Christmas Gifts {May's "Treat of the Month"}

Ok, I must admit, I was just squealing when I put this gift together for Kim!

I had seen a cookies made by a cookie friend that I've mentioned before, Tami, from here or you can check out her facebook page  right here. She does AWESOME work!

Well, in February, she had posted some awesome chocolate covered strawberry cookies and some cookies that looked like chocolates...you know the kind you get in a box...different shapes and sizes. They were so cute!!

But, when I saw the strawberries, I knew that is what I was going to make for Kim for her May treat.
I had a blast making them!! I did some in my favorite vanilla sugar cookie recipe, and some in a favorite chocolate sugar cookie cut out recipe. You can find the chocolate cookie recipe over here. I just LOVE it! She's another cookier that I admire...she does great work and her recipes ROCK!

I had saved a Driscoll's Strawberry box and, like I mentioned before, I squealed when I put this gift together!

Now, it gets sad....

The USPS lost the box....

Ok,  they didn't really "lose" the box...it just got misplaced...for about 2 weeks!!!

I was sooooooo excited for Kim to open this treat that month and to hear back from her...and I heard nothing....I waited, and nothing...waited some more....nothing....

Knowing this wasn't like her at all, I jumped online to see when they got delivered and to my horror saw that they were "out for delivery" like 3 days earlier....so I contacted her to see if she got them, and she had not. We traced them to a sorting facility 30 minutes from her home...and there they sat for the next 10 days all the time saying "out for delivery"

The clerks at my local post office were in contact with the clerks there and "no one" knew what happened!

Well, Kim did receive these and she thought I had sent out another box because they were still ok to eat!!

....and she did love them...just like I knew she would!

I know, accidents happen, things get lost, people make mistakes....I have found that the best way to "live life today" is to forgive others quickly, forget other's mistakes and realize we are all human...

...it really is a good way to live....

Until next time....forgive someone today, forget someone's mistake that caused you stress...and hug a human!! You'll feel so good....

Christmas Gifts {April's "Treat of the Month"}

Wow, it's just been a blast sharing with you my "Treats of the Month" gifts for a very special friend of mine in Virginia this past year.

The last few Monday's I've shared with you what I sent her in January, February and March.

Kim, my bestie in Virginia, who is the recipient of these treats, loves coffee....loves, loves, loves coffee...

Actually, it's a wonderful past time for her and I to meet up for coffee times together. I moved from Ohio to Indiana back in 1998 and we were about 2 hours away from each other. We'd meet up half way for coffee and we cherished these times....

In May of last year, Kim had her first grandbaby...not only that, she had 2 sons get married and a third son engaged...she was propelled into empty nest season almost overnight...

and.....she moved....all the way to Virginia....to be near this dear one...

Isn't it cute how her mom held up the cookie I sent her for this picture...she's so clever!

Anyhow, back to my April treat....so, we were talking about coffee...and how much Kim loves coffee...so much that she told me once that if she doesn't have time to have a cup of coffee before work she has been known to grab a handful of coffee beans and eat them on the way to work....that's a coffee lover right there...

So, for April, like every other month, I wanted to do something special, and since we hadn't had many opportunities to get together for coffee since her move to Virginia, I had coffee on the brain to send her....

I came across this recipe, right here and knew in a minute this was her treat.

I followed the recipe exactly except I baked it in a pan and cut them into bars so they would fit in the cute little boxes I had found at Hobby Lobby.

They tasted as good as they looked....it was a buttery, soft chewy bar, with bits of chocolate and an occasional crispy crunch from the espresso beans...kind of like a coffee party in your mouth!

When I ate these bars {since I didn't send them ALL to her}, I'd think about our special times together over coffee....

Talking about life, and how we were living it, seizing the moments to be together...little did we know when we started these coffee times together how limited they'd be in our future...

Miss you dear friend!!

Until next time, enjoy those moments you have with your besties....



Christmas Gifts {March's "Treat of the Month}

The last two Monday's I've shared with you my gifts for my bestie in Virginia this year. I gave her a "Treat of the Month" from "Tracie's Sweet Boutique" aka, my kitchen.

Today, I'm sharing with you what I sent her in March:

Easter happened to be in March this year, so Easter cookies were on the menu.  I found the cute little box at Walmart and it was all the inspiration I needed. Are those carrots cute or what??

I am part of a cookie group on Facebook and one of the cookie artist that I hang out with "virtually" is Tami from Tami Rena's Cookies. Check out her facebook page right here and her blog over here. She is a great cookie artist and I am inspired often by her works of art!

You'll see more cookies in a couple of weeks that were also inspired by Tami.

Oh, since we're sharing pages here, feel free to check out my other cookie creations over on "Tracie's Sweet Boutique's" facebook page....right over here

Until then, life is happening all around you...seize it and live it fully!

Christmas Gifts {February's "Treat of the Month"}

Well, last Monday, I shared with you my Christmas gift I did for a bestie of mine this past year.
My gift to her was a "Treat of the Month" from "Tracie's Sweet Boutique" aka, my kitchen...

For February I put together this package:

Isn't that jar cutter just the cutest thing ever?? I just love it. It was actually a gift from a friend for doing some cookies for her daughter's bridal shower. Here is a picture of the same cutter used as a different cookie:

I had a blast making these for her daughter's bridal shower...
This cutter was purchased here
I've seen them offered by other vendors too, so you could google "jar cutter" for more options.

I want to make a "bug" jar for my grandson Micah...fill up this jar w/little fireflies....

Up next Monday is March's gift...

Until then, live your life as if today is all you have....oh, wait...it is....

Christmas Gifts {January's "Treat of the Month"}

I gave a bestie of mine a special gift for Christmas this year.

You know those fruit of the month clubs? Well, I did something like that, but not fruit...I made up a gift card that told my friend that she was going to get a "Treat of the Month" from "Tracie's Sweet Boutique"....aka, my kitchen!

Well, it's July and it's been a blast coming up with a new treat of the month...so I thought I'd share them with you through out this year....Perhaps you will want to bless a friend with a "Treat a Month" from your home this year...

So, for January, I put together this little package:

I made up some homemade hot cocoa and put them in those tall bags made for chocolate covered pretzels.
I included some chocolate dipped marshmallows. I just poked a sucker stick in a large marshmallow and then dipped one end of that in melted chocolate and then rolled them in crushed candy canes.
Kim also got some of my hand decorated snowflake sugar cookies.
I just loved making these for her...she loves snowflakes so I knew these would make her smile.

Finding the blue mug just rounded out the gift and finished it off.

Stay tuned...I'll share with you next what she got in February!

Until then, live your life on purpose today....it's all you have....

Cookies, Valentine's and my Mother-in-Law....

Valentine's Day is this Thursday...
Thinking about this upcoming Valentine's Day made me think of cut out cookies...

My mother-in-law {Shirley} and I used to make cut out sugar cookies and decorate them together every February for Valentine's Day plates. We'd get together the weekend before the holiday and roll and cut and talk and chat and learn more about each other in the process.

As a young gal I  had little experience at making cut out cookies. I always wrestled with sticky dough that rolled out terribly..usually cut them way to thin which resulted in a hard crunchy cookie.

I didn't like making {or eating} cut out sugar cookies...definitely not worth the mess.

And then as a new bride,  I learned his mom LOVED to make cut out sugar cookies....one year she asked me to make them with her...and a yearly tradition was born...

Making cut out cookies with her immediately started out different...she had an awesome, soft, nutmeggy {is that even a word?} cookie recipe that rolled out like play dough...oh was it fun to play with the dough. These cookies baked up nice and soft and had a wonderful delicious flavor and smell.

After they cooled, we'd whip up this soft, fluffy frosting. Now, I have to be honest with you here, after all that work rolling, cutting and baking up these beautiful heart cookies, I always felt a bit disappointed with the final product after frosting them with this wonderful, fluffy frosting.

They were ugly.  {in my humble opinion}

They tasted heavenly and most people LOVED the cookie platters they received from us, but, the "presentation" of these cookies was  lacking. Those of you that have frosted cookies with a fluffy frosting know what I'm talking about....it's just kind of messy and they don't look real pretty and they don't stack nice on a plate, and you can't package them up pretty.....

Fast forward to today, and Shirley has been gone for the last 12 Valentine's Days. Along with her went our traditional Valentine's Day cut out cookies...

but since then, along came Pinterest....and pictures of beautiful cut out sugar cookies...works of art really...using a Royal Icing so they could be detailed...stacked....presented oh so beautifully!

and then, I thought...

                                I should try this....

                                                                so I did...

and...
I liked the final product....so much that I kept trying and perfecting and playing in dough.

My new hobby developed into a love for cut out cookies...time invested in rolling, cutting and baking is oh...so...worth it... in the smiles it brings to those who recieve them.

I'm no expert, and I don't have any cookies on Pinterest {yet} but I've found a wonderful new hobby that brings back precious memories of my mother in law and the time we spent together every February....rolling, cutting, chatting and getting to know each other better!

I'm so glad I lived in those moments yesterday...they are precious memories today.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day this Thursday. Live in the moment and make a memory!

You can see my gallery of sweet things on my Facebook page HERE

Though I don't use this recipe in my creations today, I thought I'd share the memory with you! Enjoy!!

Mom Smith's Sugar Cookies

4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups suga

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. nutmet

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk {approx}

 

Sift together all the dry ingredients.

Mix in the shortening w/a pastry cutter.

Break the 2 eggs into a one cup measuring cup. Fill to the one cup measure with milk. Mix this with the dry ingredients. Knead on a heavily floured surface until you can roll it out and cut. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake at 325* for 8 minutes. Cool and frost.

Fluffy Decorator's Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup shortening

3 t. vanilla

2 egg whites

3 T. cold wather

1 t. lemon juice

Dump in a large mixer and whip until light and fluffy. Add color and frost cookies.