Lemon Cooler Cookies

It's taken me a while to get back into the regular routine again now that vacation is over. And even though I ate like a piggy on vacation, I still had the urge to make something sweet this week. Just something light and not too intense. This recipe sounded perfect. It's simple and remindes me of spring. And I don't know about you, but I really miss the Lemon Coolers they used to carry in the grocery store. I could eat half a box, I loved them so much! These cookies are close to that taste. The only change I'd make is to add some lemon juice along with the lemon peel. It would add that little kick. Otherwise, these cookies are perfect.

Lemon Cooler Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour (used bleached if available)

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel

2 sticks salted butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

Lower oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the flour, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and the lemon peel in a medium bowl. Add butter and vanilla; beat with mixer or use hands to blend ingredients until they form a dough.

Drop tablespoon size dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Bake until cookie bottoms are lightly golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cookies and cool completely.

Place remaining confectioners' sugar into a zipper lock bag. Drop cookies a few at a time into sugar and coat well. Store cookies up to 1 week in airtight container.

Make about 2 dozen.

"Martha Stewart showed up at Manhattan FBI Headquarters to have her finger prints taken and pose for a mug shot. Then Martha explained how to get ink off your fingers using seltzer water and lemon juice."
-Conan O'Brien

Pistachio Fluff

Another recipe I made while we were away on vacation was fluff. Although this is a very common everyday recipe, it is a no fail hit with almost everyone. Perfect for a light snack during the day or after dinner. It was so easy to pick up the ingredients and to whip up a batch the first day of vacation. Everyone just ate it whenever the mood struck. It was gone by the next day :)

Pistachio Fluff

20 oz. can of crushed pineapple, including the juice

1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip

1 small box (3.5 oz) of pistachio pudding

Mix Cool Whip and pudding until blended. Add crushed pineapple with juice. Mix thoroughly and keep in refrigerator for an hour or until mixture thickens. Serve.

"I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert."

-Jason Love

Remembering The Brave

To all the men and women who gave the ultimate for our freedom. You are remembered today and every day. Every time any of us enjoys a freedom we would not otherwise have, you are the reason. Thank You.

French Toast Nutella Marshmallow Sandwiches

French toast, Nutella and Marshmallow fluff together for breakfast? Are you serious? Oh yeah. This sandwich is not for the faint of heart. Even for a die hard chocolate fan like me, this was really rich and unbelievably sweet. It was easy and fun to make and the anticipation of the first bite had me a little giddy. It was crunchy, gooey and full of flavor. Thank you, Chocolate Chipped, for the recipe!

French Toast Nutella Marshmallow Sandwiches

5 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk or cream

6 slices of bread

1 cup Nutella

1 cup Marshmallow Fluff

2 Tablespoons butter

In a bowl, beat eggs and milk together with a fork. Completely submerge bread slices one at a time in egg mixture. In a skillet, melt butter then add egg soaked bread. Fry each side on medium heat until lightly golden brown. Remove from heat. While hot, spread Nutella on one side of french toast. Spread Marshmallow fluff on another piece of toast. Put two sides together and serve.

Add syrup or honey if you're feeling adventurous!

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet at last, 'what's the first thing you say to yourself?' 'What's for breakfast?' said Pooh. 'What do you say, Piglet?' 'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. 'It's the same thing,' he said."

-A. A. Milne, 'The House at Pooh Corner'

Low Fat Smores

Ahhhh, we finally did it. A long weekend getaway. We chose West Virginia again because it's so close and easy to plan out, since we've been here so much. Knowing your way around a vacation spot takes out some of the stress of being in a different place, which is especially nice when you bring a gang of small children with you!

I don't think anyone really needs a recipe for Smores so that is not the purpose of this post. I wanted to share some of the food that we usually only make on vacation. But I did discover while shopping for this recipe that Honey Maid now makes a low fat version of their graham crackers. Maybe they just don't make them where I live, so it's new to me. Now I don't have to feel so guilty eating my share :)

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."
-Robert Orben

Visiting The Zoo- Part IV

Four hours after we arrived at the zoo, we finally reached the end! We were surprised to see that the zoo is building a new section. It has an old mining town feel to it and seems to be mostly about endangered Polar Bears. I think this is the first time the Pittsburgh Zoo has ever had Polar Bears so they built the exhibit to educate people.

It's hard to see the sign, but it says that as the human population increases, the bear population drops.

This is an overview of the new exhibit.

The whole "town" is set up as different store fronts that provide information about Polar Bears. This store front was about the diet of the bears done up like a seafood store. It really got our attention cause it looked so out of place.

The new bears.

At the very end of the zoo, there is a children's play area that is fantastic. It includes a big climbing tunnel so the kids can pretend to be mole rats! It also has this spider web and a few tunnel slides.

Here is the resident meerkat to send us off! He was the last animal we could visit because the petting zoo was closed. All the animals were at the doctor's office getting check ups. Maybe next time...

"I love acting, but it's much more fun taking the kids to the zoo."
-Nicole Kidman

"My parents used to take me to the pet department and tell me it was a zoo."
-Billy Connolly

Visiting The Zoo- Part III

The Aquarium has to be my favorite part of the zoo. The variety of life represented here is amazing! We were able to catch the penguins getting their lunch in the above picture.

The jellyfish picture turned out to be the best one. The color is so intense.

Sea Horses are just so darn cute! How can you not love watching them?

All my kids kept saying is "There's Nemo!" the whole time we visited this fish.

There were two or three divers in this shark tank the whole time we were there. They were busy doing something, I'm not sure what. But this diver was nice enough to come over and say hello to everyone. He made sure that he singled out each kid for a wave or a wink. I'm not sure he knows what a special impression he made on those kids.

The divers "discussing" their ascend to the top of the tank.

A sting ray hanging out on the side of the tank. This tank has a tunnel cut out of the one side so the kids can crawl through to get a close up view of the sting rays and other fish inside. My kids always insist on going through at least twice :)

"No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise."
-Lewis Carroll