C is for Christmas Cookie!

I had grand plans for trying a new kind of cookie for Santa this year, but Riley ended up with a fever Thursday night. Her sudden illness threw a wrench in things and caused her to miss her class cookie decorating party. So we did regular sugar cookies after all. On Friday night we made the dough and she cut the shapes. Today we "decorated our heads off!"

Isaac decorated cookies at the same time at his grandparents' house with his cousin. They made gingerbread ninjas! I think Santa will be pleased.

Cookie Swap

I had no idea how busy our Saturday would end up being when I declared in November I wanted to do a small cookie swap with my mom friends. I made brownies and Roo decorated all the tags for me. As it happened my little get together forced Mike and I to clean up the front of the house (dining room and Christmas tree area) which I was immensely grateful for. Nothing else mattered for a few hours. I would sit at my pretty table with friends and converse completely uninterrupted by children. It was a much smaller group than I anticipated, but that didn't matter either. It was about taking a break in the middle of all the craziness for an hour or two. It was wonderful! I'm blessed to have friends who bake wonderful things and make beautiful jewelry.

Oreo Bars!

Sorry to disappoint, but there's no science this Monday. Isaac had a rough morning and made some stupid choices so we never got to the water density experiment (Volcano in a Bottle). Instead of talking about my stressful start this week I thought I'd do something I rarely do and share a baking project. Ok, well technically a no-bake project.

No-Bake Chewy Cookies & Cream Bars

Ok, yes almost everything Pinterest (or social media in general) inspires me to make involves Oreos, guilty. Also, like my craft projects my baking ones rarely resemble the pictures in the directions.

Ingredients

• One 16 oz package of Oreos

• 5 cups Large Marshmallows

• 4 tablespoons butter

Step One: Crush the Cookies!

The recipe I linked to says to grind them up in a food processor, but we don't have one. Also hands on cookie crushing is better for stress (And way quieter during nap time). I dumped them in a mixing bowl and crushed them with a wooden spoon. Fun stuff.

Step Two: Melt & Puff

Sounds like a dance, right? First, I didn't have large marshmallows so I used minis. Second, because I was using minis and it seemed like a good idea I poured most of the bag in without measuring at all. The directions I linked to say to do it all at once, but I melted my butter first. Then added the marshmallows and threw them back in the microwave. They recommend 1.5-2 minutes I'm pretty sure a minute total was all I needed but microwaves vary.

Step Three: Mix Up Your Goo

Now pour the buttery, sticky marshmallow concoction into your crushed cookies and stir. Stir, stir, stir, stir...

Step Four: Pan & Set

Are we having fun yet? Pretty simple stuff. Now scrape all your goo into a pan that you have non-stuck. One recipe said cooking spray, another said foil, I read wax paper somewhere, but according to my husband (after the fact of course) powdered sugar does the trick quite well. Spoon it in and let it set, that's it.

The first picture is when I put it in the pan. The second is when I removed it from the fridge to cut it.

Step Five: Enjoy!

It went something like this: "Yum, yum, yum."
"How is it Riley?"
Good! Stiiiiickkky, Mommy!"

Notice the wet wash cloth at the ready.