"I Hate Valentines Day"

Remember the movie "Valentines Day" that came out last year? It had every famous person alive in it? Well Jessica Biel's character was a mess the whole day because she hated Valentines Day. She even went so far as to have a "I Hate Valentines Day Party". Now I may be a newlywed, completely in love and all that jazz, but I love that idea.

My feelings about Valentines Day are mixed. I love all of the hearts and pink things you see when you go in a supermarket but the actual day? Eh, not so much. Every year I build it up in my head even though I PROMISED myself the previous year that I wouldn't do that again and then... Something always happens. One Valentines Day, I spent 3 hours at a gas station in my car that was broken down and my cell phone was dead. I just had to wait for someone to find me. That was a great one.

 Last year was the worst because my brother had gone into the hospital for a serious condition the day before. My husband (Then Fiance), bless his heart, has never really "gotten" holidays. He doesn't really see why they are important. I remember walking up to him at work last year and saying "So.. You really didn't get me anything? Like, I am not going to go home and find flowers, am I?" Poor thing, didn't know what to say. He just stuttered a little and said "I thought with everything going on with your brother, you wouldn't even want to think about Valentines Day"... Oh, men.. Their logic is so completely backwards sometimes.

So these cookies are for all the girls that consider themselves "chronically single", for the girl that just broke up with her boyfriend of four years, for the cynics that refuse to buy into a "Hallmark Holiday", for those of us whose husbands/boyfriends/ whatever has to work that day, and for everyone else that just hasn't ever had a good Valentines Day.

Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe

This post should be entitled "Forget Perfection Part 2". It could also be titled "Last Christmas Post Until Next Year". As you can see though, neither of those made the cut.


A little news before we get started, my blog will be getting a face lift. I am so excited about it I could scream!I contacted Jumping Jax Designs and I am confident that they are going to produce something that is exactly what I want. This will be my first custom design for my blog. Exciting stuff. Unfortunately, she is really busy right now so my request is on a wait list until February 4th. I am not sure I can contain my excitement until then but I will try! One of my new years resolutions is to get serious about blogging and this will definitely give me motivation.

Anyway, on to what you came here for!

My absolute favorite sugar cookie recipe comes from My Mom. I don't know where she got it from, so don't kill me if your Mom has the same one. :)

These are the cookies that my sister's made during our Christmas baking sessions. Yes, royal icing produces a more professional, perfect kind of result but kids don't really care about perfection so we used a glaze. Plus, paintbrushes are easier for them to use then pastry bags. The glaze is super simple to make, just add milk to powdered sugar and tah dah, you have a glaze that you can color using gel food colors.

Sugar Cookies: 

1 Cup Butter

1 Cup Sugar

3 Eggs

1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla

3 1/2 Cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Salt

Cream the first four ingredients together. Mix the last three ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour a little at a time into creamed mixture. This will make a stiff dough.Use immediately in a cookie press or refrigerate for at least 3 hours to roll dough and use cookie cutters. Bake at 350 Degrees until firm and the edges are golden brown.

Picture of the glaze.

Here are some cupcakes we made as well. They did these all on their own with no help from me. They even designed them alone.

Cookies Santa Will Die For!

      I've got to be honest with you, I have been a total Grinch this year. The only reason I have been looking forward to Christmas is because I want it to be done and over with! This is SO not like me. I love this time of year normally but the combination of being so far away from my family and being extremely overworked this year has taken its toll on my Christmas spirit. I have even stayed away from reading some of my favorite blogs just because the festive creations they are coming up with would remind me of what I should be doing- Baking and blogging.
     Tonight, however, I couldn't resist reading a few blogs in my downtime. It only took one to knock me back into my baking mood. Bakergirl is amazing and has such a great blog. Her blog, in a sense, gave me that kick that I needed. I had been craving Snickerdoodle cookies for awhile now and her recipe looked easy enough and better yet, I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen! I am so glad I tried these cookies. I loved them, my brother loved them, and Colin even loved them. If Colin loves something, I know it must be good because he is SUCH a picky eater and it drives me crazy is one of his most lovable traits. :)

Snickerdoodle Cookies:
Ever so slightly changed from Bakergirl's recipe.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup canola oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 large eggs

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar & 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling cookies in 

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

Beat together butter, oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture into the butter mixture.

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, then roll each in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place balls 3 to 4 inches apart on baking sheet. Use your hand or a flat-bottomed glass dipped in the cinnamon sugar mixture to flatten the cookies out slightly.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned. Cool and then serve. 

Also, I have to show you the Christmas tree ornament that Colin's parents gave us. 

Sweet tea! Oh sweet tea, how I miss you! See the little ice cubes at the bottom and the lemon up at the top? Love it!

Despite me being a Grinch, I truly hope that you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!

Katie 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

I know, I know, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese filling are on every blog right now... That doesn't mean that I don't want to try them! This was my first time ever making Whoopie Pies and I loved them! Loved. Loved. Love. DH also loved them and when I found out the recipe makes much more than I anticipated, everyone at work loved them! The cake part is so moist, light, and fluffy and the filling is so creamy. These ingredients and tastes work so well together. It is a marriage that was just meant to happen.

Yes, these pictures are still being taken with a iphone. Horrible, I know.

First you bake all of the cookie/cake parts.

Get a pastry bag filled with cream cheese filling ready while cookies cool...

Sandwich together...

Yum. Yum. Yum.

I used this recipe from allrecipes.com for the cake/cookie part and then this recipe from Martha Stewart for the cream cheese filling. I definitely think this is something I will be making every year. These would also be a lot of fun to make with my little sisters (ages 9, 7, 6, and 2) when I see them in a few weeks. Hopefully.

I should also mention that I saw a Whoopie Pie Pan at Williams-Sonoma yesterday but I don't think having an actual pan is necessary. If you are nervous about making them and having a pan would make you more comfortable, by all means, go for it, but I used a regular soup spoon and they all came out pretty uniform in sizes. They weren't perfect but that is okay by me.

:)

Spooky Sugar Cookies

First off, I should say that I know these pictures are really bad lol. My camera is broken so I have been taking pictures with DH's iphone. The picture quality definitely isn't the highest!

I couldn't decide is ghosts should have mouths or not. I tested it on one but I made it look like he is smiling. Not a spooky ghost thing to do lol.

Pumpkins!

I had my all time favorite sugar cookie recipe bookmarked and somehow it isn't there anymore. I searched allrecipes.com hoping to find a new favorite but honestly, these cookies were horrible. I had never used royal icing before so they were more for practice than anything but still, it would've been nice for them to taste good! Oh well, my search for the perfect sugar cookie recipe continues...