Please show some love!

JoAnne of The Vintage Dragonfly recently purchased a blog banner from me, and she is just getting her Blog up and running. If you have time and would like to stop in for a visit, (and check out her beautiful creations!) you can find her here...
http://vintagedragonfly.blogspot.com/

A recipe as promised!

Ashley's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together by hand
3/4 cup Butter, 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, 3/4 cup Sugar and 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract. Add 2 Eggs.

In a seperate bowl, mix together

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups Flour, 1 teaspoon Salt and 1 teaspoon Baking Soda.
Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Fold in TONS of
Chocolate Chips. (I think that means at least 1 1/2 to 2 cups!) Bake for 10 or 12 minutes.

So, I've been baking since I was a teenager... which means well over 35 years ago! I've made pies, breads, cookies, cakes; all kinds of sweet treats. I used to be able to make great cookies... my friend would always head to the cookie jar when she'd bring her girls over. However... something has happened. My cookies turn out kind of flat and brown. They taste fine, but they're different. (Or maybe I'm getting too old!)

So Ashley and Travis send cookies home to us, and they are heavenly! And I admit defeat! She whips my butt(er) as far as making Chocolate Chip Cookies. And I hear my son makes a pretty mean Chocolate Chip Pancake, too!

So, I tried her recipe, and I still didn't do something right. And I tried again, mixing by hand, as she does, and adjusting my oven temperature... which was running 75 degrees too hot, according to the oven thermometer I used. Still no! I will try once more and use Light Brown Sugar, as she does, instead of the Dark Brown Molasses Sugar I always buy. I really don't think it will matter though. So I guess she'll just have to keep sending up those scrumptious cookies every now and then!

Do you remember me?!?

I cannot believe I haven't posted for over two months! Here are four good reasons I've been a bit busy...

Ryan showing his muscles

Kara watching the camera

Anthony listening to Great-grandma

Tristan keeping an eye on Leo

Honestly, I've spent quite a bit of time over the past few days trying to post a new entry on my Blog. It seems that since I've been away, they've changed something, and my computer was not accepting the changes. It finally dawned on me to go into "help" and I soon discovered I wasn't the only one experiencing this problem. And I FINALLY got it figured it out!

I wanted to post my daughter-in-law's Chocolate Chip cookie recipe tonight, but I left it out by my computer in my workshop, and it's POURING outside, so I will post it very soon... I promise!

Aside from babysitting my grandchildren, I've been trying to get things accomplished outdoors. I trimmed all the Guinea's wings to stop them from flying out of the pastures. I took apart the greenhouse mom and I built a few years back. It cost too much to keep it heated... what was spent on propane would have bought a lot of seeds or plants; it was just not feasible. I did save the cattle panels, and am trying something new. I bent each 16' panel into a length-wise half-hoop, covered them with clear plastic and placed them in the vegetable garden. I planted them with cold-weather crops... spinach, kale, chard, carrots, etc... and I will see how this experiment fares out.

Well, I'm headed to bed shortly, and I need a cup of tea. I shall be back in touch very soon! Hope all is well with all of you! I missed you! xox ~Laura