Cookies anyone?

I was in the kitchen all day yesterday. I sat down for dinner and wanted to stay there. But I heard the dishes calling me. So after loading the dishwasher and washing items by hand, I relaxed a little. Ahhhhh…


Sunday we slept in, except John, as he rose early to head to Cazenovia for a day of target shooting with his brother. I was supposed to get up to exercise and get that out of the way but I stayed up until midnight so I wasn’t feeling energetic enough to roll out and exercise at 6:30. My all-time favorite show was on. The Waltons! I love the Waltons and it was a two-hour show I don’t recall watching so I watched it (I did sort through some recipes during the show so I was productive).

So around 8:30, Olivia and I got up. Olivia and I started a fire before breakfast. It has been rainy and damp so we thought we’d chase the dampness away and soak up the heat. We had the fire roaring by the time Elliott came down the hallway. After eating, the kids decided to play a game of Life. I was running up and down the stairs throwing laundry around. I folded load after load throughout the day. Very productive. I also made a batch of cookies – a new recipe. The “O” recipe. While they cooled, I played a game of Life then the kids decided to read (Olivia) or play another game (Elliott). I went back to the kitchen to frost the cookies. I also wanted needed to scrub the floor so Elliott offered to frost the cookies. I handed the spatula to him and he got to work. I headed toward the mop bucket. Do we know how to have fun at home? As I was scrubbing, see the dirt gets into the little crevices in the floor and drives me crazy, I realized I have two kids and two scrub brushes. I might be putting those two to work soon.

So the new cookie recipe I made was Old-Fashioned Brown Sugar Cookies. Let’s just say they are moist and delicious! The recipe was voted on and it’ll be added to our collection. These could become a new favorite in our home.

Old-Fashioned Brown Sugar Cookies

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lard
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 – 4 ½ cups sifted flour (I did not sift my flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

1 recipe Brown Sugar Icing

Cream together the sugar and fats. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Beat in the buttermilk and then the dry ingredients. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto greased baking sheets and bake for 9-10 minutes in a 350˚F oven.

I used my small scoop for the cookies and it made a nice size cookie - the perfect size for kids' lunches!

Once the cookies are cooled and ready to be iced, make the icing. (Don’t make the icing ahead of time as the icing thickens once it cools.) Increase the confectioner’s sugar from 1 cup to 1 ½ cups for a thickly pourable icing, or 2 cups for a more spreadable affair.

Brown Sugar Icing
1 stick butter
1 packed cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk (or half-and-half)
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the stick of butter. Add the cup of brown sugar and the pinch of salt. Stirring steadily, bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat a bit, and cook the slowly bubbling mixture, still stirring, for a full minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the milk.

Set the pan in a larger bowl of ice cubes. Stir every several minutes until the mixture has cooled down a bit (it will still be warm, though) and thickened. Take the saucepan out of the bowl of ice cubes and stir in the vanilla and confectioner’s sugar.

Frost cookies and enjoy!

As you can see, we hung out by the fire all day!

Ruddie warming up after a trip outside

Elliott warming his feet and Olivia reading after her bath

We enjoyed dinner by the fire as well...