Happy Birthday Madeline!

Today is a very special day, for a special little girl that came into our lives three years ago today! My best friend Kate's daughter is precious to me for many reasons, so we are celebrating her extraordinary life today! Sigh. Why do they all have to grow up so fast?! Here's a little photo-tribute to Kate & Dan's beautiful girl on the day I first met her, about 3 weeks after she was born.

Madeline Hope Conner

My first meeting with this little bird. Sigh.

Bestests with the quilt I made for M.

Momma Kate and Daddy Dan in love with their little girl.

Me and my momma with Kate and Madeline.

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

Scott got an early Christmas present. :)

Christmas Wookies! wait, no, Christmas COOKIES!!

Today's Merry Monday post has probably caused me to gain about five more pounds of holiday weight, however, it was worrrth it. 

I'm never quite sure what possesses me to go into a cookie-baking frenzy, but it happens rarely, and usually after about the second batch of cookies I'm remembering why. I had taken a personal day from work on Friday so that I could have a long weekend to get myself together before the next few weeks of absolute mayhem. Thus, I decided to break the cookie-baking extravaganza into three days.


Day One: Making the doughs. I won't be posting recipes this time around, since everyone already seems to have their own favorites, and most of these cookies were made from a variation of a regular sugar cookie dough. Nothing fancy. 

That's right. SIX sticks of butter. Paula Deen would be so proud.

However, I did decide to try a new trick that I read about: measuring out the dry ingredients into gallon size ziplock bags so that you only have to measure once.

However, I learned a pretty valuable lesson. Always read your recipe first. In my little organizational high, I forgot that in almost all cookie recipes, you leave the sugar separate so that you can cream the butter.


...oops. A couple wasted cups of flour later, I pretty much got the idea. Also a handy note, make a mark on your recipes so that you remember which ingredients you've already added.


As a whole, unless you're intensely focused on the task at hand (and not dancing like a fool to Jingle Bell Rock), it's probably a wise idea to just suck it up and wash your measuring cups a few times. Or better yet, buy five different sets of of measuring cups.


Anyways, the doughs. By the end of the day, my refrigerator looked like this:

 I labeled and wrote the time on each dough, since each has to chill
a minimum length of time.

Oh wait, did I mention I made "dough" for chocolate truffles too?

...yup, exactly. I agree with you. Don't worry, it did survive to actually
turn into truffles.

So, on to Day Two: BAKING. (and baking, and baking...and BAKING)

My dough was a little...poofy. But I hadn't planned on including
the sugar cookies in any of my gifting, because I carry a
curse when it comes to Christmas Cookie-Cutter cookies. It's true.

 I won't bore you with the details of baking day, except here are a few tips that I'll share:

• Chilling your dough is CRUCIAL. I tend to always skip the dough-chilling step because I'm impatient, but when it comes to cut-out cookies or a dough that you slice...it's essential that you keep the dough chilled through the entire process.
• The dough is high maintenance. You have about a five-minute window of opportunity between when the dough is hard as a rock from the refrigerator and when you're about to throw the whole mess out the window because it's too soft and sticky. You have to work fast.
• One word: flour. And lots of it. Flour is your frrriiieeend.
• Oven mitts are also your friend. I managed not to burn myself this time. Woohoo!

And finally, the most exciting day of all:

Day Three: Decorating Day!!

Here are the photos of the final products, and my helpers with the process.

Blackberry Jam Thumbprint cookies! (Although these were done
on baking day, since the jelly is baked too.)

Lemon cookies. Don't be fooled. Each one is about the size of
a quarter.

Chocolate Truffles!

My handsome elves.

We have to make manly cookies, right?
This is Scott's man-cookie.

Full credit to for this cookie goes to my wonderful old college roommate Grace.
She's a fabulous and well-known baker and suggested I try out these
"Melting Snowmen" cookies. Basically just any sort of regular cookie bottom, sugar
cookie or Snickerdoodle dough, with a Marshmallow as the head. SO CUTE. Thanks Grace!

Sad snowman and happy snowman.

What is THAT, you say? Why...that's a wookie!

THE CHRISTMAS WOOKIE COOKIE!! Amazing art skills are credited to Scott's
best friend Christian. 

Are you sensing my sugar coma right about now? 

Holy moly. FINALLY DONE! Sugar cookies, lemon cookies,
Blackberry Thumbprint cookies, gingerbread men, and truffles.

And that, my friends, is the end of the baking marathon. If you want any of the recipes, I'd love to share. Well, all except the Classic Decorated Christmas Cookies. That's my "Mom" Elliott's recipe, and not mine to share. ;) But anything else you can have! So just ask. In the meantime, I'll be eating a pound of lettuce and raw carrots.

Merry Monday!

Sugar Coma

Well, I've been M.I.A. for a few days and that is mostly due to the fact that I have been a cookie-making MACHINE for almost 72 hours. This only happens once every five years or so, usually about how long it takes for me to forget WHY I don't do this every year.

Now that all the cookies are baked and frosted, I'm moving about as slow as molasses in January and plan on sinking into bed early tonight, and eating nothing but salads for the next week and a half.

Don't worry, the cookies will be in tomorrow's Merry Monday post. But in the meantime, here are some of my favorite wintertime comics to bring a smile to the end of your weekend.

Oh, and if you want some lovely Christmas music to listen to while you chuckle, my best friend Kate has linked up to some great hits here.

Salsa Verrrrrrde...Enchiladas!

Nothing to warm you up during this arctic blast like some spicy Mexican food! This Thursday Dinner Feature comes to you from the wonderful Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild.


I wound up tweaking the recipe a good bit because of some grocery-shopping errors on my part. But that's life, and it turned out well this time! Let's do the recipe as it was written, and I'll note my changes.


Layered Chicken Enchiladas With Salsa Verde


Ingredients:
2 16-ounce jars salsa verde (tomatillo salsa)
2 cups sliced green onions
2 cups (packed) very coarsely chopped fresh cilantro **This is where I messed up. I have a bad tendency to always grab parsley when I mean to get cilantro. Always. So...no cilantro. Instead, I did 2 cups of baby spinach. It doesn't have much of a flavor but will still help the mixture keep its texture.**
14 5- to 6- inch-diameter corn tortillas **I used flour instead of corn, but that's because Scott and I strongly dislike corn tortillas. It's like eating rubber.**
1 purchased roast chicken, meat torn into strips (about 4 cups) **I roasted my own chicken the day before. Because I had time and it's cheaper.**
1 pound mozzarella cheese or Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 cup heavy whipping cream **as usual, I used fat-free half-n-half to try to keep my tum happy.**


Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine salsa, green onions, and cilantro (or spinach) in processor. Using on/off turns, blend until onions and cilantro are finely chopped.

At least the parsley looks pretty right?

Mmm...gooey.

Overlap 7 tortillas in bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Top tortillas with half of chicken strips and half of cheese. Pour half of salsa mixture evenly over. Top with remaining tortillas, chicken strips, and cheese. Pour remaining salsa over, then cream. 

In Scott's words, "It looks like it's growing mold."

**Note in the last picture how close the cream is to the top of the dish. I put a large baking pan underneath while it was cooking in case in ran over, but amazingly, it all stayed in the dish.**


Bake until bubbling, about 30 minutes. Cool casserole 10 minutes.

YUM! Serve with rice or beans...or if you're feeling crazy, rice AND beans.

I liked mixing my rice with the casserole. FYI - this is just a saffron rice
packet that you can find in the latino aisle at the grocery store. Delish.

It went fast.

So I'll be honest. It really does look pretty gross. But it was delicious! You can ask our good friend Christian who helped us eat it, who had two servings at dinner, and took three more home with him. (This makes 8-9 servings, and Scott and I didn't want to eat the same leftovers for a week.)


It was a smiiiidddgggeee too spicy for Scott and I, but I had it reheated for lunch and it seemed to mellow out after reheating and was just fine. Scott and I don't have a high tolerance for spicy food so this is probably totally fine for anyone who likes hot wings, jalapeno poppers, etc.


Now go, turn on Feliz Navidad and some colored Christmas lights, and enjoy this dish! :) AND...if you make it with the cilantro, let me know how it tastes! 

Holy Cuteness Batman.

So, remember when I told you about the awesome deal I got on some mailing labels made by Erin Condren through One Kings Lane?


Well my friends, this is one amazing lady!


Check out what I got in the mail:

www.erincondren.com

 Please note the handwritten card thanking me for my order! And coupons! And a business card!

www.erincondren.com

Not only did this fabulous company send my mailing labels (seen on the right) but also a sample pack of some gift tags (left). I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this whole adorable place right now.


The feature was on One Kings Lane for just a day (although I've seen her featured again since then, so I'll keep you posted if I see her again), but you should definitely check out her website. These would make great gifts for someone who just moved as a housewarming gift.


Also on my favorites list from her website are the following:

This adorable deskpad just blows my mind. 52 sheets.

I'm pretty sure this is on my Christmas wishlist.
The "Everything Book" - Monthly Planner Edition.
For weirdos like me who love Monthly planners.
Here's the link too. Someone please tell Santa?

Okay okay. I'm done raving now. Go check it out! And order some cuteness for yourself.


**I received no compensation for writing this post.  The words used, and opinions expressed here, are solely and entirely my own.**

90's Flow Chart

I wish I could take credit for this brilliance, but sadly, I cannot.

Also sad, I can't remember where I found this. So we'll just say

for copyright's sake, that this isn't mine. But I love it all the same.