AN EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU........

Well, I have a couple of gifts, akchully...the first is the above photo of my sweet neighbor's home, taken by my husband the other night. Our neighbors put this display up every year, and since we live SMACK across the street from them, we get to be reminded of the joy this season brings everytime we look out our front windows....I'd say we're lucky to have neighbors like these, wouldn't you?

The next is something I stole from my friend Cindy's blog, Hidden Pond Farm. I truly consider Cindy to be an angel in my life (yes, that's correct : I steal from angels..)...she is so positive and creative and inspiring to me! Anyways, she was given this gift from an angel in HER life, so I thought I'd pass it along to you. Reading this really made my day......(sorry if it's a little bit blurry--it's a copy of a copy of a photo)........

 Am I right?

I'll be back soon with some more Holiday Baking treats for you...in the meantime, my wish is that you are enjoying  this wonderful, joyful time of year!

WORLD'S MOST EXCITING NEWS!!!

I'm in shock :  My lowly little blog hit a HUGE milestone today.  HUGE!!! Can you guess what it is? Hmmm??? Drumroll, puhleeze..........

Sugar and Spice And Everything Nice just had its TWENTY FIVE THOUSANDTH pageview! Do you even understand the huge-ness of this number?

It means that just over TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND times now, y'all have looked up one recipe or another, one silly rambling post or another... and for your efforts, I am truly humbled and grateful.

Do you want to know what the five most popular posts of all time are? Do you? Well, here they are, in descending order of popularity, for your viewing plesha...you can thank me later.............

#1--The Fourth Of July and a Georgia Peach Pie

#2 My B.S. Medical Situation and a Spinach Orzo Salad

#3 The World's Best Oatmeal, and a Walk in da Hood

#4 Pumpkin Chip Muffins and The Perfect Day

#5 (and who could ever forget)...Travels with Leslie, Part 1

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I'd like to thank the Academy, my parents, my agent and God for this award. Oh all right, I'll stop being so geeky now, but just wanted you all to know how much I love my blog followers, and am so thankful for your support of my creative endeavors. You like me, you really, really like me.......!

LAURA BUSH'S TEXAS COWBOY COOKIES!

A friend recently sent this recipe to me, and I mean really, how can you NOT try a Texas Cowboy Cookie? And while I think Laura Bush is a lovely, gracious woman and was a fabulous first lady, politically I hang this way (shhhh, don't tell!).......

(I was SO excited that I found this t-shirt in my closet, and cannot wait to wear it , or maybe a new one that doesn't say, "2008", proudly next year--I mean C'MON, have the Republicans come up with even ONE candidate any of us can take seriously?)

Because I am an open minded person, I am willing to cross those party lines and whip up Laura Bush's Texas Cowboy Cookies, all for the sake of my blog and my loyal readers! And I am the first to admit it:  these cookies are really DA BOMB--each cookie is as big as your head, and just chock FULL of yummy ingredients! So let's get started.....First thing to do is to mix dry ingredients in a bowl...............

Then beat THREE sticks of butter (LAURA, LAURA, LAURA! Tsk Tsk...No WONDER everything is bigger in Texas--sheesh!) on medium speed in your mixer until creamy...........

Beat in sugars, then eggs, then vanilla (I used my hand mixer, because this recipe makes so much cookie dough I was afraid it wouldn't all fit in my stand-mixer bowl)........

Add in flour mixture, then gently fold in all of the goodies.....oats, chocolate chips, coconut and pecans....yum!............

Drop dough by 1 / 4 cups onto ungreased baking sheets--I used my ice cream scoop, and only had 6 cookies on each baking sheet. They're THAT big....., but you could probably cram another 2 or 3 on there.....

Bake for about 20 minutes, then ooooh and aaaaaah at your Texas-sized creations......

So crispy and buttery and delicious...you are going to LOVE these cookies! So are my Cookie-Palooza 2011 girls! Thank you, Mrs. Laura Bush! Here's the recipe.....

LAURA BUSH'S TEXAS COWBOY COOKIES

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tblsp. baking powder

1 tblsp. baking soda

1 tblsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

3 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 and 1 / 2 cups granulated sugar

1 and 1 / 2 cups packed light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tblsp. vanilla

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups sweetened flake coconut

2 cups chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. In an 8 quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugars; beat to combine, 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans. For each cookie, drop 1 / 4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake in 350 degree oven 16 to 20 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR....

***10 days and counting until Little Miss Thing flies home for Christmas! Yee Haw!

***Our fun Northwood's Women's Club  holiday party I'm looking forward to next week, and my husband's office party. (Sigh...I have NUTTIN' to wear!)

***The fun I've been having at the gym with my husband lately...he always makes me laugh, and makes my time on the Eliptical trainer go by so quickly!

A LITTLE BIT OF TURKEY SAUSAGE SANITY DURING A SUGAR FILLED SEASON.......

We take a break from our regularly scheduled December programming of sugah, sugah and MORE sugah....................

To bring you a little much needed lean protein break. Believe it or not, girls cannot survive on foods like this, all December long..............

Well, as much as we WANT to, anyways! I must confess that my sweet tooth has gone SUPER bonkers lately, probably because I can't drink any more Moonshine. The body craves what it craves, and mine craves the sweet stuff. More than ever. It's an endless battle, let me tell you, to keep my fingers out of the batter, each and every time I whip up a batch of cookies. BUT, I'm maintaining my almost 40 lb. weight loss, thank you very much, and have no desire to gain even a pound of it back, no siree BOB!

One of my tried-and-true weight loss /weight maintainence secrets? Protein, for each and every meal. Especially for breakfast--if'n (that's country speak)  I eat carbs in the morning, I get all jittery and such, and I get hungry fast. So, my normal breakfast is a few eggs, but sometimes I get sick sick sick to death of eggs, morning in, morning out, and will eat a piece of leftover salmon or chicken or something like that, instead.

Recently I was inspired by a recipe I saw on one of my favorite blogs, Tales From The Coop Keeper (if you want to laugh, check this blog out. Jayme lives in rural Indiana, and is just soo funny and inspirational, and I really want her farmhouse!). Jayme has lost over 100 lbs. recently, and swears by her Turkey Sausages for breakfast. If you get the ground turkey breast the meat is super lean! I changed her recipe up a little bit, adding my own spice mix, and plan on making these every few weeks, when I have the time, to keep on hand for easy breakfasts. To begin, dump about a pound of ground turkey into a bowl, and shred into small bits with your fingers or a fork......

(Don't forget--whenever you touch raw poultry, it is especially important to wash your hands, thoroughly, afterwards! Hey, don't you like my pretty little dish soap dispenser, and my little Mary Oliver quote that I also keep next to my sink, to inspire me?.....

I chop up about half an onion, and mix into meat with an egg or two, about 1/ 3 cup old fashioned oats, spices, salt and pepper. You can use whatever spices you prefer...sage is always good....today I used cinnamon, because this IS breakfast sausage, and a few Herbs Du Provence, because I'm in a Frenchie state of mind......

Mix everything well, then form into as many patties as you like. I usually make about 6--that way I can freeze a few for later. I adore my super large Calphalon non-stick pan for this job, because you hardly need any oil at all to brown the patties nicely. I browned mine for about 5-7 minutes on each side...make sure to peek inside one or two to make sure no pink remains!.........

I let mine cool, then either refrigerate or freeze them until I want them. What a wonderful and filling breakfast idea, no?

Sorry, I don't even have a recipe for these to print out....you'll just have to wing it!

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR.....

***The fact that B.A. has listened to reason and FINALLY bought himself his first pair of Levi jeans in over THIRTY years~! He is a khaki pants kinda guy, but I think his new jeans make his butt look reallllll cute like (more country speak).....

***That my parents' (and girlfriend Lisa's) power finally came back on out in California, after their freak windstorms last week. And, grateful that no trees fell on their houses...

***The cookie party a bunch of us are attending tomorrow night. Like I need an excuse to bake more cookies......

CHOCOLATE CHUNK MOCHA COOKIES, A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT!

(I actually dusted my entire front yard in powdered sugar this morning, just for effect)

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Hey, happy December 1st to you! My mind is sort of all over the place this morning, because I think I've had a little too much caffeine--you got a problem wit dat?

Right on cue, we had a lovely little dusting of snow last night, just enough to make everything look pretty and Christmas-ey.......

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In my last post, I promised to share my oh-so professional  "photo shoot" from a cocktail party we attended last weekend, of my dear friend Diane M's incredible mountain lakeside home. Well, what is that old expression? Something like, "God laughs while we're busy making plans"? Yeah well ....thought I had some awesome photos all ready to share with you, then discovered that I DELETED them all, quite by accident, when I forgot they were even on my camera. Only one word will suffice: DUH. Maybe I can blame my blunder on my "chemo-brain", a phrase my father in law just loves to pieces . Well, whatever--I blew it, and now you are missing out. Maybe if Diane invites me back over I can try again, but I don't think they'll be back in town for awhile. They live full-time in New Jersey. The nerve!

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So this year, I've decided that the best holiday gift I can give to myself is the gift of simplifying Christmas. Because last year I was THIS close to being hospitalized with bronchitis / pneumonia, and it scared me. This year, something's gotta give, so here's Leslie's  way of scaling back....

***No Christmas cards. To anyone. Period.

***More time snuggling on the sofa, watching the fire, with this guy......

(In case you think B.A. always looks this sweet, well, here's a photo I took of him on a black, black day recently, when his beloved football team was losing. Oh and I know, the photo is sideways because I took it with my I Phone, and couldn't fix it, for some lame reason................

***I'm going to do as much shopping as I can on the great World Wide Web....because in my current immuno-compromised state of affairs, it probably isn't a great idea for me to be around malls anyways.

***My annual cookie party extravaganza is for KIDS ONLY this year.....sorry neighbors and friends! My friend Leslie B.,  giver of the famous Gingersnap recipe, is probably going to stick her head in the oven when she reads this, because she gets as excited as a little kid, each and every year, over the shin-dig ; sorry Les! I'll make it up to you, promise.

***I am doing as much as I can in advance of the holiday this year, including freezing cookie dough. I attach baking and decorating instructions to each plastic wrapped and frozen cookie dough ball, so that all I'll have to do is the FUN stuff later on, like frosting cookies and sipping hot chocolate with my daughter and her friends....

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SPEAKING of cookies...here's Part 2 of my holiday baking series. And can I just say that IF you are as big a choco-holic as I (I have seriously been known to jump in my car and drive to the local pharmacy when it's 40 below ZERO outside for a Dove chocolate candy bar), you are going to simply ADORE these Chocolate Chunk Mocha Cookies. I've made these for years and years, and they are always a huge hit--especially the espresso frosting!

To begin, combine flour, cocoa, soda and salt in a bowl..............

Beat butter, white sugar, brown sugar and GOOD vanilla (please, I beg of thee to never, ever again buy the vanilla "flavored" stuff--I know it's less expensive, but remember : better ingredients, better results!)...........

Add eggs, one at a time..............

Add flour mixture gradually, then stir in chocolate chunks. So am I the only one that can't resist a bite of this oh so chocolate batter? Hmmmm?..........

Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto paper or silicone lined baking sheets, fire up the oven, and bake for about 12 minutes. Please do not judge my by my scungy oven that is in desperate need of a cleaning......

Now here's the most important part of the whole recipe................

That's right, instant espresso, for the frosting. Take a heaping tablespoon, add about 1/ 4 cup water, and microwave until boiling hot. Mix well, then add 1 / 4 cup of this to some unsweetened cocoa, a little bit of melted butter, and more vanilla.............

Sift powdered sugar into this mixture............

Stir until really creamy....mine needed a little more liquid, so I added a few teaspoons of half and half. Once cookies have cooled, frost with this heavenly frosting goodness..............

I tell you WHAT--these cookies are DA bomb!  Here's the recipe......

CHOCOLATE CHUNK MOCHA COOKIES

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

2 and 1 / 4 cups flour

2 / 3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 / 4 tsp. salt

2 sticks butter, softened

3 / 4 cup white sugar

2 / 3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs, warmed to room temperature

1 11.5 oz. package semisweet chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Beat butter and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in chocolate chunks by hand. Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes or until puffy. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes--let cool on racks completely before frosting with Mocha Frosting, below:

Mocha Frosting

1 / 4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 / 4 cup prepared hot instant espresso

1 / 4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 and 1 / 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Stir together cocoa and next 3 ingredients until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until creamy.

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL FOR.....

***Only 17 days until Little Miss Thing flies home for her short but precious winter break, before flying off to France for her Spring semester.....

***That I'm feeling well enough these days to even think of hitting the school gym tonite with B.A., even if just for a little while....

***How much I'm truly looking forward to the big fun we'll be having in 2012...more to come!