Aren't We All Super Heroines?

I turned out to be Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Since I've never watched the show, I guess I better get up to speed! What did you turn out to be?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatsuperheroineareyouquiz/

Pound Cake Cookies

When I was looking for something different to make for the cookie tray, the name of these cookies caught my eye. Pound cake....who can resist that? I also had never heard of this cookie. Of course, that means I have to try it, especially if it's as easy as this recipe was to make. The cookies have a distinct favor because of the rum added to the batter. The texture is soft, chewy, and buttery. The recipe says the cookies won a blue ribbon at a state fair competition. I believe it!

Pound Cake Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon rum or 1/2 teaspoon imitation rum extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

About 42 pecan halves

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar. Beat well. Add egg yolk, rum, and vanilla. Beat well.

Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or until firm.

Shape cookie dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press 1 pecan half into each cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets then move to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

From: Southern Living Homestyle Cooking

"Cookies are made of butter and love."

-Norwegian Proverb

Gimme My Grits!

Grits are hard to find here in the North. Instant grits? Sure, got plenty of those. But as a southerner, would I use instant grits? I don't think so! Anyway you eat them (mine is with honey, butter and a touch of salt), they are wonderful. Here is a really fun site for southerners and wanna be southerners alike that includes recipes for grits and other southern delicacies.

http://www.grits.com/index.html

Pizzelle Cookies

I just love pizzelles! I never really tasted one until I was an adult. I'm not sure if they are regional or I was just never in the right place at the right time as a kid :) This recipe is a tried and true version. It was given to me by a friend who was like a mom to me and I have used it a dozen or so times since then. It comes out great every time.

Pizzelles

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter until smooth. Gradually add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir.

In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add egg mixture. Stir. Dough will be sticky and soft.

Place by spoonful onto hot pizzelle iron. Follow iron instructions for baking times.

Makes about 6 dozen.

"C is for cookie, it's good enough for me; oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C."

-Cookie Monster (Sesame Street)

How I Got To Know Autism

Although I try to keep my blog a fun and hopefully interesting place to visit, I feel it's important to acknowledge Autism Awareness month. Autism was something I was barely aware of until it did a sneak attack on our family. My son was diagnosed just after the age of 3.

Like many parents, I thought my son's delayed speech was just due to his being a boy or maybe he just wasn't going to be a big talker. When he wasn't talking by age 3 though, we decided to get his hearing checked. When his hearing was found to be fine, we got him into speech therapy. After a few months, he was talking a little, but something still didn't seem right.

My husband and I decided to get our son evaluated at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, just to see what might be going on, but not suspecting anything serious. Our son did not do well during the evaluation. At the end, the psychologist gave us her results. There it was. A diagnosis I thought I'd never hear. PDD-NOS. All my parenting experience and all my education in psychology didn't even take the edge off hearing that diagnosis. I had no idea what Autism really was and what it meant. I had never met an autistic child and never paid much mind to the stories about it on the news. And I was happy in my ignorance until that day.


For a few weeks after the diagnosis, my husband and I were in shock but we kept trying to educate ourselves and finding the best options for treatment for our son. It was a maze of confusion, but we found some great people to help us through. And thank God we live here in Pennsylvania. The services are numerous and all funded by the state. I will be forever grateful. But I know other families in other states are not as blessed. The stories I've heard and read are astounding. Parents having to go as far as to mortgage their house just to get their child treatment. The stress between the diagnosis, treatment, and cost would be unbelievable on a family.


Fast forward a year, give or take. After hours upon hours of wraparound services in our home, speech and OT therapy, Wonderkids social groups, pre-school, and special GF/CF doctors and diet, our son 4 1/2 year old is a completely different kid! He blends in at pre-school so well that other parents say they can't tell he has a diagnosis. He knows his colors, can count to 40, can spell some words, read some words, play on the computer by himself, and laugh and play with other kids. He is not out of the woods yet, but there is hope that one day he won't need therapy and a GF/CF diet anymore and that he can function on his own. That will be a happy day indeed!


But I know plenty of parents who have children with more severe Autism. They need help, so much help. If even one more person out there is better informed and can speak out, that is a positive move towards getting kids with autism what they need.


Please learn what you can and do what you can to make a difference. No action is too small or insignificant.

Cookie Tray

Right before Easter, I somehow got an intense need to bake. So along with making cookies and desserts for Easter, I made a cookie tray for my husband's co-workers. They could not have been more grateful. Last week, they sent request via my husband for another tray of goodies. So today, I cleared my schedule (as much as possible anyway!) and went to work. The above picture is the result. I'd love to share the recipes because all the cookies came out delicious!

For today, I'm going to take the easy recipe (I'm too tired to do anything too complicated!). I'll share the other recipes on the next few posts.

Heath Bars are one of my favorite easy cookies to make. They are just so sinful! And they do taste very much like the candy bar they are named after. They are the cookies in the middle of the tray above.

Heath Bars

56 saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

12 ounce bag milk chocolate or semi sweet chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Line a large cookie sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Lay saltines to cover cookie sheet.

Melt butter over medium heat, add brown sugar and bring to a boil for 1 min only. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Pour mixture over crackers, making sure all crackers are covered completely.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. Let chocolate chips melt then spread evenly over crackers. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Let cool in refrigerator or overnight on counter. Break apart when done.

“We spend so much time in the office that our co-workers become our extended family."
-Cecelia Dwyer

Tattoos With A Purpose

This is a terrific site I found about today in the newspaper. What a great idea! I love products that help keep my kids safe.

http://www.tattooswithapurpose.com/