TwiceToddlers Mom and the Snickerdoodle Incident(s)

I love Snicker doodle cookies. I only make them at Christmastime. This year, it took me not one, not two but three attempts at making these delicious cookies. A couple years ago, for a Christmas gift, the whole Hopkins family received a recipe book of all the homemade foods and desserts my Gramma and other family members make. In this recipe book are my Gramma's Snicker doodle Cookies. This recipe calls for one cup of shortening. I have never been a fan of shortening.

Well, I used it anyway. Did you know that shortening expires? Well, it does and boy did it make my first batch of Snicker doodle cookies taste disgusting. So, there went my first batch of Snicker doodle cookies, in the trash. So, for my second batch of Snicker doodle cookies, I decided not to use shortening and one cup of butter instead. Well, with that batch, I again let it "harden" in the refrigerator overnight. Did you know that shortening allows for the cookie dough to "harden"? Well, it does. The shortening actually has a purpose when baking. The next morning when I woke up, I turned on the oven and went to my refrigerator and took out the cookie dough. I moved off the plastic I have covering the dough, it looked kind of funny. In fact, it felt soft and fluffy. This is not how sugar cookie dough is supposed to feel. So, with a little frustration, I turned on the water at my kitchen sink and poured the dough down the sink drain. As it turns out, butter does not work as shortening is supposed to. That is when I took out the Nestle Sugar Cookie Dough my DH purchased for me two days earlier. So, here I go, attempting my third, and final round of Snicker doodle cookies.

On my final round of Snicker doodle Sugar Cookie's, I rolled them into tiny balls, the rolled them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture and placed then on the greased cookie sheets on my counter. Once the cookie sheets had nine to twelve cookie dough balls on them, I placed the cookie sheets in the oven. With anticipation, I waited to see if they would spread like they were supposed to in the oven.

Well, lo and behold, my third and final attempt at baking my Snicker doodle cookies was a success! Yeah...TwiceToddlers Mommy finally got it right.!!

Now, I will give some to my neighbors and bring some to the Christmas Eve dinner tonight..

Merry Christmas to all those "third time" bakers....

TwiceToddlers, Food Dye and Christmas Cookies

Tonight, after we ate dinner, I decided to frost sugar shaped cookies with my twins. I had already made the white frosting and just needed to add the green and red food dye, to individual bowls of white frosting. Once I did this, I had my twins take off their nice, pretty dresses and put on an Old Navy T instead. This ON T is what we use for crafts which are messy. Did I say messy?

Oh yes, food dye, especially green and red, are very messy and could possibly stain, forever. So, having my twins change into something for crafts, was a good thing. The one thing I did not do, which would have been good, was to place to cookies on the cookie sheet.

What did I do instead? I took the cookies off the cookie sheet, placed four cookies in front of my twins, a different colored bowl of frosting next to them with a spoon and showed them how to put the frosting on the cookies.

The frosting and all the color, was so messy....it seemed that last year when we did this, when they were 3, it was not as messy. This year, the colored frosting got all over my white breakfast table. It is a good thing the table was easily cleanable.

But, like the Mommy I am, I freaked out...just a little. Only because I could see the colored frosting getting all over my carpet, the chair and walls. Oh, the sprinkles, of all kinds, were finding their way on the floor as well.

As my twins were doing their cutest to frost and sprinkle their cookies, I was able to take some photos of them. They did look so cute and actually had fun...

Just remember, if you attempt this at home, make sure you have a cleaning eraser (which can be purchased 2 for a 1 at the Dollar Store). They work wonders in cleaning up colorful and sticky messes.

After we frosted the cookies and Mommy cleaned up the mess, my twins went into the family room and watched The Upside down Show. I followed them in their and asked them, "Did you have fun frosting the cookies, even though Mommy kinda freaked out?" They both said, "Yes we did."

Merry Christmas my family, friends and TBM blog readers...

Merry Christmas 2009 and Happy Cookie Making...

TwiceBabies Mom and PayPerPost

I have been, off and on, writing blog articles for PayPerPost. Well, for the first time in about a year, I go back to their website and see they have done an upgrade of sorts. So, even though my email address was still valid with PPP, I had to add my full name again and re-submit my blog address.

With all this complete, I still have to confirm my blog, this blog, is mine. I have been asked to copy and paste this sentence, "Why can't the confining upgrade grade the disorder?", into my blog post.

So, here is the above sentence and now I have to go back to PPP and claim this post and confirm this indeed my blog. Here's to hoping to making a little money again through PPP. They are a fun company to write for.

TwiceToddlers and Christmas Cookies

This afternoon, or tomorrow, my twins and Mommy (that is me), plan to take some cookies over to our neighbors across the street from us. This will be the first time we do this together. Well, actually it will be my first time giving cookies to my neighbors since moving to this home a couple years ago.

Don't you just love giving! I love giving, that is, when I am not forced to give from some other entity. Giving should always be from the heart, without any strings attached.

I hope my neighbors will enjoy their Christmas cookies and have a Merry Christmas this year.

My twins and Mommy made sugar Christmas cookies with the shapes of Christmas, then we frosted them and put sprinkles on them. I made snicker doodles, banana (pecan) breads and magic cookies bars (my favorite).

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas the 2009 and Have a Happy and safe 2010 New Year!