The Easter Bunny at our House

Who Needs the Most Space?

Christmas Eve

Christmas Cookies

Jeananne made colorful, delicious cookies Christmas Eve.

candy cane kiss cookies

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 12 min

When the fall holidays arrive, the Candy Cane Kisses begin to appear on supermarket shelves too. These are an incredibly delicious flavor delivered by the Hershey’s Kisses people. And they’re amazing tucked into a cookie too.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Candy Cane flavored Hershey's Kisses, finely chopped
granulated sugar
additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses- about 30

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make room in either refrigerator or freezer for your cookie sheet.

2. In large mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, extracts and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (2-3 minutes). In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mixture and beat, scraping bowl often until well blended (1-2 minutes). The mixture will be a bit crumbly. Stir in chopped Kisses.

3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch to 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. As soon as they come out of the oven, press a Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie. They'll crack a little around the edges, so just use your fingers to kind of hold the cookie together while you set the kiss inside. Put cookie sheet (with cookies) immediately into the freezer (preferred) or refrigerator so that the Kisses will set quickly. As soon as you press them into the cookie, they will begin to soften... so if you can get them into the freezer then they will keep their Kiss shape.

4. Store in a covered container- at room temperature for up to a week. In the freezer they should be ok for a couple of weeks.

Boots

I've been shopping!  I never thought I would buy so many boots in one season, but I hope to wear them all a lot.  Looking forward to the fall and winter season.  (notice Pepper in the picture)

Chicago's Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower is located on the north end of Grant Park along E. Randolf Street.  The 33 story first phase was completed in 1997 and the 24-story second phase was completed in 2010. The building and the large expanse of windows facing Grant Park are often used to commemorate or celebrate events and happenings in Chicago.

 I had the pleasure of touring the tower thanks to Jeananne's boss, and an okay from BCBS'S CIO while visiting Chicago with Pegge and Hannah in July.  These pictures are taken from inside looking out!

Chicago Jeananne's Apartment

Christmas Eve

Christmas Memories

One of my favorite times of year is Christmas. Each year we decorate the house in anticipation of hosting our traditional, family Christmas Eve gathering. The preparation is half the fun. Starting weeks before, the house comes to life with the newly decorated tree and Christmas decorations placed through out the house. Many of these decorations are individual, Anna Lee, hand painted faces, upon angels, santa’s, reindeer, and Christmas carolers given to me by my late mother in law, Betty. I also place angels on the den sideboard and I have a musical angel I dearly love. I keep the angel in the bedroom for myself. On Christmas Eve morning I lovingly arrange fresh greenery atop the dining room table and mantle with sparkling white lights.

Time for a Change

I must admit I loved our shrubbery, foster hollies and surrounding hostas when we first bought our house. The landscaping seemed to spell “home” in my mind. A well loved, welcoming presence that represented our family. As shown above, Jeananne was in first grade, when the landscaping looked similar to how it was when we first moved in. But going on 19 years later, it is quite a different situation, a harbinger of things to come. The hostas are long gone, simply vanished under the sprawling taxus and invading ivy. In fact, the taxus were so overgrown they were partially blocking the windows view. Notice Jeananne standing with Katherine senior year. What to do? Last year I started experimenting, hard trimming the taxus from the back side, wondering how they would grow back. Then this year the foster hollies seemed so incredibly tall, I had no idea what to do with them. Trim them? it seemed impossible at this stage. To have someone cut them back seemed to be too late, they would simply look ridiculous and probably kill them. Then, I had my annual termite inspection in august, and the owners son tactfully said, “You know, you really need to get those hollies off your house.” Well, that did it. In an instant, I knew the time had come, chop, chop, harrie carrie. Now I am in the midst of cutting down the bushes myself. Here is what it looks like now with the hollies removed and bushes chopped.