Christmas Tree Sandwich Cookies

It's finally here! My LAST day at my day job! ........it doesn't feel real.

It feels like I'll be back here on Monday or come back after my Christmas vacation. My desk is bare, my computer wiped, 401k roll-over paperwork submitted......but on Monday I'll go into auto-pilot and show up at nine!

I've been at this job for seven and a half years! I started this blog at this very desk!

Almost everything I've ever posted.....I posted it while at work. HA!

Luckily my boss is rather a troglodyte and can't seem to figure out how to even send an email! :)

I'm getting oddly nostalgic but it's about everything else I did while I was here!

It's the end of an era!

I planned my wedding, organized trips to twelve or more countries, I remodeled a condo and a rowhouse. I started investing, paid off student loans, found family members I'd lost, and adopted the world's cutest dog!

So many great things happened during these years!

So many baked goods happened.

This is my 286th post as far as I can tell! And it's a cutie!

What's not to love about chocolate shortbread spritz cookies filled with green vanilla buttercream and sprinkles!

I actually put the buttercream IN the cookie press and pressed the buttercream onto the cookies! You can tell on that bottom cookie! It was SO much easier than trying to frost them with knife! I LOVE it. I'll be doing that again!

I can't think of a cuter treat to mark the end of this era! Happy little trees for a happy "retiree!" 

Christmas Tree Sandwich Cookies
makes roughly 48 cookies and 24 sandwich cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 tbs. dutch cocoa

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
green food coloring
sprinkles

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add dry ingredients and mix well.

Put tree disc and dough into cookie press and press onto the prepared baking sheets. Place baking sheets in refrigerator for half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool before icing.

Whip butter, salt, vanilla and green food coloring till creamy then whip in powdered sugar in a stand mixer. Beat on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Gently add in the sprinkles and mix a few times.

Fill the cookie press (still with the tree disc) with buttercream frosting. Place one cookie face down. Hover a bit over the cookie when pressing buttercream on the cookie. One press will do.

Gently set another cookie on top.

Allow to set for one hour.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Shortbread

One. More. Week. 

That is exactly how long there is until my "retirement." Well......7 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds........but who's counting? ME. I am. Very much. 

Quitting my job is genuinely frightening. As much as I loathe don't like my day job it has this annoying habit of providing a sense of security....and pays bills. 

As excited as I am to be moving on to a new adventure, there are two parts of my personality battling it out in the back of my head. 

Me: FREEDOM! 

Me: OMG, money! I need money! 

Me: You'll be so much happier! 

Me: I'll be broke! Poor! What if I fail and lose it all?! 

Me: But you can sleep in everyday! 

Me: Oooooh....sleeeeeep.....

The side that gets the most sleep always wins...big part of why I don't have kids yet, either. Hmmm. 

I find my retirement nerves are only truly satisfied with Pinterest and baked goods. Probably why I've already made spritz cookies and cinnamon slowflakes already this week! The closer I get to the big day the more I find myself in the kitchen!...and pouting in bed that I still have to wake up! lol. 

The latest batch I made is your basic log, cut and bake shortbread. To jazz it up I through in some mini chocolate chips and toffee chunks. By some I mean a ton.  Some people medicate with pills, some with toffee bits! You don't blog this much without a healthy appreciation for eating your feelings! :) 

I hope you enjoy! 

Toffee & Chocolate Chip Shortbread

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

2/3 cup toffee pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add flours and mix well. Add chocolate chips and toffee pieces and mix again.

Shape dough into a log, wrap in wax paper and allow to rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/8th inch thick slices. Place cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for another half hour.

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Cinnamon Snowflakes

These adorable snowflakes are going to be my new go to cookie for the holidays! These and my homemade thin mints, chocolate rum strip cookies and lofthouse style sugar cookies round out my cookie plates!

These pretty little cinnamon stars are another variation on my favorite shortbread recipe with some Vietnamese cinnamon added. Simple? Yes, and that's the beauty! It lets the delicious cinnamon shine through! Sometimes it's the simple flavors that come out the best!

I've gone on and on about Vietnamese cinnamon before, and if you haven't heard my spiel yet here it is again: I adore it! I buy Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's and give it away as gifts! It's that wonderful! I can't recommend it enough. I buy a nice big bag and store it in a jar in my fridge. It preserve the flavor, and this is a flavor worth preserving!

I hope you enjoy these as much as me and my friends have!

Cinnamon Snowflake Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

2 tsp. Vietnamese cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add dry ingredients and mix well.

Shape dough into a disc, wrap in wax paper and allow to rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured surface to roughly an 1/8th inch thick. Cut the dough with a small star cookie cutter, and place cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for another half hour.

Remove from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool before icing.


Piping Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water

Mix ingredients together. Add more sugar or liquid until the consistency you desire is acquired. I used a very thick icing for piping!

Pipe snowflakes over the shape of the star.

Return the iced cookie to the cooling rack and allow icing to set for roughly an hour.

Peppermint Marshmallows & Chocolate Spoons

If you want to add a little zing to your winter's hot cocoa try out these adorable peppermint flavored pink and white swirled homemade marshmallows! 

Oh what a week! I have spent the majority of my time pouring over food trends lists for 2011! I must say...I'm not incredibly impressed. There are a few things I am wildly excited over, but it just felt like a whole lot of the same things we've been seeing for years! Such a shame! I just wrote an article on it for the Washington Examiner on it (that just posted! yay!). It's somewhat sad but true, but the opening five words are really all you'll need to know for the trends.

I am really looking forward to Korean food taking off. I am passionate about bulgolgi and love my little trips out to Annandale (just don't go to Gom Ba Woo easily the worst I've had).

Okay, I need to think about ANYTHING but food trends. It's been making my eyes hurts to stare and read through most of these lists............so let's think about peppermint marshmallows!

A little while back I fell in love with making my own sugar out of peppermint candies. Thirty seconds in a food processor and I would have the perfect peppermint flavored powdered sugar. Delightful! I've been having fun making ice cream with it and decided it was about time to try out something else! So why not marshmallows! I thought up some adorable marshmallows and off it went! I hope you enjoy them! My favorite part right now...the mint is SO calming. Which is fantastic to calm my nerves about food trends.

Another little thing I did was to cover spoons with dark and white chocolates. The instructions are so simple! Melt chocolate, dip a spoon in to cover, and put on a sheet of wax paper in the freezer to set. Repeat with white chocolate! They are perfect for stirring hot chocolate with and add a little decorative flair. I have away the spoons and bags of marhsmallows to my friends for them to enjoy.

Cheers!

Homemade Marshmallows

Adapted from Alton Brown

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Nonstick spray

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1 cup ice cold water, divided

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup powdered peppermint candies

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

red food coloring

First things first prepare your pan! Spray the pan heavily with cooking spray (or grease with shortening if you prefer). Mix cornstarch and powdered sugar in a separate bowl. Pour about half the mixture into the pan and shake around the coat. Over wax paper, tap out any excess powder. Picking the wax paper up, return the excess powder to the bowl.

Fit your stand mixer with its whisk attachment. Pour the gelatin and ½ cup of the ice water into its bowl. Allow to sit as you continue to make the marshmallow syrup.   

In a small saucepan combine: 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, peppermint sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cover and cook on medium or medium high heat for about 3 minutes. No need to stir.

Take the lid of the syrup, and attach your candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue to boil for about 7 minutes until the syrup reaches 240 degrees and remove from heat immediately.

Put your stand mixer on low speed churning the gelatin mixture for a few turns and then, while running, SLOWLY pour the syrup down the side of the bowl. When all the syrup is incorporated, increase to a high speed. I cover the stand mixer with a tea towel for the first few minutes to prevent hot syrup from flying around my kitchen.  Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 -13 minutes. Add the vanilla, during the last minute of whipping.

WARNING: This part is tricky and requires you to move FAST! Pour the majority of the marshmallow cream into a the prepared pan. Leave a small bit into the bowl. Work quickly and add in some food coloring until it reaches the color you prefer. Quickly drizzle over the top and swirl the marshmallow with a knife in a figure 8 pattern. 

If you have a sugar shaker, I recommend shaking on a little powdered sugar (or peppermint powdered sugar) to coat slightly. Then take a few tablespoons of the powdered mixtures and brush on over top of the marshmallows. Allow to sit for 4 hours or overnight. Keep the remainder of the powder mixture.

When you cut the marshmallows, you’re going to want to dip each side in the powder sugar mixture to keep it from sticking to everything it touches. At this point you’re ready to eat them!

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie with a Gingerbread Crumb Crust

Pumpkin pie is traditional for the season, but I went for a new take and made pumpkin ice cream pie! The gingerbread crust is a flavorful addition. 

I simply have to tell a horribly funny story.....well, funny for foodies. 

Yesterday was my office's "Christmas Party" which is a Christmas party, because our boss is staunch that saying "happy holidays" is wrong! Wrong I tell you! WRONG!.....I celebrate Christmas. I do. His vigor is far past insensitivity. In most ways he's a Scrooge, but heaven forbid you wish him a happy holiday.....in any event, a holiday lunch at The Palm. 

So, the waiter comes over to tell us the specials. He tells us that the soup of the day is a vichyssoise. He has to repeat it to every other person because the restaurant is so crowded and loud. So I hear him explain, not once, not twice, but five times that the vichyssoise is like a corn chowder with lobster. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking the waiter how much corn France grows annually. I know the answer but it's not an obvious one. In fact France is the 6th largest corn producer in the world, and has been growing corn since the 1550s. However, I also know the cultural stigmas surrounding corn and that only in the last few decades has it become a somewhat accepted vegetable. None of these facts changes the point that Vichyssoise is a leek and potato soup. 

Each time he kept explaining that a vichyssoise was a warm corn chowder I laughed on the inside....and of course, I ordered it. I actually had the audacity to call the front desk and ask them what the soup of the day was. They told me it was a corn bisque with lobster. Close enough. The soup was closer to a bisque than a chowder. Our waiter had to have been new. Either way, I was amused. The soup conundrum kept me laughing for the rest of day. 

Okay, so none of that has to do with ice cream, and I can see no way to segue into it. So, I won't. 

Cheers!

Pumpkin Ice Cream 

2 eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

pinch of kosher salt

1 cup pumpkin puree 

2 cups cream

1 cup whole milk 

15 small gingerbread cookies

3 tablespoons melted butter

In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar.  Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. 

Gently mix in the cream, milk, pumpkin and seasonings. 

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions, or into an gingerbread pie crust to freeze. 

To make a gingerbread crust simply crumble gingerbread cookies and drizzle some melted butter onto the crumbs. Mix together and press into a pie mold. Layer ice cream over top and allow to chill until just set. Serve immediately. 

The Christmas Countdown!

As it turns out I have one of the craftiest, cutest mothers in the world. Today I opened a package and found a few glorious things inside. 

My mother sent me a package!!! She's always been good with packages. When I was Elle Woods from Legally Blonde for Halloween I recieved a package full of everything from pink slippers, to pink nail polish, and pink scarfs. I own glittery shamrocks, pumpkin table runners, and nearly my entire movie collection thanks to these packages that started my freshman year of college.

This package has easily topped them all.

I opened a very large box to find instructions and 25 decorated match box magnets decorated for the holiday season! SO CUTE! When I opened the first one it said to open envelope 1, which instructed me to buy a Christmas wreath for my front door! My mother is adorable!

So now I have a wreath with berries and pine cones hanging  on my bright red front door, calling out Christmas cheer to anyone who looks out way.

I'm very excited to see what is in all the match boxes! Not to mention the numbered gifts that go with them!

day 1: wreath a symbol of the never ending nature of love...having no beginning and no end. 

Day 2: Cookies! An envelope filled with Cookie Recipes! 

day three: TREE! my mother bought me silicone bake ware in the shape of trees! you'll see these in an upcoming post for sure!

day four: candles! i was instructed to go a buy some pretty ribbons and such to make a lovely display in my home with these battery powered candles! so cute! 

Day Five: This one won't have a pictures. I opened up the envelope for day five only to find another envelope inside for me to give to someone else. My instructions were to write a letter to my cousin J.D. who is currently serving out of the country and will not be with us this Christmas. It's not photogenic, and it's not a flashy present, but I think it might have the most holiday spirit out of any of the gifts yet. I'm proud of my cousin and am very happy to wish him a merry Christmas!

day 6: STAR! I received lovely star shaped red and green ramekins!
day 7: MUSIC! I got a gift card instructing me to buy Christmas music! 

day 8: GIFTS! yay! I got a nice little parcel with a nice little gift bow that had a lovely gift card in it! 

Day 9: A chocolate orange in honor of the sweet story of the Christmas Orange and the true meaning of Christmas!

Day 10: Baby, It's Cold outside! My mother gave me some money and told me to buy clothes to bundle up in! I NEED THEM SO MUCH!

Day 11: Give Service! My matchbox had a note in it telling me to do some small acts of service around my house for my roommates. :)

Day 12: Give Thanks! I received a box full of thank you cards and envelopes for me to send out to people who have helped me this year!

Day 13: Give Treats! Pictures coming soon! Butchie and I spent all Monday night baking up a storm for our holiday gift boxes! Gingersnaps, oatmeal cookies, truffles, hot chocolate, etc. Posts coming soon!

Day 14: Give Meals! My mother gave me money with the instructions to take someone to lunch. :) It's me, so I gave the money to the Capital Area Food Bank. I just took 60 less fortunate people to lunch. They do great work with the money they get.

Day 15: Give Money! My mother gave me money with instructions to give it to someone in need. It's been below freezing for days, so I'm grateful I haven't seen many homeless on the streets. I am hoping they are in warm shelters, and not hospitals. Please, if you live in cold areas, below freezing look for a hypothermia hotline in your area.

HYPOTHERMIA HOTLINE: I can give money, and I can meals, but one thing I wish more people knew about was the DC hypothermia hotline. I'm sure there are others elsewhere. I can't give every homeless individual a place to sleep during the cold winters, but I can call the people who can. If you live outside of DC please look for one in your area.

So many more to come! I'll update daily! :) Happy Holidays!

Gingerbread Ice Cream

Easily my favorite of the holiday ice creams I have made, this gingerbread ice cream is full of all the spicy goodness of molasses and cinnamon. I have to say I like it better than gingerbread itself!

Okay, okay, so the cutesy little gingerbread mittens may be just a smidge too adorable. I love them. I simply love them. Not to mention how much fun I had decorating them. It's a shame though that I didn't actually make the gingerbread so I don't have a recipe to share with you! All I did was decorate the lovely little cookies! So sad. 

As it turns out I realize I've never made a true gingerbread house. I've made the houses out of graham crackers sure, but it's just not the same. A few years ago my cousins held a gingerbread house decorating contest with my mother and I invited over to be the judges. It was amazing! They had a whole gingerbread neighborhood! Between two parents and their five children (all full grown adults mind you) and their spouses it was a sight to be seen! I tried to convince some of my friends into holding a gingerbread house contest....they weren't up for it! LAME! I miss my family. Two weeks and I'll be home with them! 

But, until I'm home with them at least I have ice cream! Not as good as family, but I'll take it! This gingerbread ice cream is easily my favorite of the holiday ice creams. Peppermint is a definite second, unless we count the Mexican Hot Chocolate Ice Cream as a holiday ice cream....it's a bit of a stretch but it's so good I just want to include it! 

Enjoy!  

Gingerbread Ice Cream

2 eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cloves

pinch kosher salt

2 cups cream

1 cup milk 

In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar.  Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. 

Gently mix in the cream, milk, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. 

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Eggnog & Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cinnamon Snickerdoodles are the perfect compliment to Eggnog Ice Cream! A fantastic holiday treat! 

What a week! The thing about working in fundraising is that this is CRUNCH time. Yesterday at work we had a fun problem....our database refusing to do anything we asked it to! How wonderful it is to not be able to pull any of our donors names and mail them when we really need to the most! 

By this point in my fundraising career I simply find it humorous. All I can do it sit back, laugh, and play Queen's I want to break Free loudly....because really, I do! Every December the president of our organization has a panic attack, my boss has to deal with it, and I get to deal with him! Then the CPA starts asking questions, the auditor wants to do the taxes.....and I just want to sit in the corner and remind myself it's the holidays....a time of happiness....and joy.....well, at least it is in the stories. 

Yesterday was the day that I want to pull an Office Space on our database. If I knew how I would. The irony of it all is that even if I could beat up a computer program.....it wouldn't be able to work any worse than it already does. 

Sad. 

So, here's to hoping that today's work day goes better! My fingers are crossed for working computers and the ability to do the job I am paid to do.............and in the event that it doesn't work out, at least be able to surf the internet to bide the time until the IT guy fixes it. :) 

Since the work day had most of my office craving a drink, it seemed only fitting to go home and indulge in some lovely eggnog ice cream. I made mine without the rum since I'm not much of a rum person, but if you want/need it add no more than three tablespoons! 

Enjoy!

Eggnog Ice Cream

3 cups half and half

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

7 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

(3 tablespoons of rum if you like)

Scald one cup of half and half along with the salt over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. Remove from heat. 

In a stand mixer whisk together the yolks and sugar until light and fluffy, then gradually pour the scalded half and half down the side of the bowl as the mixer is still going. 

Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture has thickened and will coat the back of the spoon. Remove from heat, and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Add in the remaining half and half, vanilla and nutmeg. Chill the custard thoroughly. About two hours. 

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon (Vietnamese preferably)

Preheat the oven to 400. 

In a stand mixer combine butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs. Beat until thoroughly mixed. 

In a separate bowl mix the flour, cream on tartar, soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture in the stand mixer. Mix thoroughly. 

Shape dough by rounded teaspoons into balls. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and roll the balls in the mixture. Place two inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 

OR

Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper. Pull the top sheet of parchment paper off and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over top. Place the parchment paper with cookie dough on it, onto a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until dough is baked through. 

Allow dough to cool, and cut using cookie cutters or into bars. 

To Assemble the Ice Cream Sandwiches: 

To make the ice cream sandwiches scoop a bit of ice cream onto one snickerdoodle and sandwich it with another!  OR If you are crazy like me and decided to go with the cookie cutters.....hold the cookie cutter so it lines up with an overturned cookie and press ice cream into the cookie cutter. Gently press the ice cream down as you pull the cookie cutter up (it takes some practice). Put another cookie on top and freeze until hardened! 

Peppermint Ice Cream

I love peppermint ice cream. I find it calming during the crazy holiday season!

Alright! I am back on track! I am just about done writing up my posts about my travels! And I spent nearly all of my weekend in the kitchen! Between cooking demos and making my last ditch effort to make all the ice cream I set out to this year, it was one. busy. weekend. 

I know it might seem crazy, but yes, all the posts in the next two weeks are going to be ice cream. HORRID timing right? As the blizzards are setting in across America, who really wants ice cream? Frankly I'm about to write off anything that involves walking outside! This week I need to visit the holiday market, and go to National Harbor for their holiday festivities...both outdoors. If you want to find me while I'm at either I'll be the one that looks like the Michelin Man. I'm think it'll take at least five layers to be okay in any of this. It's not so bad except the wind. Oh the wind. I can't take it. 

Ugh. As it is I need to get to work on sending out holiday cards. Hundreds of them. Hundreds. Literally my entire day will be spent hand addressing envelopes. At least I can watch holiday movies! And eat Peppermint Ice Cream! ....oooooh cold. I'll just have to sip hot chocolate at I eat my ice cream! 

So, if you want to have chocolate wafers and make the ice cream into a sandwich like I did...I would NOT recommend doing it the way I did. I thought it would be fun to use the tree silicone pans my mother gave me in her Christmas Countdown (which is just SO cute!). Bad idea. Bad. I melted down chocolate chips and poured them into the molds.....chocolate does not want to come out of silicone molds. Yep. Good learning moment. Took some effort. My new plan would be to melt down the chocolate and go at it like I would the chocolate collars. That would work out so much better....I think. Haven't tried it, but I can't see how it could fail. Good luck! 

Enjoy! 

Peppermint Ice Cream 

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups cream

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

1 cup peppermint candies

Using a food processor, grind the peppermint candies into a fine powder. 

In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar.  Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. 

Gently mix in the cream, milk, vanilla, salt  and powdered peppermint candies. 

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookie Mix in a Jar

It's December! Welcome to the Holiday season! To kick it off here is one great holiday gift idea: cookie mix in a jar! Perfect to take to friends and neighbors! 

Alright, I am back from vacation and the holiday season is staring me right in the face. Somehow planning my United Kingdom adventure I forgot that when I got back it would be breathing down my neck. I'm not ready. I've only done limited shopping for one friend, and one sister. So, today begins my mad dash to get gifting in order for my friends and family. You'd think seeing this jar that I'm well on my way. I am. Just not for my own people. This lovely little jar is one of forty-eight that were made for a local DC area battered women's shelter. I gathered together nearly fifty fabulous women together and we made a night of it a few weeks ago. It was really something to see so many of my friends pitching in together and making these gifts, working in teams, and really getting creative...mostly because I didn't have enough of the measurement tools we needed! Oops! I'll have to work on owning six 3/4 cup measurement cups for next year! Silly me, I only have two! 

The instructions are simple and I've included them via photo! So simple! You can download the photo and you are ready to print them for yourselves and make your own!  

Here are the instructions: 

And here is the attachment sheet alone. That way you can print multiples onto a page! 

Yep! There ya go! There's just one of the holiday ideas I'll have coming to you this month! Not to mention posts about my vacation once I get a minute to sit down and look through my photos! 

Enjoy!