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I may have gotten a little over excited when I went to Target last month and saw the dog and cat cookie cutters. As I stood in the store fondling them and debating whether I should get them or not, a woman walked by and she said, "You know, if you buy those you will have to bake cookies!" She was right and I didn't feel like making sugar cookies at that moment, so I put them back.
Over the next few day, I couldn't get them off my mind. I kept thinking about how cute it would be to make the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat and give them with the classic poem as a gift to a friend, neighbor or to my grandchildren. So, I went back and bought them! Life got busy and I didn't get around to making the cookies for awhile, which gave me time to think about the gift giving possibilities. We know that many people are struggling financially during these pandemic days. Some people always struggle, because of living on a fixed income or other reasons. As a grandmother with 11 grandchildren, 6 children and their spouses and other family members and friends, I know how expensive it can be to buy things for everyone. But, I am sentimental and giving gifts is a way that I like to express my love. Not only that, Christmas doesn't seem like Christmas to me if I don't make some of the gifts that I give. As I considered all of this, I realized that there is something of myself that I can share and maybe this idea is something you would also like to borrow.
When I was young, my mother would read poetry to me and share pieces that she loved. I always remember "The Duel" by Eugene Field, or sometimes known as "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat." It isn't necessarily a Christmas poem, but I think the coziness of my memory makes it seem like Christmas to me. Since my mother is still alive at the age of 97, all of my grandchildren know her and love her. I think that I could definitely share this poem and my memories of reading it with her and they would appreciate it. It will be very inexpensive to print the poem off myself, scroll it up and wrapped it with a ribbon, and give it along with the cookies that I lovingly baked and decorated. (My cookies are delicious, even if my decoration isn't perfect.)
If you are familiar with the poem, you know that by the end of the story, the dog and cat have eaten each other up! A card accompanying the cookies could take a line from the poem and express the hope that the recipient "eats these cookies up" and enjoys them! Here is the poem if you haven't read it, or would like a copy yourself.
This poem has been made into book form and unfortunately, it seems to be a collector's item and is usually very costly! But I did manage to find this version for a fairly reasonable price if you would like to give an illustrated book along with your cookies.
Perhaps you have a story or poem that you cherish from your childhood that you could make into a similar gift. Here are some suggestions:
You can find a printable version of the story here.
What stories or poems do you love that you could gift with cookies? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments! How fun to eat and read together! What a great way to instill a love of literature!
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This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for purchases you make at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! We are celebrating Christmas by doing "blog-mas" this month, and that means sharing something awesome with you everyday this month, (except for 1 weekend). Be sure to stop by daily to find out what Christmasy thing we are sharing each day! I am so excited to share today's recipe with you because I was inspired by some limes that I needed to use up and I wanted to make them into a holiday treat. I decided that cranberries definitely say holiday and would go great with lime. Plus, red and green are Christmas colors, so this idea for Cranberry Lime Bar Cookies had to be good! I love it when I am right! Because cranberries have such a strong, tart flavor, I worried that the limes, which are also tart of course, would be over shadowed and that the cookies would be just TOO tart. But, when I bit into these delicious and beautiful bars, my fears went away! The sugar and the buttery crust did their job and these little bars are both completely delicious and beautifully elegant enough for a fancy holiday dinner. I used fresh cranberries in my recipe. You just put them in water and let them simmer for a few minutes to soften them up. I loved hearing the skins popping as they simmered. Then, I crushed them in the food processor! The filling mixed up so easily in that thing! These bars go together in a similar way as lemon bars, with the crust at the bottom. To ramp up the lime flavor in the bar, I put half of the lime's zest into the crust. (about a tsp.) When the Cranberry Lime Bars come out of the oven, they will be nicely set and just getting a hint of brown on them. I love the pretty red color and the bits of cranberry that you can see! Next, after they cool for a few minutes, you sprinkle powdered sugar on them like you mean it! These bars taste great warm or cool! I cut mine into 15 largish squares. I like to eat mine with a fork so as not to get the powdered sugar all over the place. Plus, they seem more fancy that way! I love how the cranberry lime filling turns into a clear, beautiful jelly! They are so wonderful! Trust me, your people will devour them. My husband adored them. Here is the recipe! If you enjoy these bars, here are some other recipes you might enjoy:
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I've been trying to come up with a good gluten free, vegan cookie recipe for a friend of mine that has PCOS. I wanted them to be easy to make and, of course, delicious. Through lots of trial and error, I've come up with the vegan, gluten-free pumpkin chocolate cookies!
Personally, I think these are absolutely what I was going for! They are soft and the texture is very similar to regular cookies (I'm usually not a huge fan of the texture of gluten-free cookies! Sorry!). Check out the recipe below and be sure to read the tips I've included as well! I hope you enjoy! the recipemy notes
the final product
These vegan, gluten-free pumpkin chocolate cookies are soft, fall apart in your mouth, chocolatey goodness. The pumpkin flavor isn't too strong and instead is a nice compliment to the chocolate. They're perfect for this fall season and heading into winter! They would even make the perfect dessert to bring to Thanksgiving to accommodate a loved one who may have allergies.
If you try out this recipe, be sure to let us know what you think! Comment below or tag us on social media (we are @3winksdesign on most platforms). you may also like
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Who has heard of Crumbl Cookie? I haven't tried them out yet, but I have friends who seem to constantly rave about them and love them. I honestly feel like when I go to places like Crumbl and test out their product I just feel like I could have just made it myself.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Crumbl. Like I said, I've never had a Crumbl cookie. Maybe someday I'll have one and think, "wow was I wrong! I could never emulate this delicious chewy cookie goodness!" It did get me intrigued though. See, I had just gotten a giant cookie scoop and I wanted to try to make some big, bakery style cookies. I got on Crumbl's website and saw that one of their offerings was pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Guys. You know how I feel about pumpkin. Hello, it's why I'm doing this pumpkin cookie series. So, I made these giant, bakery style, chewy, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are amazing. They're soft and chewy, but not cakey like many pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are. They taste like chocolate chip cookies, but with pumpkin in them. The secret? Don't use eggs. The pumpkin is so moist, it replaces the egg. The result is a delicious, soft, chewy cookie that just tastes like fall. With my large cookie scoop I can make twelve. It's easy to double the recipe to get 24. I made a double batch of these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to give to people as a thanks for all that they had done for us shortly before Elodie was born, and after she passed away. So, without further ado, here is the recipe. Please make it, and if you're a Crumbl cookie fan, tell me if you think I should work for them as a recipe formulator... or something. |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
May 2024
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