Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It's Christmas Time!!!

I have just delivered my last Santa gift & wrapped the few presents that my hubby purchased. Now all I have to do is get this house clean & get us packed! We will take off at some point on Friday....and I can not wait to hug my niece, and then share an adult beverage with my sis! Oh and seeing my bro-in law is cool too! LOL! It is going to be a great Christmas! Mommy Kay & Grandma Vick will join us middle of next week. Oh how I love the holidays & how blessed we are to get to spend them together this year!

Merry Christmas Everyone, JoRie

Friday, December 4, 2009

Brickle Cookies

Hello blogger pals: Our family lost a really special person a little over a year ago. Grandaddy passed away while my mom was visiting us in Italy. So we changed everyones plane tickets and flew the long trip home to NM. Although it was such a sad occasion, we were all there together which was joyous. My grandmother remains in a nursing home for alzheimers patients, and it depends on the day if she remembers us or not but we go visit her each time we are there...just in case!

Anyway, this brings me to some of my favorite holiday things....mostly cooked from the loving hands of my grandmother, mom, or Aunt Linda. This year I decided to give my favorite cookie recipe a try, these are the cookies that Grandmother & Grandaddy always made & they were so yummy. I always thought they were difficult for some strange reason. Anyway, tried them yesterday & seriously the easiest recipe ever. I have to admit that I got a little emotional when I took the first bite. It made me think of the warmth and love that came from my grandparents as I remember them. I am so thankful to have so many wonderful memories of two amazing people, one in heaven looking down on me, and one that occasional remembers me.

Anyway, here is the recipe...it is great for Christmas parties or gifts as it makes three dozen medium cookies or six dozen small cookies...

1 Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix (or any yellow cake mix brand)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 package brickle or almond toffee

Mix and roll in Large balls (3 dozen cookies) or small/medium balls (6 dozen cookies). Bake @ 350 for 8-9 minutes. Cook until barely brown around edges.

ROLL: You can use a small or medium cookie scoop to make this process super easy and takes the guessing game out of how big to make them. It also makes them a more uniform size if you are taking them to a party or giving them as a gift.

EXTRA: You don't have to use brickle, my mom uses white chocolate chips & macadamian nuts, or really any mixture of items. Depends on your taste.

I have provided pictures of the brickle (Heath English Toffee Bits). This stuff is hard to come by & is typically only out during the holidays. I found mine at Walmart in the middle aisle with all the Holiday ingredients. There were only four bags so I of course bought them all....and will probably take a look around to see if I can't find more at other grocery stores, as this treat is nice even out of the holiday season.




This is what the bits look like out of the bag...



This is the cake mix I used, and it worked beautifully!



Ta Da....soooo easy!



I hope that you try them out & enjoy! Because they are my absolute favorite, with special memories attached to every decadent bite!