Visions of Gingerbread

Oh me gee! I seriously have been meaning to post a lot more frequently during this month!! There are so many fun fun fun fun fun things happening that I could honestly have something new to post about each day!! BUT that's kinda the problem! I am so busy there aren't enough hours in the day to blog like I want.

Since I'm pressed for time, I won't update you on the gingerbread wars quite yet. I want to do that justice...so. What I'm going to do, is tell you about the Christmas Spirit. A lesson I learned through this year's gingerbread house.

I, as you will know if you read previous posts, love gingerbread houses. They are FANTASTIC. And so, naturally, I was very much looking forward to making a crazy cool one for the gingerbread season! Alas. It was not to be. The visions of gingerbread beauty and gumdrops which danced in my head were not to be.

Though still a bit saddened at the outcome and truly trying to see the inclusion of my brothers as a wonderful family bonding time...I give you...

this year's gingerbread house.

She's a real beauty ain't she? Hold on, got some more pictures for you...

The fact that my brothers had such fun making the gingerbread house was really great. I'm happy when my family if happy. And honestly as far as family gingerbread houses go, this is a rather good one. Crazy, insane, and not aesthetically organized. . . but still good.

Jon is quite the decorator. And the wall he and Joe did is very. . . .colorful and Van Gogh like.

 I guess I just wanted my gingerbread house to be a bit more. . .organized. And with a lack of the gingerbread man crime scene we ended up with. Classic boy's touch.


But I can say this. When I look back, I'll remember that this is really what Christmas is about. NOT the crime scene lol but the fun and loving aspect of the Christmas season. So I didn't get to have the perfect gingerbread house I was looking forward to. BUT for the past couple years no one really helped me with the decorating when I wanted them to. This year, Joe and Jon helped and had a lot of fun. That's more valuable than a good-looking gingerbread house and I'll take it!

Culprit still at large

As a side note...I went walking the Christmas lights!

Yes. Where I live we have the BEST Christmas lights! I just had to take a picture by a Super Mario Bros themed house. It was a must.

I hope to blog again before Sunday...but if I don't...

Have a Wonderful Christmas!! Remember that without Christ, there is no Christmas!!

~MollyMarie

Christmas Timeeeee

Holy toledo and two gingersnaps!! Seriously December has been soooo crazy!!

The Gingerbread House War was last Friday. . . and boy was it STRESSFUL to put together!! But the results were FANTASTIC! Everyone seemed to have a ton of fun and we had a lot of people participate. I'll be putting up a post dedicated solely to the War so I won't say too much more about it, except that it went SO MUCH BETTER than I thought it was going to turn out!! :D

But other than that, I started doing "24 days of Fun" with Jon. Each day of December I'll make a little card-type-thing and have planned some fun craft or project to do together. 

I found out my phone does this neat little collage shot. . . so i had to use it! lol. But so far there have been 14 Days of Fun and Jon is in the Christmas Spirit!

I on the other hand am still trying to get myself to feel the holiday cheer. I just finished my last final of the Fall 2011 semester!!!! So I'm headed in the right direction. I mean, honestly. This semester, 15 units of 500-level history courses was TOUGH!! The sheer number of books the professors required me to read. . . .INSANELY RIDICULOUS!!

After looking back at finals week: a 9pg paper, a  12 pg paper, 2 in class essay finals [cumulative], and a presentation. . . i realize I'm lucky to be alive!! haha

But now that school is over until January 18th, I can focus on CHRISTMAS!!! Gingerbread house here I comeeeee!! (haha told you I was addicted!!) I'm so excited for all the baking I get to do!

-gingersnaps
-peanut butter blossums
-russian snowballs
-gingerbread men
-sugar cookies
-snicker-doodles
-chocolate chip cookies
-almond rocha
-peanut brittle
-magic cookie squares
-rice crispies
-cinnamon crackles
      and all the other regulars!!

Oooooh I think I'm getting the Christmas Spirit just thinking of all the baking!! :D

Cinnamon Tortoise Shell Muffins (DELICIOUS!)

  just the beginning of my Christmas baking adventures

Sugar cookie decorating station

Me at the Tree Farm!

This'll be the BEST Christmas ever!! I'm sure of it!

Keep loving, keep living, keep baking!
~MollyMarie

Gingerbread House WAR!!

I told you already. I'm addicted. Therefore I offer this next post with no apologies!! Especially since it's gingerbread season!

I organized a Gingerbread House War/ Competition. Girls versus Guys. . .yeah, a little unfair. . .but still extremely fun!

On Sunday, we (the girls) issued our Declaration of War. We set up a poster and set out some cookies. . .

Pre-plated (oh so cute!)

                      and plated (they looked great!!!)




Along with the cookies and poster we sent. . .

a written declaration










and the rule sheet...








The challenge was taken up with enthusiasm. The girls are getting WAY into it. We have some super cool planning ideas going on...the guys really don't stand a chance! haha :) But it should be an interesting fight. The guys seem pretty stoked as well and I've heard some talk that since "canons" and not "cannons" were included in the restricted items...that there will be some actual weaponry. It's gonna get INTENSE!!

I can't wait until the 9th!! I'll post pictures and results. Too excited to contain myself!!!!

Life's the GREATEST!
~MollyMarie

Day After the Feast

All went well! My rolls were received with much love and the meal was FANTASTIC!!! I found a new adoration for sweet potatoes, I found out that just because my stomach couldn't fit anymore turkey or stuffing didn't mean that cookies and pie could not be consumed, and I found that even when your pants no longer fit your waist. . . one can still be quite content.

My Aunt decorated the house so cute and being around family was seriously the best! The food was aplenty the football was a playin and we skyped with family from Idaho. . .which included my sister this year!! Since she's up in Idaho for school (I know, poor poor child lol) she spent the holiday with my cousins. I really do miss her (but shhh. don't let her know! haha). AND Uncle Danny and Aunt Rachel skyped from Australia! They're doing swell and are coming over to the States soon to spend Christmas with us!

Speaking of Christmas. . . . . . .

It's officially the season!! We started decorating!!

Christmas Oh Christmas. The best time of year.

The piano is one of my FAVORITE things about our house. . . and come Christmas, I love it even more!! :)

 An awkward angle. . . but the houses really look cute! Go Mom for your creativity! The house looks great so far!!!



Life is just the bees knees! And come December 1st, Jon and I are starting the 24 Days of Fun! Each day we will make a craft, make a treat, or do something special (like playing at the Christmas tree farm.. . yeah you read right! There's a Christmas tree farm by our house!). It'll be very memorable for Jon and for me. . .and as he grows up I want him to have those good memories of his sister! :)

 I'll keep you all updated on the crafts and awesome Christmas shenanigans happening throughout the month. . . so just stay tuned!!

Keep Happy!!
~MollyMarie

THANKSGIVING!!! the day of reckoning...

Thanksgiving FINALLY came!!

Last night was spent in the kitchen...and I mean ALL last night...AND ALL yesterday morning...or as I so intelligently called it a few days ago "last morning." (Yeah. I got teased for that one! But the more I think about it...the less wrong it sounds lol. I may just go with it haha.)

As you may have guessed. . . . I didn't go to Magic Mountain. My responsible side won out. But I'm glad I chose to stay home. Not only did I finish the rolls, which turned out splendidly, I went to class, which was super good because even though the teacher said that not coming wouldn't penalize people. . . we ended up learning A LOT! I'm pretty sure that if I had missed, I would have come to class Monday and been completely and utterly lost. BUT I went and so I'll be great and good on Monday :) Also. I ended up making cookies!! Peanut butter for my Mom and sugar cookies for Thanksgiving night.

 ADORABLE right?!? haha follow the link to see where I originally got the idea! Only thing I changed is due to laziness! Instead of using icing for the beak and feet and M&Ms for the eyes. . .I just stuck a candy corn on for the beak and used some leftover candy from my gingerbread kit for the eyes. It doesn't look quite as good as the original, but I'm still pretty happy with them!
http://theherberfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/thanksgiving-treats.html

 

Yeah check out my other post
 for the recipe and better pics!
nutty for my peanut butter

BUT I KNOW THAT YOU ARE WONDERING ABOUT. . . . . .  THE ROLLS!!!!

Well. Here they are :) My babies. . . . 

 There are sooooo many. I think I've made my quota of rolls for the next decade!! lol. But I did enjoy perfecting my own roll recipe!








Only a few of the batches...

They LOOK SO GOOOOOOOD!!!! And they taste even BETTER!!! Huurrraaaahhh for perserverance and hardwork! Go Me...and of course all those who helped me succeed!

We'll see how it goes!!
MollyMarie

PS: I wrote this BEFORE our Thanksgiving Feast...But IT WENT SPECTACULAR!! My next post will include comment on people's reactions and on just Thanksgiving stuff :D

Thanksgiving Fast Approaches

The big day is almost here!!! Aaaaaaaaand life has just put me in a crunch : / While my siblings get the week off for the holiday, I have school until the bitter end. School on Thanksgiving Eve!! SO UNFAIRRRRR!!! I had hoped my teacher would be really nice and graciously cancel class. . . I found out today that he was not as great as I had originally thought. I mean really?? Doesn't my teacher want an extra day of break?? I kow I would! I had super hoped class would be cancelled. Not only just for Thanksgiving Eve. . . but because a group of my friends planned a Six Flags trip that day. I LOVE 6FLAGS! I WANT TO GOOO!!!! But missing a 500level college course isn't the most ideal thing to do. . . So now I have to decide whether or not to be responsible. . . bleck. BUT on top of that:

The Rolls

When would I have time to make my rolls? It's an all day thing for me to make just one batch. . . but to make multiple batches to have enough for our Thanksgiving feast. . . it's gonna be crazzzieee. If I went to class like a good child, I'd have to make the rolls in the afternoon and into the night. Deciding to go to Six Flags means I decide to make the rolls into the wee hours of the night. . . after walking all day and wearing myself out. People are counting on my rolls. I'd have to REALLY commit to staying up if I did go, even if I felt like my feet were going to fall off and my brain slip out through my ear holes. Blah de blah humm. What to do. I have no clue.


BUT. On a different topic.

From the Front

I finished my gingerbread holiday house! :D

Scarecrow?
 (my mother informed me
 it looked like a sheep...ah well)

Haha! My TootsieRoll Turkey!

The Back Yard

 only pure talent lets you make a car out of mini 3muskuteers, milkyways, and gum drops!

and the final touch : Melt chocolate chips with peanut butter and then GLOP IT on the roof!! 

Holiday Houses!

I AM ADDICTED. Not only to peanut butter, sugar, and singing at the top of my lungs when no one is around . . . yeah, don't judge haha. . . .but I also am quite thoroughly addicted to making holiday houses. Holiday houses as in gingerbread houses and their knock-offs. What are these knock-offs, you ask. They are the other types of bread houses used to create gingerbread house look alikes for other holidays.

FOR EXAMPLE. . .
Halloween:
chocolate bread house.
Thanksgiving:
chocolate bread house (an adapted version of the Halloween kit which I got on sale for $2.50. Score. . . cuz i would have bought it at full price lol. Mwhahaha! They lost potential money!!! ha. . . . .ok I'm done being awkward)
Other holidays:
I plan on buying extra christmas gingerbread house kits for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day. . .but the other holidays. . . I might end up making from scratch. . . addictions are addicting, so i will definitely, maybe end up going all out on these things!! haha

Over the years I have made many a house . Christmas and Halloween are the main ones . But this year, my Thanksgiving house is looking mighty legit!!

Holiday House: Thanksgiving (incomplete)

Ain't it just lookin prime?? Haha. A mixture of cereal, leftover Halloween candy and candy that came with the kit, this house is my most creative!! See the car on the left?? Milkyway body, gum drop wheels, piece of cap'n crunch for the front fender thing (believe it or not I'm not a car person and don't know everything!! lol), and a mini 3musketeer for the top part. I'm cool, I know.

I'll definitely post more pictures once I've completed it!!

Here's my Halloween House project! I did a lot of it with Jon so it's pretty darn awesome and a bag and a half of extraordinary!!

He's a master! Such Concentration!

 that's a spiderweb on the back. Jon threw (literally!) green-colored sugar on it to put in a "haunting effect." 

i love the candycorn walkway...it's sooo pretty! 

 haha...those are sugar cookies in the back. Thing about me is that I have to be working on multiple projects at the same time or my life is just not crazy enough! Aaaaand, I forgot to take a picture of the end product of the cookies : / but they were suuuuuperrrrr cute and went suuuuuperrrr fast!

I just LOVE making these houses! Can't wait to be able to work more on the Thanksgiving House! ALSO! Watch out for my post with the legit Christmas gingerbread houses!! They're gonna be great!

Stay Happy. Feed your Tastebuds.
~MollyMarie

....... No. Way :O

I couldn't believe it. And you won't either. Which is why I'm posting pics.

Ready?

Jordan made cookies.

I KNOW! It's unbelievable. He made some chocolate chip cookies and I have to admit. . . the kid is a natural. They were perfect. Am I jealous? Eh. Only when my mom said "these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever!!" implying that the countless times that I made them didn't measure up. So maybe just a tad jealous lol. But not nearly enough to kick him out of the kitchen haha. Benefits of someone else making the sweets far outweighs the negatives!

 Jordan is in a cooking class this semster, and he is really getting into it! They don't actually start cooking/baking until next week...but after his teacher's chocolate chip cookies demonstration. . . the first thing he wanted to do upon reaching home was to bake. Wow. That teacher is good.

The picture quality is no bueno...but these cookies really were delicious! 

  Such a stud! I mean seriously. Bieber hair AND cookies?? Pretty irresistable ;)

                  He is going to make some girl very happy!

~MollyMarie

Oh my GOODNESS!!

HEY!!! GUESS WHAT???????

I re-tried Danny's Dinner Rolls!. . . . . . . . . . . .AND. . . . . . . . . . . .the recipe WORKED! Haha. Apparently, someone wrote the recipe down wrong. Too much salt. So now, my lovely blog readers, I can make Danny's Dinner Rolls. I am not going to sugar coat the raisin too much, so I have to say, I actually like my new roll recipe better. . . but these are still so very very delicious.

Eh. The phone camera doesn't capture the full essence of the magnificence of these beautiful rolls. . . . . . .I think I'm going to invest in an actual camera! The food must look as good as it tastes!

So. Even though Danny's Dinner Rolls won a whopping three times. . . . I emerged VICTORIOUS!!! :D

Keep living, keep loving, keep baking!

~MollyMarie

Cookie Monster's Got Nothing On Us!

I know. Shocking...it's not a bread recipe....please pick up your jaw ;) They're chocolate chip cookieeeeees!!!!!!

How is it possible to have a baking blog and NOT include these lovelies?? It's not. So I'm including them! They are just as tasty as can be and they are sooo easy to make! We make them in quadruple batches. Yup. We go big.

Don't they look mighty fine??. . .despite the less-than-spectacular photography. . . .

They are just the greatest...and they go super quick at my house!

               CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

                    2/3    cup    shortening

                    1/2    cup    sugar

                    1/2    cup    brown sugar

                      1               egg

                      1     tsp.    vanilla

                   1 1/2  cups   all-purpose flour

                    1/2    tsp     baking soda

                    1/2    tsp     salt

                    1/2    cup    chopped nuts (opt.)

~Mix shortening, sugars, egg and vanilla thoroughly.

~Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting.

~Stir dry ingredients together; blend in to wet mixture. Mix in nuts (completely optional. In fact I recommend leaving them out!!! But to each his own haha ) and chocolate chips (now these guys are a MUST! I mean, they ARE chocolate chip cookies after all...but uh, maybe I do leave them out occasionally...or substitute butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips...or candy)

~Place in rounded tablespoons on an un-greased cookie sheet, pressing down slightly.

~Bake @ 375 deg. for 8-10 minutes or until "delicately browned" (that phrase just sounds soooo delicious, doesn't it??)

YUMMY!! You will NOT REGRET MAKING THESE!!!

~Molly Marie

Batter Bread Up!

FINE! Sue me, sue me! What can ya do me? I love...BREAD! (haha I hope you all caught the Guys and Dolls reference. Frank Sinatra holds my heart and I don't think many will ever be able to even hold a candle to him in my mind...so you see why I'm still single and will most likely continue to be so for a while lol) Pretty much all of my baking time has gone into attempting different bread recipes.

This particular recipe is a batter bread recipe which I got out of the Taste of Home Book of Baking called, Sally Lunn's Batter Bread. The link'll take you to the Taste of Home website so if you search under the recipe name, it will take you to it. I DEFINITELY say go make this bread!! Goodness. Gracious. Amazing!

Isn't it just soooo pretty!!! 

And my family LOVED it! This one's a keeper for my recipe book.

SALLY LUNN'S BATTER BREAD

Ingredients

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  HONEY BUTTER:
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Stir the dough down. Spoon into a greased and floured 10-in. tube pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.
• Combine the honey butter ingredients until smooth. Serve with bread. Yield: 12-16 servings.

I didn't actually make the honey butter. Totally forgot and the bread was gone too fast for me to do anything about it once I did remember haha. BUT I'm sure it's delicious. I'll be sure to make it next time!

   it cut so nicely!

     and the inside was                 perrrrfect!

Advice from Molly Marie: GO MAKE THIS BREAD FOR YOURSELF!!!! You will not regret it!!

~Molly Marie

What else to do with my *FANTASTIC* roll recipe??

Make Cinnamon Rolls!!!!

Gosh and golly, I hate to brag. . . but they were INCREDIBLE! Jon helped with a lot of it. He made the filling and rolled them up. Ah. Sooo good! I'm totally making them again!!

The recipe works beautifully for cinnamon rolls and the glaze can be changed up to add variety. Maybe using the lime glaze from the banana bread a couple posts back? Or you could try adding spices, using lemon, or creating something unique!

Make food your own. It's one of the best parts of life!!!

~Molly Marie