Batches 394 and 395 featured in this movie.  Both recipes scored a 3 out of 5.  However batch #395 is an excellent batch to do with kids - so easy for them to help and do pretty much the whole thing themselves.

Caramel Cereal Treats
8 cups Sugar Smacks cereal (I found them at Aldi - called Honey Smacks)
1- 3/4 cups dry roasted peanuts
1 pkg (14 oz) caramels
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tbs butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, combine cereal and peanuts; set aside.  In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the caramels, milk and butter.  Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1-2 minutes or until caramels are melted, stirring every 30 seconds.

Pour over cereal mixture; stir to coat.  With greased hands, pat mixture into a greased 15in x 10 in x 1-in. pan.  Drizzle with chocolate.  Let stand until set.  Cut into bars.

Baking with kids is not easy

I needed to make a final video for my class, an instructional video.  My plan was to make a sweet little video about how to bake with kids. It is every bit the video of how to bake with kids, including all the mess ups and stress of baking with kids.  Maybe due to me taking video of the process, I was distracted and doing too many things, the first batch did not turn out well. 

Check it out:

 https://youtu.be/_9MFNCRFvkE

Another Case

I had to make a genre specific film for my videography class.  It came to me to make a movie centered around the "who stole a cookie from the cookie jar" chant.  So I made batch #391 for the movie (and for my 3rd graders next week.

Batch #391 Sour Cream Cutout Cookies

Cookies for a friend

Batch #390 for a friend of mine who needed it - and it happened to coincide with May Day

A whole new look

I've always loved making these cookies for this cookie project, but I have not loved blogging about them.  I one time thought about making this more of a vlog, but didn't know how to go about doing that.  Now I'm in a digital video class, and I'm having fun making movies.  So maybe that's what I'll do.  So here's my movie of the 3 batches I made this week.

P.S. I'll still write the recipes on here if it's a recipe worth sharing.

Chill for 2 hours

Chill for 2 hours; my downfall every time - both in cookie baking and my life in general.  I don't think I know how to chill.  The other night a mom friend suggested after I told her I was panicking a little because I didn't get all that I wanted to get done when the kids were with the nanny - that maybe I let a few things slide.  Hmm - that is a novel idea.  Something I'm still working on.

Which brings me to the latest batches - two batches that I made for church while also preparing 3 meals for a friend in need while also preparing breakfast muffins for the fam.  I may have gone overboard that day.  It's now the last day of spring break and despite my best intentions, I haven't had a chill day yet; all my days are filled with projects that need to get done and oh yeah - my master's level course started this week too.

Going backwards this post:

#386 Mocha Crackle Cookies -
Chocolate crinkle cookies that my husband said - you made these before.  No, I made ones exactly like it, except these have coffee in them.  There's a few recipes like that in this book - almost the same thing.

I was rolling along with my 3 meal preparation and my multiple batch of cookies - and as I mixed all the ingredients - there I read it - chill for 2 hours or until the dough is easy to work with.  You'd think after 7 years of doing this - I'd read ahead when I'm planning.  I swear I do, yet I always seem to miss the chill part.

#385 Anise Cutout Cookies
There's a few recipes in the book that call for the spice anise (ahh nis).  After looking in stores I finally just ordered it from Amazon. I had never heard of this spice before  - it's smells like black licorice.  It's not well used in this cookie - I thought this cookie was rather dull and maybe a little dry.
Plus - I found a mistake in this recipe - first mistake I've found in this book. This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups sugar - divided .  However, it says to pour the sugar in, but it doesn't tell how much of the 1 1/2 cups to pour in.  Later it says to use the remaining sugar and mix it with cinnamon to roll the cookies in.  Hmm.  I guessed.

#384 Blueberry Squares
So I did get a weekend to chill.  One whole weekend up at the cabin with my sisters and mom watching movies.  Except, in preparation for this weekend, I got up at 5 am to get all that I needed to get done, done.  Including making these cheesecake like bars with blueberries on top.
They were only so so to me.  My husband says they'd be a five (out of five) if was topped with strawberries - he hates blueberries.  My sisters and mom seemed to mostly like these.  It's a fancy dessert type bar.

1 cup crushed vanilla wafers
2 tbs butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
3 cups fresh blueberries, divided
3 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbs powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

In a small bowl, combine wafers and butter;  Press into a greased 8 inch  square baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  Cool.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch.  Gradually whisk in water until smooth.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups blueberries.  Bring to a boil.  Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Stir in the lemon juice, peel and rest of blueberries.  Cool completely.

In a small bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken.  Add powdered sugar; beat until soft peaks form.  Fold in marshmallows; Spread over crust.  Top with blueberry mixture.  Cover and refrigerate until set; 45 minutes. 

#383 Fudge-filled Dessert strips
More cookies for the movie weekend.  These pie like crust cookies filled with fudge were gone quickly.

1 cup butter, softened
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
2 cups flour
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chopped walnuts
Powdered sugar, optional

In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually add the flour and mix well.  
Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Divide dough into fourths; cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until easy to handle. 

In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and milk; stir until smooth.  Stir in the walnuts.  Cool to room temperature.  

Roll out each portion of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet into an 11 in x 6 1/2 in rectangle.  Spread 3/4 cup chocolate filling down the center of each rectangle.  Fold long sides to the center; press to seal all edges.  Turn over so the seam sides are down.

Bake at 350 for 27-32 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove to wire racks to cool.  Cut into 1/2 in slides.  Dust with powdered sugar. 

#382 Little Piggy (Mickey Mouse) Sugar Cookies
I saw no reason to buy a pig cutout cookie shape - so I just used Mickey mouse to cut out this rather plain sugar cookie.  My students thought they were great - it takes so little to impress them.  The students and I wrote an acrostic poem about cookies - with these cookies as the inspiration.

Skiing!

I think I've decided one of the best things about parenting is getting to share something you used to love to do (and maybe still do) with your kids.  I rediscovered Lego's a few years back, and most recently, I captured my love of skiing.  (But maybe discovered I don't love the pain and soreness the day after).

I've been wanting to take my now 6 year old boy skiing the past couple of winters, it finally happened.  I was anxious about taking him.  Most things come to him pretty quickly and he gets frustrated easily and gives up rather quickly when he doesn't get things right away (I know, we're working on it).  Two summers ago, biking came to him really quickly, but then he fell one day and I really struggle to get him to get back on the bike. 

So I was anxious about taking him to the ski hill and spending all day there knowing full well that it might not go well and he might refuse.  We talked about it a lot before hand; he wanted to try it.  We watched videos and I took a crash course (via Youtube) in how to teach a kid how to ski.

A perfect deal came up on Groupon - $19 for an afternoon of skiing.  Fortunately my brother had equipment that he and I could use (and my brother - and the cousins) decided to come too. 

The first hour or so seemed to be going the way I feared.  He fell... a lot.  I was exhausted from helping him back up constantly - because that's a separate lesson in itself - learning to stand back up in your ski boots and skis.  But he wanted to go up the chairlift - after no successful runs on the bunny hill - and try another hill.  After getting up the chairlift successfully (big victory there!), we started down a hill.  He was almost in tears, I was sweating - then my nephew comes by and informs us that this is a blue square hill (the middle level difficulty hill) - crap.  Fortunately in the 15 minutes on the hill - we had not gone far at all.  We took off our skis and climbed up the hill. 

The green circle hill wasn't much better.  It took us 30-45 minutes to go down it (normal run would be less than 5 minutes I think). 

At this point, the kid was done.  I, trying to stay positive and keep my own frustration from showing up in my tone, voice, and body - say "let's just go take a break in the chalet.  We'll have our energy drink (my special chocolate Boost drink that he never gets to have but always wants) and we'll get some candy and whatever you want.  He announces as we walk in, "I think I'm done skiing".  Let's just see, let's just take a break.

45 minutes later I suggest, the chalet is boring, let's go out and try again.  He is agreeable but says just the bunny hill.  Fine by me. 

We get out onto the hill, up the ramp, and down he goes.  I don't know what happened, but something clicked - he made it all the way down, and fell at the bottom.  But huge success - as before he never went more than 5-10 feet without falling.  From then on, he just had it.  So much so that he got a little cocky and started to learn to "spray powder" to stop, rather than just snow plowing to stop. 

The kid wants to ski again.  He's decided we should go once a month for every winter month. 
#Momwin

So what does this have to do with cookies.  Nothing really.  Except when my siblings and I were little and we went skiing, my mom was always the "chalet support" and always had cookies.

So I made #381 Butter Wafers
A very buttery crumbly yummy cookie.

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
Colored sugar - if you want

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Combine flour and cornstarch; add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 3 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  Sprinkle with colored sugar if you want.  Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and tops are set.  Cool for 2 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks.