Christmas Cookies: Peanut Butter Blossoms

Every Christmas I make these cookies, I've been making them since 2000! You don't have to use Hershey kisses, you can use any star-shaped chocolates that are available. Please note that I doubled this recipe (because I have a lot of people to bake for!) If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you'll love these Christmas cookies.

PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS

MAKES BETWEEN 55-60 COOKIES

1 C shortening
1 1/2 C peanut butter
2/3 C granulated sugar
2/3 C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
extra granulated sugar to roll cookies in

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat shortening and peanut butter in extra large bowl until well blended. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and beat well.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat into PB mixture.

Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in granulated sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately press chocolate piece into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges.

Remove from cookie sheets to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy!

Last Minute Christmas Stocking Stuffer Gift

Santa always has good ideas. This year instead of the usual candy and sugary treats or the little toys that will break in a day, how about stuffing that stocking with some money?

Here is an easy DIY gift idea for any age.

1. Get a roll of quarters or dimes from your bank.

2. Wrap with wrapping paper.

3. Cover with clear cellophane, twist ends and tape with clear tape.

This is a cute and easy gift for when you're scrambling at last minute. And seriously, who wouldn't want a little money for all those post-Christmas deals...

Come back on Friday for my pre-Christmas giveaway...

Dashing Through The Snow...

I've been really busy this month with our kids' activities, workload and preparing for the Christmas season. My thought process was if I get everything done early, I'll actually be able to sit and enjoy the pre Christmas festivities. So I've been:

Decorating inside and outside of the house with lots of lights and candles…(since this photo was taken we've gotten a lot more snow and the temperature has dropped considerably, brrrr.)

Shopping for presents, for everyone and myself…

Wrapping those presents…

Baking for our daughter's cookie decorating party tomorrow after school…

And writing my guest post about Christmas traditions (and planning the giveaway!) for Steph's blog on December 20th.

I hope that your season has been especially merry and filled with the wonderful spirit that only comes this time of year!

Christmas Decorating Trends 2013

Usually way before you are even thinking about Christmas, I've already been decorating for the season. Decorating for several of my clients, that is. Because I have many clients that are retail stores, they insist every year that Christmas go up before Thanksgiving. (I'm just the messenger people.)

And every year, as I teeter on ladders and spend hundreds of dollars on Christmas decorations, people will say, "Christmas before Thanksgiving? You've got to be kidding!"

No kidding here.

It doesn't bother me too much since Christmas is my favorite time of year. The benefit of decorating and shopping early is that I get to see what the new trends are for the season. Pinecones are still the rage and look beautiful in the above blue and white wreath.

This year, with all our DIY efforts, we've taken to getting creative, like with this simple, but tasteful twist on the advent calendar from Real Simple magazine:

Pottery Barn embraced the cloche trend and turned it into a Christmas ornament; if you like more traditional ornaments, you'll love Ballard Design's mercury glass ornaments; for us decorating fanatics who love to try new things, we'll give these adorable owl string of lights from Anthropologie a try.

As much as we're willing to try something new, we might still long for items that remind us of our own childhood Christmases like this Santa ornament from the tree (and blog) of Kelly Ash.

I remember this kind of felted Santa from when I was a kid! How adorable!

Whatever your style, there's something for everyone out there in the Christmas decorating world. And if you can't find it, then make it!

How are you going to decorate this year? What's your decorating style when it comes to Christmas?

She Said, He Said

I used to hate emailing or texting Husband because his responses were so sparse (Definitely a man thing) in comparison to the thoughtful (<-- long-winded) emails I would send him. But after awhile, I learned just to get to the point.

(Thought I'd share this pretty view from my "office," for no reason...)

And maybe that is what we ladies need to do, instead of making our husbands guess or test their mind-reading abilities, just be short and to the point instead of dancing around for answers (or compliments.)

Anyway, here's an email I saved, well, just because...

From: Suzanne [mailto:suzanne.andmyhouse@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 10:10 AM
To: Husband
Subject: Please answer these questions

Suzanne 10:09 AM (11 minutes ago) to Husband:

Is your tracking number on the PC email?
You are going to grill burgers right?
How do Dark Chocolate Brownies and Mini Lemon Tarts sound?
Do you think I'm smart and pretty? (heh, heh)


From: Husband 
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 10:17 AM
To: Suzanne [mailto:suzanne.andmyhouse@gmail.com]
Subject: Please answer these questions

Husband 10:17 AM (3 minutes ago) to me:

Yes.
If you want.
Good but not a fan of lemon with beer.
Yes!!!


Can we get an awww...? :)

AMH Welcomes: EZ Living Home

As many of you know, as well as being a mom to three children, I am also a mom to Juno, The English Mastiff, our 135 lb., three-year-old dog.

As you also know, And My House (AMH) is a blog dedicated to all the happenings in our home from DIY projects, tried and true recipes and the occasional goings on of Juno. (I once mentioned she had a blog, remember?)

But back to what I was saying, I'd like to welcome the awesome pet-friendly and very decorating friendly line of dog beds and coordinating throw pillows and curtains from EZ Living Home.

EZ Living Home offers a stylish way to include your pets' beds into your own style of decorating. No longer does Juno have to hide her bed when company arrives, but instead showcase it! :)

Doesn't she look happy? More like she wants to take a nap. Juno is lounging on the Honeycomb Memory Foam Topper Pillow Bed in Tangerine.

The high quality and easy care of EZ Living Home's products make this mom very happy, because even Juno's stuff needs to get washed every so often. (And I'm even happier because now that she has her own bed, she might just stay off the furniture…)

This is the perfect time to buy your pet something special for Christmas (and you can get the matching pillows and curtains too!)

Check out EZ Living Home, read how their brand was born and Like them on Facebook!

Time for Juno's nap now...


*Disclaimer: I was sent two pillows and the dog bed from EZ Living Home to review. I received no monetary compensation for this post. Any opinions stated are strictly my own.