Recipe Attempt

Yes, 'tis the season. For the 4th annual cookie exchange here in my neighborhood. We really just use the cookie theme as an excuse to get together for brunch, mimosas, and girl talk! But I do need to come up with 6 dozen cookies between now and Saturday morning. I've used up my tried and true cookie recipes the past 3 years so this time I'm going to attempt to make something new. I found a recipe (see below) for English Tea Cakes. Which are cookies, not cakes but go figure. There are only a few ingredients so it seems like something I can handle. I just finished making the dough and stuck it in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll spend a good portion of the day baking and taste testing. OK, I did already taste test the dough and it was really good. Since there are no raw eggs involved I figured it was safe and someone had to clean the spatula anyway...

English Tea Cakes from Allrecipes.com:
Makes 60 cookies
Prep Time:15 Min Cook Time: 10 Min Ready In:25 Min

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 60 walnut or pecan halves, toasted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into greased miniature muffin cups; flatten slightly. Press a walnut half into the center of each.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Sounds like it is pretty foolproof, but then again this fool can find new ways to mess up a recipe without too much effort! Wish me luck :)

I just got home from cookie exchange party #1 of 2. The next one is Saturday morning, here in my neighborhood. Tonight I brought home a collection of yummy treats plus I enjoyed chatting with old friends as well as new ones. THANKS to Kristin for hosting this fun event!

In other news, I received my new ring from Firefall Studios today. They re-sized it for me and it fits perfectly! This is the ring I wrote about wanting back in October and now thanks to my parents for funding most of it as this year's gift; it now belongs to me. It has the birthstones of our two children which happen to look great together. Here's a photo in case you didn't memorize the image when I posted months ago...
The other neat thing about the stones in this ring is that there is one peridot, the birthstone of our 1st child and there are 2 amethysts~ the birthstone of our 2nd child. Get it?

I just finished making 6 dozen of these for a cookie exchange. They're quick, easy, and really good as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee! Click to view: