Few Of My Favorite Things

So, here are a few of my favorite things from this crazy week!

* Going to the Nutcracker with my daughter and friends! We went to lunch and then watched the Matinee. I barely finished her dress in time (it had lining and many other things that were a first for me!) and she loved it! (Huge sigh of relief). We had a great time.
*Family Gatherings. We were supposed to go to the Temple lights but it was raining so we visited, ate Mom's homemade cinnamon rolls with hot chocolate and of course played RockBand!

*The huge Candy Cane Bagels a neighbor dropped off, these were good!
*Button Ribbon from Anthropolgie. I almost skipped putting it on my friends gift but knew she would love it so...I buttoned it on!
* Paper Star Ornaments! For some reason I thought the kids had school until Tues. next week. Why? I don't know, so when Thursday night came and I realized that I needed teacher gifts for the next day... Paper Star ornaments saved me! The template etc. is on BHG web page.
*The adorable matching Mom and daughter matching aprons my friend sewed up that I don't have a photo of since I have been wearing it nonstop while I Holiday bake!

Christmas Lights and Ginger Cookies

It's almost Christmas and my kids are still going to school like this:


It's going to be in the 70's again this weekend. I don't want to freeze but i would love to wear a sweater because it's actually cold. Now I just wear a sweater because It feels wrong to go into the holidays with out them. I have yet to wear one all day. Such a bummer!

We hit the temple lights this weekend.Amber and her kids came along and then we had hot chocolate and cookies at my house. Did I mention I am going t miss Amber? We had a bunch of cookies left over so we had friends over again Sunday night for hot chocolate and cookies. My kids were in heaven...two night in a row of cocoa and marshmallows? It doesn't get much better than that to 6 year olds.


Here is the link to the Soft Ginger Cookies I made. They are Greg's new favorite and are even yummier dipped in your hot chocolate. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Brownies

O.K. bought way to many sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving so in my recipe search I came across this one.. and it is a way yummy way to get your beta carotene! Don't have a photo they went to fast. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato (yam) Brownies

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups peeled and finely shredded yam (raw, no need to cook)
  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Fold in the shredded yam. Spread the batter evenly in the greased baking dish.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out clean. Mix together the confectioners' sugar, butter and milk until smooth. Spread over the brownies while they are still warm. They will absorb some of the glaze. Serve hot or warm.