Cookies & Cribs

We do not have cable, but this post title absolutely sounds like a show which should be on a network owned partially by Martha Stewart & MTV.  My mind took this way too far in the thought process as to what a show called “Cookies & Cribs” would actually look like.  I might talk Josh Kelley into getting cable if said show existed.  But I digress.

So I told you I would let you know about “The Best Snickerdoodles” recipe.  Insert Sidenote:

Laura Kelley Fun Fact #2:  If you put anything remotely close to “World’s Greatest”, “The Best Ever”, “Hands Down The Most Wonderful”, etc, etc, etc, in front of your recipe, I WILL TRY IT.  It’s like I just can’t not try it.  When you claim something is the greatest in the world, well, I’ve just got to try it.  “World’s Greatest Crap Pie”  Me:  “Holy cow.  World’s Greatest Crap Pie. Well I just have to see this for myself.”  Seriously, it’s becoming a problem.  Like a drug I can’t quit.

And well, it turns out these snickerdoodles are totally legit.  They even have brown sugar in them.  A snickerdoodle with brown sugar?  Hold up.  So much so, I made 100 of them.  I actually did not mean to make 100 of the best snickerdoodles, but if you double the recipe, you get 100 cookies.  I’m not complaining.  More to share.  Bakes goods can change the world.  By the way, if you decide to double the recipe…do not double the sugar/cinnamon mixture you roll the cookies in…you will have way too much leftover…like I did.

And remember when I said I was getting rid of everything in our house…like for reals…even the crib which all 4 of my sweet little baby Kelley’s slept in?  Well, we couldn’t donate or sell the crib because it was a recalled drop side crib…which we bought in 2009 before Harper was born at Kmart for $100.  The crib.  Not Harper.  She was not born at Kmart for $100.  But that would be an amazing story.  Anyways.  As Josh Kelley was about to drive off headed to the dump with the crib I realized maybe, just maybe I could repurpose at least the springs and I could be a little nostalgic with this sweet piece of recalled furniture which held all our children while they slept.  I told him to wait and asked him to pull out the spring base piece.

And when he got back I was already spray painting it.  Life is good when you are cool with spray painted, sentimental junk hanging on your wall.  Josh’s reply, “Well, that didn’t take long.”  I love him.

So a little spray paint, two nails in the wall and boom shocka locka.  I love her.  I think I’ll keep her.

Happy Tuesday!

Be.A.Blessing

At the beginning of the year I thought about what I wanted my 2013 goals to be.  One of them was to be more intentional in blessing others.  In fact, on my little green index card I simply wrote ‘intentional blessings’.  I also wanted to listen more to God.  I so struggle with knowing if it’s Him half the time or even just obedience in general.  When He put something on my heart I wanted to follow through…especially when it came to something He was spurring my heart to do for someone else.

This hangs above Harper’s bed.

We say this to them all the time.  These two things are the important ones.  The ones when everything else fades away these will be the everlasting ones.  We can talk to them about it all day long, but if they don’t see us doing it…us acting it out…us really loving Jesus and others…then I feel like our words are lost.

This year I have tried to do my best to follow through.  When Jesus says…’send a gift card’…’write a note’…’encourage that person’…’bake cookies or gooey butter cake or cupcakes’…and yes, I’m pretty sure Jesus loves gooey butter cake…when He puts even a twinge feeling in my heart that I am suppose to act, I’ve tried to do so.  I’ve lacked…I haven’t always been obedient…I haven’t always obeyed with a cheerful or pure heart…but I’ve tried…I am trying…and Jesus has showed me grace.  I know I’m in major need of His grace and forgiveness. Every.Single.Day.

When Monday rolled around and school started memories came flooding back to the time when I was a kindergarten teacher.  I remember the stress, the overwhelmingness, the desire to be my absolute best for those kids, the figuring out of the kids…and parents.  I remember how crazy the first week was.  And I felt God nudge my heart to encourage and love on our staff with baked goods.  You may laugh…and that’s cool…it makes me laugh too, but I’ve been working on acting when Jesus says ‘act’.  So I got my bake on in order to encourage our teachers and staff because they so deserve some encouragement on their first week back.  Baked goods can change the world.

This morning I dropped off iced sugar cookies (cookie recipe and Royal Icing sort of recipe), Nutter Butter Balls, Gooey Butter Cake and chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  A) I love having an empty refrigerator and B) It was crazy nice to see lots of smiles as Harper and I wagged in all those baked goods.  My kids watched and helped me bake this week.  They asked where these things were going.  They taste tested and approved.  And we were given the chance to talk and show them a way to love and bless others.

It wasn’t expensive or extravagant or hard and that’s one of the most beautiful things about blessing and loving others.  It doesn’t have to be big or grand…it can be so simple and small.  So today I want to encourage you to bless someone.  Maybe you’re good at writing cards or you could babysit a single mom’s kids or a couple who needs dinner together or maybe you can bake with the best of them and you know someone who could use a cookie.  Maybe you could just shoot someone an email or text and remind them of how precious and valued they are.  The list could go on and on.

I bet God has just the right person in mind and you could be used by Him to make a difference in their day.

1 John 4:11-12 (The Message)

“My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!”

Happy Friday.

Not Pinterest Worthy

Because it doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated or super creative.

Because it doesn’t have to be Pinterest worthy to be beautiful and fun.

Because they do not care one tiny bit.

And every time…every single time…these will be my most favorite cookies.

Happy Wednesday.

Letter to the Chocolate No Bake Oatmeal Cookie

Dear Chocolate No Bake Oatmeal Cookie,

I like you.  You are tasty and delicious.  I have made you hundreds of times since I was a middle schooler and started dating a very cute, tall, maroon dyed hair boy named Josh Kelley who had a Metallica patch sewed onto his backpack.  What else is a young girl to do to win a young boys heart?  Bake his favorite cookie over and over and over again.

I tried you out and learned quickly you were a tricky little thing.  Very temperamental.  Why so temperamental?  Why couldn’t you be like your cousin the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie…easy?  I’ll tell you why, because you are you and you are different and bold and chocolatey.  You put that so-called Oatmeal Raisin Cookie to shame.  No cookie should ever contain a raisin.

I failed many times making you, but my Mom, well, she owned you.  She mastered you.  She made you into the perfect lumpy oatmeal peanut butter consistency every time.  I’m still attempting you and every time you are like a completely different beast.

I made you last night and you were a gooey mess…a gooey hot mess.  Still tasty, but crazy messy to eat.

I made you today and you were a chalky mess…a chalky hot mess.  Still tasty, but a crazy crumbly mess to eat.

Ashley called and I complained about you.  Instead of taking my side, you lured her in with your temptress ways and I ended up giving her your recipe and directions over the phone and you were perfect…the perfect drop cookie you should be every time.  We facetimed and I watched her eat your perfect little cookie self.

Exact same ingredients and a completely different texture each go.  I blame your boil time…it couldn’t be you…your consistent deliciousness is your saving grace.  Dang you boiling time…just a few seconds off here or there and we get a crap texture.  Oh the ups and downs of baking.

I just want you to know that even though you make me want to scream and cuss when I get you wrong, the times when I do get you right completely make up for all the failures.  You really are tasty and delicious and take me back to a most magical time in life.  Thank you for being you.

Sincerely, Laura Kelley

Running, Baking & A Natural Waist Line

This dude is a crazy man now.  He is all over the place and into everything.  Today while I was baking he dumped out a box of spaghetti not once, but twice.  Geez.  But seriously, how could I be too mad.

Sol said, “Let’s do kiss faces.”  Done.

Harper had her Fun Run today at school.  We all decided to go and cheer her on.  I am so glad we did.  She just beamed the whole time and I may have cried…a lot.  Every picture I have of her is just a blur.  She ran the whole time and was sweaty at the end.  I’m still running my way to 62 miles this month and this made me super excited about the possibility that one day we may run together.  She even said when she got in the car, “The Fun Run was my favorite part of the day.  I really want to do that again.  Can I run with you in the mornings now…and on Saturdays and Sundays too?”

 

I did a crazy amount of baking today.  Last night way way too late, I baked a gooey butter cake to share.  It was so late I ended up going to bed right after I pulled it out of the oven and then got up at 2:15am to cut it up and put in the refrigerator.  It had to cool.  Then today I baked sugar cookies and chocolate cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes and snickerdoodles.  I did some sampling, but will happily drop goodies off tomorrow…just to say, “Hey we dig you.”  Baked goods can totally change the world.  Mark it.

And this is Huddy’s natural waist line.  That’s about all I feel really needs to be said.  And, you’re welcome.

Hope your day was stellar.  Excited for a lovely Valentines tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday!

December 17

It’s not looking good at our house.  Josh Kelley is definitely our saving grace right now.  We’re all about to go down for a house wide nap.  Strict instructions have been given because I need a nap…bad.  I hate being sick.  And we reserve the word ‘hate’ just for the devil, but that’s how strongly I feel about being sick.

Josh delivered our kindness alone today.  He dropped off all the cookies for Harper’s school staff.  We love her school and after Friday’s events I knew for sure, come Monday, they would need some extra love.

I posted this picture on Instagram…come find me pitterpatterart…and someone asked for a tutorial.  It made me laugh out loud because I am no where near a profesh cookie maker.  The only thing I have going for me is that I like a good cookie and I like to draw.  I’m sure a bakery would except those credentials.

When I make cookies I shoot for delicious and break all the cookie decorating rules usually.  I use this cookie recipe HERE at Sweet Sugarbelle.  The icing recipe I like is HERE at The Decorated Cookie.  I use the Royal Icing (sort of).  I’ve looked at and tried and pinned a million different recipes, but these are the two I keep coming back to.  They are so so yummy…a madly amazing marriage of cookie and icing.

I like a really thick cookie with really thick icing…deliciousness.  I roll my cookies about 1/2″ thick and put them in the freezer for about 10 mins before cooking.  This helps with keeping their shape.  I like a lot of icing…no thin layers around here.  I slather on so much icing it cracks sometimes, but that’s okay.  Cookies are forgiving because if you mess up you just eat it.  I use my Mom’s Wilton decorating tips.  They sell new ones, but I like her old ones.  She gave me hers when I was about 18 and had started decorating cakes.  I’ll never part with them…never.  I typically use the #2 and #3 to outline and decorate the cookies.

And the decorating is definitely the most fun part.  I free hand my cookies because that is what is most comfortable and fun for me.  But that also means sometimes mistakes are made…like spelling ‘faith’ ‘faiht’.  It’s cool though.  I just scraped off the last two letters and fixed them.  My lines are a bit wonky too and not everything lines up perfectly, but that’s perfectly okay.  They have cool machines out there now that work like projectors except for a cookie…that way you can copy designs and images onto the cookies…that’s totally cool, but just not for me and my lazy unprofesh cookie making.

Soooo that’s about all I have…probably not the tutorial you were looking for, but hey…I’m sick…and I’m tried…and I’m just a “for fun” cookie maker.  Maybe try Googling “cookie decorating”…I’m sure there’s lots of good stuff out there that is way more informative than me.  Ha.

For tomorrows kindness we’ll be spreading a little love to some of our newspaper friends.

Okay so it’s nap time now.  This sick mamma needs some major rest.  Hope you have a good day.  Hope your house is sick free.

Happy Monday.