All Warm and Cozy

I know at least two squirrels that aren't going to be cold this winter! They have been busy stashing food in the ground, flower pots and trees. They have also been very busy making there nest very comfy.

The new squirrel nest is overflowing with cotton

And so are the trees

I think the squirrels raided one of our neighbors pillow stash. It has been very entertaining to watch them travel through the neighborhood trees and fences as they are rushing to their nest with cotton in their mouths. It would be very interesting to know where they found all of this batting. I predict lots of new squirrels by spring!


Happy Birthday to my brother Gary! 
Have a very special day!
I love you!

 

A Wintery Day in the Neighborhood

We're Off to See the Wizard with Dark Chocolate Mint Cookies

We are headed to preview/dress rehearsal tonight for The Wizard of Oz, which will be playing at the Newmark Theater in The Portland Center for the Performing Arts, December 16th through January 1st, 2012 in downtown Portland, Oregon. But first, I had to bake cookies!

I enjoy baking cookies for the orchestra. They are the ones playing beautiful music while unseen by the audience, in the "orchestra pit." Our son has conducted the vocal and instrumental music many times, and he hides out in the "pit." He is conducting this show, something he does often in his "spare" time; evenings, weekends when most of us are relaxing. They are always the nicest people and love to get cookies! I made a batch of the usual favorite, but decided I wanted to take two different kinds of cookies this time. I decided dark chocolate with mint sounded like a great winter/holiday choice. I found a chocolate cookie recipe over at food.com and adapted it to fit what I wanted. 

I used dark unsweetened cocoa and Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips. I put most of the chips inside the cookies, but I saved enough to sprinkle and press into the tops before baking, about 1/3 of a cup. It was the first time I had used them and I had thought the chips would be bigger than they actually were. They spread out on the pan so don't put them too close to each other on the pans for a nice round cookie.

Now to pack them up and head to the show.

We are back home after the show, 11:30 p.m. The show was fantastic! We can't wait to see it again. If you live anywhere near Portland, Oregon, you should run right out now and buy yourself some tickets.

The "pit" - where the magic happens

Enjoy!

Lace Cookies

When I saw this recipe for Lace Cookies, I had a picture in my mind of what they were going to look like. I pictured them somehow looking lacy!?! Well, I'm not sure how these cookies got their name because they don't resemble lace in any way. I won't hold that against them because they are a very tasty cookie. They really caught my eye because the recipe calls for ground almonds. You can make ground almonds in your food processor, but I had a bag of Trader Joe's ground almonds in my cupboard, waiting to be used. 

I had originally bought the ground almonds for a lemon loaf cake recipe that called for them. I made the lemon cake, but it turned out horrible. It was a bogus "recipe" that someone created and when baked, it ended up like clumpy lemon soup. Seriously! I threw it out and was determined to make something better with the remaining nuts. These cookies are very good, especially if you enjoy a little almond flavoring. I happen to like almond flavoring, but I know many people that don't enjoy the flavor at all! I plan to add a little more almond flavoring next time. They had just a hint or almond flavor and I like more than a hint. 

These cookies have only seven ingredients and are super easy to make. The only down side with these cookies is that it takes a while to get them all baked. They spread as they bake so you can only put about 9 cookies on each baking sheet, unless you have Super sized pans. They are easy and good! I plan to make them again between now and Christmas.

One last thing, the quantity is an estimate. I had cookies cooling everywhere. As they were cooling, I was packaging them up to take with me on my travels for others to enjoy, so I never actually counted them. The smaller you make these, the more scooping, baking and cooling you will have.

 

Enjoy!