Pin 43, 44 & 45 Cookies, Cookies, Cookies (peanut butter blossoms, snickerdoodles & gingerbread butterscotch)

Busy, Busy weekend.  Seems like as it gets closer and closer to the Holidays there are less hours in a day.  This weekend just seemed crazy.  It was a sad weekend, no big time college football.  I think everyone felt lost without their Beloved Buckeyes.  My oldest daughter wanted me to take her out Christmas Shopping.  I will admit I am terribly spoiled!  I am used to being able to go out during the weekday, especially early in the morning when stores are first opening and they are completely bare.  Saturday the stores were packed!  It was madness!  She was thankfully able to get most of what she needed at one store.  The plan was to come home and do some baking, but I just wasn't feeling it.  Still trying to get over being sick mixed with a bad sinus headache equaled no baking.  That left it for Sunday.  My Baking Assistant, Miss Scarlett and I made 3 different batches of cookies.  All new to us recipes, but 1 was a new to us cookie too!

Pin 43 Peanut Butter Blossoms

Who doesn't love some good ole' Peanut Butter Blossoms?  Peanut Butter and Chocolate just go so well together.  We make these a lot during the holidays, but decided to try a new recipe.

 

Source: completelydelicious.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1/2 cup  butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup  peanut butter, crunchy or creamy
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup  sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon  salt
48 Hershey’s kisses, unwrapped
About 1/3 cup  sugar, for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

First you want to cream your butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and peanut butter.



 Then mix your other dry ingredients together (or have your handy dandy baking assistant do it for you) and add to the mixture and fold them in.



Once they are folded in you will be left with a pretty stiff dough. 



If you didn't get it ready before, put about 1/3 C of sugar in a small bowl.   Take the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough by the Tablespoon full and roll it into a ball, then roll the ball in the sugar, then place on a cookie sheet.



Put them in the oven.......bake until you start to see the cookie cracking on top.   They may look like they are not done, but once they start cracking you want to take them out.  As soon as you take them out, place your unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the middle and press down slightly.



These weren't bad, but I do think I will go back to my tried and true recipe.  These were a little on the dry side.  The kids didn't complain one bit though, and if I hadn't hid some away they would have eaten them all.   The recipe made a total of 3 Dozen.

Pin 44 Christmas Snicker Doodles

Who doesn't love a Snicker Doodle.   We love Cinnamon in this house, but this is one cookie that I have yet to find a real tried and true recipe that we love.  We decided to experiment with this one.

 

Source: lovintheoven.com via Nicole on Pinterest

  

 1/2 Butter, softened 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

You will also need 1tsp of cinnamon mixed with 2 T of Sugar to roll the cookies in...

First you are going to want to cream your butter, sugars, vanilla and egg.



Then you are going to want to mix your dry ingredients in a smaller bowl.



Add them into your main bowl and fold them in.   Then if your like me and need your mixing bowl to mix up another batch of cookies, scoop the dough into a different bowl and cover.  Then place in the fridge for about an hour.



After an hour they should be stiff enough to roll into balls.  Take about a Tablespoon full of dough and roll it into a ball, then roll into your  cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Press on to the cookie sheet.



Bake them for about 12 min.   Of course all ovens are different so just keep an eye on them.  This is another one of those cookies that you should take out right before they look completely done. 



This made about 20 cookies.......They were GOOD! We really liked them fresh out of the oven.  I'll make this recipe again, but I'm still not sure if this will be my "go to" recipe.

Pin 45  Gingerbread Butterscotch Cookies

I know, I know! Your reading the name of the cookie and thinking YUCK!  That is exactly what we did.  No one in my family is a fan of Butterscotch.  I have a few bags of chips (not really sure why) so I thought why not give it a try.  After all we do like Gingerbread.

Source: bakedperfection.com via Nicole on Pinterest

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup light molasses
1 (11 ounce) package Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 Cream your butter, brown sugar, egg and molasses ( I just love the smell of molasses)



Then mix your dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.



Throw your dry ingredients into your  main bowl and fold them in.  Once they are folded in, it's time to add your Butterscotch Chips.



Drop the cookies on to a cookie sheet using a cookie scoop (or tablespoon)  Throw them in the oven.
They took about 10 min. to bake.  and made about 4 dozen cookies.



These pictures don't do these cookies any favors.....I took them out of the oven and they smelled wonderful.  But, then again, gingerbread usually does.  Put them on the cooling racks and watched the kids gather and gawk at them.  They thought they smelled good, but you could tell they were all too afraid to try them.   So I "manned" up (I hate trying new food!) and picked one up and took a bite.  OMGosh!  These are delicious!  I guess my face must of said it all because the kids were moving past me to get their own.   They all loved them, and out of the 3 cookies we made,  these were the ones that were disappearing the quickest.  I know the gingerbread mixed with butterscotch sounds weird, especially if your like us and don't like butterscotch, but please dont' be afraid to give them a try!

Pin 42 Treating Leather Furniture with Olive Oil

We have leather furniture in our main living room.  Between 6 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats it has had a rough way to go.  The couches don't look too bad, but our chair just looks worn.  I have used leather conditioner on it regularly over the years, but it doesn't seem to matter,  5 min. after applying it, it looks yucky again.  The chair has been taken over by our English Bulldog Cinnamon.  She is always laying in it, and where she lays is where it looks the worst.   I needed to try and find something different to bring some life back into my chair, but wasn't having much luck.  Why, oh why had I not thought to look on Pinterest?!?!  In this day and age that probably should have been the first place I looked, lol! 

Source: mash-upchic.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I use Olive Oil all the time when I cook,  certainly it never dawned on me to try it on my furniture.  I  was afraid.  But the chair looked so bad...........



I took my olive oil dabbed it on my microfiber rag and rubbed away.   After the first few swipes I got over my fear,  and decided I wanted to speed up the process.  Dabbing small amounts on my cloth felt like it was taking forever.  I found an empty spray bottle and poured some Olive Oil in it, and then sprayed directly on the leather, then rubbed/buffed it in.  It went much faster and was easier for me.  The chair actually dried much faster then when I use traditional leather conditioner.  There was no oily residue on the chair at all........and my biggest fear, that the dogs would try and  lick the leather didn't come to pass either. 


This pic is actually from a week later.  This is my go to method now.  If you do try this, I recommend testing a small spot on the back of your furniture.  Better safe then sorry.  Also learn from me!  Do not leave a rag that was used to clean with olive oil on your counter.  If you do, someone will pick it up and not pay attention and try and use it to clean a bathroom mirror.  Then your mirror will be a mess!   It took me several cleanings of my mirror to be able to see in to it again, Lol!


***UPDATE***  12 days after this blog post almost 3 weeks after treating the chair, it still looks like it was just done.  A few people raised concerns about the Olive Oil turning rancid.  I called a furniture repair company in the area who works with leather and was told that as long as I just use a little, and do not do it more than every 6-8 months I shouldn't have a problem.  So use this with caution and don't over do, or do it too often.

Pin 41 Turning a Bar of Soap into Liquid Hand Soap

Still feeling like crud today, and the fact that I was still staring at my ceiling at 3 am when my alarm goes off at 5 am isn't helping.   Stupid cough! This morning my oldest son brings me all the empty hand soap containers and demands more soap.   He is Autistic and a bit obsessive about washing his hands.  So being out of hand soap is actually a pretty big deal.  I don't feel good, and am trying to avoid leaving the house if I can.   I remember a pin I saw on turning a bar of soap into liquid hand soap.  Found it on my boards, and it looked easy enough.....so the pin of the day is

 

Source: savvyhousekeeping.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I already had everything on hand that I needed.  

1 C Grated Bar of Soap
10 C water
1 TBS Glycerin
Grater
Pot to melt down the soap
Containers to pour it into




Normally I don't have Ivory in the house, but this was hiding in the cabinets in my laundry room from one of my attempts at homemade laundry detergent.  Just take the soap and start grating.  It really doesn't take that long.   Then put your soap, water and glycerin in your pot and heat it up. 



I heated mine till all the soap melted.  That didn't take long at all.  I had my burner set on Medium.  Take it off the heat .  It will be very watery.   You will probably be looking at it, like I did mine, thinking that this didn't work out like planned.   Let it cool, as it cools it will thicken.  It take a while to completely cool.



I poured mine into containers before it started to get thicker.  I figured it would be easier that way and it would cool quicker.



I can't get a good picture, but it thickened up and turned whitish.......Only problem is that is got TOO thick.....It is almost solid.   It does actually still come out of the pump though.  It does not suds a lot, but that does not mean that it is not cleaning.  Suds are usually put into products.  We will use up this batch, but I don't think this is something that I will make again.   If anybody has any tips or hints on how to improve the consistency I would love to hear them!


*UPDATE*  After the soap sitting a few days, it seemed to some how become what I would consider a normal soap consistency........My Son who is obsessed with washing his hands is using it with no problems, and his hands actually aren't as dry as they were.  I think I might actually give this another go when we run out.

Pin 40 Glittered Clothes Pin Magnets

I had ultimately planned to get a few things done today, but let me tell you this darn Strep throat is kicking my butt! Only thing this Mama has wanted to do for the past week is crawl into bed, and not come back out for days!   I seriously had to go with something simple, something that.........ummmm I might have started before I got sick (he!he!) but just now finished.  What mom does not need a ton of magnets to hang their children's masterpieces ?!?!  And the fact that this pin has glitter in it made it impossible for me to look past.

Source: thoughtfullysimple.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

This certainly seemed simple enough, and considering I always have glitter on hand (I love my glitter!) relatively cheap.  I mean you can get a pack of clothes pins at the Dollar Tree for a $1 or still pretty darn cheap even at Kroger's or Wal-Mart.  Most crafters have some sort of Modge Podge on hand, and the magnets aren't too bad either if you know where to look.  If you want the good magnets that will actually hold papers up and not start sliding down the fridge, you need the  Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets. They come in various sizes, and let me tell you these things are pretty darn powerful.  I get mine from a wonderful seller on Etsy Sun and Moon Craft Kits.  They have some of the best prices and seriously quick shipping!   I use the 1/4" magnets.  

To get started you need:

Clothes Pins
Glitter
Modge Podge
Magnets
Sealant of some kind
E6000 (to glue the magnet to the clothes pin)
Tray to catch the excess glitter



To get started you need to slather your clothes pin in Modge Podge.  Since I did this right after I used the tinted Modge Podge on the bottles, I just continued to use the tinted Modge Podge I already had. I figured you weren't going to see it anyway.



Sprinkle your choice of glitter on top of the clothes pins.  I did mine two at a time.  I only wanted two of each color of glitter.  If you are doing several of one color, you can Modge Podge them all, then sprinkle the glitter. Once they are all covered in glitter just let them dry.  You want them to dry completely before you seal them.  Sealing them will prevent the glitter from rubbing off.



Once they are dry, seal them.  I just used a clear spray paint.  It was the closest thing to me.  Once the sealant dries, you can glue the magnets to the back.


You need to use a good strong glue when you glue the magnets on.  I like E6000.  You can get it at craft stores or even at Wal-mart. Use this in a well ventilated area.  It STINKS!  This stuff is strong so don't get it anywhere you don't want it. 



Just put a dab of the glue on the clothes pin.  I found it much easier to place the magnet right over the springs on the back.   If I tried to place them higher or lower they still eased there way to the metal anyway.   Let them dry.   This will take a little bit.   When they are drying make sure you don't lay them directly beside each other, if you do you might end up with a pile of clothes pins thanks to the magnets being attracted to each other......



Once they are dry, that's it, your done.....




We'll be making more of these to go with the Teacher's gifts this year. Simple, easy and thrifty!

Pins 38, 39 Vinegar to clean a Microwave & Dryer Sheets to clean a Bathroom

Bowl of Water & Vinegar to clean a Microwave

I rarely use our Microwave.  It is definitely used by the kids in the house most of the time.  So imagine what I must have seen when I opened the door to heat up a cup of coffee.........OMGosh, I was totally grossed out.  I was so grossed out that I will NOT show of picture of it.  No one in the house seems to know how to throw something on top of what they are heating up.  You can tell that things have "popped" all over the microwave.   It also had a smell of all the food remnants left in it.  It was not a pleasant smell.   I had to do something about this, but did not feel like scrubbing it down.   Pinterest to the rescue.......

Source: craftylittlegnome.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Just put Water and Vinegar in a bowl and heat it up.......the pin said for about 5 min.  I only went a little over two.  I also don't know what I was thinking, because I kind of forgot the water part and just used vinegar!   It worked really well though, and most definitely killed any odors that had been lingering.  I could wipe off all the crud with a light swipe of a paper towel.




Now because I forgot the water, the vinegar smell was a little overpowering for a few min.  but it quickly died away..... I'm definitely going to have to remember this one!

Dryer Sheets to Clean the Bathroom (used ones at that!)

I passed this pin by a few times, before I finally pinned it.  I mean you really expect me to believe that someone uses Dryer Sheets after they've been used in the laundry to clean a bathroom?  I have used them before for other things like cleaning baseboards, keeping drawers or trash cans smelling pretty........to clean a bathroom?  That just sounds like someones lost their mind.  

 

Source: thekrazycouponlady.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I did not try mine on the toilets, but on my sink and faucet.  I hate cleaning them.  The kids always seem to get toothpaste everywhere.   Not the worst they have looked, but annoying none the less.



When I first started I realized that when the sheets got wet they made a big smeared mess.  I then took a dry used dryer sheet and went back over the faucet and it cleaned it right up and made it all nice and shiny.  I then took it all over my sink top and it shined it up really well too. 



I also tried it on my Bathroom Mirror, and believe it or not it worked really well. It didn't leave any streaks.   I couldn't find any good way to take a picture of the mirror......I do not have great photography skills!  Literally dryer sheets, that have already been run through the dryer, Wow!



The little grooves in the dryer sheets turn out to be powerful little scrubbers.   I think I will come up with some cute container to store the dryer sheets in, because these could work well in between cleanings......I would still want a cleaner to kill all the germs, so not a stand alone method. 
No harm in trying it if you already use dryer sheets in your laundry.

Pin 36, 37 Homestyle Yeast Bread & Texas Sheet Cake

Home style Yeast Bread

Nothing makes a house smell better then fresh baked bread!  I love homemade bread and was spoiled by it growing up.  My mom was always making bread.  Very Yummy bread, I might add!  Since I got to watch and help my Mom, I realized that making bread was nothing to be afraid of, and that a Bread Machine is not a necessary object.  No offense to those that have one and love it......I like to knead my bread (especially if I'm stressing! What better way to release stress then to beat a thing of bread dough, lol!)  I have a tried and true recipe, that I don't really share.  It's not that it is really a secret, just I don't really measure everything.  This pin is pretty close, and is really really really really really good!

Source: tasteofhome.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Gather all your ingredients.  This way you can make sure you have everything before you begin and if you put it away as you use it, you can make sure you don't forget to add anything!  Which is helpful if you are easily distracted like me. 

For this bread you need:

14 oz active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (margarine melted)

1 12 tsps salt

2 beaten eggs

7 cups bread flour

 

I don't use bread flour most of the time, and I have never had a problem.  I also just run the water till it feels warm over my wrist.  

 

One the easiest mistakes to make in baking anything with yeast is to kill your yeast......Always proof your yeast.  I buy my yeast in a jar.  2 1/4 teaspoons is the equivalent to package of yeast.  To proof your yeast,  put your yeast in the bottom of your bowl, add 1/4 C warm water, stir to help dissolve the yeast.  Then add 1 teaspoon of sugar, stir.



 Let it sit for a few minutes.  If it starts to foam up your yeast is good to go.  If not, wait a few minutes, check again.  If you still don't have any foam you will probably want to start from scratch.  Remember when you get to the 2C of water in the recipe to deduct the 1/4C you used to proof the yeast.  The proofed yeast should look like the pictures below.



Once the yeast is ready add the rest of your water, salt, melted butter and eggs.  I melt my butter in the microwave, and once it's melted I add the eggs directly into it.  I beat the eggs in with the butter then add to my main bowl.
 

 

Once you have your yeast, water, eggs, sugar, salt and butter mixed together in the bowl you can start adding your flour.  If you are mixing by hand I suggest starting with a cup at a time.  If you are using a stand mixer with a dough hook, then you can usually start by adding your first four Cups of flour at once.  After the the first four cups, then start adding one at a time.  It usually takes pretty close to 7 Cups.  I let my mixer do most of the work today because I still don't feel good.  I stopped it when it only needed a few min. of  hand kneading.



Spread a little bit of four on your dry clean surface.  dump your bread dough onto the floured area, and just go to it.  I basically just keep folding my dough over, into itself, pressing down and repeating.  If I'm upset and doing my bread, I've been known to punch it......



I put my dough in a slightly oiled pan, just enough to barely coat to prevent any sticking, then I cover it with a towel.  Since I'm also going to be baking some cookies I have my oven preheated, so I set the pan on the top of my stove top to cut down on the rising time. 




Now at this point you can handle your bread any way you want.  This dough is versatile enough to be rolled out and turned into cinnamon bread,  you can shape it and put in loaf pans, or my favorite way to do bread.........braid it.  I like to braid bread for two reasons, its what my my Mom did most of the time, and when you have a big family and not everyone is capable of cutting their own slices they can break of pieces easier.  I bake two braided loaves at a time, on separate air bake cookie sheets, one goes on the top rack of the oven and the other goes in the middle.  I set my timer in 10-15 min. increments and switch them up.  If you baked them in loaf pan you wouldn't have to worry about that since they could both fit on the middle rack. 

The finished product not only tastes delicious  (so good, that I had to bake a second batch just to get a picture, since the first batch disappeared before I could blink my eyes!) It's looks pretty darn good too




This is the first bread recipe that I have tried that has made me think about retiring "my" recipe.  This easily could be my go to recipe.

Texas Sheet Cake

Another thing my Mom made a lot while growing up was Texas Sheet Cake.  I just loved this stuff, and my kids have come to LOVE it too!  I've tried a few pins of slightly different recipes, and just weren't happy with them, so when I came across this pin it was perfect.  Only difference is that it called for buttermilk, instead of soured milk (milk, with a touch of vinegar)  which works pretty much the same way.

Source: ahintofhoney.com via Nicole on Pinterest

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch chipotle chili powder (optional)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Frosting:
6 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of chipotle powder (optional)

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional)

I left out the chipolte......and when I added the butter, water and cocoa I first melted everything together in the microwave, then poured into my batter.  I didn't take any pics of the process, just of the finished product. 




I only put nuts on a small part since most of the kids don't care for nuts.  This was good, but I still prefer my Mom's recipe.