The best sugar cookies that I have made.

I am kind of OCD when I make cookies. I mix the dough just enough, not to much. And I always add more vanilla and almond extract than any recipe calls for. When I am baking the cookies, I set the timer for half the time and then add more minutes as I go just so I can check them a billion times to get the perfect “barely golden”. It’s a process, but I think they turn out great and the time I spend obsessing about them is worth it when I bite into these yummy cookies. These cookies tasted like Granny B’s cookies when I put the Cake Mate squeeze frosting on top.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-2 teaspoons almond extract
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven at 375 degrees. In a bowl, cream the sugar and butter together. Mix in the sour cream, the egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Wrap cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours or over night – This step is important, do not skip it!!

Place cold cookie dough on a well floured surface and roll out about ¼ inch (or a bit thicker). Do not roll out too thin, or you won’t get the perfect cookies that I made (haha). Get out your cookie cutters and cut away.

Place cookies about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes, barely, barely golden. I check my first batch about 10 times just to make sure I take them out at the right time.

Let your cookies cool before you frost and decorate them.

Sweet Deal

I found a pretty cool blog, Baby Cheapskate, recently. It has all sorts of deals posted on baby deals and steals. This one http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2007/10/reader-tips-85-off.html is worth looking into! Seriously, click on the link right now and found out what I am talking about! I found these super cute pink cowgirl boots! They are listed as $18.95. So with the deal of 85% off, they should come out to $2.85, right?! One of every size and color please!

Chili and Mini Cheddar Biscuits

I LOVE the fall. I love the chilly nights and falling leaves. I love mountains full of red, orange and yellow. I love throwing on a sweater. I love cuddling up in a blanket and sipping hot chocolate. I love turning on my oven and using my stove. I love making soup and stew and chili and biscuits. I love the sound and smell of my heater turning on. It brings memories of my childhood at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. I love fall for all the things it brings to me.

Baby Shower

I have the coolest Young Women at church. They, along with a few other amazing friends in my ward, threw me a baby shower tonight. I took my camera with me, hoping it would take some good pictures, but it only takes fuzzy ones in our church building. I needed Paul there to fix it. Anywho--- There are the most amazing people in my ward! Thank you everyone for coming and supporting me! My young women decided that that they would be in charge of all the games and prizes. They passed out little napkin diapers and we all opened them and the people who got the "peepee" and the "poopy" diapers won a prize. Then they had us sit in a circle and we played the LEFT, RIGHT game. Here's the story that Rachel (13) and Nicole (14) made up, they are hilarious!

Once upon a time, in a land far far away of green jello (Utah), there was a family consisting of a woman named Kristen, a man named Paul, and a super baby named Dallin. They suddenly LEFT Utah because they heard rumors that the awesome young women in Winchester, Kentucky were needing another assistant, since the other one LEFT. RIGHT at that moment, she knew she should come and help make them scarves and soap. A year seemed to have LEFT so quickly, because now she’s RIGHT here with us. But what you don’t know is that at night, she becomes a super hero/bounty hunter. Her shoe phone rang, RIGHT in front of Paul, who had no idea of her secret identity. She fled her house to of to the crime scene. As she flew in, she crashed RIGHT into the bank owner. It took him half an hour to explain that they had $6000 and all that’s LEFT is $0.48 now. The witnesses were shouting out directions how to get the criminals: “LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, straight ahead and your there.” Kristen tried to follow those directions, but RIGHT before she got there, the criminals had already LEFT. As soon as Kristen relocates them, they’re hanging from the top of the Ale-8 factory tied up. “Who did this?” she wondered, as she turned to her LEFT to discover that Dallin the super baby had been the one to capture the criminals. Before she knew it, the police showed up, RIGHT in front of her. As the police LEFT with the criminals, Dallin the super baby and Kristen looked LEFT, looked RIGHT, and gave a sigh of relief knowing the job was done. LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT. The END.

The girls also brought Dallin a bag full of presents to open. He has not left that shiny gold bag out of his sight since then. I laughed so hard tonight. What funny, amazing girls I get to work with every Sunday! Thanks for an amazing shower, yummy food, and all the pink that now fills my home!

**Ale-8-one is soft drink. It is made right here in Winchester. It is like GOLD here, everyone drinks it. It tastes like watered down Gingerale.**

Happy Halloween!!

I get an news letter email from Lion Brand yarns weekly/monthly?? They had this project on it. I want to make this cute felted bowl. How do I felt Amy???? You are a pro at it. I am so scared to try! It is a beginner level project. I can easily crochet the thing, but the felting is so intimidating to me!

On the other hand, this little project might not get started. I have just started a blanket for someone for Christmas. Granny squares! I might give you a sneak peak......

Sandbox Substitution

Do you think that Dallin needs a sandbox? This used to be my herb planter.

Fine Dining

Kristen seems to have returned to her crafty self. Yarn, crochet hooks, thread and the sewing machine again abound in our home. Our dining table has become the craft/sewing table, as seen in the photo below:

This has necessitated a new place to eat. Fortunately, Dallin has been very generous with his resources:

The Craft Bug is Back

I think that my craft bug is finally back. It went away with a vengeance when I had morning, noon, night and every time in between sickness! Here is what I have been up to this last month. I crocheted this blanket on a "I really need to do something with my hands while I watch season premieres, but what do I have to work with now so I don't have to go to the store" night. I used a triple crochet stitch through the whole blanket so that I could weave ribbon throughout. I still need to heat set the ends of the ribbon, as you can see in the picture. I think the baby will enjoy munching on the ends!
I bought this froggy hemmed stitched blanket at the fabric store and simply crocheted a border. I wanted to try to do something a little elaborate, but my fat fingers did not like the tiny crochet hook, so I gave up and finished it simply.
These are a couple rag burp clothes and a changing pad. A friend of mine made me these changing pads, in blue, for my first baby. I needed, okay, wanted some pink ones. I loved these with my boy and have since made a few for other people as baby gifts.
Okay! I will stop with the PINK baby things! Here are a couple pillows that I finished this weekend. I love them!
And in my long search for ties for my handsome little toddler, I finally made a pattern for one. This one needs some interfacing on the back to make it more sturdy. I am so excited to finish it and for my little buddy to wear it to church!

Hidden Treasure

I found this blanket in storage the other day. I forgot it was even there. I made this blanket one evening when I was barely pregnant with my first baby three years ago. The baby was a boy, not a baby anymore, so I folded it up and put away. I made this blanket from $1/yard fabric and didn't want to worry about getting the squares cut and sewn perfectly. I just threw it all together, uneven and all and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Pseudo Sidewalk Chalk

The sidewalk chalk had been neglected to be put away (hid) the other day. Dallin found it and really wanted to color. I didn't want to go outside at the moment so we got out some black paper and colored at the kitchen table. I later noticed that it was raining outside, so I didn't feel too bad about not taking the chalk outside.
Dallin has so much fun and made a huge mess. But I found out that chalk is really easy to clean up, BONUS! It doesn't stain clothes, walls, carpet, or anything else that a marker or even a crayon would. Coloring with chalk is now our favorite thing to do! Of course he got chalk dust all over his face and he was really cute about it! He loved to see his name written and also LOVED the cars and trucks (his latest obsession) that I tried to draw for him.
We showed Paul our art when he got home from work that night. We thought that this would make a great quiet time activity to do during general conference. It turns out, Paul was more interested in coloring with chalk during conference than Dallin was. He drew me a really pretty flower and then was embarrassed when I took a picture of it!

Invasion

Dear Ant Family,

I hope you have enjoyed your stay in our home today. I feel the need to apologize to you and your relatives for sucking you all up with my vacuum, but it was necessary. Now, it is time to go, little ants. I know that Dallin is really good at leaving yummy crumbs all over the place for you pick up and drag along. But you know that your end will come soon if you keep coming back. The piles of crumbs that you have so painstakingly collected and stacked will be vacuum-ized. So please, please, please, stop coming back. I feel cruel in saying this, but you are not wanted here.

Regretfully,

The Duncan Home

Double Love

Love #1: The dollar store! I was pretty bored with my selection of dishes {cow plates or blue plates} so when I was at the dollar store today and walked past this cute little set, I grabbed them. Yes, they are plastic and cheap, but who cares! They are cute and flowery and different from what I already have. And they were just $1 each.

Love #2: Pizza Rolls! These are so yummy and so easy. I got this recipe from my sister who got it from a friend of hers that she used to babysit for.

Here is the recipe according to me:

I get the Pillsbury French Bread Dough in a can. You can use any kind of pizza or bread dough.

Take it out of the can and unroll the dough carefully on a clean surface.

Spread 4-6 oz. of softened cream cheese** on the rolled out dough.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese in a can on top of the cream cheese.

!!My sister informed me that I forgot to add one more cheese!! Sprinkle on your choice of shredded cheese (cheddar, colby jack, mozzarella). I knew they tasted a little different last night.

Next, lay out your pizza toppings {pepperoni, spinach, olives, whatever you like}.

Roll up the dough like you would cinnamon rolls, starting on the wider side of the dough.

Cut the long log into about one inch thick pieces and place rolls onto their sides on a baking sheet. A long piece of dental floss works great in cutting the dough. Just shiny it under the log and wrap it around the dough and pull the floss to cut.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until dough is golden brown. Serve with your favorite pizza, spaghetti, or marinara sauce for dipping.


**I like to take the left over cream cheese and mix it up with some cinnamon sugar and spread it on my choice of carbohydrate!

Finger Painting

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon with loads of time on your hands? I know what we did. After much persuasion, I talked Paul into having a chocolate pudding finger painting session. He didn't want to think about the mess afterward. I was prepared for the mess that I thought Dallin would make. Paul started out by painting a face to show Dallin what this activity was all about.
As you can see, Dallin decided that he would rather eat the pudding than get it all over his hands and paper.
After a while, though, he got the point and painted a couple pictures! We are so proud of our Picasso! And the mess was minimal, mostly concentrated on his face.

Boring Pudding

Who ever thought plain old pudding was boring? My hubby made some chocolate pudding so our son could pudding finger paint. He decided that he would rather eat the pudding, and so did we. But I can't eat plain pudding, so I added some graham cracker crumbs, Andes mint chips, and a dollop of cream, yummy!

Baby Girl

We were lucky enough to get another ultrasound done only a week after the first one (gender ultrasound, that is). Because the baby was fast asleep in a tight little ball the first time, the tech didn't get the pictures that the OBGYN wanted, so they brought us in only a week later. Wahoo! And it is really a girl this time. And a good thing, too, because I had already bought some clothes for her. I have a very creative and talented friend who has decided to sell some of the cute little things that she makes. I know that a lot of you reading this right now have cute little girls, so CLICK HERE for her shop, and HERE for her other shop, and HERE for her blog. adorable
adorable
adorable
and adorable!

The BLT

My favorite sandwich would have to be a BLT sandwich, with mayo and yellow mustard, on toasted whole wheat bread. Yummy! For those of you who are challenged in the language of abbreviations, a BLT is a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich. I remember visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Breseman one summer (I think we were in Michigan somewhere, they lived there and in Florida). It is sad that a lot of my memories are moth eaten, full of holes. Most of my memories that are still in my brain involve food, however. Back to the story... Visiting Grandma and Pa "B"... We all went to lunch and I ordered a BLT. I still remember that BLT for it was the first time I ever partook in a toasted BLT. I am not sure whether I had added the mustard in later years or not. But I do remember that this was the first time it was toasted. From then on, I became a BLT junkie! And if we were in Michigan, I was pretty young. I will have to ask my mom about that one.

So after that long intro to the main point of this entry... I give you a couple shots of our garden.

Behold, the garden tomato! This beautiful Roma tomato plant is already sporting 1-2 inch long fruit. Paul planted five tomato plants this year and they are all thriving. The best part is that here is the Bluegrass Region, we get two crops, one in Summer and one in Fall. A garden tomato is just what the doctor ordered for the perfect BLT! Here is a shot from our lettuce patch. We planted a mix, so we have no clue what variety anything is, but it sure looks pretty. Again, perfect for a BLT!
And now the bacon.... Sorry, no shots of our pig, which we are going to fatten up and slice into bacon strips for our BLT's!!!

Now if I only had the energy to bake my own bread... Nah!

Fusion Bites and Leftovers

Store bought won ton wrapper don't last very long in the refrigerator, so I have been trying to use them up. I needed to use them, but I REALLY wanted to make some Mexican food. OK, I really wanted to EAT Mexican food.

Mexican Won tons - an explanation, not a recipe, I never keep track of what I put in.

Filling:


Ground turkey burger
Taco Seasoning
Cream Cheese (or a mixture of cheese is yummy, like Parmesan, mozzarella, and Swiss)
Can of green chilies

Mix and place about a tablespoon of the filling onto the won ton wrapper. Wet the ends of the wrapper with water and fold to your liking. Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown. Then dip in this yummy sauce:

Chili Tomato Sauce:


Can of Tomato Sauce
Small Dash of Cumin
Dash of Garlic
More Dashes of Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper

Microwave until warm and use with your yummy won tons!

And then Leftovers... I had sauce and taco seasoning left, so I recycled them into this bean dip. Dallin loved it and ate about half of this bean dip during a Conference Session on Sunday.


Bean Dip: (you don't have to use the fat free, but I can assure you that this did not taste fat free!)

1 can of fat free refried beans
8 oz. cream cheese, fat free
taco seasoning (about half the packet)
the rest of the chili tomato sauce (recipe above)
mozzarella cheese, enough to cover the top
sliced green onions

Spread beans on the bottom of a shallow casserole dish (mine was 9x11in). In a separate bowl mix the cream cheese and the taco seasoning together. Then spread this mixture on top of the beans. Pour the chili tomato sauce on top of the cream cheese mixture and then sprinkle with the cheese and the green onions. Bake for 30 mins at 350-375 degrees. I put it under the broiler for a bit at the very end. Serve with chips of your choice.

Adventures in Thrifting

I decided to give thrifting sweaters a try I went to Goodwill and found loads and loads of things that I could buy. I ended up getting two bed sheets, and three sweaters all for $11. The bed sheets have such fun, vintage patterns that I can't wait to cut up and make something out of. The mossy green sweater was already felted a bit, so I am going to felt it a bit more. There was a pink chenille sweater that I pulled apart and made Maggie, the whale (next to maggie in the picture is Max, the octopus, a product of my scrap yarn experiment). And then there was the SUPER large, grey hoody pullover. I got so much yarn out of this one, although the quality of the yarn is not that good. It is quite thick, which is nice, but... I will try to explain it how Paul did. (It was made in Ecuador, by the way). Paul's description, "They had the sheep and the loom and the knitting machine all right next to each other and there was one long piece of wool/yarn that went from one station to the next. No cleaning, or removing burrs and dirt, just one continuous string." If I could illustrate, there would be a drawing of the whole contraption.This is a picture of the yarn drying after I washed it for the second time. I am actually glad that the yarn is so "shoddy" because I can experiment with it a lot and not be afraid to ruin it. I am planning on dying it all different colors. I read on a blog somewhere (and of course I can't find it anymore) about dying yarn with Kool Aid. Sounds like fun, probably smells good, too!

To Me, Pure Indulgence

Chicken fingers are one of my many favorite foods. They are yummy, yummy, yummy! But I can never eat one plain. It has to have creamy honey mustard to dunk it in. I love my honey mustard sauce, so I made one that was a litter lower in fat. Somehow, eating fried chicken fingers with this low-fat sauce, made me feel a little better about cheating on my diet!

Honey Mustard Sauce:

3 parts low fat mayo
1 part yellow mustard
1 part honey, honey
A few grinds of pepper

Whisk and devour!

Picture perfect

I have to thank my friend Loralee for this great idea. The picture board she made for her daughter was so cute. I wish I had a picture of it, pink rick-rack and all! I finally got pictures printed for the photo board that I made for Dallin's room. It only took me two months to order them! Digital camera's are my favorite, especially since I take twenty pictures of one thing and only one actually turns out decent. The problem is that I never get around to printing them. I need to be better at it and get some scrapbooking done with them or something. Back to the picture board... I haven't decided if little yellow stars will find their way onto the mini clothes pins to tie the flag theme together or not. Maybe in two more months.

Sail Away

With Dallin's room evolving into a sailboat theme, the step stool that I have been planning on making him for a while had to have a sailboat on it. I purchased the unfinished stool at Michael's and made my own template for the boat. I got out my acrylics and painted away, making sure every line was as straight as possible (ha ha, I can never make a straight line). I waited for the paint to dry. Then.... Like every other paint job I do, I have to make it look old and dirty. I got out the electric sander, held my breath, and "ruined" the paint job. I love this technique.

botón, bouton, ボタン, κουμπί

Any way you say it, they are still fun and fancy free. After a long two week wait, I received my "vintage button lot" from ebay in the mail. Now, what to do, what to do???

Way too many PJ bottoms?? Oh Scrap!

After cleaning out my closet the other day and finding about 15 pairs of pajama bottoms, I thought that Dallin could use a rug for his bedroom. I picked out 3 pair of somewhat coordinating pairs and started ripping. I then ran to the store and grabbed a couple dollar yards of dark blue fabric and went to work crocheting. I LOVE it and Dallin has pointed at it so I think that means he likes it too! Close up shot... Some of these fabrics came from bottoms that were given to us by family members, so it was nice to still have them around, and not off to Good Will.

One Dollar Vase

My friend and I found these cute Spring vases at our local dollar store, ONE DOLLAR! Too bad I brought it home and promptly knocked it over and broke it!

One done, it's a miracle!

I finished this blanket a couple weeks ago. I am so proud of myself for actually finishing it and not putting in a corner to gather dust. Some people think that the best part of a project is finishing it. I love finishing projects, yet I love the creative process that I go through while I am making something. I get bored easily doing the same thing all the time, however. Thus my billions of unfinished projects. Anyway, the blanket is finished and only a little crooked in spots. But, hey, I made up the pattern myself, so it came out better than I thought it would!

Dinner for one... and 1/2

Boy, it is late and I am tired. I often put off going to bed, just for the quiet time that I get all by myself. Dallin took a nap from 1pm to 5pm, I couldn't stand to wake him up. It was a great afternoon for me. One of those nap times where nothing got done but vegging. And oh, how I love to veg after a mentally exhausting morning full of toddler. The long and late nap resulted in a late bed time. After three attempts of putting a screaming little boy into bed and then pulling him out of bed, he finally got to bed at 9:30. I am a big fan of the 7 o'clock bed time, but tonight, we snuggled together on the couch watching Arthur and American Idol late into the night. There is nothing better than a snuggle. I have been jonesin' for some fresh garden produce lately. That's not happening, however, so I opened up a can of diced tomatoes and made dinner for one and a half. The half comes from Dallin sitting on my lap, poking and prodding my bruschetta and nibbling every piece of bread on the plate. Here is my "lazy woman's a little of this, a little of that" version of bruschetta:

One can of diced, peeled tomatoes
A little salt and ground pepper
A little dried parsley
A little dried oregano
A lot more dried basil
A little garlic powder
A shot of balsamic vinegar
About a tablespoon of dried onions

Combine and chill long enough for flavors to meld and for dried ingredients to rehydrate (this makes me feel REALLY lazy, but it works) then return to room temperature to eat. I sprinkled a bit of parmesan cheese on top as well.

For the bread I drizzled extra virgin olive oil on the slices of yummy multigrain mini french bread and put it under the broiler until toasty. I then rubbed the bread with a clove of garlic. Then top the bread with the tomatoes and eat it all up, soooo yummy!

Leftovers tonight??

I have been trying to figure out what to do with all my leftover scraps of fabric and yarn. They just sit around, gathering dust and feeling lonely. In order to use these extras up, I have put myself on a buying freeze (except the $6 cash that I found in my pocket the other day, which, by the way is hard to find in any pocket these days and the Lowes gift card that has $5 on it). Here is what I came up with. I designed this purse that I am going to call "Grass". I only spent $2 on the handles and the rest is made out of scrap yarn. I have a lining pinned in it, but I am not feeling the love from it, so I might have to make a trip to the fabric store. I found this tubing in the plumbing department. It is amazing what kind of ideas you can get by scouring the aisles of a home improvement store.

Cuz' I'm Dreamin'

I have a very talented and crafty friend (she is a super seamstress) who has the coolest blog. I love to look at it and the fun things that she makes. Her most recent entry shows some cute button flowers that she just bought. The other night, after reading her blog, I had a dream. In this dream I was making those same button flowers, except they were a bit different. I was sticking spice drops onto wire and putting them in a big ceramic vase. So, after waking up and laughing at myself and my odd dreams, I had to make them. Here is what I came up with. I like the "hope of Spring" that they bring. I AM ready for Spring! Thanks for the inspirational dream, Sara!