Monday, February 14, 2011

I wanna be crafty

I've always envied those girls who are just naturally talented in all things crafty. I'm not one of them. I'm not. I'm really, really not. But I want to be. So I try. And I have waves of crafty desires. Currently I'm in one of the phases when I am constantly searching creative ladies' blogs and finding cute things I wish I knew how to make. This current phase was spurred on by a Primary activity I had to help plan for this past Saturday. Our activity was based on service. The children learned about the Savior's example of serving, and they learned how to serve others by writing letters to their Primary friends who haven't come to church in a while and by making a gift for their parents. We decided that since the activity was based around service, the children should make coupon books for their parents. So, I came across this super cute version from my friend, Martha.
Then, since I thought no gift would be complete without a treat, I thought it would be fun and simple for the kids to do these.
And with that, the crafty-bug had gotten to me. In all my searching I also happened upon these adorable Valentines and decided that Sam's class would be getting them this year. So, even though I was pretty certain Sam wouldn't be going to school today because he's had a fever for 3 days, last night I spent nearly 3 hours putting together robots for each of Sam's classmates. He and I had intended to do it together, but he was much too lethargic. A few days ago he did help me wrap the candies with paper, though, and this afternoon, since he's feeling much better, I helped him put stickers on for each child's name. I think they turned out really cute.
What should I make next? Definitely not another batch of these:
They are much too dangerous to have around the house. But for those of you who have requested it, I'll give you the recipe, just don't blame me when you can't stop after eating the first one!

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4.Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

2 comments:

Holly Niederhauser Larsen said...

I've always been jelleous of girls who can eat lots of cookies and still look skinny hot. hint hint. I'm talking to you!

Julie said...

Holly, the secret is, I don't actually eat them.