Gram's Christmas Cookies

I took some time off from blogging to enjoy the Christmas holiday, and enjoy our east coast travels. More on that later, but right now I want to share my Gram's famous crinkle cookies. My Grandma has made these cookies every Christmas for us, and we love them! Ironically, I was on the phone with my sister while making these, and we both laughed when we said we were making crinkle cookies! They're delicious, fudgy cookies, and I love watching them magically crack while in the oven. I made these for my coworkers and a couple neighbor friends, and I was happy with our Christmas gifts this year!

Ingredients:

Makes 6 Dozen

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. I like to use a number 50 size scoop. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

The Week(end) and a dessert

Last week we went to the BYU rivalry basketball game against Utah, and it was so exciting. We are definitely going to miss BYU and attending their sporting events. 

We went to Cheesecake Factory and saw the SLC temple lights with our friends. One of the couples is moving to Ogden, so we had a little "farewell" before the holidays, but we've already planned plenty of dates to "meet in the middle"!

We were feeling very festive at church on Sunday. Gettin in the spirit!

I made THE most delicious Gingerbread cake for Sunday dinner. These pictures are such poor quality, but really, trust me. The cream sauce-to die for. Then, top it with some homemade whipped cream and you're set! This is the best dessert for the holiday season. 

Happy Holiday baking!

Gingerbread Cake with Cream Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups flour

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp salt

Mix until crumbly. Reserve 1/2 cup of the above mixture for the streusel topping. To this, add 1/2 cup chopped pecans, if desired.

To the remainder, mix in

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

Pour batter into a well-greased 13×9 baking pan. sprinkle with the reserved streuseltopping. Bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Watch carefully so you don’t overbake. Let cool slightly, and serve warm with Cream Sauce.

Cream Sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

dash ginger

Combine and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Stir 4 minutes. Serve and warm sauce over gingerbread. Refrigerate any remaining sauce.

Lately

Don't get me wrong, I truly love the holiday season, but, why does it have to be straight craziness? Luckily my work party was last weekend, so that has relieved a lot of my stress! Here are some pictures as of late.

My sister in law and I made a "Mr. & Mrs." banner for a shower. It was out of burlap bunting, twine, stencils and black paint all from Hobby Lobby. It was super quick, and turned our darling! 

I have wanted to host a Gatsby party for years now. I decided it would be a good theme for our work Holiday party, because we haven't really done a "theme" before. I was so amazed by everyone who dressed up and participated. It turned out so awesome, and I can now check that off my list! We hired out a photographer (thankfully) so I will be posting those pictures when I get them back!

We had small disco balls on some of the tables, and at the end of the night, a few of us were dancing with them while the band played. It sounds silly, but it was seriously hilarious.

DONE!

The next morning I finally tried Ivie Juice Bar on Center Street in Provo. I had been wanting to try this place for a very long time, because they have one of my very favorite things: Acai Bowls. They did NOT disappoint. I was so happy with my "beach babe" choice. So delicious, filling, and I always feel so good after eating it!

I then was able to go to a baby shower that  afternoon, and saw many friends from our King Henry days!

Our Thanksgiving

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with the Zylstra's this year in California. It's crazy to think that this was my first year at their house for Thanksgiving, because two years ago we were on our honeymoon, so we didn't spend it with them (we switch off holidays with our families). Even after welcoming a brand new baby into the family, we were lucky enough to all be together, so it was tons of fun! Due to the baby, and having Oma and Opa in town, it was pretty laid back. We did a lot of relaxing, baby snuggling, movie seeing, eating, football games, craft days, and spending time with each other. I think it was just what we all needed.

I could have yummy greek yogurt parfaits everyday. 

Lots of Olivia snuggles, not complaining one bit.

I've had a couple bad sweet potato experiences (I really like them in fry form though!) but I took a stab at a sweet potato casserole, and the turned out super yummy. Under that layer of marshmallows is lots of brown sugar and some pecans.

Sarah made that stuffing next to it with cornbread! So yum.

Carson with cousin Olivia was just too cute! He didn't understand why we all wanted pictures of him holding her. Heart.Melt.

After falling asleep (probably to watching black-ish) we decided we needed a Thanksgiving picture. Don't mind our sleepy swollen faces.. :/

 I was finally able to participate in the Monahan (my MIL's family) craft day! We made the cutest snowmen out of fleece.

Logan's football team was in the semi finals (sadly, they lost) but it was fun to have everyone at the game!

All this took was some back tickles, and Bailey girl was out.

All of the boys. Minus baby Cooper.

I would say we had a pretty successful Thanksgiving with family, and I think it was hard on all of us to leave!

1st & 2nd

So far the month of December has treated us very well. 

December 1st was a long awaited day, because it was the day we could hear back from Dental Schools. We were blown away by our response, and of course we heard back from the schools we want to go to, to make the decision easier-NOT. Although it's still stressful figuring out where we are going to live and what the heck we are going to do with our life, we can start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. For this process at least! 

I'm so proud of my Dr. who has worked so hard for this, and I can't wait for the next adventure!

We celebrated with a pazookie at The Chocolate. Yum.

  

On the 2nd I received an email letting us know it was our Loan Anniversary! I couldn't believe that it had been a year since we bought our first home. This house has been such a blessing for us, and it makes me sad thinking about leaving our teeny tiny bungalow.

I hate that the holidays make the days and months fly by, but we have lots to look forward to, and I can't wait for CHRISTMAS!