Do I procrastinate?

Yes according to those who think they know me better than I know myself. I call it prioritizing and somethings just have to wait for me.

One of the most resent things that had to wait on me were my Christmas Trees. I have two up and I say have because they are still up. We started some remodeling right after Christmas. By the time I got around to my trees the area I use for storage was full of the contents of my closest.

I have taken advantage of the fact that the smaller of the two is still standing. I removed the Christmas ornaments and replaced them with Easter Eggs.

The larger one is covered in a white plastic bag standing at attention in a corner of my living room. I'm thinking that it might make a really cool ghost come Halloween.

As far as being a procrastinator goes I like to think of myself as a planner. Not only did my Easter decorations find a new home I now have a Halloween theme and I'll be way ahead of the season when Christmas rolls around.

Tazo "Calm" Herbal Infusion Tea offers

A single cup has been known to have the same effect as sitting 45 minutes in a mountain meadow on a sunny day with your shoes off.

Well I certainly hope my allergies to grass don't get in the way of this dream.

Cookie Decorating Tools, the ones I can't live without.

When it comes to cookie and cake decorating for me this set is a must and best of all my Wilton Decorator tips fit these bottles. There also "kid" friendly.

I found these little wonders in my favorite kitchen store. http://www.someonesinthekitchensd.com/


The set is made by KUHN RIKON and includes 2 tall decorator bottles, 8 ounce capacity, 3 smaller bottles ,4 ounce capacity, 5 bottle caps & 5 steel decorator tips.


Also included was a frosting spatula all at the cost of $19.99

Something different for Valentines Day

When "Valentines Day" is mentioned you instantly think of hearts. Me too but this year I did something different.

Rolled Sugar Cookie Lips

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (3/4 cup of butter flavored shortening can be substituted for 1/2 of the butter for a firmer cookie)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degree.
Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Rolled Sugar Cookie Icing

Ingredients
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring

Directions
In a bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If needed to thin icing add more corn syrup.
Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity.
Pipe onto cookies with a pastry bag and then finish by filling in the rest of the cookie.
Decorate and embellish to your choosing.
Store for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, tightly covered (place a layer of plastic wrap directly atop the icing before capping with lid. When ready to use stir the icing until it flows.

Baby it's cold out & in.

Waking up this morning to the cold was unexpected.

Outside was a given, inside was a surprise.

The regulator on our propane tank was frozen and the furnace could not get the fuels necessary to heat the house. Burr.......

A Snowy Day in South Dakota

No snowy is not accurate it is a total blizzard. It's been a long time since we have seen this much moisture. Our neighbors in the eastern part of the state are dealing with major flood damage. I will be keeping a very close eye on my basement.