Argh! My first gray hair!

I looked in the mirror and saw something shining back at me, and it wasn't my smile! Actually, it was several somethings. I'm not sure if it's really my first few gray hairs, since my hair is light anyway, it's been hard to tell. My younger sister has had gray hairs for several years now and I knew I couldn't be far behind.

<--- This is not me...yet. I hope I'll look that great when my entire head is gray! Photo courtesy of O, The Oprah Magazine. She has a great article called the Gray Hair Bible.

Why does hair turn gray? Being the research maniac that I am, I looked it up. As we age, the pigment in our hair follicles gradually dies leaving less and less melanin in the hair which gives it a gray tint. Once all the melanin is gone, it becomes white.

I think I'd look pretty washed out with gray or white hair. Thank goodness for chemicals! I recall a TV commercial from years ago where the lady sings, "I'm going to wash that gray right out of my hair..." Heh heh, that'll be me for sure!

Snickerdoodles!

Continuing my holiday recipe series, here is another one of my favorites. These cinnamon sugar cookies are a delightful little snack! I tried to look up the origin of the name, Snickerdoodles, but there was so much conflicting information I couldn't find any official authority on the subject. Oh well, it's a cool name, nonetheless!Snickerdoodles:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

3. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Yummy Christmas Cookies

What evokes pleasant holiday memories better than sharing food with family and friends? I'm going to celebrate the Christmas season by posting some of my favorite holiday recipes here throughout the month of December.Here is one of my favorites, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies! I remember making these as a child with my mother. The patterns the white sugar against the dark chocolate always surprised me. Some friends and I did a cookie swap last Christmas and these were voted the best by the husbands, so you know it's good!

There are several recipes out there for these cookies, but the one I grew up with is Betty Crocker's recipe. Two things to call to your attention before making these: 1) The dough requires refrigeration before baking. I tried to skip this step once. Only once. I ended up with a big sticky mess, more dough on my hands than on the cookie sheet. And, 2) They dry out very quickly, so freeze what you don't think will be eaten within a day. They thaw quickly, so don't be afraid of freezing them!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. In large bowl, mix oil, chocolate, granulated sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours. Be sure to periodically sneak into the fridge and pinch a bit of dough for a little snack! :)

2. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray.

3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly in center. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Getting into the holiday spirit

Now that the Thanksgiving festivities are over and my family has gone home, I'm anxious to get back into my routine. I've missed blogging and tweeting and obsessing over my Etsy shop! :)
I think these little pine cones are the cutest things, I wish I had a tree that produced such dainty pine cones! (Photos courtesy of MarthaStewart.com)

My family stayed five days, so we decorated the house for Christmas to keep them busy! We put the tree up, complete with a little train tooting around and around for the toddler's enjoyment. He likes putting the folks from the nativity set on the train to go for a ride. He's doing well with not messing up the train. The dog has been worse than the toddler; he keeps stepping on the track to sniff at the ornaments, causing the train to derail!

I'm still in the process of perfecting my tree. Once I get it how I like, I'll post a picture of it. I've been busy making bows--I've probably made 40 bows over the last few days! My Christmas wreath was in dire need of refurbishing. It got a little squashed packed up in a box and the bow was pretty pathetic!

Some more holiday decorating ideas. I like the wreath on the mirror. What a great way to add a holiday touch! The little door hanger is made of bells. You'll never miss a visitor with that hanging on your door!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here are some last minute place setting ideas from Martha Stewart.

My family is coming in to spend the holiday with us. We started the new tradition of eating at my house because my mother can't find her dining room table in the midst of all her mess! You think I jest? I'll have to post a photo of her dining room one of these days. She'll be mortified, of course!

Time spent with family can be a blessing, or a trial! I'm looking forward to being together, but hope we can avoid another "cheese incident". My nephew who is now 5, is a bit...uh, shall we say...high maintenance. A couple years ago, he had the mother of all temper tantrums because his uncle opened his cheese wrapper for him. I'm still unsure as to what was supposed to happen, whether he wanted to do it himself or have his mother do it. At any rate, it's become a family joke--Whatever you do, don't open the cheese!

I hope your Thanksgiving is a special time with friends and family! I'd love to hear about your holiday, cheese and all, so please share a comment!

Laundry Day

Brace yourselves for an exciting topic! Today is laundry day! This is not my laundry room. I wish it were. Look at all that space. And the cabinets. And the counter tops. You could even iron in there. *Sigh*.

It seems I always get injured on laundry day. I usually end up slamming my wrist, knuckles, or elbow on the agitator of the washer struggling with tangled clothes. Don't they have washers now with collapsing agitators? If so, I need one of those. I've tried front loading washers before, but I don't like bending over and end up sitting in the floor to do laundry.
This is not my laundry room either. Look at all that space she has! Surely though, if this was my laundry room, I'd fall over that chair or smash my elbow through the window.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to even have a laundry room. Sitting around a laundromat all day isn't much fun. I used to have to do laundry in the garage in our other house. My washer was on one side and the dryer on the other, with the motorcycle restoration project in the middle. I'd leave a trail of laundry across the garage on my way to the dryer...underwear draped over the handlebars, silk shirt dropped on a greasy gear...you get the picture.

I had to step down to get into the garage/laundry room. You see where this is going, don't you? Carrying a large basket of laundry, can't see where I'm going, steps involved...on my butt I landed with the basket sailing across the garage. The dog thought I was trying to kill him by means of suffocation in a mountain of laundry. I couldn't have aimed better if I tried. Poor dog, draped in dirty clothes (a dog's dream!) peeking timidly out at me. "What did you do that for Mom? Am I bad? And why are you on the floor?"

It's nice to have a room designated for laundry, and not in a cold garage. However, I blame my injuries on a tight space. Would it have been too much trouble for the builder to have extended the room by just a few feet, allowing me to be able to turn around in the room?!This is my laundry room. I ran out of cabinet space, so I bought some plastic crates for storing beach towels and doggie items. I have to climb on top of the washer to get to them. Convenient, isn't it?

I like having a utility tub, but I use it mainly for storing the dog food container. Sometimes I back into it or trip over the legs.

Usually I have a ginormous dog kennel in the laundry room, you know, the wolf size one. A little overkill for our greyhound mix, but we had no idea how big he was going to be and overestimated. Oh well, if we ever get a lab or golden retriever we'll be set. Anyhow, I often hurt myself carrying the kennel out into the hall so I can get to the washer. The poor walls are so beat up from me ramming into them. And moving the kennel isn't an option. The only room big enough to put it in is the living room, and I don't prefer it in there! (It doesn't match my decor!)

For all my complaining, I guess I have it good after all. If I could just be more careful and not hurt myself so much! But if the wish fairy is granting extraneous wishes this season, perhaps she could magically give me a few more feet of laundry space...please? And a fancy new washer, klutz-proof, preferably!