New year, new goals and lingering colds--ahh January

New year, new goals and lingering colds--ahh January

It has been awhile since I wrote anything and I am not sure why...OH yeah, I just remembered, it is because the holidays are crazy busy and then we all started coming down with a really bad cold. The name cold doesn't seem to hold as much ferocity as this virus had but short of having the flu it was no fun..... I am now two weeks into it and still not back to normal. Virus' are not my friend, the cold medicine makes me loopy and harder to think. I snore when I have a cold and that makes my hubby unable to sleep. Then he says I am a lumberjack and no girls wants to be called a lumberjack. So after i take a much deserved swing at his head with my pillow I venture out to face a new year.

I have a new goal for this year. 

I want to learn to crochet. I found several great tutorials on U -tube. Now I don't really care for U-tube but if the source of the video is a legitimate one the videos are usually safe.

Pinterest has a vast amount of sources to choose from as well and plenty of free patterns to boot. 

I found this website Annie's Catalog and have really liked it so far.  I have been using it to practice the different stitches before I take on a pattern. 

The site has crochet, knitting, needlework and beading. All dying arts in my mind as people are too busy with an electronic this or that, or just trying to survive the current economy. 

The hardest part of learning about crochet so far is the patterns.  The code alone should require a degree in ancient languages. : ) 

Do you have any tips on learning these abbreviations? Please tell me it will come with time.

Here are a few fun pictures of projects I have found and will eventually be working on. 

Dish clothes- I can never find dish clothes I like. They are always strange colors. Now I can make my own.

 

Fun hats for the kids before they are "too old" to have silly fun.

Scarves for the niece who is incredibly hard to shop for.

For my sister who has an owl fetish : )

and who doesn't need these?

Love this cardigan since I am ALWAYS FREEZING

And then once I have mastered all that is crochet I will make this and wear it as queen of crochet.

Ok maybe not but the possibilities are exciting!

FYI!

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The Fastest, Best tasting, Soft Cookie EVER

I have to agree! I love me some cookies. They are fast and tasty and hit the spot. 

Cookie exchanges are always a neat way to taste and get new ideas. Now if you are one of those who we STILL LOVE but bring store bought cookies these cookies are goof proof and taste like you spent all day making them. These lovelies have a very impressive homemade quality.

Ok enough of the jibber jabber already crazy lady just share the recipe so we can make, bake and eat one!!!!

Recipe for The best soft cookies.

This recipe makes a TON of cookies. The exact amount is determined by how much dough you scoop.

2 packages of instant pudding mix 

vanilla pudding is pretty much a win all the time but if you want to make chocolate cookies use chocolate. You can use pretty much any flavor of pudding and mix and match the chips to create a masterpiece!

2 cups sugar  

 4 eggs 

 2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. Baking soda 

24 oz. chocolate chips or whatever chips you like. 24 oz is about two packages

We used the holiday chocolate chip mix for the holidays but you could mix in regular with holiday colored sprinkles too. 

4 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)

4 sticks of butter

 um yeah butter. You could use 1 cup shortening and 1 cup butter but the butter adds a special silky depth that makes these cookies addictive. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream your butter and sugar and eggs until fluffy. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, & pudding mix) . Mix the dry and wet ingredients (eggs, sugar and butter) with the dry. Fold in the chips. 

Scoop out some dough, roll into a ball with your hand. If you want big cookies use more dough if you want a two bite cookie use dough ball the size of a walnut.

Bake on a greased or lined cookie sheet for no longer than 9 to 10 minutes. Once they are removed from the oven allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for at least one minute before removing to the cooling rack. 

The cookies will be very soft and fragile. As they cool they become more solid. Store in an airtight container, but I prefer to keep mine in my TUMMY!

 

Happy holidays!!!!