Lost and Found

Irish Cream Cookies

Third time's the charm!  Tah-dah!  Our 2012 Christmas Cookie!
I found this recipe in the Penzey's Spices Christmas/Holidays catalog on page 23, "Irish Cream Delights"   I made a few, hopefully healthy, changes to the original recipe.

IRISH CREAM COOKIES

1/4 cup butter, softened (I used unsalted and lopped off a tablespoon)
1/4 cup shortening (I didn't fill it all the way)
1 cup sugar (again, not a full cup)
1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur (OK, glug, glug!) +
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour

3 cups powdered sugar
Baileys Coffee Creamer, non alcoholic (and fat-free!)

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, combine the butter and shortening and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add the sugar, the Baileys, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and beat until combined, scraping often.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in the flour.
OK, here's where I went off the recipe instruction grid again - unless you chill the dough first, rolling into balls at this point is a bit messy and sticky.  I just plopped teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool.

Frosting:  2 tablespoons or glugs as needed, Irish cream liqueur, 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons
Baileys Non-Alcoholic Coffee Creamer   Mix until combined and smooth.  Drizzle on cooled cookies
Sprinkle with sparkly sugar.

Bouquet

I found this handmade card at High Tide Gallery in St. Augustine, Florida.  It's called "Bouquet" and the artist is Deane Kellogg.

Thursday Tea Time

Lemur tea!

This week - Trader Joe's Vanilla & Cinnamon Black Tea


Cost:  Only $1.99!
Number of teabags:  20
Caffeine:  Yes
Type of tea:   Black
Steeping time:  5 minutes
Add ins:  Coffee Mate's Natural Bliss Low Fat Vanilla (20 calories, 3 carbs!)
Tea fragrance: Vanilla with a slight hint of cinnamon
Ingredients:   Black tea, natural vanilla and other natural flavors, cinnamon
Opinion:  Endorsed by lemurs.  And by me.  Grab this while you can.  It tastes great by itself and even wonderful-er and even more vanilla-y with the Natural Bliss.  No extra sugar needed.   I bet even after the holidays and cooler weather, this would be interesting iced, too.  (There is also a companion tea with a polar bear on the box, Candy Cane Green Tea, but that was not bought nor rated because it had citrus/orange in it.)
Rating: 4

Upcoming Jo Ann's Pattern Sales

New Year's Sale - December 30/January 5 

50% off Notions Wall
50% off entire stock of thread
99 cent McCall's
$3.99 Vogue

Merry Christmas!

Santa, Stitched

I embroidered this tea towel back in 1995!  (It took longer to outline than it did to cross-stitch.)

Testing - New Computer!!

: D

Rock'ed Rose

Such a scraggly bush!

Such pretty tiny perfect white roses!

Friday Flowers/Berries

Evergreen Weeping Yaupon

Welcome to the First Day of Winter - Texas Style!

Thursday Tea Time - CBTL Holiday Trio Teas

This week, three of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's holiday tea canisters!
Winter Fruit Tea, Caramel Cream Rooibos and Apple Cider Tea

Cost:   $3.95 each at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf retail stores and online.
Number of teabags:  5
Caffeine:  Winter Fruit -Yes (a little)
Caramel Cream - No, Apple Cider -Yes
Type of tea:   Winter Fruit - Green, Caramel Cream - Rooibos/Red/Herbal, Apple Cider - Ceylon Black
Steeping time:  3, 7, 5 minutes
Add ins:  All taste great with the Natural Bliss, though the Apple Cider can stand alone.  But with the Natural Bliss, it tastes like apple pie a la mode!
Tea fragrance:  Winter Fruit - pomegranate/fruity, Caramel Cream - caramels, vanilla, honey, Apple Cider - apples and ginger
Ingredients:  Winter Fruit - Taiwan green tea, CARROTS (!), pomegranate flower and natural flavors, Caramel Cream - South African rooibos, natural caramel essences, marigold flower, Apple Cider - Ceylon black tea, apple bits, tea blossoms and natural flavors
Opinion:  Winter Fruit - To be honest, y'all knew I picked up this one because of the carrots, right?!  But surprisingly, you really don't taste carrots.  It brewed very, very lightly, almost to the point, did I forget to put the teabag in the Keurig holder.  Even after keeping the tea bag in an extra 2 minutes it stayed pale, but still yummy.  Caramel Cream - Oh my goodness, they need to make the larger quantity size of this!!  You would swear you have a melted cup of caramels.  So good!!  Apple Cider - Not bad. I thought for sure this would come out on top.  It's still buyable for a nice change of taste pace.  And the fact it is a black tea instead of an herbal wins points.
Rating:  Winter Fruit - 4, Caramel Cream - 5+, Apple Cider - 3.25

Bag it!

What a cool idea and design!  I loved this store!

Oh! Christmas Trees - Galveston Style!

Along the Seawall

Love is Life

I love Target's special co-op promotions (Shall we revisit my infamous Liberty of London craziness?!)    Not all are worth paying full freight, often with patience you can make your score much better on markdown.
But this - I loved as soon as I saw it.  And at $49, still cheaper by far than Lululemon.

And besides, I'm a bit hacked at Lululemon for not normal-sizing their clothes.  I give you the "No Limits Tank Top" which I have been coveting since it came out.  I'm tall, I would look great in this, but only going up to a Size 10?!  News flash -- Real people have some boobage, and practice yoga, and are over 40.  I give you and go to Lucy instead.   And keep the change from the $64 you would have spent.  Still, when I get the emails with the new colors, and still I keep sending them emails asking for a Size 12. . .

Anyways, let's go back to the love here.   I adore Diane Von Furstenberg and all she stands for.
And standing on this mat, measuring 72" x 24", it is super cushy and pretty and vibrant and all things good.  I love the cool carry wrap and straps, the graphic black and white design accented by the red chakra base --Let Target and this mat connect our Earth energies for good and empowerment.
Namaste!

All Who Wander. . .

You can lose yourself in the things you love.

You can find yourself there, too.

A Vera Bradley Christmas!

After picking up my daughter from college yesterday, we stopped at the Vera Bradley Outlet Store in San Marcos - - - 

EVERYTHING is 50% off this weekend!    

The "Tea Garden" print is one of my favorites and when I entered the store, I saw this and thought, "What a cool box!"   

Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found three different ornaments!   

Suggested retail price was $32. . .I got these for $9.99!  They are so pretty, I may just leave them up all year hanging from my sewing studio valance.  

Love the Mother of Pearl Vera Bradley button, too!

Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

Pistachio Shortbread Cookie all decked out!

From the last issue (December 2012) of Everyday Food, page 102.

The original recipe (Pistachio-Shortbread Sandwich Cookies) was a sandwich cookie with strawberry jam filling.  

For starters, I'm allergic to strawberries and secondly, it is much more fun and diet-friendly to eat these one at a time. and thirdly, the thinnest I could slice these were 3/8" instead of 1/4".  Yeah, diet-friendly indeed.  So I sprinkled some pretty sparkly sanding sugar on top and then baked.  (Did she say diet friendly?)  Oh well, I thought the pistachio green gave it all a Christmas holiday look -- and it made for a nice complement to all those other overly-sweet treats!   Bonus this makes a great shortbread cookie even by itself.  (and sugar sprinkles for any color, any holiday, any occasion)

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine salt*
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup coarsely chopped pistachios*
1/3 cup strawberry jam*

DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor, process butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until smooth. Add flour and pulse until a dough forms. Stir in pistachios. Shape dough into two 8-inch long logs*, tightly wrap in plastic, and freeze until firm, 30 minutes (or up to 1 month).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Cut dough* into 1/4-inch slices and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are set and barely golden at edges, 10 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Spread 1/2 teaspoon jam on bottoms of half the cookies, then sandwich with remaining cookies.

Store in airtight containers, up to 1 week.
_________
*I used the already-shelled pistachios from Costco.  They were a little bit salty.  You may want to skip the 1/2 teaspoon of salt or reduce to 1/4 teaspoon.
*I omitted the strawberry jam.  Next time if I can get the cookies thinner I may try raspberry or another jam.
*I actually divided the dough into four 5" logs, to help them freeze faster and to bake/make smaller portions.
*Let the dough soften a little or nuke in the microwave for 8-10 seconds.  It can be a little difficult to try and slice when frozen completely, especially when you encounter a whole pistachio.  I pieced a few back together.

Friday Flowers - December Edition

"Ice Punch" Poinsettia from Another Place In Time -- Gorgeous!

Thursday Tea Time - Vanilla Chai!

Another two-fer today -- Zhena's Gypsy Tea Vanilla Chai and Twinings French Vanilla Chai

I LOVE my Williams-Sonoma snowflake glass mugs!

I found them at their outlet store in San Marcos, TX - $6.50 each
Worth the splurge -- Everything looks pretty and tastes great in them!

Cost:  Zhena's - $6.99 at Cost Plus World Market,
Twinings - $3.99 at Central Market
Number of teabags:  Zhena's - 22
Twinings - 20
Caffeine:  Yes
Type of tea:   Black
Steeping time:  5 minutes
Add ins:  Just a splash of Coffee Mate's Natural Bliss Sweet Cream.
Tea fragrance:  Zhena's - Cinnamon, ginger and sweet
Twinings - Cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom
Ingredients:  Zhena's - Assam black tea, cinnamon, licorice (!), natural cream flavor (!!), clove, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, vanilla bean.
Twinings - Black tea, natural chai, cinnamon & ginger flavors with other natural flavors, artificial vanilla flavor, cardamom, clove, vanilla pod powder
Opinion:  Zhena's - While this one has lots of interesting and organic  ingredients, the licorice and cream flavor, I found the taste a bit weaker and not a lot of vanilla kick I was expecting. Next go round, I doubled up and used two teabags.  Much better.  Oddly, the brewed color was also more amber and deeper, with just the one teabag.
Twinings - Despite the addition of cinnamon and ginger "flavors" and artificial vanilla flavor, this one eeked ahead of the Zhena's taste wise.  Perhaps the combo of the artificial vanilla flavor with the vanilla pod powder made the vanilla more detectable and "French"?
Rating:  Zhena's - 3 (dinged only because of having to go through the canister twice as fast.
Twinings - 3.75