Best. Maple. Cookies. Ever.

I got a wild hair last night and decided randomly to whip up a batch of cookies.  I had a limited number of ingredients on hand, but I found a recipe for maple cookies that worked with what I had, and they are absolutely to die for!

Here is the recipe (with a few modifications, as always) in case you would like to try them yourself.  I highly recommend that you do.

Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Icing:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons  melted butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup

The Rules:
-Pre heat oven at 350 degrees
-Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside
-Mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, vanilla extract, 3/4 cup butter and egg
-Add in flour mixture and combine
-Drop on to greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until done
-Allow to cool before frosting

I decided to drizzle on the frosting just for fun.  I think the cookies would be really good with a touch of cinnamon, so I will probably add that next time.  They are a lot like a snickerdoodle, so I think they would be really tasty with a simple granulated sugar/cinnamon topping if you wanted to forego the icing.

Tortellini Soup

We have a problem in our house where I love soup and could eat it every day of the week.  Brett unfortunately does not care for soup, so it's always a challenge to come up with soup recipes that he will actually enjoy.  Lucky for us, this is one of them:

Tortellini Soup

The Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
6 cups water
2 extra-large vegetarian vegetable bouillon cubes
2 1/2 cups dried cheese filled tortellini
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired

The Rules:
1.  In a 4-quart dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.  Add celery, carrot, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender.

2.  Stir in water and bouillon cubes.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low; stir in tortellini.  Cover; simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tortellini are tender.

3.  Stir in parsley, nutmeg and pepper.  Sprinkle individual servings with cheese if desired. 

The Dish:
Makes 5 servings.  280 calories per serving, 10 g total fat, 11 g protein. 

Recipe from Betty Crocker Easy Everyday Vegetarian.  Sorry folks, I don't get much credit for this one.  

Christmas Owls

Each year I try to think of an ornament that is small and flat and will fit in a Christmas card.  I send them out to the friends and family that we do not get to see very often.  This year, I was inspired by Diversions to create this cute Christmas Owl ornament.

They have a pattern that can be found here.

Due to time constraints and general lack of organization on my part, there was no possible way for me to get all of my ornaments done in time to mail them out with the Christmas cards this year.  So, if you would like a Christmas Owl ornament, and I haven't already given you one, just message me!  I'll send one right out to ya.  There's plenty to go around, I just can't promise that they will be there by Christmas.

Happy Holidays,

~Amy  :)

Christmas Goodies

Sometimes my crafting/baking endeavors are incredibly successful.  Other times, not so much.  Things tend to be a little bit more romantic and festive in my head than they are in real life.  Kinda like last night when I said "Wouldn't it be so much more fun to hand-dip your own Oreos in white chocolate rather than buying them from the store?"

The answer is no.

It is, however, sticky and messy and tedious.  But since white chocolate dipped Oreos are one of Brett's favorite holiday treats, we'll consider it a labor of love.

Here is my one crowning victory:

And oodles of other not-so-attractive hand dipped Oreos.

No worries, though.  Even the ugly ones are still quite tasty.

These hand dipped pretzels, were much easier and less sticky and less messy to make, not to mention much more my style:

 Salty+Crunchy+Sweet=Holiday Happiness.  :)

Christmas Ornament Spruce Up

I was feeling a little bit bored this year with the Christmas ornament balls that we use as filler on our Christmas tree, so I thought I would spruce them up a bit. (Spruce--how's that for a little Christmas tree humor?)

 Here are the necessary ingredients:

-Plenty of ornament balls. I went to Big Lots and got the cheapest ones I could find. I'm not ashamed to admit that. Plus, then there's no love lost of you mess one up or drop one on your tile floor and it shatters into a million pieces. Not that I have any experience with either of those scenarios.

-You will also need some puff paint (craft glue would work too) and some glitter.

Fortunately, I still had my outrageously overpriced glitter on hand from last year's ornament project.

Then have at it! Use your glue/paint to create whatever design strikes you and then sprinkle with glitter.

After it's all dry a little rinse gets the excess glitter off.

Here are a few of mine:

 

 

 

A word to the wise: When you rinse off your ornaments do not use hot water. The hot water will cause the mysterious substance that makes the ball colored to come off. Again, not that I have any experience with this. 

I'm just sayin'. It could happen.

Deck The Halls

Christmas decorating has been in full swing here at the Vowles house.

 We went last week and picked out a Christmas Tree from Target.  It wasn't quite as exciting as years past when we have cut down our own tree, but we love our tree nonetheless.

We got the tree into place...

And then we strung it with lights and garland.

Now it's looking more Christmasy!

Finally, we hung our ornaments, and voila!

Bed, Bath & Beyond talked me into these festive red placemats to help our table be more Christmasy too.

(Have I told you about this table?  It was a $50 Craigslist find that we couldn't be happier with.  Definitely a good replacement for our other table that did not survive the move!)  

They also talked me into some cinnamon scented pine cones that I used to make this DIY centerpiece.  I just filled a pretty bowl with the cinnamon scented pine cones and added a few sprigs of glittery flowers from Michael's and you have an instant centerpiece! 

More Christmas-related posts to follow.  Happy decorating, everyone!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Ok, so I will tell you up front that I am not the biggest sweet potato fan. Never liked them. However, I was recently inspired by Homemade Iowa Life (a blog I discovered) to try out a recipe for them for Thanksgiving.

Oh. My. God.

These things are absolutely delicious. No amount of description could possibly convey how amazing these are. They are the perfect blend of flavors and spices, without being overly sweet. Definitely a new holiday favorite.

Ingredients:
-2 cups all purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
-3 eggs
-1 15 oz. can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-small marshmallows, if desired

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 standard size cupcake/muffin cups with paper cups and set aside.

2.) In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

3.) In a large mixing bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds.

4.) Add sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, approximately 2 minutes.

5.) Add in eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition until combined.

6.) Add sweet potato and vanilla, beating until combined.

7.) Add in dry ingredients and continue beating until all ingredients are combined. The batter will be thick.

8.) Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes.

9.) Remove cupcakes from the oven and sprinkle with granulated sugar while they are still warm.


The cupcakes were absolutely delicious and perfect at this point, but since it was Thanksgiving and all I thought I would add some marshmallows. If you wish to add marshmallows, pile a few on top of each cupcake and stick the whole pan under the broiler until the marshmallows are nicely toasted.


Enjoy!


.