Yummy Lemon Cookies

Christmas Cookies 2010 #2 Yummy Lemon Cookies
Yummy Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 Cube Butter
2 Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
3 TBL Lemon Zest (4-5 lemons for juice and zest)
15 oz Ricotta Cheese (regular)

Directions:

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, ricotta, then add flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix well, scoop out and place onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 13 min. Place on wire rack to cool.

Lemon Glaze
2 1/4 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Zest
4 1/2 TBL freshly squeezed Lemon Juice

Blend together and spoon over warm cookies that were placed on wire rack.
*Place wax paper under wire cooling racks to catch drips of Lemon Gaze.

**Enjoy within two days or freeze and enjoy another day!!!

Happy baking!!!
CCG

***When I froze my cookies I glazed them before I froze them and they were delicious even frozen!!!!***

Rolo Cookies

Cookie recipe #1 from Christmas Cookies 2010 Rolo Cookies! Rolo Cookies

Ingredients:
1 Pkg Devils Food Cake Mix
2 TBL Flour
1/2 Cup Oil
2 Eggs

Directions:
Combine all ingredients together in a mixer and mix until combined.
With a large spoon or cookie scoop, scoop out dough.
Place Rolo candy in the middle and roll into a ball.
Roll balls in granulated sugar till covered on all sides.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 min. till the cookie barely cracks.
Cool cookies on a cooling rack and enjoy!!!!!
Makes 24 cookies

Crafty Camper Girl Note:

I was not able to find Rolo candies (that were not in a party mix bag) at my grocery store, but Wal-Mart did have a generic caramel chocolate candy that looked like a Reeses Cup but was a generic of a Rolo. I used them and they turned out great!!!

Also a little dough goes a long way, you will get 24+ cookies from this recipe. You don't need a lot of dough to cover the Rolo. They will spread a little on the cookie sheet but not too much.
Enjoy!!!
CCG

Christmas Cookies 2010

So these were the yummy treats we left for Santa this year. Clock wise from the top, Rolo Cookie, Yummy Lemon Cookie, Magic Cookie Bars.

The Rolo Cookies were a new treat this year. I got the recipe from my friend Terisa at work and the kids loved them. We had lots of fun making them.

The Yummy Lemon Cookies is a recipe from my sister Julie. They are so easy to make and are a favorite of my sweet husband!

The Magic Cookie Bars are a long time favorite from my childhood. I remember my mom making these every Christmas and it was fun to make them for my kidos!

I will post each recipe individually over the coming days. I have been having Internet problems so I am late on getting these posted but I hope that now that the major storm has passed our neck of the desert things will get better!

I will also be posting instructions on how to make the 3D snowflakes as promised from my family blog.

Also for 2011 I will be making monthly posts on my favorite tools or helpful hints that I have discovered over the years! I am really excited to share these with you.

Have a wonderful and safe New Years Celebration!!!
CCG

Our Favorite Neighbor Christmas Gift

This year for our neighbor gifts (as well as Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching families gifts) we decided to go with our families favorite tradition, the bottle of sparkling juice and poppers. I decided to update it this year and called my friend Shelley and asked her to design us a tag for our bottles. I gave her the basic ideas and then she took it from there and made it FABULOUS!

So I bought a case of sparkling juice, bags of poppers, and curling ribbon and printed out the tags and Costco and went to work! I put a popper on a string for each member of the family and then attached it and the tag to the bottle with the curling ribbon. Then curled all the ribbons and Wa-lah!!! Instant fabulous neighbor gift for a New Years Celebration!!!

Now that fireworks are legal in Arizona I think I might include a few sparklers next year!!!

Christmas Sewing

I have been a very busy crafty girl this Christmas season. I wanted to share with you what I had been up to but had to wait till after Christmas as these gifts were for my family and I did not want to ruin the surprise! Some of my Christmas presents this year were monogrammed gifts. I had so much fun designing these and sewing them on my embroidery machine.

I also learned a new technique on my sewing machine, Pin Tucking!!! I bought myself an early Christmas present. A twin needle and a pin tucking foot. I had a little trouble learning how to double thread my machine but after I got the trick and the right thread (you must use the same brand and type of thread or this project is VERY frustrating!!!) it was a breeze. Now I just want to find another project to use pin tucking on!!!

What We are Having For Dinner Tonight

Crockpot Rotisserie-Style Chicken

1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
2 tsp kosher salt (if you like it as salty as at the store add 1 more tsp)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch of chili pepper
4 whole garlic cloves (optional)
1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

Directions

Skin the chicken and remove items from the cavity of the bird as well as the neck.
In a bowl combine all dried spices.
Rub spice mixture all over bird, inside and out.
Place bird breast-side down in crockpot.
If desired place garlic and onion side bird.
DO NOT ADD WATER!!!!!!!!

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8 hours in a 6 quart crockpot for a 5 pound bird. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

To find this and other great crockpot recipes go to my favorite cooking blog Here
A Year of Slow Cooking is one of the best crockpot blogs out there!!!

Our Favorite Saturday Morning Breakfast!

This is a recipe that I grew up on and have used with my little family. It is a Saturday (or Sunday if you don't have 8 am church) morning favorite around here. Sorry about the bad picture. This is what we call German Pancakes or I have also heard them called Monster pancakes.

German Pancakes

6 Eggs

1/4 cup Butter

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Milk

1 cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter into 11X7 baking pan and place in oven while preheating. Place all six eggs in blender and "liquefy" until all the eggs are blended. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Remove pan from oven and pour mixture from blender into pan and bake for 30 min. This will rise a lot while in the oven and then deflate when you take it out. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar and some fresh fruit if desired. Sooo Yummy!!!

Makes approximately 6 servings (If you only have one helping!)

Sometimes I add a little vanilla for a different taste.

Enjoy!!!

CCG