Share a Spoon - COOKIE SWAP

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Share a Spoon
"C" is for COOKIE that's good enough for ME!
brought to you by
FRIENDS YOU LOVE
in honor of
International Women's Friendship Month
I love cookies.  I've said it before and I will continue to say it, there really isn't anything more friendly than a plate of cookies.  Except maybe a bouquet of daisies along side a plate of cookies!  I mean the friendliest flower and cookies?  HELLO!
Cookies are simple and perfect.  They make children smile and old people smile.  They make everyone SMILE!  What's better than bringing a smile to someone face?  Not much in this world my friends.  Not much at all!
I looked through my recipes and thought and thought about what to share with you all this week.  I have some complicated recipes that I make for gifts at Christmas time.  I have some that take time and detail to decorate.  I have even more that take preparation for days.  I nixed all those ideas, and I will share some of those as we approach the holidays, but today?  Today I wanted some recipes that are as simple as they are perfect.  
So today, we have my take on my favorite childhood favorite, and my favorite of all times!  Snickerdoodles and Peanut Butter Cookies!

Brandee's Snickerdoodles
Dough Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups Granulated White Sugar1 Cup (2 sticks) Room Temperature Butter2 Extra Large Eggs1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract3 Cups All purpose White Flour1 teaspoon Saigon Cinnamon1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon cream of tartar1 teaspoon baking soda
Cinnamon Topping:
4 Tablespoons Granulated White Sugar2 teaspoons Saigon Cinnamon
(Note:  Siagon Cinnamon has a bolder flavor, in my opinion than regular cinnamon.  Keep that in mind when preparing these cookies.  It is totally fine to leave the cinnamon out of the actual cookie and use it only in the sugar topping.)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl mix together 2 1/2 cups of the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar and eggs.  Add vanilla.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture.   The dough will be somewhat wet and sticky.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour a little a time until the dough is no longer sticky.  (You may not need all of the flour.)

Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Roll the dough into 1 - 1 1/4" balls.  Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture and add to a non greased cookie sheet.

Bake cookies for 9 - 11 minutes depending on your oven.Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack immediately.

Brandee's Peanut Butter Perfection Cookies
Dough Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar1/2 cup packed light brown sugar1/2 cup softened butter1 extra large egg1 cup smooth peanut butter1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 1/2 cup all purpose white flour1/2 teaspoon kosher salt1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Dusting:
1/2 cup extra fine granulated white sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugars.  Add egg and vanilla.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  Add peanut butter, and mix well.  Scrape down sides again.
In a small bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda.
Slowly add flour mix to the creamed peanut butter mixture.  Dough will be consistency of wet sand, not sticky.

Roll dough into 1 in balls.
In a small bowl, roll the balls to cover completely in the extra fine granulated sugar.

Place rolled sugared dough balls on a non greased cookie sheet.

Take a fork, dip in the sugar and lightly pressed from side to side on the sugared balls.

Bake in the 375 degree oven for 9-10 minutes.  Remove and let the cookies sit for a minute before moving to a wire rack to cool.

I shared my favorites.  Now it's your turn.  Break out those recipe boxes and link up your favorite cookies!
Go visit the links and make some new friends!

Saved by The Bell - Quirky Hops in The Tank

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Smackers, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.....


I love you so much that today I am sharing a really special reader of mine.  If you don't follow her....seriously, I'm not sure we can be friends.  I love her and you will too!  She really needs no explanation for you all to understand the genius that is she...THE TITLE OF HER BLOG SAYS EVERYTHING....


Without further adieu...a doo doo doo...DOO, I present  QUIRKYLOON




Once upon a time a Quirkyloon had a Quirky Son.


They shared five tempestuous and, at times,horrendous years together before Quirkyloonwas saved by the bell.


The school bell.


The day that Quirky Son #1'official education began, the angels sang, the heavens wept with joy. Yes, he entered kindergarten and our lives (especially mine-insert big smile here) changed dramatically.


Albeit, we are still sharing many joyful and, at times, horrific, moments together now that he is in the 8th grade. I still pray for year-round school.


Enter Quirky Son #2 and although we didn't share as much quality horror time together (he was adopted at age 2), I found myself anxiously awaiting the sound of the dear old school bell.


*doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo*


Pray tell! What was that sound? Ah! The sound of the modern school-day bell.


Whee!


Now he, too, is an official member of the public school system: a kindergartner who has been indoctrinated to recognize and love, okay, maybe not love, but understand: the bell.


And those bells are music to my soul!


Yet despite this most welcome onset of the beloved bells,I had forgotten something.


Something very important.


The time in the morning BEFORE the school bell rings.


It's typically a chaotic time with all sorts of scrambling of eggs and minds, reminder yells, and screaming admonishments.


"Did you brush your teeth? Well go do it now!"


"Where's your homework folder? Does it belong in the toy bin? Go get it!"


"Where are your shoes? What do you mean you can't find them? Didn't I tell you to put them in the same
spot, so we can find them?"


"What do you mean your forgot to finish your homework?"


"No, ice-cream is not a good breakfast! Now go get some Cap'n Crunch cereal!"


"Come on guys! We're gonna be late."


Surprisingly, I found myself starting to resent this quality time together.


And then?


The bell went off in my head!


Ah-ha! The wonderful bell system could come to my rescue once again.


I instituted our own at home new pre-school bell. Complete with new rules.


At 8:10 am (MST) there is a line-up in our hallway next to the entry way or in this case, the exit. What this means for my boys is that EVERYTHING must be ready by that time. They must be clothed for the day (hopefully, including clean underwear), back-packs completely;readied, water bottles filled, homework completed and placed in their folders, they must be toileted with bumms wiped clean, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed and for my thirteen-year-old, AXED (an evil and odorous deodorant body spray) for the day.


At 8:09:50 am (MST), I start ringing the bell.


"doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo!"


Yes, I make the annoying bell sound in my own home at which time, the boys line up and we exit the house together.


It's a keeper of a system!


Week three and we're still doing great!


And my vocal chords and sanity have never been happier.


Who says the public school system is sub-par?


What's that I hear?


A bell!


I don't care if another angel got his or her wings!


A Quirkyloon has her sanity back!




B.S. No bells were harmed during the production of this post. They are most revered and respected in this household.

GR8 EXPECTATIONS - A Guide to Friendship

There are all sorts of friendships.  As we are all different, so are the relationships we forge with others. 

I wrote about that when my BFF, Ducky tragically lost her sister earlier this year.  Indulge me please, I don't normally recycle posts or parts of them, but as these words were perfect, I am sharing them again.

Many friends come and go in our lives.  We meet some that only share a moment.  We meet others who stay awhile and then move on.  We have others still, that are part of our lives from childhood forward.  Then we meet the few who touch our lives so deeply whether it is for a moment, an hour, a day, or a lifetime our lives are forever changed for knowing them.

When we are fortuitous enough to meet those few, we are better for it.  They bring out the best in us.  We bring out the best in them.

I have never been a "normal" girl.  I didn't care about dolls when I was little.  I played with the boys (everyone knows boys have the COOLEST toys).  I didn't care about cheerleading or homecoming and prom in high school.   I liked muscle cars and VW Bugs.  I can change my oil, change a tire, fix an engine...you know, "guy stuff".  I like to drive fast and free, and yes, at one point I had so many points on my license, I couldn't get another ticket or I couldn't drive.

So, needless to say, my "close" relationships were typically with guys.  Somehow, that doesn't exactly sit well with the girls.  Add that to the fact that I am, and always have been, very comfortable with me, in my own skin, you can imagine THAT doesn't translate into many girls wanting to be your BFF either.  Insecurity plagues most teens and 20 something girls/women.  For that matter, it plagues many of the 30s, 40s and beyond women that I know today.

I've had a few close relationships with girlfriends but they are few and far between, and usually they are girls who are more like me.  I wrote about my BFF Shonnie from HS.  I am besties with my sisters.  I have a BFF that I don't get to see nearly enough Dawn, and then there is my BB chat girls, and of course Ducky.

It's funny because many women have come and gone as friends, but I guess I have some extraordinary standards when it comes to friendship.  By definition, to me, friendship is "special".  I don't think that my GR8 EXPECTATIONS are extraordinary requests, but you can be the judge.

1. Truth.  I have zero tolerance for liars.  None.  It's not negotiable.  Everyone who knows me, knows that is a make it or break it in relationships with me.
2. Be yourself.  I don't want you to like what I do because I do.  I don't want you to dislike what I dislike because I dislike it.  I don't want you to take up my hobbies because you think it will bring us closer.  It won't.  Just be you.
3. Listen.  I listen when you speak.  Please extend the same courtesy.
4. Do not judge me or others.  I don't expect that others share my morals or beliefs, and it isn't my place to tell them, or admonish them for theirs.  This is another deal breaker.
5. You have to have a sense of humor.  Period.  I laugh.  I laugh until I cry.  My sense of humor is lost on many, but seriously, if you can't laugh, and you take life too seriously?  We aren't going to be friends.  Get over yourself and then get back to me.
6. Trustworthy.  This is also a deal breaker.  If I can't trust you, or if I do trust you, and you betray that trust.  THAT IS ALL SHE WROTE as they say.
7. Respect.  You have to have respect for yourself and for others.  If you can't look at yourself in the mirror everyday, and say "Wow, I like myself." Don't even bother trying to insert yourself into mine.
8. Acceptance.  I will accept you for who you are, and I expect the same.  I accept everyone for who they are, and love that life offers such diversity to make things interesting.  Seriously, how boring would it be if everyone was a cookie cutter bunch of Stepford Wives?

Well those are my 8 rules of friendship.  I don't think they are outlandish.  It's funny most women say that they love those things about me in the beginning of a friendship.  I am honest, sometimes to a fault.  I expect that for and from everyone.  Love it or not, you always know where you stand with me.  I have had lifelong friends that have crossed the line on some of these, and they are no longer close friends.

Which is not to say that I don't forgive them.  I do.  However, if I can't trust you?  I move on with a piece of my heart often left behind.  Life is too short and too precious to waste on those who don't respect themselves or others enough to keep your secrets and tell the truth to themselves and others.  There is nothing more sad or pathetic than someone who lies to themselves.

Tell me Smackers, what are your deal breakers?  What do you expect in a friend?   (And don't tell me someone who would bail you out of jail.  That's bullshit, if she was a real friend?  She'd be there in the cell right next to you!)

See you Smackers tomorrow for SaS Theme.  Please keep sending me or leaving in the comments what you all want to see in recipes.    Don't forget, you can send me your recipes and I will share them over at Momma B's Kitchen!

Sex, Lies and Santa Clause is Dead

I was Google chatting this morning with one of my best bloggy buddies, who shall remain nameless, cause she told me not to make her main page fodder, and then she called me a bish....and we were blowing up all the preconceived notions about stereotypes, and solving the worlds problems, and finding ways to impart world peace and shiz like that.  Yeah, we're awesome like that.

Anyway, we were chatting about things that make us RLF (real life friends).   I consider all my friends, bloggy or otherwise, friends, just so ya'll are aware.  Yes, I'm delusional that way, but you all already know that.  I blog about my life, and it's real, and I have made friends this way, and probably share more with you than people that I see face to face, so there, friends.  We were discussing that neither of us have a whole lot of girlfriends and the reason(s) for that.  We both agreed, neither of us are girly-girls, and that maybe we might just be a little bit too honest.

Too honest you say?  I will explain.  Yes, I am going to blow the lid off some well kept woman secrets.  Listen up!

Women pretend to not like sex.  That way they can use it against men.  They can use it as a reward system.  They can pretend it is more of a duty in marriage than a privilege.  Crap!  It's all crap!  We like it.  Some of us love it.  And I for one, do not ever use it for anything other than intimacy and love with my sweetheart.

Women talk about other women when they are not around.  Especially their friends.  I am not really sure why.  This one is perplexing.  I don't get it.  It is the reason said bloggy buddy and I are so not girly-girls, and why both of us admitted to having no real girlfriends.  Cause here's the thing, if you don't participate, you can't be in the club.  Cattiness is not my thing.  I refuse to gossip, and I am so not in the club.  And, I don't care.  *gasp* Not care that I am not in the club?  What?  ALL women want to be accepted?!  Nope, not this bish, and not my bloggy bud either.

Next, women fart.  Women burp.  Women belch.  Women go number two.

Here are a few other things:  We don't like laundry, dishes, cleaning toilets, cleaning under beds, cleaning closets, picking up the shit everyone leaves where it doesn't belong, changing diapers, wiping butts and snotty noses.  We do it because we have to, and because we love you.

Well, that pretty much covers it.  

Oh yeah, also...Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy.  Not real.

Love!