Thursday, December 26, 2013

Cookie Exchange Party

Every year my good friend Megan has a Christmas cookie exchange party in which we all bring cookies with recipes to share and way too much wine :-). I haven't been able to attend the last few years because I'm usually out of town visiting the in-laws, but this year I was able to go. It's always a fun time...I mean where can you go wrong with cookies and wine ;-). This year I found a recipe one of my friends posted on her Facebook wall for brown-butter salted caramel snickerdoodles. They are definitely one of the most delicious cookies I've ever made. I will definitely be keeping this one in the vault. Here's the recipe for anyone that is interested:

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, sliced
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
1 cup caramel squares, cut into 1/4's
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Coarse Sea salt for sprinkling on completed cookies

Instructions:
1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, cinnamon, and set aside.
2. To brown the butter, heat a medium saucepan to medium high heat. Add the sliced butter, whisking frequently. You will notice the butter starting to become frothy on the top and brown specks will start to form along the bottom. You have to watch it closely because the turn happens quickly and you don't want it to burn. You will start to smell a nutty aroma and once it turns to a brown color, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.
3. While the butter is cooling, cut the caramel squares into 1/4's.
4. In a stand mixer, combine the brown butter and brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. (The 1/4 cup sugar will be used for rolling in the cookies). Mix until blended and smooth.
5. Beat in egg, yolk, vanilla and yogurt and mix until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients until combined.
6. Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
7. Once you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball and place 1-2 caramel squares inside, wrap the cookie dough over the caramel and roll back into a ball. Make sure it is completely covered so that the caramel won't stick to the pan.
8. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and roll each cookie in the mixture. Place on a cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges turn lightly brown. The centers will be soft. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

I am looking forward to attending more cookie exchange parties in the future and hope everyone enjoys making these cookies! At the party we also do a white elephant gift exchange in which everyone brings a gift, you draw numbers and pick out the gift of your choice or steal from someone else. It's always fun to watch people steal gifts from one another. I made a really fun Christmas wreath. Some other gifts of interest were a Golden Girls magnet and as always booze :-). After the party winded down we headed to my old stomping grounds, Sir Winston's...Since having children, it has been ages since I've been to a bar...good times :-)

Some of the ladies...stay classy Monica!
gift opening!
Rachel got my wreath!
Megan with her adorable mini-santa hat
Some of us ladies at Winston's
Steve rocking the mini-santa hat
Elaine busting out some karaoke

Windcrest Christmas Lights

When I was growing up it was always a tradition to go look at the lights in the Windcrest neighborhood of San Antonio. They have a contest every year with various categories, like "Most Festive", "Religious", etc. We decided to take James and one of his friends to enjoy the sights of Windcrest, and since the weather was so mild that evening we took the top off the Jeep and had dinner at The Purple Garlic where the children enjoyed playing in the sand pit. I have a feeling (as long as we're in a patient mood, it can take a looooong time to drive through the neighborhood) we will continue the tradition of viewing the lights in Windcrest every year.

James and Lyla enjoying the sand pit
what cuties!
One of the many houses...I think this one was first place for most festive
Another view of the house

Christmas school party

This is James last year at Northwood Presbyterian Day School, which is a little bittersweet for me. I was really excited to see him in his Christmas program at his school since it was going to be his last one and he actually had many lines to recite and I was very proud at how well he did with memorizing so many lines and songs. Unfortunately he came down with a terrible cold the day of the program so he could not participate. Needless to say, I was completely bummed. Luckily he was able to make his classroom Christmas party and ornament exchange. He was also every excited to give his classmates their homemade ornaments and his teachers their Christmas baskets. We are so blessed to have such wonderful teachers taking care of our children and I will go to any length to let them know how thankful we are for them.

My silly boy
playing Christmas bingo
With his ornament
what a goofball
Our handmade personalized ornaments for his classmates
Our beautiful personalized gift baskets for James' teachers (I filled them with chocolates, lotions, candles and cookies)

Margaret & Megan's Birthday Bash

So a few weeks ago we had a party for my best friend Margaret and our friend Megan. It was a very laid back fun evening and it made me remember how much I miss hanging out with this group of gals.
The weather was a bit chilly, but we dared it and made a nice fire in the fire pit to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate the evening with us!

The party decorations
The birthday girl (Margaret) with her boyfriend, Krys
This is a perfect depiction of their relationship ;-)
The magical cake
My little man enjoying the fire
Our yearly Christmas card photo
The birthday girls with one of their gifts 
The wonderful Adams' family with  my boys
S'mores time!
Margaret, Megan, Alex & Reba
Yvette & Aaron
Margaret's other best friend
Margaret and her mother
Everyone enjoying the fire pit
All of the ladies
Singing Happy Birthday!
Make a wish!
Good times had by all!


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We were actually very diligent this year and had most all of decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I am just now finally getting around to documenting it. We made some new additions this year, but Mike of course still wants more. He's convinced that we don't have enough lights outside and he wouldn't mind more indoors. We're slowly transitioning all lights to LEDs so we can avoid the $500 electric bill (ouch!). All in all I think it turned out very nice. I'll start out with some pictures of the decorating in action and then show the end result.

James helping Daddy put up the icicle lights
Having fun decorating the tree
The front of the house all lit up
The front door entry way
The family room
The stocking hung by the fireplace with care ;-)
The tree
James' new tree in his bedroom

Monday, December 9, 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

I've been incredibly busy so I haven't had a chance to do a post about our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a very nice, low-key Thanksgiving at my parents home with just us, my parents and Uncle Cam and Aunt Gaby. We had a great time and ate way too much! The night was capped off with spending time with my wonderful friends, Margaret, Courtney and Shawn and watching football. Doesn't get much better! Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Chef James helping make pies
Jackson with Daddy on his first Thanksgiving
My handsome green-eyed boy
Mommy & Jackson
Me and my hubby
crazy-eyed James saluting to the camera
My wonderful parents
James with the bird
All ready to eat!
The kiddos with my good friends Courtney & Shawn