Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Ranger Cookies



We love cookies!
At our house, we love cookies! Almost every Sunday, Caitlin (or sometimes someone else--we all love being in the kitchen) bakes a batch of cookies. For years, our favorite has been the recipe for chocolate chip cookies found on the package of the butter-flavored Crisco sticks. That's a good one--lots of brown sugar and we bake them on stoneware. Sometimes we use M&M's instead of chocolate chips. YUM! Then, about a month ago, I found this recipe for Ranger Cookies. I don't know where the recipe came from. It's been in my untried recipe file for a while (blog idea--how I organize my recipes). It is our new favorite and we've made them every week since! They are very hearty and a little bit oversized. The pecans and coconut toast up very nicely in them. Once we were out of Corn Flakes and used Rice Krispies--still good! We took a plate to our piano teacher and her husband called us for the recipe. They are so good we can't get enough of them. Give them a try and enjoy!


Ranger Cookies
Liz Merrell
2 c. flour
¾ t. baking powder
¾ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
2/3 c plus 3 T. butter (8 1/3 T.)
½ c. shortening
1 1/3 c. light brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ t. vanilla
2 c. rolled oats
2 c. corn flakes
1 ¼ c. chopped pecans
1 ¼ c. shredded coconut
10 oz. Chocolate chunks (optional)
Preheat oven to 375. Grease baking sheets.
In medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and shortening until lightened. Add the brown sugar and the sugar and beat until very smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until evenly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture until it’s incorporated.
Finally stir in the oats, corn flakes, pecans, and coconut. Let the dough stand for 10 minutes.
Shape the dough into golf-ball-sized balls with lightly greased hands. Place on the baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart and pat down to about ¼" thickness.
Bake the cookies for 8 to 11 minutes, or until brown. (note: the original recipe didn't include the chocolate chunks, but what is a cookie without chocolate?)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

What we do with our free time now. :)

Thanks to Santa, we are now the proud owners of a Wii. This is new for us--never had a video game system before. We are enjoying it immensely! Some of us take it too seriously and some of us don't like that our athletic ability is labeled as good as an 80-year old. Benj has made Mii twins--two tall thin men with black spiky hair, white t-shirts, and both named B-man. Sometimes they play against each other in baseball. We don't know which one is better. We all have our favorite sports--I actually enjoy golf and bowling and Jace is learning the ins and outs of 'Madden 08'. Erin has had friends over for a Wii party. Fun times ahead!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Finally!






Less than a week until Christmas and we finally got it together! Yes, that's Jace in shorts. It was in the 70's yesterday. Merry Christmas to all of you New Yorkers and Utahns!!!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Disney World










































... Cinderella castle at night ... great family fun! ...
rides ... Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride ...


Jace on the teacups...


Benj captain of the Jungle Cruise... Woody and Jesse ... rock band in the street ... Country Bear Jamboree ...













Tower of Terror...



Lunch break....Epcot at night...Dinner break... stunt shows ...





Princess overload....













cute Caitlin telling her friends all about it (ha, ha, I'm out of school)...





Laughing ... waiting ...Tower of Terror ... hugging Donald Duck ... parades ... fireworks ...shows and more shows! ... "Let's ride it again" ... Big Mountain Thunder Railroad ... Splash Mountain ...hands up ...screaming ...Jace's hat flying off ... tired feet ... shopping ...Tower of Terror ... street shows ...duck duck goose in the middle of the street ... Winnie the Pooh ... safari ride ... MGM studios ... more laughing ... Chinese food for Thanksgiving dinner ... shrink the audience ... Philharmagic ... Animal Kingdom ... Expedition Everest ... Tower of Terror again ... Epcot ... more shopping ... tic tac toe ... German ornaments ... African carvings ... Magic Kingdom ... Space Mountain ... Splash Mountain ... tea cups ... t-shirts ... pins ... Haunted Mansion ...smiles ... tired ... long drive ... taking a bagful of oranges home ... and grapefruit ... let's do it again!

Friday, December 7, 2007

Benjamin

Benj and I were in the car the other day on our way to pick up Caitlin from an after-school activity. Of course, she sends me a text, "are you on your way?"



I write back, "yes."


She replies, "are you texting while driving?"


I reply, "no."


Benj heard the entire conversation because I was reading out loud and he said, "Mom, you said no? You're lying because you are texting while you're driving."


I told him that it was just a joke because she knows that I'm texting and driving at the same time.


Benj came back with, "Well, if you're going to tell a joke, why don't you say, 'While I'm texting I let Benjamin drive.'"


Yeah, I admit it, he's a lot funnier than I am.