Hmmm

It's sad, really. I've been married for ten years and yet I still have no idea what to get the man for Christmas. I tend to spoil him throughout the year, so that when Christmas rolls around there is nothing really that he needs/wants.

Except for this little gem...

He wants a nose hair trimmer. WTF? Apparently, I am married to an 80 year old man, in a 30 year old body.

:)

Children's Hand Cookies

Ingredients

Makes 8 to 10 cookies

• FOR DOUGH
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, for decorating
• FOR DECORATING
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon water
• Sanding sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, and beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Add reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
4. Make cookie pattern and heart stencil while wrapped dough is chilling. For the pattern, have your child trace his or her hand on a manila file folder, and cut out the tracing. You will lay this on the dough and trace around it with the tip of a paring knife. For the heart stencil, cut a heart shape from a piece of parchment paper, discarding center.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a well-floured work surface, roll out cold dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out hand shapes. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Dough scraps may be re-rolled twice.
6. To decorate the cookies with sanding sugar hearts, lay the heart stencil over a cookie. Combine the egg white with the water in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash in the heart, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Lift stencil and repeat with remaining cookies. Bake until edges just begin to brown lightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on pans for 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

May your families find peace in wake of this tragedy...

 

Gary Scharf, 48

John McDonald, 65

Angie Schuster, 36

Maggie Webb, 24

Janet Jorgenson, 66

Diane Trent, 53

Gary Joy, 56

Beverly Flynn, 47

Mall shooting in Omaha

I can't believe it. This isn't supposed to happen anywhere, let alone my "home"town. This is Omaha...we're in the middle of a cornfield, a sleepy little city--and now 9 families won't be seeing their loved ones again. 9 families have been torn apart, and countless others damaged.

This is about a 5 minute drive from my house, it's one of my favorite shopping places and now, I dont' know if I will ever be able to go back there, without thinking about this. Last week a grenade was found in this mall's parking lot, and now this. I don't know if it is related, but it's scary.

CNN coverage

Smoked Salmon and Avocado Wraps

All you need:
2 garden spinach herb wraps
1/4 c. light chive and onion cream cheese, divided
1 (6 oz) package smoked salmon, divided
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced, divided
1/4 c. shredded Asiago cheese, divided
2 romaine lettuce leaves, divided

All you do:

1. Spread each wrap with 2 tbsp cream cheese.
2. Top each with 1/4 cup salmon, 1/2 avocado slices, 2 tbsp cheese and 1 lettuce leaf.
3. Roll up tightly and slice diagonally in half to serve.

Savory Deviled Eggs

Makes: 24 pieces
Prep: 20 minutes
Chill: at least 1 hour

Ingredients

* 12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
* 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon honey mustard
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 large pimiento-stuffed olives (about 8), chopped
* Parsley for garnish

Directions

1. Cut eggs in half lengthwise and spoon yolks into a bowl. Reserve whites. Mash yolks with a fork. Stir in mayonnaise, honey mustard and black pepper.

2. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the chopped olives. Fold remaining chopped olives into yolk mixture.

3. Fill whites with the yolk mixture. Sprinkle reserved chopped olives over the tops of the eggs. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Note: Can be made up to 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve pieces on a bed of parsley to prevent egg halves from rolling around on the platter.

Sugar cookies (From Eleni’s New York)

COOKING TIME

Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 29 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
33⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1⁄4 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 cup colored sugar, for decoration

PREPARATION

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the heavy cream. Cover dough, and chill for 2 to 3 hours, until firm.

2. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheets.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1⁄4-in. thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 in. apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.

4. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until bottoms and edges of cookies are light brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.