A Million Jello Shots...

(Actually it was exactly 100!)

I made these little gems for the houseboat trip we went on last weekend on Norris Lake here in TN. These were a HUGE hit among our 10 friends that joined us! They were so perfect and refreshing for just chilling on the lake :)

No real recipe here... just make jello as normal except when you're adding the cold water, substitute about 1/2 of the cold water for vodka. Pour into shot glasses or little plastic containers before refrigerating. (Make sure boiled water w/ gelatin mix is at room temp before adding the alcohol!)

I made 3 different flavors, all made with Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka:

1. Orange (tasted like a creamsicle)

2. Pina Colada (definitely the crowd favorite)

3. Raspberry (just as delicious as the other two)

4th of July Funfetti Cupcakes

No real recipe here, but these are just too cute not to post!! Just make funfetti cupcakes according to box like usual, frost with cream cheese frosting, and top with blueberries and strawberries in any design you'd like. (Raspberries would also be good to use!)

I hope everyone has a great 4oJ weekend!!!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Tonight my husband is gone, so I decided to get in the holiday spirit. I turned on some Christmas music and started baking! These cookies are GREAT! Recipe from MyRecipes.com. Enjoy!

(Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. I halved the recipe. We are cookie monsters, but don't need THAT many cookies for just the two of us!)

Ingredients

* 1 cup butter, softened

* 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

* 1/2 cup granulated sugar

* 2 large eggs

* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 3 cups uncooked regular oats

* Appx 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate mega morsels (we used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

* 1 cup chopped toasted pecans (omitted)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring well. Add oats; stir well. Add to butter mixture; stir until well blended.

4. Gently stir in chocolate morsels and pecans.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown around edges. Cool on pan 2-3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Ultimate Chewy & Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since my husband's last failed attempt of cookies in the kitchen... I decided to help him out tonight w/ some real CC cookies. I got this recipe from Beantown Baker.

Ingredients

* 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

* 1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

* 1/2 cup granulated sugar

* 2 large eggs

* 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extra

* 3 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 16 oz. bitter or semi-sweetchocolate (we used chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly butter, and set aside.

3. Mix by hand/electric mixer the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

5. Beat in the vanilla.

6. Sift in the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl.

7. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, and mix until just combined.

8. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

7. Shape knobs of dough about the size of a large walnut and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

8. Bake 12-15 minutes for smaller cookies; 14-17 minutes for large ones, or until tops are a light golden brown. If the cookies are neither firm not dark when they are removed from the oven, they will cool chewy and soft.

9. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

What Happens When Men Bake (Butterscotch Cookies)

:: Five minutes before ANTM is starting ::

Keith: Honey, I really really want some cookies, like some Chips Ahoy, but don't feel like going to the store.

Me: We have stuff to make them but my show is about to start.

Keith: I'll make them myself.

Lindsay: OK, here's the recipe.

:: I take out all the ingredients, including 2 sticks of butter ::

Keith: Oh my god, TWO sticks of butter?! That's so bad for you!!

Me: They're cookies..... they're not good for you.

Keith: Isn't there some way we can only use one stick?

Me: No.

:: A few minutes later ::

Keith: We only have a little bit of brown sugar left, so I'll just substitute the rest for plain sugar.

Me: OK, if you say so.

:: I go into the kitchen and see Keith dumping flour/sugar/etc. in the bowl without measuring ::

Me: Sweetheart, why aren't you measuring anything?

Keith: Oh whatever, it's close enough.

:: I hear the microwave turn on from the couch ::

Keith: The butter isn't soft enough.
Me: Too late, you already started mixing it with everything else.
Keith: That's okay, I just put the whole bowl in the microwave.

And now you see why the wife should always be around to facilitate baking! I have to admit that the cookies taste pretty good, although very sugary. But they look horrible, like pancakes that are falling apart!! Men......

PS ~ Keith "followed" the recipe from Venice's blog, and butterscotch chips were used instead of chocolate b/c we were out of chocolate.

Shelly's (White) ChocoChip Cookies!

These are soooooooooooo YUMMY!!! Thanks Shelly!!! :)

Ingredients

* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

* 1/4 cup granulated white sugar

* 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
* 3/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* ~9 oz. chocolate chips (I used white chocolate b/c that's what I had)

Directions

1. Set out stick of unsalted butter ahead of time, or heat in microwave just until soft. (Do not melt.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the first five ingredients with a hand/stand mixer.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the next four ingredients.

5. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet.

6. Stir in ~9 oz. chocolate chips.

7. Scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Leave about 2 inches between cookies.

8. Bake for 9+ minutes depending on how soft you like your cookies and how big you made them. I made mine really big, so mine took almost 15 minutes. Plus my oven kinda sucks.

9. Let cool for a few minutes before setting on cooling rack/wax paper/etc.

10. ENJOY!!! nom nom nom

Butterscotch Blondies

This recipe originally came from Martha's website, but I changed a couple things when I made them. These were freaking DELICIOUS!! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

* 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

* 1 2/3 cups flour

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 3/4 tsp coarse salt

* 1 cup packed light brown sugar

* 2 large eggs

* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

* 1/3 cup butterscotch chips (I used 1/2 cup butterscotch and 1/2 cup white chocolate and omitted the cashews and toffee)

* 1/2 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped (omitted)

* 1/4 cup toffee bits (omitted)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining and set pan aside.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture. Mix, scraping sides of bowl, until well combined. Mix in butterscotch (and white chocolate), cashews, and toffee.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until golden brown (test with toothpick), about 42-45 minutes (I took mine out around 35 minutes). Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

I read in the reviews on Martha's site that these blondies have a more "cakey" texture than normal. I found this to be true, but they are still yummy anyway.

Peanut Butter Blondies

I got this recipe from a fellow WC Nestie, BakingBlonde. This was my first time making blondies and I think they turned out perfectly - they were sooo delicious!!

Ingredients

* 4-5 tbsp. butter
* 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 cup flour
* 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Nestle's combination bag of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.

3. In a medium microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the butter for 20-30 seconds until almost/all melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

4. Stir the peanut butter into the butter until creamy and smooth.

5. Add the brown sugar to the butter/peanut butter and stir until smooth.

6. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.

7. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine.

8. Gently fold in chocolate chips and any other additions (chopped nuts, chopped Reese’s cups, Reese’s pieces, etc).
9. Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top.

10. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting.

Last Minute Peanut Butter Cookies

Keith has been craving sweets every single night lately. Tonight I decided to scour our cupboards to see if we had enough random ingredients to make cookies. Luckily, we did! I got this recipe from Better Homes & Gardens and modified it a bit to suit what we had in the house.

Ingredients

* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (we only had baking powder)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (we only had extra crunchy)
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1 tablespoon milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
2. Cut in the butter and the 1/2 cup peanut butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Beat in honey and milk until well combined.
4. Pat 1 tablespoon of the dough into a 1.5 inch circle. Please on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.
(Makes 24 cookies.)

These were delicious! Simple, but sweet, and they certainly hit the spot!