I'm back

I am back.
I took a hiatus from writing for a while. I was struggling trying to figure out what I wanted to write. I was looking for that light, those words that I knew would be worth reading. While, now I know.

Tomorrow is Winston's 4th birthday. I can't believe that my pup is no longer a puppy but a dog and that I have had him for over 3 years. I feel that time has started to fly. This year I shopped local for his present. I went to a small local pet store and got him some chew toys designed to clean his teeth. I have been bad at brushing his teeth lately so I am hoping this will help.

I have also started working on birthday presents for my son. I have decided to do 25 books as a count down for Christmas. Each day in December we will open a new book to read at bedtime. Both my husband and I are very excited to do this. We have 6 books already wrapped. Even though my son is only 10 months, we believe this will be a great family tradition. 

Where are you Christmas????

I love Christmas time. More or less, I love what leads up to Christmas. No, not Thanksgiving, but Advent. I know, not everyone believes what I believe, but sometimes I wonder where did Christmas go?  Lately, all I see are add on TV about getting the most expensive and greatest new toy on the market. People line up on Thanksgiving day to go Black Friday Shopping and it is all about the deals, deals, deals.


What happened to Christmas cookies? What happened to decorating the trees? What happened to singing Christmas Carols? What happened to spending time with your family?

I feel like little CindyLou Who from Dr. Seuss's  How the Grinch stole Christmas,  I really wonder where Christmas went? I don't know, maybe I'm just being reflective and crabby. What do you all think?


On a  different topic, what about the animals? People, please don't give a dog or a cat as a gift only to have given it up by Easter time. When you adopt a pet into your  family, they are yours to keep in my mind until the day that they die. And please, please bring them inside where it is warm and not sub-zero outside.

Ciao,

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,
  I haven't sent you a letter in a long time, but figure why not now? There are only a few things I want for Christmas, besides everything listed in this song.

I want the school shootings to stop. I don't understand why they happen. I feel bad for the families of the victims, but I also feel bad for the family of the suspects. Of the shooters, because they suffer a heart ache too. I think, maybe, there is a solution somewhere out there, and with you being Santa, you can help find it.  You are suppose to represent good old Saint Nick, a patron saint of children, whose feast day is December 6th.  You also represent magic, and belief in all things good. With this special time of year, Jesus's birthday coming up, I wish (even though I would like these items) not for baby items, camera, sewing machines, and such, but for their to truly be peace. 

Ciao,

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree

Just some of my favorite ornaments

Pinteresting Sunday-Christmas

This will be my last Pinterest holiday post because I will not be around next Sunday. I plan on spending time with family.  Today, I wanted to share some pretty decorations all posted to...you guessed it, my Holiday board on Pinterest.

An adorable snow man

A Wall nativity scene- I really want one, but ti keep up most of the year. 

A cork-board covered with wrapping paper or holiday fabric- as you get all the Christmas cards, you can pin them there for decorations. 

A Picture frame wreath- When my husband and I have a house, I will so do this. 

A yarn snowmand

 Snowflakes -these are much needed. Who would have thought WI has no snow in December?

This is very pretty. 

Merry Christmas, keep the spirit alive this season.
Ciao,

Christmas cookies.

Today I made Christmas cookies. They are for my basketball team and for a party that I'm going to on Saturday.  I made three different kinds.

1. Gingerbread cookies.

They are decorated like little basketball players.(I think my team will like that) I sadly do not have any tips for making gingerbread cookies. (Or for decorating them well) I have never made gingerbread cookies before, so I cheated and used store made dough, but the frosting is homemade. The only advice I do have is gingerbread is suppose to be soft and fluffy- you do not want to over bake the cookies.

2. I made as I like to call them Caramel Sugar cookies.

(The dough looked and smelled very yummy)

I got the recipe from Pinterest which lead me here.
 I did make some variations to the recipe. Instead of waiting for brown flecks to appear- I waited until the butter was brown. I also didn't cool it all the way and mixed some sugar in to caramelize it . I made the dough according to the recipe and it looked and smelt like those caramel candies.  Lastly, I cooked them for 10 minutes instead of 12.

I don't like my cookies too brown- ( As you can see in the above picture) so I took them out while they were a light brown. (As you can see in the below picture)

Another thing I noticed was that the cookies went flat. I feel that if I experiment with this recipe more, the cookies will be less flat and more cookie like.

And.I topped them with Peppermint Frosting.

3. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.- I was the most excited to make these. They are the little chocolate cookies with the Hersey's kiss in the center.  I made the dough as directed and  then baked them as directed. Having never  made them before, I didn't want to deviate and go off on my own with the recipe. 

I feel that I should have. After making the cookies and following everything to a T the cookies looked like an EPIC fail. Therefore, no pictures will be shown of the epic fail cookies.  But some thoughts will be made.

• I noticed that there is no butter or margarine or shortening used at all in the recipe. I feel having something of that would help a lot. The cookies can out of the oven fluffy but then the sank down like souffle when I pressed the kiss into them.
• I think I would adjust the amount of flour, sugar and such as well. The cookies expanded a lot on the cookie sheet. I don't think they were suppose to do that. 
• Maybe roll them in regular sugar and powdered sugar?

4. Frosting- I used a plain vanilla Frosting for the cookies. I then added different extracts for different flavors  The gist of frosting is to make sure everything is cold (the pan, the beaters, the sugar) the only item you may want warm is the butter and even that you don't want it to get too close to room temp. When frosting, always, take what you need and keep the rest in the fridge. When done, place everything (cookies and all) in the fridge. It will keep the cookies soft and the frosting tasting yummy.

Well, ciao for now

Pinteresting Sunday's-Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!
 Last week I did yummy different recipes for this time of year. This week I am sharing some stocking ideas and some wrapping paper ideas.  Everything comes from my Holiday board- which will lead you back to the original source.

A Hungarian Stocking- My grandfather is Hungarian- I think it would be really cool to have one of these

How to make  a stocking from a sweater- pretty cool idea

Using brown paper plus a colorful bow- very classic

A word search- look for your name.

Well,
don't forget to vote for Winston (click here). Happy Pinning and Merry Christmas.
Ciao,

Let's talk Fridays-Holidays

 Let's talk Fridays is back.(Silent cheer time) Today I want to talk about- the holidays. I want to discuss something that is very dear to me. Something that happens this time of year and causes people to get very emotional. It's calling a Christmas tree a Holiday tree.
To me, yes there are some holidays that fall around this time, but instead of putting down those who celebrate them, why not embrace and learn about the holidays. Such as- if someone says Merry Christmas to me, I would say that back. If someone said Happy Hanukkah to me, I would say that back to them. I wouldn't be offended. But, ignoring the holidays that occur at this time- just seem wrong to me.  And to me, calling a Christmas tree a Holiday tree is wrong too.
And for something funny(It's been going around the internet)

What are your thoughts?

Pinteresting Sundays plus a little extra

December has arrived, and there is no snow :( But there is one thing in the air, Christmas. I love Christmas. It's my favorite Holiday for many reasons. The main one being, it's Jesus birthday. To show how much I love Christmas, I'm making this December's Sundays all about things I pinned which are great for the holidays.
 Let us start with DESERTS!

Chocolate and peppermint

more yumminess (is that even a word?)

This pin has a ton of ideas for Christmas cookies

More cookies

Red velvet dirt cake

These pins and more can be found on my baking page

Now on to the little extra

Winston!

My little dog is in a contest and I need your help. Each week, the dog with the most votes, get so be crowned dog of the week and gets a prize from the book  A Dogs Purpose.   Winston is in the contest, and I would love for him to be dog of the week. What I need is for people to vote him( you can vote for him once every 2 days) until he wins. Please?  The like will be provided below. How one votes is pretty simple- you don't need to register, all you do is click the number of starts you want to give him.  To vote for him please go  here

  Thank you and keep pinning :)  
Ciao,