Welcome Back, Peanut Butter Cookie!! (and Christmas knitting update)

I used to make batches and batches of peanut butter cookies for my Uncle Dave. But when Dave died in 1999, I couldn't make peanut butter cookies anymore. The smell of the peanut butter was just too much for me to handle and made me miss him too much. After years of abstaining from the peanut butter cookie baking, I made a batch this summer. I used the same recipe that I had used all those years ago but I didn't like them anymore. Absence in this case did not make the heart grow fonder. They were too crumbly and just not what I want in a peanut butter cookie. I had resigned myself to being peanut butter cookie-less for the foreseeable future.

However, after yesterday, I see peanut butter cookies in my future once again. I made the Peanut Butter Cut-Out Cookies from Hershey's. I didn't roll and cut them out because I have bad luck with that. Instead I just sliced and baked them. They are so good. Instead of using peanut butter, you use peanut butter chips. They taste like real peanut butter and they are soft and chewy. I made these for the Baking GALS box I am sending to our soldier in Iraq since her favorite cookies are peanut butter. Mom and Princess Ivi agreed that they were so good and I thought I would have to fight them off with a stick to be able to get enough cookies to ship. I also picked up two boxes of cocoa, some tea and some chocolates for the package and Mom is making me a batch of caramel corn to include so it should be great.

The new Knitty is up. I just took a look at it. There are some really pretty patterns in there. The Zora Cardigan is beautiful. I also like the Quadrat Pullover although I am not much into the belted look. The Pyroclastic Sock is awesome. Maybe I could beat second sock syndrome...or maybe not. I am adding them to my list of projects to knit. With these, my Ravelry queue is 30 projects long...hmmm.

As for Christmas knitting, I finished three surprise knitting projects for Princess Ivi this weekend. I can't post them here but I will post them after Christmas. I also cast on for a pair of Alice Wristwarmers for my niece. They are neon green and white striped. I made good progress with them and am extremely pleased.

I did some shopping on Saturday. My sister and brother-in-law are done (well, my sister will be done once I locate the gift I bought for her months and months ago). My nephew is almost done. I am picking up Princess Ivi's gifts tonight on the way home. As for my niece, nephews and brother, they are going to have to wait for the Christmas bonus.

Favorite Holiday Recipe - Swedish Cream Wafers

I was given this recipe by distant cousins that I met while conducting genealogy of my father's family. The story I was told was that my Grammie's mother (who was Swedish) used to make cookies like this and the recipe had been passed to her son's wife who continued to make them and pass the recipe to her descendants. These cookies re so good. They are light but seem very decadent because of the yummy filling.

SWEDISH CREAM WAFERS

1 c. soft butter
1/3 c. whipping cream
2 c. sifted flour

Mix butter, cream and flour. Chill. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick on floured board. Cut with a 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Roll only 1/3 of the dough at a time. Keep rest in refrigerator. Coat both sides of cut dough with granulated sugar. Put on a cookie sheet and prick with a fork 4 times. Bake 7 to 9 minutes. Cool. Put two cookies together with frosting.

FROSTING:

1/4 c. soft butter
3/4 c. sifted confectioners' sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla

Too Much to Do

To Buy

1. Princess Ivi's Gifts
2. Isaac's gift (which needs to be mailed 12/18)
3. Gifts for nephews and niece (I am thinking the first few Harry Potter movies for the boys and a Joann's gift card for Emily since she likes to sew and needs fabric and notions)
4. Baking supplies
5. 10 Dollar Swap items to be shipped no later than 12/20
6. Carry-on size bag for Princess Ivi
7. Messenger style bag (or something like it) for me that can hold personal items (phone, wallet, etc.) plus ample knitting materials for plane trip and layovers Don't need because Princess Ivi is going to let me use one of hers.
8. Gift for Princess Ivi’s dad(??)
9. Stocking Stuffers
10. Gift for Mom

To Bake

1. Cookies for Baking GALS (to be shipped no later than 12/16)
2. Cookies (for mailing to sister on or about 12/18)
3. Goodies (like Christmas mice, peanut butter chip brittle and possible Nigella Lawson’s Hokey Pokey) for mailing on or about 12/18

To Knit

1. Surprise project for Princess Ivi
2. Stick shift cover, ice scraper mitt and steering wheel cover for Rob all in Gator orange and blue.
3. Hello New York Scarf Easy Ribbed Scarf for Pat using Grampian DK (purple)
4. Hat for Barry using Jiffy (black)
5. Wise Owl for Emi
6. Spiders for Will and Jake

To Assemble

1. Two pairs of wristers
2. Two surprise gifts for Princess Ivi

To Visit

1. Princess Ivi's dad for Christmas
2. Brother's family prior to Christmas day

To Wrap

1. All presents

To Stuff

1. Two Stockings (mom's and Princess Ivi's)

To Do

1. Ship package to sister on or around 12/18
2. Charge and load ipods before Christmas
3. Charge batteries for camera
4. Pack for trip to sister's house (leaving Jacksonville at 11:50 a.m. on 12/25) -of course this includes making sure there are sufficient clean clothes for said trip as well as pulling out our cold weather gear (which thankfully isn’t too far in the closet)

This seems so overwhelming especially when I consider that I have one pay check between now and Christmas (I am not counting the check I will receive on Christmas Eve). Thankfully Princess Ivi is out of school starting on the 21st and she is really good about helping with laundry and stuff. She will also make sure she has what she needs to keep herself occupied on the plane.

Judging from this list, my life will be very crazy for the next few weeks.

Weekend Activities

I absolutely love Masterpiece Theatre. There is just something about those wonderful, amazingly talented actors enacting the classics like Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and so on.

Wuthering Heights was on last night. Well, at least part one. Tom Hardy, who plays Heathcliffe, is an amazing actor and pretty damn good to look at too. I can’t wait for next week when the conclusion will be on.

This weekend was very strange. Princess Ivi and I went to town (Palatka) and cashed my paycheck and went to Walmart. While there, I bought a replacement camera because I can’t stand it any longer. I just bought a Kodak Easyshare C913. It is just a basic camera.

Then, we went home, ate frozen lasagna, made Toll House cookies and vegged. I went to bed at about 9:30 slathered with Vicks Vapor Rub.

I slept very late on Sunday because I had not been sleeping well since having this cold.

After getting up though and taking some medicine, I did laundry (about five loads). Yesterday was the perfect day for drying them on the line since it was about 68 degrees and the wind was fairly constant. Most of the clothes dried within half an hour to 45 minutes.

I also cleaned my bedroom, did dishes, made dinner, sewed a button on a Calorimetry and took a shower.

But I ran out of steam at about 7:00 p.m. and spent the rest of the night parked in front of the tv working on the Spiral Tube Socks.

Princess Ivi has been reading the Twilight books and she was very touched by them as she spent a good deal of time crying while reading Twilight and New Moon. I love to see her get so involved in a book.