After Mike and Sue's house, Tom was on a mission to do some Christmas shopping while I went to Shannon's for a cookie exchange. Tom wouldn't divulge any of his shopping details so I can't update you on any of that...guess it's hush hush! :)
Shannon had been planning this cookie exchange party for quite some time and I was really looking forward to it. Tom was a bit bummed since he couldn't go but I think he is happy enough since he still gets to taste test all the cookies I brought home...yum!
For those of you who aren't familiar with a cookie exchange, each person bakes their choice of cookie (not chocolate chip) and brings enough for everyone to take some home...either a dozen or a half-dozen per person. The cookies are accompanied by a recipe so we can make them again ourselves.
I made Amish Cookies...132 of them! Every surface of my kitchen had cookies on it. It smelled so good in the house though! It was a recipe from the family recipe book my mom gave Tom and I for our wedding. They came out great!! Below is the recipe for those of you who would like to try it. I ended up having to substitute almond extract since I couldn't find maple flavoring anywhere. You can order it online but I didn't have time to do that.
Amish Cookies
2 Cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups margarine
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
5 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp maple flavoring (I substituted with almond extract)
Cream sugar and margarine. Mix in eggs. Combine dry ingredients, add to creamed mixture. Mix flavorings with milk. Add milk alternatively to creamed mixture. Drop on cookie sheet and bake 10 to 15 minutes at 350. When cool, ice with confectioner sugar icing flavored with 1/8 tsp maple flavoring. Yield, about 6 dozen.
There were about 12 girls at Shannon's house and we stuffed ourselves silly with shrimp, cheese fondu, veggies and spinach dip and goodness there was plenty more! Then, if we had enough room, we tasted the variety of cookies that everyone brought. There were lime sugar cookies, prune filled cookies (they were really good), toffee crunch cookies, peanut butter, raspberry filled lemon drop cookies and so much more! There were A LOT of cookies! Good food, good cookies, and great girl time! Shannon's daughter Kaitlyn was even a part of the girl's day and I think she enjoyed herself the most...so many girls to play with! It was a fantastic day and Shannon and Erin did such a great job putting it all together. I can't wait to do it again next year! Click on the picture below to see some pictures from the cookie party. From my pictures, you would think it was a Kaitlyn party...she was just so much fun to photograph! :)
Today Tom and I went Christmas tree shopping...an event I look forward to every year. We headed down to "The Farm" on Colrain road, selected our tree and the man with the wagon cut it down for us. It was a gorgeous day to be tree shopping. I haven't decorated the tree yet but it is up and ready for the trimmings.
The rest of this past week was busy for both Tom and I but in different ways. Tom spent the whole week out hunting. He stayed at his uncle Frank's camp for the week. The poor guy only saw deer on his very last day of his vacation. Unfortunately he had no luck bringing one home. The season isn't over though and he will continue to go out when he has a day off or before work. There is still hope!
I spent the week finishing up our bedroom. It is primed, painted and everything is back in place, thank God! I was very grateful that my mom came over to help me paint on Monday...it made everything go much faster. The closet people will be here Thursday to install the closet systems so everything isn't official done yet. I'll post pictures of the final results on Thursday.
We hope you are enjoying your December so far...only 22 days left until Christmas!!
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