I've lost it

My sewing mojo.  It is gone.  I don't feel like sewing anything lately.  Ugh.  Hopefully I will find it again.  We have been slammed with snow in the last couple of weeks.  My husband is now gone, with his big machinery, to do some snow moving (i.e. BIG piles of snow) in a condo complex to make room for MORE SNOW that's headed our way mid week next week.  Hopefully he will be home sometime tomorrow.

So what did the girls do today?  Well, it's now 3:40 p.m. and Amelia is still in her pjs.  Yes, you read that right.  She refuses to get dressed.  Doesn't want to be bothered and you know what?  I'm not going to push her.  It's too late now anyway.  What's the point?

I made yummy soup today!  I have had a taste for my Mom's homemade tomato soup so I called her up earlier in the week to get the recipe.  I got all the ingredients last night and did some cooking.  Anna asked me to post the recipe and since it came out tasty, here you go!  No pictures of the soup though because well, I ate most of it!  LOL!!  I told you I was craving it!

My mom's soup has a chicken soup liquid base so I had to make a pot of her chicken soup first.  Amelia and Chris enjoyed that.

Okay, Tomato Soup.  You can make it two ways.  My mom only makes it in the summertime when fresh tomatoes are a-plenty.  She makes it in the winter only if she has prepared and frozen tomatoes but I don't have that so I did it the second way.

With FRESH tomatoes:
(20) plum tomatoes
 - chunk up the tomatoes and saute them lightly in butter to soften
- once soft, put them through a fine sieve.  Dilute with chicken stock or fresh chicken soup broth
- Bring to boil and then together for 20 minutes or so.  Lower the heat and add heavy cream. I used fat free half and half.  I added almost a whole pint of half and half.  You want a pinky red color.  If you use heavy cream, you won't have to use as much, I'm sure of it.

OR - this is the way I made it today.
(1) small can of tomato paste, lightly sauted with chicken stock (or fresh broth) to get the lumps out and add (2) 8 oz cans of PLAIN tomato sauce.  Add a bit more stock and boil that together for 10 minutes or so.  After 10 minutes, add more chicken stock for the amount of soup you want.  I think I ended up with about 6 cups of soup or so.
Simmer the pot of soup for about 20 minutes and then add your half and half or heavy cream.
Make any noodles of your choice (I made baby stars), serve and enjoy!

The tomato paste/sauce combo tasted just like my Mom's fresh tomato version.  It hit the spot!

Since posts with no pictures are boring, I'm going to show you the mountain of snow we have in our backyard right now.  Sorry for the crappy picture but I took it from the inside, through the bathroom window.

And here's a tree picture from a storm we had earlier this month.

Seriously.  I'm tired of the snow.  We will be snow covered until June.  I'm sure of it!


Enjoy your day!
Jen

Sugar Cookie Recipe

BQS (before quilting (&) sewing), I was very much into cookie and cupcake decorating as a hobby. But then I realized that someone needed to EAT all the goodies so I found another hobby... quilting and sewing. LOL.

Marsha asked me to post the sugar cookie recipe that I used for the sugar cookie crosses that I made. I forgot where I got this recipe so I don't know who to give credit too but the recipe is great for cut-out sugar cookies. AND this dough can be frozen. Bonus when you have lots of cookies to do. You can make the dough ahead of time, freeze it and use when needed. I have frozen my cut-outs, my flattened rolled out discs of dough AND my baked cookies. I'm all about saving time when it comes to sugar cookies as they take a LOT of time to decorate.

Couple of tips....
- well, I listed my first tip above. Freezing my dough.
- I bake frozen as well. At 325'F for a few extra minutes
- I roll my cookies to 1/4 inch OR 3/8 inch. Depends on my mood and how many cookies I have to make. If I have to make a lot, 1/4 inch to make use of all the dough. Not so many cookies? 3/8 inch.
- I roll my dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper using wooden dowels that I bought at the hardware store cut in half. I think the wooden dowels work better than the rolling pin spacers. AND they are much cheaper.

Okay - recipe time. Please note that the whole recipe can make up to 5 dozen, 3" cut out cookies. If you don't need that much, the recipe can be cut in half very easily.

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter (I use 1/2 unsalted butter-1/2 salt for the flavor. The recipe seems a bit bland without it).
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla (I use 1/2 vanilla - 1/2 almond. I have also make orange flavored sugar cookies, lemon flavored and strawberry flavored by using different extracts or flavorings but make sure you use 1 tsp. vanilla. The cookies taste better).
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (I usually roll out my dough and place the flattened pieces in the fridge. Once I'm done with all the dough, the first piece is ready for cut outs and baking).

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet (I bake on parchment) at 350'F for 8 to 1o minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. Cool on cooling racks before decorating.

That's it. It's a great cookie recipe. I hope you get a chance to make some.

Jen

(UPDATED with More) Cookie/Candy Swap Recipes

Some of you have requested recipes so I'm posting a couple that I have here with me at work and I will post the recipes for the cranberry bark and peanut clusters either later tonight or tomorrow. I will update this post with the other recipes.

Rice Krispy Peanut Butter Balls

1 18 oz jar of crunchy peanut butter

4 to 4.5 cups of Rice Krispies

1 cup powdered sugar

1 stick of butter, melted

1 bag of chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combin the PB, Rice Krispies, powdered sugar and butter together. Once combined, making your PB balls. You may find the mixture a bit too sticky, you can add a bit more powdered sugar or PB. When I made them, it was a damp day so I added a little bit of both. Put in fridge to firm up (about 15 minutes).

While waiting for the PB goodness to set, melt your chips. Slightly cool your chocolate and dip!

Place the PB balls on a pan lined with wax paper and cool in fridge until firm.

Hot Cocoa Cones

For each cone you will need:

Two 12" plastic disposable pastry bags

About 3/4 cup of hot cocoa mix

(I buy a big Swiss Miss canister from the warehouse store)

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Extra goodies: mini chips, christmas sprinkles, gumdrops, candy cane bits... whatever you want (optional)

1. Pour the cocoa mix into one of the bags. Trim top (if you need to) and fold the bag top down and seal with tape

2. Place the cocoa-filled bag into the second bag and place the mini marshmallows on top

3. Sprinkle your extra goodies on top (optional)

4. Tie the top with curling ribbon and attach tag with instructions

Peanut Clusters

Nonstick cooking spray

60 caramel candies, unwrapped

3 TBSP water

2 12-oz pkg chocolate chips

3 cups salted peanuts

4 TBSP butter flavor Crisco shortening (optional)

Cover cookie sheets with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, melt caramels with water, stirring often. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in peanuts. Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto prepared cookie sheets (for easier handling, spray spoon with cooking spray too). Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set.

Melt chocolate chips with shortening (adding the shortening is optional. Makes the chocolate a little "looser")

Dip caramel peanut cluster into chocolate (or drizzle on top). Place on foil-lined sheets and chill clusters for 30 minutes. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Cranberry Chocolate Bark

1 (6 oz) pkg (1 cup) of chocolate chips (semi-sweet or bittersweet taste the best)

2 oz sweet baking chocolate, cut into pieces

1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1. Line cookie sheet with foil. In small saucepan, melt chocolate chips and chocolate pieces over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth

2. Stir in almonds and cranberries. Pour onto foil-lined cookies sheet; spread to 1/4 inch thickness. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm.

3. Break bark into pieces. Store in covered container in refrigerator

Enjoy your day!

Jen