Cookie Time!

At the holidays in our house I like to bring home cookies I've made and swap them with my families cookies.  We get much more variety and I still get to cook like I love to!  Usually I make typical cookies like gingerbread and sugar cookies, but this year I wanted to branch out.

First on my list of cookies is gingerbread.  Instead of the regular gingerbread, I found a recipe for drunken gingerbread cookies.  Essentially homemade gingerbread with the addition of rum.  Here's where the original recipe came from. 

Drunken Gingerbread Cookies

3 Cups all-purpose flour
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 TBSP ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 Cups dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 Cups molasses
12 TBSP (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened slightly (if using salted butter, just leave out the salt)
3 TBSP rum

For the glaze:
2 Cups confectioner's sugar
2-4 TBSP rum

Method:

In a food processor, combine brown sugar and all dry ingredients with a few pulses. Add the butter and process until grainy or sandy looking. Add the molasses and rum, and blend until the dough comes together.
Divide the dough in half and roll out to 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness between two sheets of parchment paper - refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight, or chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350f.
Once firm, take the dough out of the fridge or freezer and cut out with the cookie cutter of your choice. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving a good inch or so between the cookies. Bake until the middles have just barely set, about 8-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Cool the cookies on the sheet for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

While the cookies cool, mix together confectioner's sugar and 2 TBSP of rum, then gradually add up to 2 more TBSP until the icing is a thick but spreadable consistency.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a big dollop of icing on each one - let dry before serving.

I haven't added the icing yet.  I'm freezing all my cookies this year and frosting them when I get back home for the holidays.

Gift Giving- Scarf

This gift is one of my favorites.  I might make one of these for myself too!  I found this scarf design on Pinterest before, and it was really easy to sew a piece of stretch fabric and lace together!  Here is my burgundy one!

I thought the fabric was a plain blue, but it ended up having blue flowers on it.  It still looks pretty nice though!

Gift Giving- Apron

I love making aprons and I have a fantastic retro pattern to work with. Aprons are a tough gift to give because who really uses them anymore?  Even the one I made for myself doesn't get used very much.  I usually just throw on a t-shirt if I'm going to me making something messy.  But they are still pretty gifts to give, and hopefully they'll get some usage even if it's just for decoration.

When I ordered the fabric online for this one, I thought I was getting purple... but the colors still matched each other so it all worked out well.

This one is blue and black.  The fabric isn't the best, but it's really pretty and the black is a velvety material!

Here is my green apron.  It is still missing button details, but you an get the general idea.

Gift Giving- Purse

For this holiday season, I am making many of the gifts that Alex and I are giving.  Since I have such a sewing background I thought it'd be nice to share what I make with others.  I am planning on posting things I've made for gifts from now until Christmas.  We shall see how far I get.  I can't say who they are for just in case that person is reading the blog, but I can show off to everyone what I've been working on!

First off I'm making purses for a few family members.  I've tried to sell purses I've made before, but it's never worked too successfully... but I can always use them as gifts!  Usually I make fabric purses, but I decided to branch out for this holiday season.  I tried my hand at leather purses!  Here is the first one.  Oh, and I designed the purses as well.  No patterns, directions, etc.

 Here's another purse I designed.  This one has pleats along both sides of the purse.  My sewing machine didn't really like this one.  Though I may have just needed to change the needle on it.

And the last one I made!

New Year's Plans

I love cooking for big groups of people.  This year for New Year's, my husband and I are throwing our 3rd Annual New Year's Party in Chicago and our 5th Annual New Year's Day celebration.  Last year we had 11 people and a dog crammed into our apartment.  I'm not sure how many will be here this year, but I'm hoping it'll be more!  I've had a great time already planning the menu for the long weekend.  And the food should be enough incentive for everyone to come.  Here's what I have planned so far...

Friday, December 30th

Snacks– Fresh Tomato Brushetta and Homemade French Bread

Dinner– Steak Fondue with various dips and Tzatziki Dip with Veggies

Dessert– Peppermint Stick Ice Cream with Chocolate Shell Topping

Saturday, December 31st

Breakfast– Almond Waffles with Apple Chutney, Cinnamon Sugared Bacon

Lunch– (in the city)

Dinner– (Giordano’s)

Sunday, January 1st

Breakfast– Cinnamon Rolls, Mimosas, Manmosas

Lunch- Barbeque Ribs, Maple Ginger Glazed Carrots, Cheese Broccoli, Parmesan Potatoes, Gourmet Mac and Cheese

Dessert– Black Forest Gateau

Snacks

Cheddar Cheese Ball and crackers

Pico de Gallo and Tortilla Chips

Christmas Cookies

And all of this means that I will get to post like crazy about my cooking right around the New Year!!! 
At some point my husband I will start working out and eating well... yeah... ugh.

Cookies

I'm working on picking cookies to make for the holidays.  Usually I make very traditional cookies, like gingerbread and sugar cookies.  I'm wanting to branch out this year and try some more unique cookies.  I've been looking on foodgawker.com for recipes and found some ones I find interesting.  And here's where you come in!  I want some opinions!  Which of these sound good to you?

Drunken Gingerbread Cookies

Butterscotch Shortbread Cookies

 

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

Choco-Ancho Chili Cookies

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Swirl Sugar Cookies

A Bunch of Posts...

First off... I am apologizing because I hate technology... and I guess it hates me too. 

Second... I notice that on my last blog post that it says "I took an old sweated that was too brigand made the sleeves into wine bottle covers."  I typed sweater into my iPod and it changed it to sweated... cause that makes sense.  And the word big was changed to brigand... cause that makes even more sense.  I hate that iPods auto correct words to what it thinks I mean... when I typed it correct the first time. 

Third- I set up the next few posts on the iPod... and have since seen that they did not post.  Fail.  So this post will be all of those in one... sorry.  And now that I have a computer again I can add photos in!

November 30th's photo!  I'm not crazy about the buttons.  I'm going to rethink how to decorate them.

(Supposed to be on December 1st)

Day 26- Winter Holidays

Craft something for the winter holidays!

My Day 25- Someone elses suggestion

My days suggestion for crafting came from my husband.  He had been telling me to get a XMas tree to decorate for a while, but we hadn't gone to get one cause.. well... we're busy people.  Well he is... so I went out and bought a Christmas tree to surprise him!  I brought it home, set it up, put the lights on and decorated it! 

I texted him to tell him I had a surprise for him when he got home.  He gets home and notices some flashing Christmas lights across the room and comments that that is new.  I then point to the spot directly next to him where there is a 5 foot tree next to him on a table... he's not the most observant.

(Supposed to be on December 2nd)

Day 27- Dream Item

Is there something that you have always wanted but never made for yourself?  Well now is the time to make that dream item!

My Day 26- Winter Holidays

I crafted some ornaments for our tree because it is pretty sparse right now.  I got some clear ornaments and filled them with floor wax (it is sticky) and glitter.  They turned out ok, but I'm not completely crazy about them.  They look sort of cheap to me.

(Supposed to be on December 3rd)

Day 28- Finish a Project

Are there any projects that you started but haven't been able to finish.  Today you get to pick that project back up and finally finish it!  Hopefully!

My Day 27- Dream Item

I have been wanting a bar in our apartment for a while, but haven't known what to make it out of.  I don't have extra bookcases around and I don't have the time/money to buy wood and build my own.  I ended up deciding to make a small one out of an entertainment (DVD) case.  I've painted it and am going to put polyeurethane on top later.  For the top I lined it with corks.  I am a few short so I have to drink about 1/2 a dozen more bottles of wine to get the corks.  I measured the shelves so I can do a shelf of small glasses, martini glasses, regular wine glasses, and large wine glasses.  Additionally there is the top and the bottom shelf for alcohol bottles!