Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Let me just start with this: these cookies are Amazing! With a capital A. They really are that good. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are the hubby's favorite Christmas cookie and I can see why. I made these for him a while ago and failed miserably, so I've been a little hesitant to try again. I finally did and it paid off! The crew at work gave it two thumbs up and the hubby went back for 4...5...6 cookies last night? So yeah, they are pretty tasty. 

Here's the recipe - originally from Betty Crocker (found here):

// 350 degrees // 10-12 minutes // makes 72 //

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled (Remember: you can substitute 3 tablespoons cocoa and 1 tablespoon cooking oil for every 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate)
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

Directions
1. Combine oil, chocolate, white sugar and vanilla.
2. Stir in eggs, one at a time.
3. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Refrigerate for 3 hours (I only put it in the fridge for 1 hour though...).
5. Grease cookie sheet or use parchment paper (I used parchment paper - it's my new favorite).
6. Make 1 inch round balls and roll in powdered sugar so they are covered and place on the cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Trust me, these are so good. I hope you enjoy!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Linked up with Tip me Tuesday

A Very Christmas Weekend

The theme this weekend was Christmas. Can you tell? We put up our outside lights, purchased our ugly sweaters for an upcoming Christmas party, chopped down the tree, decorated the tree, decorated the rest of the house... Oh, and I painted the kitchen and dining room and knit one of two finger-less mitts, too. Phew. I am le tired. We had so much fun. I love Christmas!

Here's some more of our weekend in pictures...

What about you guys? Did you get your tree up? Do you chop it down yourself or pick it up from Home Depot (we've done both)? Put any lights up on the house? This was our first time getting to put up outside lights! So much fun to get in the Christmas spirit. I love this time of year. 

Buster's New Friend

This is Teddy. He's a maltese-havanese mix and he's one of the nicest puppies I've ever met (Buster could learn a thing or two from him). We dog sat a couple weekends ago while our friends went down to Portland. He and Buster didn't really hit it off at first, but by the end of the weekend, they were at least kind-of friends. Teddy liked Buster's bones and Buster just wanted Teddy to chase him. Kind of like this...



It was perfect timing too since we were just talking about getting another dog... but for now I think we are good with just Buster. He's practically two dogs in one. :)

Thankful.

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend filled with lots of food, family and friends! I am so thankful for my amazing family, especially that we are closer to everyone. I'm also thankful for my awesome friends and my stinky puppy. I hope you all had an equally yummy Thanksgiving full of fun and relaxation (and maybe a little shopping).

Love giving thanks? Check out how Leah gives thanks everyday (and for every thing!) on her blog, Thx Thx Thx. Love it!

(source)

My Mama's Pumpkin Bars

Like pumpkin? Well you should probably be baking and eating these pumpkin bars right now. Yup, they are that good. This is my Mama's recipe and it is delicious. I finally baked these for the first time and they turned out great - very moist and pumpkin-y and the cream cheese frosting really makes them awesome. Hope you enjoy!

// 350 degrees // 25-30 minutes // makes 36 bars //

Ingredients

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 beaten eggs

2 cups canned pumpkin

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 can cream cheese frosting

Directions

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

2. Beat until combined: eggs, pumpkin, sugar and oil.

3. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, mix well. 

4. Spread batter in un-greased 15x10-inch baking pan. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes,

6. Cool, frost and cut into bars. 

Before + After: Bedroom Chair

First, let's talk about what's most important... Breaking Dawn was good. Not great, but good enough. My sister-in-law, Katelyn, and I pretty much laughed through a majority of the movie, but I still liked it. My expectations are just always low. That way I can never be disappointed. :)

OK, on to the good stuff. I'm still on a re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle kick. I got this chair at Goodwill a while back for $10. Probably a little much for this chair, but it worked for me and I liked the mirrored heart detail on the back. It looked like it had already been re-used once before, too. Dark brown with some beige Hawaiian fabric. Not my style.

I sanded this baby down at the same time I did the side table. It was a lot easier that the side table though. Much easier.

I bought two cans of spray paint from Michael's in a lime green color called Ivy Leaf (Krylon brand in Gloss finish for $5-6/ea.). This chair is going in our bedroom, so I kept in line with the green color scheme. It was the first time I had spray painted anything, and I realized I wasn't that good. But who's good at anything the first time they do something? Except maybe Edward. I made it work - I probably could have done with only 1 can of spray paint, but I loaded this guy up. Making sure to cover every inch. I also probably lost a few brain cells in the process. Wear a mask, people!

After letting it dry for a few days, it was time to update the Hawaii 5-0 fabric on the seat. I already had some fabric left over from my pillow making adventure, so it didn't cost me a thing. I had to remove a bunch of little tiny nails to get the old fabric off. I know you are jealous of my miniature floral hammer. Zach definitely is.

Under the top fabric, I found some extra foam and duct tape. Comfy!

And then I found this awesome 70s yellow-gold floral fabric underneath. Classy! I decided to leave the foam/duct tape on over the top of the 70s gold fabric to give it a little more cushion. This chair is more for decoration (and hanging the occasional shirt or jacket), so it didn't have to be super comfy.

The fabric I wanted to cover the seat was a little thin, so I used some navy scrap fabric to cover it first to add some thickness.

I bought a new staple gun too! This guy was about $17 at Lowe's and worked great.

Round one of covering...

For the corners, I just gathered the fabric and tried to make it look as seamless as possible on the top.

Round two... I love it! I'm kind of obsessed with this fabric. So pretty.

And here's the final product. Isn't she pretty? Too bad she will probably be covered up most of the time. But when I do clean my room and actually put away my clothes, she will shine. (I mean... I always put away my clothes and make my bed, Mom). :)

Have you guys done any spray painting lately? Any re-upholstering? It's actually really fun! Next up for me is figuring out how to re-upholster this little winged-back lady.

Happy (Breaking Dawn) Friday!

Yes, today is the day! Breaking Dawn, Part I. I opted out of the midnight viewing this year... I'm getting too old for this stuff! But not too old for Twilight in general. Never too old for Twilight. I'm going with my sister-in-law Katelyn to see the new one tonight at 8!

I'm super excited for the new movie, aren't you???

To get in the festive Twilight spirit, I thought it'd be fun to take a trip down memory lane... the ghosts of Twilight past, if you will. Here's my sister-in-law, Jenn, and I before the New Moon premiere (we got to see it at 9pm the night before it came out with our "special" passes we got for spending so much money at Nordstrom). Yeah, we're kind of a big deal.

And here's me with Edward and Jacob at Nordstrom when we got our passes. Can my grin get any bigger?

Here's my sister-in-laws, Jenn and Bethany, before Eclipse sporting our awesome Twilight-appropriate shirts.

And here's Edward. Hanging out in my cube at work. He drops in sometimes (you may remember him from here).



No big deal. :)

Have you guys seen the new movie yet? Thoughts? Opinions? How is the acting? Any hope for the Oscars? :)

Have a great weekend!