Cookie COUNTDOWN Day 7!!!

Oh the memories rolled up in these little goodies!

I asked my Mom where the recipe originated from and she said she wasn't sure. But that this was a treat her parents made together every year to give to their friends and neighbors 

spreading JOY and good CHEER!

This is me and my Grandma.  We called her Grandma O because her last name was long and quite hard to pronounce when we were little! (I think this photo emphasizes that she had hair and I, well, didn't.)

Anyway...one day during the holiday season my mom called her parents to ask a question of some sort and her father 

(Grandpa O!)told her they couldn't talk at the moment as they were in the midst of making more of these rice krispie balls. He told her they had already delivered over 200.

TWO HUNDRED!

Wow. All I can say is...I hope that back then you could buy caramels UNWRAPPED! (I used one bag and it made 12 treats...)

So here's what ya need:

It's that simple!

Okay, but I found those crazy MASSIVE JUMBO 

marshmallows and HAD to try those too.

That JUMBO mallow makes the normal one look puny!

Ok, I digress.

First take a few hours minutes to unwrap the caramels and put them in a saucepan.

Try not to eat too many.  It's hard. But you must, for the greater good, practice self control.

(I confess I ate two)

Next, set up your assembly line. Caramels on the stove,

marshmallows with a skewer ready to dip, a bowl of Rice Krispies, and parchment paper for cooling.

Next, melt the caramels.  Add two Tbs.of water and heat over a double boiler until smooth. If melted caramels seem too thick, add another Tbs of water.

Now...it's time for dipping:

YUM! Now ya gotta work fast and roll that beauty in the Rice Krispies. Sorry, I couldn't snap a pic of that step, my hands were kinda covered in cereal! I plopped the covered marshmallow in the krispies and used my hands to sort of pack the cereal on there and make a nice ball.

Let them cool and then those delicious morsels are ready to SHARE! Or....horde.

I love making these at Christmas time now.  I had forgotten about them because when we lived in Europe I could only get strawberry flavored marshmallows. Eeewww! 

But as I made these again, I enjoyed thinking of my Grandparents that are no longer with me.

I also get to take out this work of art that my Grandma O made.  She was amazing with yarn!  She would put this beautiful knitted afghan on her bed in December and you would get a peek of it when you walked down the hallway of her house.  It's utterly gorgeous!

And yes.  I know where I get my creativity.

I love a legacy, don't you???

We hope you've all enjoyed our little cookie countdown!

We've had a great time baking and hope the smell of warm butter is also wafting through all of YOUR homes this Holiday Season.

Make sure you get your comments posted, because tomorrow, December 17th, we will announce our winner!!!

Oh...and since I've had my fair share of marshmallows today, I thought I'd leave ya with a little song...

Cookie COUNTDOWN Day 5

Are ya cookie'd out yet?

Today marks the official first day of my 

Christmas Cookie baking.

I always kick it off with THIS special recipe

because today is my daughter's Birthday, 

and she'd rather have a whole panful of these

than a Birthday cake!

It's a special recipe from a friend of mine

who grew up in South Africa.

The only ingredient that might throw you for a loop is

this:

Golden Syrup.  

Very important!

It's lighter than Dark Karo syrup, 

but in a pinch, you can substitute it with Dark Karo.

First off you make the yummy crust...

(very similar to yesterday's White Cookies!)

Pat it all nicely in a pan and pop it in the oven

at 350 degrees until golden. 

About 15-20 mins

Meanwhile...make the caramel.

YUM!

Mix butter, sugar and Golden syrup in a saucepan

and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

While it boils, stir in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk

and continue to stir another 5 minutes.

Making sure to scrape the bottom to keep it from burning.  

You may get small burnt bits, but that's okay.

After the five minutes more of stirring, it should be a 

yummy thick looking caramel!  

Pour on hot crust and spread.

(probably should keep a bit on the bottom of the pain to 

taste test after it cools!)

Let the caramel cool completely.

I actually put mine out in the garage, er, fridge to hasten the process.

When it's nice and cooled off...

Melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips in 

a glass bowl in the microwave stirring after 

each 30 second interval

Then spread the chocolatey goodness right on top of the cooled caramel shortbread.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Oh. My.

Now let the chocolate set.  My daughter loves

it when they're VERY cold.  

Last year she kept her "Birthday Pan" in the 

fridge out in the garage and everyone but her 

forgot about them. It took her a whole month, but 

she polished off the entire pan!

(she's a little skinny thing too....

I think my hips balloon just lookin' at 'em!)

So finally...

Cut and DEVOUR!

Here's the full recipe:

In between cooking and cooling time....you know, while you're impatiently waiting.  How about some last minute holiday shopping?? Have you checked out the OUTLET section in our shop? All patterns $2 and fabric $5 per/yd!  If you shop during the hop, leave us a note  letting us know you're one of our blog hoppers and we might just throw in a surprise with  your order! 'Tis the season, after all....

Cookie Countdown Day 4

COOKIE COUNTDOWN! Day #4

In our house, these are just known as...

the white cookies

All four of my boys love them.  They will eat pretty much everything, but they ASK for these.

They might be everyone's favorite.

(But here's a lil' secret...

they are also the easiest to make!)

It's not an old family recipe, at least not from my family. My mom (known affectionately as 'Mama C' in Quilt Market circles!) got this recipe from her friend Martha. (She was a wonderful quilter too!)  And so all of her quilter friends call these cookies "Martha's cookies".

We just call them "THE WHITE COOKIES".

And my boys know what I'm talking' about.

Here's the recipe:

2 cubes softened butter 

2/3 cup sugar 

2 tsp vanilla 

1/4 tsp salt 

2 cups flour

1. Mix all of the ingredients together to make the dough and press into a cookie sheet.

2. Spread powdered sugar on top (as much as you want, I use LOTS, about 2 cups!) and press into dough. A lot of it will still be "loose" on top.

3. Bake 350 18-19 min. Cut into squares while still warm.

YUM!

On a  scale of 1 to 10.... 

these cookies are about a 1 for easy!

and definitely a 10 for DeLisH-ish-NeSs!

 Do YOU have a recipe to share? 

send it to lizziebgirls@gmail.com and 

we'll post it here.

And to be entered to win a plateful-o'-fabric, become one of our blog followers...or comment on this post. (You can comment each day of our cookie countdown to increase your odds of winning!)

Cookie COUNTDOWN Day 3

Who doesn't love Chocolate and Peppermint together?

I have so many cookie recipes with this 

combo that it's hard to choose just ONE!

However...these fudge-y brownies are outta this world.

Click for a downloadable pdf of the recipe:

Peppermint Brownies

Here's another yummy peppermint/choco

combo that I tried just recently.  

WHOOPIE PIES!

I found it on 

the blog "Tater Tots and Jello"

and you can find it there too by clicking

*here*

We also have a reader recipe to share!

These are Rita's fav...

Digital recipe card customized with Smilebox

Thanks Rita! 

 If YOU have a recipe to share, 

send it to lizziebgirls@gmail.com and 

we'll post it here.

Also, just a quick clarification about our 

"rules" for entering our giveaway. 

This is what we had posted:

1. Visit our blog each day of the hop and
leave us a comment about the recipe posted that day

2.Become one of our awesome blog followers

3. On the last day, leave us a comment with a list of ALL
the recipes and if you tried any!

You do NOT need to do all THREE of these things!

If you are a one of our blog followers and leave us a comment this week, you will be entered to win. The more posts you comment on, the more chances you have to win.  The same goes for posting on the last day...it just ups your chances!  We use a random generator to choose winners, so it makes sense that the more your name is in there, the more chances your name has of being picked.  

Make sense?

Let us know if you have any questions!

Happy Hoppin'!

 

Cookie Countdown Day 2!

COOKIE COUNTDOWN!  Cookie #2

We are continuing our week of baking and sharing!

 If YOU have recipes to share, PLEASE do!

Leave a comment with your recipe, or send an email

to us at lizziebgirls@gmail.com.

Today's cookie is....well, not REALLY a cookie.

But one bite of these melt-in-your-mouth spirals of buttery goodness, and you'll agree that they need to be on everyone's favorite cookie list!

(this is me, Beth, with my mom waaayyyy back when!)

Often our favorite cookies have a great childhood memory behind 'em.  

This one sure does.

 

(Don't you love the old aprons that everyone wore back then? I had my own    

     little apron---here's a pic---when I helped my grandma bake. I still have it...it's OLD!)

My mom and grandma were ALWAYS in the kitchen baking something. Every fall it was apple pies.  Not just one, or a couple.  I'm talking like FORTY or so.  To share with friends and family, and stockpile in the freezer.

And all that extra pie dough? Yep, that's what makes up these cookies.

'Cuz who doesn't love pie crust, butter, cinnamon & sugar?  Yum!

My sister and I would just wait until all those pie crusts were made, and it was time to make the CINNAMON ROLL COOKIES!

It's super easy.  Just roll out pie dough in a long rectangle, and slather with a thick layer of softened butter.  (Lots. Of. Butter.) and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. (LOTS of sugar!)

Roll up all that sugary-buttery goodness into a long tube, and then slice.

Plop them on a cookie sheet, and bake til the pie crust is done. All that sugar gets baked on and caramelized and crusty... mmm mmmmmm!

Not too technical of a recipe...but you get the idea.

You COULD take a shortcut, and use already prepared pie dough.  

But homemade is always better, isn't it?

Really, you should use my grandma's recipe.  It's the best.  

GRANDY's PIE CRUST

5 cups flour

2 1/2 cups shortening

1 tsp salt

(mix the above with a pastry blender)

1 egg

2 tsp vinegar

cold water

(mix the liquid ingredients to measure 1 cup. Mix into dough.)

Gently roll out to make 5 or 6 pie crusts.

(or just the right amount of cinnamon roll cookies!)

So when I DO bake pies (I do...sometimes!) then I always use THIS recipe, and I always make cinnamon roll cookies.

But sometimes, I just make the cookies.

And it always brings back great memories.

Keep on blog hopping'! There are LOTS of other blogs to visit!

Click *here* for the list.

Have fun hoppin'! 

And come back 

for more cookie

sharing tomorrow!

and don't forget...

At the end 

of the hop 

we'll be giving away...

A PLATEFUL OF YUMMY FABRIC GOODIES!!!

Wanna win?

Here's how:
1. Visit our blog each day of the hop and
leave us a comment about the recipe posted that day

2.Become one of our awesome blog followers

3. On the last day, leave us a comment with a list of ALL
the recipes and if you tried any!

See you tomorrow!

Cookie COUNTDOWN! Cookie #1

Welcome to our 

MERRY CHRISTMAS COOKIE COUNTDOWN!

We're gearing up for a FUN week of baking and 

sharing.  If YOU have recipes to share, PLEASE do!

Leave a comment with your recipe, or send an email

to us at lizziebgirls@gmail.com.

NOW....LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

First up....is the cookie my kids are anxiously waiting for.

It's one my mom used to make for Christmas and was

definitely MY favorite growing up. 

I asked her where she got

the recipe and she thinks she

clipped it out of the newspaper 

back in the 70's.  

I think that's the equivalent of finding a recipe on a blog and 

pinning it to Pinterest.

Anyhoo!  She never had a name for them.  They were the 

no-bake cookies.  So, my sister and I decided, a few years ago,

to deem them with a name.  We call them...

"Grammy Grahams"

Would they win a grammy?  Sure, if cookies could, they would 

definitely be a top runner!  But no, we use the word to lovingly 

describe my mom, who is Grandma to these other two lovely 

ladies posing with me in these pics.

And "Grahams" because the basic yumminess has to do with 

graham cracker crumbs!

BTW...these pics were from a photo shoot last 

year as the recipe was featured in the Nov/Dec issue 

of the Mark Lipinski's Christmas 365 magazine.

NOW...they are the feature cookie in OUR 

Dream. Laugh. Create. eMagazine!  

To get the recipe....

Simply click on Issue 3 over there 

-------->

on the right sidebar.

The recipe is on page 27!

And enjoy some fun Holiday crafts as well!

The list of other blog hop participants is UP!

Click *here* for the list.

Have fun hoppin'! And come back for more cookie

sharing tomorrow!  I'm off to buy some mini-marshmallows....