things I dig...

Valentine's Day: I have never ever made a huge deal about Valentine's Day, but with kids, holidays are so much more fun. Today, we broke out the watercolors and made paintings to cut into our hearts to give as Valentine's, and some heart sugar cookie's with raspberry frosting is in our near future. I am also giddy about planning a small surprise for my best friend, because I totally dig his chili.

new clearance sweatshirt from Target: (the black one, not the camo) After seeing it, waiting for it to go on sale, and then finding it on clearance last week, I have worn it almost everyday since…

new do: I love it!!! after a winter full of side braids and knotted hair from all my cold-weather gear, it feels so great to have a simple yet fun cut. Also, it is still long enough to fit into a pony, and stubby ponies are awesome…or am I the only one who thinks that?

clothespin print displays: Target's dollar bin right now has these giant arrow clothespins, 2 for a buck. I simply attach a command wall strip and Voila, cute wall art display.

oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies: it's still freezing, so over the weekend I whipped up a batch of cookies mostly because I wanted to turn on the oven. and these totally hit the spot.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies

adapted from my mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe

makes about 24 cookies

2 sticks softened butter (1 cup)

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2/3 cup old fashioned oats

(I used quick oats for this recipe, because that is all i had)

6 oz. butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375* and grease a cookie sheet, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugars.
Next blend in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix oats, flour, cinnamon, 
baking soda, baking powder and salt.
slowly add to wet ingredients, mixing thoroughly before adding more.
Stir in butterscotch chips.
drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or some hot cocoa!

Also, these cookies are best warm, 
so you should probably eat at least 4 right away!

 What are the things you dig? What are your favorite cookies?

Christmas Senses

It's almost here!!

Ahh, I am so excited for this day!

:: Seeing ::

all of our ice and snow melt.
We are glad to be back outside, 
I would still love a white christmas though!

:: Hearing ::

One of my very favorite bands made a Christmas album,

you should give it a listen,

then buy it, 

because it's that wonderful!

 :: Smelling ::

Hot Apple Cider,
my good friend, Devin, showed me an easy recipe
with few ingredients,
and we cannot get enough of it!

 :: Wrapping ::

I have finally found my favorite style to wrap gifts in,
brown butcher paper and colored baker's twine!
I picked up all these fun colors the other day at Hobby Lobby!

Thank you Nana for this gift!

 :: Tasting ::

B U C K E Y E B A R K ! 

recipe pinned from here

20 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate 
 16 oz peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar

melt 10 oz. chocolate in microwave safe bowl 
35 secs at a time, stirring in between.
Once chocolate is smooth,
spread chocolate out on a 
baking sheet lined with parchment paper,
about 1/4 inch thick.
Stick in freezer to firm.

While chocolate is firming up, 
mix peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar well.
Remove chocolate from freezer, 
and spread peanut butter mixture over the chocolate.
Put back in freezer.

Melt remaining chocolate, the same as before.
Once smooth, remove chocolate and peanut butter from the freezer.
Spread the remaining melted chocolate on the peanut butter and stick back in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Remove and use a butcher knife to cut the bark into pieces.

This bark is delicious and great for sharing!

also for sneaking some...and a peek at my dirty kitchen

our weekend

A warm, sunny weekend in the fall, 

made even better with 

Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes

adapted from Betty Crocker Cookbook pg. 77

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1/2-3/4 cup pumpkin

2 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

dash of nutmeg

beat two eggs till frothy. Add in buttermilk and pumpkin and whisk till smooth.

heat and butter griddle over medium heat.

 mix dry ingredients and sift into buttermilk mixture. 

mix well, batter will be slightly lumpy.

then make pancakes!

I have no pictures of these, they went fast,

but I do have a serving recommendation,

pomegranate and and 100% pure maple syrup.

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes?

oh yeah, and we did this too:

autumn senses (here's to hoping)

Ha! Despite the disgusting heat, 

I know that it should be fall!

Here is why...

look at those burnt yellow leaves!

seeing :: Halloween costumes at Wal*Mart... and pumpkins everywhere!

talking :: about how Mama is going to make Wonder Woman, Superman, and Minion costumes for her littles.

smelling :: fires and fall spices. 

feeling ::  an actual cool breeze, which to me symbolizes summer as over, even if days are still rather warm. Summer in Oklahoma feels like there is a constant hair dryer being blown on our town, so I welcome a slight drop in hot, humid temperatures.

reading :: just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and it was awesome, intriguing, a book that had me laughing out loud, crying so hard I made my girls worry, and wishing I wasn't so callous about the hard things that have happened and are happening to our world. The movie comes out November 15th, and I can't decide whether to allow many strangers to see my ugly cry face, or to wait till I can blubber in my own house. 

listening :: to The Oh Hello's per usual. Check out the violinist's sweet mustache, reminds me of my Grandpa Brown.

teaching :: letters and sounds to "Nordie". We are also reading this book on Fairies, and making them houses outside.

planning :: sweet baby Pip's 1st birthday!! Swings, balloons, and of course, chocolate cake! 

crunching :: leaves!! At the park, in our backyard, around the church. Cordie even gathered a bouquet of yellow leaves at the library!

tasting :: Zucchini Bread, reminds me of my mama!

Autumn Zucchini Bread

recipe from my mother, makes about 2 loaves.

1 c. sugar

1 c. packed brown sugar

3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

a dash of cloves

--mix together--

then add

3 beaten eggs

1 c. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups zucchini, shredded

pour into loaf pans, Bake @ 325* for 1 hour,

then 350* for 15 minutes. 

Enjoy warm with a nice spread of butter over the top and a cup of coffee!

Happy Fall everyone! I hope it cools off soon!

sunshine and s'more cookies.

I smile so big when I think about this weekend.

So good.

We really needed that. 

The weather was perfect,

so we soaked up every ounce of sunshine we could.

 And as the sun set, we made a fire.

N was begging to roast big marshmallows,

but i didn't have any graham crackers!

OH NO!

Tell me, what good are roasted marshmallows

if you can't make s'mores?

(I may have been a little desperate for chocolate)

So, I created our s'more cookie!

S'more Cookies - Greer Style

What you'll need (I doubled this recipe to make the measurements easier) :

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

(we love dark, you could use milk for a more authentic a'more flavor)

large roasting marshmallows

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well. 

Sift in dry ingredients and blend. Add chocolate chips.

Bake @ 350* for 7-10 minutes. While cookies are baking,

have a sweet little girl roast some marshmallows. Transfer marshmallow

to the top of the cookie and flatten (these are rrrreeaallyy gooey).

Enjoy with an ice cold bottle of root beer!

P.S. this happy happy girl got to go on a special lunch date with her wonderful daddy!

How was your weekend? Did you create/make something?