cranberry & white chocolate oatmeal cookies

My friend gave me the recipe for these gems a few years ago.  I remember I packaged them into clear bags with shiny green ribbon, and then I set them in front of our neighbors’ apartment doors as a Christmas surprise. 

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 oz package dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well.  Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.  Add to the butter mixture, a little bit at a time, mixing well.  Stir in the dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden-brown.  Cool on wire racks.

Makes 2 1/2-ish dozen.

a minneapolis thanksgiving

on Tuesday, we flew 900 miles away for my family’s annual Thanksgiving in Minneapolis.  It was such a life-giving time, and I wish we could have stayed longer!

with my lovely cousin Katie.

Nolan finally met his great-grandparents (my dad’s parents)!

 

cousin Nathan, cousin Sam, Aunt Meg, cousin Chloe, and Uncle Brian

cousin Jenna and her husband Tim, who so kindly opened their house up to us for 3 nights!

 

playing games

 

cousins Katie, Emily, and Kristine

Aunt Yvonne and cousin Lindsay 

opening a gift from Nolan’s second-cousins Liam & Donovan

 

Uncle John & Aunt Evie

 

Aunt Tina & Uncle Paul

 

(Even more family members were there; it was so wonderful to see everyone!)

 

Thanksgiving

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

flashback to last november

 I am in full Thanksgiving mode tonight, and so I looked back on the photos we took last November.  We had a 2-month-old, and he was (and still is!) the apple of our eyes.

We went to the town that Steve’s parents and my parents live, and we had a very nice, low-key Thanksgiving.  Our Ivy girl was really sick that week, and that was super hard.  She had re-injured an old injury by running full speed into a glass door.  She had a difficult time bouncing back from that.  And we are thankful that she has recovered so well in the past year!

I can’t wait for the second Thanksgiving with this cute little guy!

chocolate mint cookies

This recipe came from my lovely friend Bethany.  We live far away, so we are “old-fashioned” pen-pals, and we send each other recipes along with our notes. 

This cookie calls for Andes mints (I didn’t find these in my store), so I substituted delicious Hershey’s Mint Truffle Kisses.  I think these are only available around Christmastime, so my other suggestion is Hershey Bliss Crème de Menthe.  Mmm!

 
Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons water
2 cups (12 oz. package) chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
package of mint chocolate candies

Directions:

Combine butter, brown sugar, and water, and melt over low heat.

Add chocolate chips.  Stir until partly melted, then remove from heat and stir until fully melted.

Pour into a large bowl and cool 10 minutes.

Beat in eggs.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt together.  Then add them to the chocolate mixture.

Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Roll the dough into balls, and place them on a greased baking sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 4-5 minutes.  (The bake time depends on the size of the cookie.  Don’t over-bake, but they should not look soupy either.)

Remove from the oven and immediately place 1/2 an Andes mint on top of each cookie.  Allow the mint to melt, then swirl with back of spoon.

Remove cookies from the pan and cool.

For me, this made 54 cookies.  Enjoy!

raspberry custard kuchen

My Aunt Meg made us this amazing Raspberry Custard Kuchen (pronounced koo-kin) dessert a few summers ago, and I was so impressed with how fresh and delicious it is! You can tell that it's made from scratch, and the crust tastes like the most amazing pie crust you've ever had. The topping is creamy and soft with a burst of raspberry flavor. It's one of my favorite summer desserts, especially when it's served a la mode!

Ingredients:

1  1/2 cups flour, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 Tablespoons whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

3 cups fresh raspberries (I used a 12 ounce container)

For the topping:

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, combine 1 cup flour and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in whipping cream, and pat into a greased 13x9 inch baking pan.

Combine the sugar and remaining flour and sprinkle over the crust. 

Arrange raspberries over the crust.

For the topping, combine sugar and flour. Stir in eggs, whipping cream, and vanilla. Pour over the berries.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm, or chilled. (It's delicious with a scoop of vanilla on top!)

Store in the refrigerator. Enjoy!