Cookies, wine, and a little golf

This weekend was the 2nd Annual Cookie Baking Shindig:

Last year's cookies were such a success

that you're invited back to make another mess
the girls talked and baked their little hearts away
while the guys scratched and drank to pass the day

Ladies bring old and new recipes to share
plus all the ingredients needed to prepare
I will stock up on the basic essentials
and provide all our baking utensils

Saturday night be ready to drink and party
as we celebrate the holiday with our favorite Marti(ni)
Wii games will be won and songs will be played
while we annoy the neighbors in the drunken state we made

Saturday was dedicated to an entire day of baking. Sherry, Mom, and I baked from 8am until 5pm. We made double batches of each:

Cut Out Cookies
Linzer Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Chocolate Crackle Cookies
Peanut Butter Cups (which made 200 cups. Note for next year: do a single batch)
Seven Layer Bars
White and Milk Chocolate Gorp

I forgot how much thinking actually went into baking, especially when you are doubling a recipe. If I need 3/4 cup flour for one batch, for two I need, uh... hmm... uhh... Once the proper equations were figured out, remembering if we doubled everything in the recipe was the next obstacle. I doubled the oil, but did I double the eggs? All this stress called for some Red Truck. Sherry really enjoyed her Red Truck. In fact, I think it was her personal mission to finish off that entire barrel. I will say, baking and icing got easier and easier with every sip we took.

Dad brought his Wii console, so while we baked the guys played Tiger Woods golf. They had a riot and enjoy the "fresh air" on the course. We did send them out to pick up a few things, one of those things being, of course, a barrel of Red Truck to send home with Sherry.
After we finished baking it was time for me to start dinner. I really didn't think this through properly because, after being in the kitchen for 9+ hours, who wants to go back in and start up dinner? I put the guys to work on the majority of it while I supervised. I love getting to cook for people and trying new recipes. What makes cookie weekend even more special is that I get to break out the china and stemware. Ohhh... ahhhh... I know, fancy! This happens once a year, which is fine with me, all those dishes have to be hand washed, so once a year it is! We had rosemary roasted potatoes, stuffed pork chops, and a salad. For dessert, cookies! It was a fun day, but the girls were definitely exhausted by the end of it.

Sunday the guys made us waffles from scratch for breakfast. Listening to them trying to figure out how to double a recipe was hilarious. At one point Ben realized he was using a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon, so figuring out that additional calculation was almost more than an accountant could do.

We somehow managed to still fit in some shopping. Sherry, Mom and I ventured out to Macy's and spent half a day in just the one store. What can I say, good deals, coupons, and discounts makes shopping a lot more fun!

Monday I put together a tray of cookies and a bucket of white gorp to send to the office with Ben. Monday night Ben came home with an empty try and request for more gorp. Seriously?! He 'claims' that his fellow office mates are health conscious. Well, they certainly didn't hesitate when they wolfed down 4 dozen cookies! The white gorp was the all time favorite and has actually been coined a new name thanks to the office. White Trash. Appropriate I would say. Here's the recipe, enjoy!

White Chocolate Gorp
2 pounds white chocolate
6 cups crispy rice cereal squares, e.g., Rice Chex ™
3 cups toasted oat cereal
2 cups thin pretzel sticks
2 cups cashews
1 (12 ounce) package mini candy-coated chocolate pieces
1 bag mini marshmallows

Melt chocolate in a large saucepan over low heat or in microwave until just until soft. Stir until melted. Combine all the other ingredients in big roaster pan or bowl. Stir chocolate into mixture. Turn out on waxed paper. Of course anything you like can be added or substituted-but this recipe is a great combination!

Delivery!

Guess what I got from the UPS man this week? A real wreath for my front door from Brian and Heather. I have the best brother and sister-in-law ever! Now my front door looks like the cover of a Hallmark Christmas card.

So, from our house to yours, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Turkey Weekend

It seems that, when you live away from your old hometown, when you go back to visit for holidays you cram as many things as possible into those few days and end up leaving completely exhausted. Or sick, in my case.

Here's how our Thanksgiving weekend went, :::deep breath::: went to church, had celebratory LaGondola for John & Sherry's anniversary, ate Turkey at my house, ate twice my weight in deserts at Ben's house, did some black Friday shopping where I successfully bought nothing, put up Mom and Dad's Christmas lights, had dinner with Brian, Heather and the kids, went to bed early one night, ran, did half a Crossfit workout with Paul, gave Kelly her birthday present, hosted Debbie's baby shower, attended Ben's high school 10 year reunion, got sick, and drove home sick (which may or may not have been caused by the reunion) :::GASP::::

It's when we have weekends like this, and the many others that are approaching, that I begin to wonder why everyone feels the need to cram all these events into four weeks. Why not spread it out? We are all so joyous during the holidays, why not a random Friday in February, or a Tuesday in August? Either way, I LOVE this time of year and I'm looking forward to all of the holiday festivities yet to come.

My favorite truck...

...is a Red Truck! Since visiting Sonoma there are several wines that are mass produced that we can buy at our local wine stores. We, regretfully, didn't join any wine clubs, so I have to settle for the stuff that any Joe Blow can buy. B.R. Cohn was one of my favorite wineries. We visited it on my birthday and we bought a couple of bottles from there. They have a series of wines that are all named after Bruce's (the vineyard owner) vintage car collection. Red Truck is their mass produced Cabernet Sauvignon. Well look what I discovered now that we are a Sam's club member!


When I was checking out I told Ben, "it's like a box wine." The cashier looks at me and says, "it is a box wine." Well I don't care. Because they put it in this cute little barrel, and not in a box, I bought it. Plus, it contains four bottles of Red Truck, how much more awesome can you get? So yes, this seemingly novice wine snob is going to be drinking out of a tap for the next few weekends. And yes, I'll be using my Vinturi as well.