toffee bar crunch biscotti

October 21, 2008 – 8:39 pm

I made Toffee Bar Crunch Biscotti for the first time last year. It was a huge hit. There were only two pieces left after the open house.

I made it again today. It’s packed and ready to be taken down to the freezer to wait for the Christmas open house.

The dough spreads a lot while baking. Last year, I made it into two loaves as the recipe called for, but this year I made three loaves, which worked better.

Also, I didn’t use toffee bars as the recipe called for, but used 1 cup of toffee baking bits and 1 cup of mini chocolate chips instead. And I didn’t have butterscotch extract, so I just left that out. 🙂

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Toffee Bar Crunch Biscotti

When they are thawed for the open house, I’ll dip one end of each piece into chocolate.

This recipe makes the house smell wonderful! ~~Rhonda 🙂

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date balls

October 21, 2008 – 4:29 pm

Date Balls

1 pound dates, diced
1 pound butter
2 c. sugar

Cook over medium heat 10 minutes, stirring constantly. DO NOT BOIL. I melt the butter first, and start counting the time from when it begins to simmer after I have added the sugar and the dates.

simmer for ten minutes

Remove from heat and add:
4 c. Rice Krispies
2 c. pecans, chopped finely
4 tsp. vanilla

add rice crispies and pecans

Mix well. The mixture will be runny. It becomes firmer as it cools. As it cools, the rice crispies will absorb some of the butter and liquid.

done, but still hot

After about an hour, it will be cool enough to shape into 1-inch balls (more like pressing than rolling into balls). Excess butter will roll down your arms if you hold your hands above your elbows…I speak from experience. Keep a roll of paper towels handy.

Roll the date balls in powdered sugar.

date balls

These freeze beautifully.

date balls

To store them in the freezer, I layer them between sheets of waxed paper in a plastic container with a tight lid, using any leftover powdered sugar to sprinkle over the date balls.

~~Rhonda

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finishing the holiday icebox oatmeal cookies

October 21, 2008 – 11:37 am

Life is way busy here. Last Friday I mixed the oatmeal cookies, rolled them into logs, sugared them, and put them in the fridge to harden. And there they waited until this morning. Now they’re baked and ready to be packed into the freezer for the open house December 7.

holiday icebox oatmeal cookies

coooookieeeeeeeee!!!!

Oh, yum! ~~Rhonda 🙂

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menu plan monday ~ october 20, 2008

October 20, 2008 – 10:47 am

Our son is getting married at the end of the week, so I don’t have a lot of meals to plan. We’ll be eating out a lot to keep things easy.

family portrait

After the wedding we get to bring the twins home with us for a week! 🙂

Monday
crock pot chicken
baked potatoes (microwave ’em)
broccoli
corn

Tuesday
hamburgers / buns
chips / dip
grapes

Wednesday
pizza

Thursday
pork chops / stuffing in the crock pot
spinach salad
corn / green beans
apple crisp / ice cream

Friday
eat out with DIL’s family

Saturday son’s wedding
eat out

Sunday
eat out

Check Laura’s blog for more menu ideas.

Now back to painting… ~~Rhonda

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slowly moving back in

October 19, 2008 – 8:42 pm

The renovation continues. The new floors look great. We are beginning to move some things back into the addition. And even set up the crib in anticipation of our grandbabies being here next week.

moving back in

The towel cupboard is back in the laundry room, but I haven’t restocked the shelves yet.

laundry room

It will be a few weeks before the tile floors are installed in the bathroom, so we haven’t started serious painting in there. It was all we could do to finish the other rooms in time for the hardwood floors.

haven't started the renovation in here

DH did paint a test patch on the wall so I could decide on the colors…medium or light on the wall? I think I’ll go with the medium, as shown. The wainscot and woodwork will be painted a glossy white. The wall around the medicine cabinet and the window will be covered with little blue and white glass tiles.

bathroom

~~Rhonda

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niko has a new friend

October 19, 2008 – 8:15 pm

We have had Niko for two weeks and he has been settling in well, though, until this morning, he hadn’t allowed any of the other cats to enter what he considers his space…DD#2’s bedroom and bath. But this morning, Zak sauntered in. Zak ate from Niko’s bowl, while Niko watched and they were on Niko’s house together. Both seemed to be fine with that.

Niko has a new friend

This is a good sign. 🙂 ~~Rhonda

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before and after

October 17, 2008 – 7:11 pm

Here’s the coat closet after DH took the old floor and subfloor out. But before the new flooring was installed. This was a half bath when we bought the house. A tiny bath in an awkward spot. We made it into a coat closet and it worked much better that way.

before

After the new flooring was put in. Even better. 🙂

after

Zak checks out the new floors in the laundry room.

Zak

Poor Buttercup spent the past two days in the basement while the flooring guys were here. As soon as we let her up, she headed out to the addition and checked out the new floors with Zak.

Buttercup and Zak

~~Rhonda

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new floors

October 17, 2008 – 11:32 am

The flooring guys are finishing the addition floors today, as well as putting hardwood in the front hall coat closet. From the hall, looking into the bedroom… It doesn’t look like it in this picture, but the ceiling of the hall and the wall of the bedroom are actually the same paint color.

hall into bedroom

From bedroom into hall…

bedroom into the hall

Hall floor

addition hall

Looks so much nicer than the old vinyl. 🙂 ~~Rhonda

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holiday icebox oatmeal cookies

October 17, 2008 – 11:06 am

These are the cookies I am making today. Click the link for directions and pictures from a previous post.

Holiday Icebox Oatmeal Cookies
(one of my personal favorites…not real fancy, but crispy delicious)
Makes 6-8 dozen

2 c. margarine or butter, softened
2 c. confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. uncooked, quick-cooking oatmeal (I measure, then grind the oats in the blender)
red and/or green sugar crystals

In large mixing bowl, cream margarine and conf. sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir well.

Stir in oatmeal.

Chill dough until firm enough to form into rolls. Shape into four rolls and roll in red or green sugar crystals. Cover with foil or plastic wrap. Chill until firm. (Or freeze at this point until needed.)

Slice into 1/4″ slices and place on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated 325 oven about 15-20 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

From Country Folk Art’s Quick ‘n Easy Home Cooking, p. 15, December 1995

Here’s the finished product…so far…ready for the fridge. After they have time to harden, I’ll take them out, cut them, and bake them.

ready for the fridge

These cookies are easy to make and yummy good. I usually use one cup margarine and one cup butter when making them for Christmas.

~~Rhonda 🙂

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Elfin Bites

October 16, 2008 – 9:33 pm

Scotch Shortbread

Sandy and crumbly, as the perfect shortbread should be.

1/2 pound butter (1 cup or two sticks; do not substitute margarine)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350*F (180*C).

Cream the butter, then gradually add the sugar, beating well.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together and add to the first mixture, combining thoroughly.

Elfin Bites / dough

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick, then cut into desired shapes.

Elfin Bites

Put them on ungreased cookie sheets, prick each cookie with a fork, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they turn lightly brown around the edges.

To make “Elfin Bites,” add 1 1/2 T. small, round, multi-colored candy sprinkles to the dough and mix evenly. [I double the above recipe and use 3 T of candy sprinkles.] Roll cookie dough 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, then cut with a crimping wheel into ½” squares (yes, one-half inch…just big enough for an elf to enjoy). Do not prick with fork before baking. Bake these smaller cookies for 12-14 minutes. These are very cute piled onto a cookie tray with a variety of other cookies.

This recipe is from “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook”, p. 561.

I double the above recipe and get about 10 dozen little Elfin Bites.

Elfin Bites shortbread

~~Rhonda

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