sewing goes. So, I finally get around to doing MAJOR sewing yesterday and I am already to report only to discover that my husband took the camera on his week long hunting trip. OKAY PEOPLE, how am I supposed to take a picture of my 3 bags I quilted and sewed yesterday? I guess you will have to use your imagination until next weekend, sorry to say.

Did I mention that sewing yesterday felt AWESOME? It really did.

Before I close, a few announcements for the good of the order. . .

1st- Sheri a new blogger and quilt designer, is hosting her first giveaway. She is giving away a darling bag, if you must know, and you won't want to miss out.

2nd- I was tagged by Mary, probably the sweetest blogger out there, and some snowy day I am going to tag some of you...so look out. :) I am thinking about who I am going to tag, in the meantime.

3rd- Just to update you on the Christmas maddness around here, we have made progress. My sewing projects are all done. My presents are all purchased and wrapped. My cookie mix jars are all filled. My tree is up and decorated (which is a long prelit nightmare story, which includes buying a new one in a mad dash to finish it before husband left). We will see what else gets done, but I feel good thus far.

4th- Don't forget to keep checking in over at The Fat Quartershop for their daily Christmas Countdown Markdowns.

Keep it real, people!

Polka Dots and Rick Rack Gift and a bit of sewing

Hi there, blogland! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving is wonderful because it reminds us all of the blessings in our lives. I am just so blessed by family and friends that I could do a whole post about it, but instead I am going to write about a blessing I received in the mail from my polka dots and rick rack partner, Susan. Look at all of these great polka dotty goodies!

Isn't Susan just too sweet? You all know how I love aprons, LOVE THEM! Isn't that just the cutest apron? And check out the pin, isn't that a great idea?

It is too cute. I have already been prancing around the house in it. Thanks so much, Susan! It was such a fun swap. Susan's family is in need of some mighty prayer warrior's and I know some of you are up to the task, so please head on over to her blog. I certainly wish healing for her husband and comfort to them both.

I did a bit of shopping this weekend, did you? Nuts, I tell you. I am officially DONE with my Christmas shopping. Hark, I hear a choir in the background! I also finished the binding on my mom's quilt she made in August. She has been really busy lately, so I figured I would just finish it. We also made a dozen cookie mix jars. Someone in a previous post asked what recipe I was using. We made 6 M & M bar cookie jars and 6 sand brownie jars both out of a cookbook I own.

I have not been doing much sewing. I guess I am in a bit of a rut. I have lots of projects started and none to really report on except for these tissue holders I made for my girlfriend's purses.

Aren't they cute? On my to do list: 3 charm bags for buddy's teachers, 2 more sets of holiday towels, finish my Christmas quilt and send it off to the quilter, 2 different kinds of bags for myself, sash my cottages together, and finish my NYB. It is a long list, this is why I am in a rut I think. Realistically I would like done before Christmas the 2 towel sets, the 3 bags, and perhaps one for myself. I can work on my quilt over break, and the rest can wait.

On a closing note, a few posts ago someone left me a message about my swimming monkeys quilt (Just monkeying Around) and wondered what pattern I used. However, this person didn't leave me anyway to contact them! If you are still out there reader, you should know that it was a pattern from PS I Love You and I bought the book at JoAnns.

Speaking of handmade gifts. . .

Check out these nice hand knitted mittens I received from my friend, Judy. They are so snuggly warm! What a nice (and early) Christmas present. Our weather has recently changed to quite chilly (30's), so this is just in the nick of time! Plus, it's snowing here today!

I enjoyed reading everyone's favorite handmade presents stories so much, I thought I would share mine. Coincidently this was also made by my friend, Judy. It is an adorable sunflower wall hanging I asked for when I was just a teenager. I have used it every year since.

I am sure you are wondering who won the drawing? Buddy did the drawing honors and pulled out Cheryl's name! Cheryl, if you would email me your address, I will get that sent out. I am sure in the year to come there will be more giveaways, so keep checking back!

Quilt Giveaways Galore

Wow, so many generous quilters out there. It makes a girl happy to post about it, it truly does. Ladies, there are lots of great giveaways out there right now and you should check them out. First of all, Dana is having another crazy quilt giveaway. Everytime I think this gal has gone nuts giving away one of her gorgeous quilts to some stranger, she goes and out does herself! This time she is not giving away one quilt, but 3! She had some help from some generous friends and quilters this time. So, what are you waiting for? Go enter! A big thanks to Dana and all of her quilting elves.



Secondly, Camille over at Simplify is giving away a quilt of YOUR choice. I know, I cannot believe it either. You choose your favorite Thimble Blossoms pattern and she'll make it (most likely in her fabulous Cotton Blossoms fabric line). So, head on over here to enter. A big thanks to Camille for her generosity.

I know I kept teasing about a giveaway and I think technically this should be the entry. Sighh....I have been a bit overwhelmed trying to get Christmas projects done and I know you can all relate to that. I will finish up the project and it will be GIVEAWAY time, I promise.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Sorry bloggers, I have been gone for awhile. I have been busy (as I have read so have many of you) working on Christmas projects. TOWELS, TOWELS, TOWELS. . .to be exact. While I was visiting my folks, I was busy whipping up lots of these.

Mom helped some, but a lot of it was a one gal show. She kept the 4 she worked on and these are the rest of the lot. I think I am sending the bathroom hand towels to some friends. The kitchen towels I am dividing up and giving one towel with a homemade cookie mix jar to buddy's daycare workers. I think that should make a nice gift together.


Thanks for all of the buddy love. He had a great Halloween. I think we have enough candy for the year! He did get a lot of compliments on his chaps. He is just one cute, buckaroo!