This is my middle son, E, he has holes in his teeth and he will be the first to tell you that. We are supposed to be going to the hospital tomorrow so he can be put under general anesthesia while the pediatric dentist fixes all his cavities...still have not heard from the hospital with the time we should arrive tomorrow...my stomach hurts.
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My lemon tree blossomed, and it smells divine. Amazingly enough little fingers have yet to find it and pluck it off. |
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This is A, the baby of the family, and he is very quick to catch on to things; must be a survival tactic. |
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| K, our oldest boy with his usual deer-in-the-headlights look. I shake my head often at his antics. |
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| This is Mocha, this is K's dog, and don't buy into that innocent look she is just as rowdy as the boys. |
In addition to taking many pictures yesterday I managed to also bake those cookies I mentioned. I made sugar cookies, and I would have posted pics, however I never got to frost the darn things. As it happens many times in my home I never get to start a project and finish it all in one go, even something as easy and quick as a batch of cookies. I take multiple "pauses" throughout in order to attend to the boys' needs. This being no different from every other endeavour I had to stop so many times that dinner time rolled around so I thought I would frost them after dinner, but instead I collapsed in the fetal position on my bed after getting the boys all tucked in. I was less then motivated this morning when I came down stairs and saw the ravaged cookie tin, not that many left to make it worth the while to decorate. I guess I will have to make another batch soon, they were that incredible even naked. This time though I will make the dough the night before and let it sit in the fridge over night because it is very soft and that ate up a lot of my time because the dough should be refrigerated at least 3 hours before rolling it out. Without further ado...
BEST EVER SUGAR COOKIES
from Christy Hinrichs submitted to Taste of Home
1 C butter, softened
1 pkg (3oz) cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
FROSTING
3 3/4 C confectioner's sugar
1/3 C water
4 tsp meringue powder
food coloring
In large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and extracts. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture, cover and refrigerate 3 hours or until easy to handle. On lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown, cool 2 minutes before putting on wire rack.
Frosting: Combine confectioners sugar, water and meringue powder and beat on low just until combined, then beat on high 4 minutes until soft peaks form. Color if desired. Cover with damp towel between uses or this will harden.
Do not be afraid of the frosting, it is easy to put together and it makes a hard surface so you can stack these cookies. Meringue powder is fairly easy to find, especially if you live near stores like Williams-Sonoma, but I found mine in Michael's Arts and Crafts in the Wilton cake section.
So while I am a huge advocate of King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, this recipe is by far my favorite, as it is apparently for the other 6 people that live in the house. Did I ever mention that my parents live with us? That is a story for another day.
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