Vintage Soured Heavy Cream Sugar Cookies

I recently have started attending MOPS

and have really enjoyed it. A friend I recently made from there, named

Jessica, was talking about this recipe. She also spoke a little bit about her husbands ancestry 

and needless to say I was rather enthralled. I also just had to make these cookies. 

These cookies were her Great Grandmother-in-laws recipe.

I just love things with a little history. Not too long ago Jessica was looking through a book of her husbands genealogy and noticed that down the line one of the Great Great Great(?) Grandparents, when coming over from Germany started a candy store. Jessica apparently couldn't help but giggle because they are all wonderful bakers with a bit of a sweet tooth. 

Now that you have the back story here are these dang good cookies...

Vintage Soured Heavy Cream Sugar Cookies

My Notes: 

1) ITS 2 Cups Sugar NOT 2 cups of SUGAR Cookies haha

2) This recipe makes around 6 dozen cookies so I cut when making I 

cut in half

3) The flour you end up adding is around 6 cups

4) Feel free to sour your heavy cream yourself with mixing 1 TBL of vinegar to your cream, let sit for 15 minutes

5) mix your softened butter and sugar first for one minute or two (AKA cream your butter and sugar), then add wet ingredients, lastly mix dry ingredients separately then add little by little to wet ingredients in stand mixer

6) you must chill your dough in the fridge for 4-6 hours or overnight to make rolling easier

This is the texture of my dough before I chilled it for 4 hours

I made some fun alligators with my daughter :) and then some more traditional ones 

For the frosting I used BHG Butter Frosting 

 which was so yummy and creamy. I did substitute cream for the milk because I am naughty like that. creamy...

My husband could not keep his hands off of these things and he is a self proclaimed anti-cookie and cake person. These babies are a winner

DIY Floating Ledge Shelf

Heres what we started with. Just a salvaged piece of wood from my FIL's farm.

Roughed it up by hand with a sander

Measured and chopped to size

Found and marked our "Studs" aka wood boards that run vertically in your walls, usually around every 16".

Then Drilled a hole in both. Then placed a larger bit on the drill and drilled again, until reaching the size of the "lag bolts" we screwed into the wall that hold up the shelf.

We then got the longest lag bolts we could find, 6", and chopped the head of the bolt off with a grinder.  Install into the stud with a pair of pliers or vise-grips.  Try to get the bolts as level and straight as you can to make sliding the shelf on as easy as possible.

Measure your lag bolts spacing then drill into your wood where needed. 

Vwallah! I love it. Perfect for coffee cups! No too much work either. 

My kitchen is nothing special now but it's mine so I love it. Just ordered a new faucet yesterday though!

Decked out for Christmas

New Make Up Fun

I hate posting pictures of myself, especially selfies but I enjoyed this product enough I had to share.

Note the mascara in the corner of the left eye. I bought this tool from Walmart but I've typically only ever seen ELF products sold at target. $3 and very precise. I like it much better then the ole Qtip 

To watch video click HERE

cleaned up :D

Scenes from Around My House

Shopped my house yesterday and moved some junk around. Here's a little showcase. 

The white quilt was a thrift find yesterday!

Mirror another score from yesterday's thrift store run.

This Pickwick & Company candle is so amazing. The scent is Frasier Fir but it has just a little somethin somethin that keeps it interest. Festive without being too much. I already want to go buy another!

I just love this schoolhouse chair I bought for $2 last summer. I sanded it down some and the color is just so warm. 

Treasured Dress Pattern Review

I'm going to keep this pretty short and sweet so as not to gush but I seriously love this dress!

It came out at the perfect time of year too. The length is perfect for this cooler weather and still nice enough for church or just hanging around.

I really would like to see this fancied up for Christmas, made with silk. Ahhhh

Lilac Lanes Patterns are always easy to follow with plenty of help 

and pictures along the way. She does such a great job.

Go download The Treasured Dress right now and be sewing in minutes :)

 

Hadley Dress for Baby

I have a new Neice! I usually make blankets but this time I thought I would try my hand at this pattern.

It's The Hadley Dress by Create Kids Couture.

The pattern was easy enough but really got lost on the tie sash step. I could not for the life of me figure out when I was supposed to stitch I together. I'm sure it was just me.

If I was a new enough sewer I would not of been able to wing it like I did.

Can't wait to see it on her! 

I'm sure the fit will be perfect.

Pillowy French Bread

So I have been baking bread now for 7 years now and this is The Best Recipe Yet. 

The kneading process in this one has to be what makes the difference.

My husband keeps complimenting me on it.

The soft texture is so beautiful haha

My son is sick today so during the last 10 minute rest I let it rest for more like 30 minutes

I also cut the recipe in half and just made one loaf.

Happy baking

Kuddos to The Baker Upstairs 

My Husband took a bite out of the top for no apparent reason. 

I am just as confused about this as you are.

I Was A Mother

My darling  daughter,
Every year I am one year closer to seeing your sweet face. I know you existed. No one can convince me otherwise. No one else's agendas, no political footing, no one can take the knowledge of you away.  No one else's acknowledgment of you or ignoring of you makes you go away.
You were a baby, my sweet baby. You grew in my belly until you were a small bump.
For 12 weeks your little body formed and your soul was inside of me.
I never enjoyed being used so much. :)
Your soul.
That so nice to type sweetie.
One day, oh darling, one sweet day we will meet face to face inside Heavens gates.
I know you are waiting for me and I am so grateful to God that Heavens time is not Earths time.
I'll see you soon.



It does not matter that on this side of heaven I never got to tie your shoes or nurse you. None of that makes me a mother. You made me a Mother. Love you

No Stir Pumpkin Spice Creamer

Ingredients:

2 TBL pumpkin pie mix

1 TBL brown sugar (+or- to taste)

1 to 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon) or to taste

Whole Milk or half and half

Recipe:

Add first three ingredients to pint sized mason jar. Fill 3/4 of the jar with Milk. Add lid and shake for 20 seconds.

Tastes great in hot or iced coffee

Stores for two weeks in fridge

Enjoy the yummy goodness! 

Shabby Wall Hanging

Here's the first thing I've made with power tools in 3 years. 

I love it!

Thanks again pinterest.

My husband hijacked toward the end and stapled it together because he didn't trust me. Oh husbands.

After 5 1/2 years of Woodshop it felt good to built something again.

Morning Devotion Musings

Adoption. 

This word, this verb has been on my radar so much lately.

Random conversations become hijacked and end up at this starting point, sometimes with even people I have never met. Many times without me even starting the narrative the flow and ebb of conversation comfortably go up and down this topic.

My daughter recently asked my what "adopted" means and I could hardly tell her. My words chocked in my throat. How do you explain to a four year old that a child does not have parents because they did not want them. They left them. 

Explaining sometimes really strips away all the extras, makes plain, and lays bare topics we've added so much to. 

I could hardly give my daughter an explanation because the look on her tiny face told me she could not understand. 

The understanding will come later in life when the ugly in the World is hers to witness. 

I pray though that she never fully understands.

I pray the orphans needs cry out to her and she replies.

Is helping the orphan always the same.

No.

If adoptions not for you give.

If adoptions not for you support.

Please if adoption is not your calling do not become a critic to make yourself feel good about not helping.

I will agree with the critics that adoptees may or do come with baggage.

Won't you agree though as a Christian that God is out Father?

If God can see my worth even while it's hiding behind all my ugly and call me his daughter surely adoption is not that crazy. 

Growing up

My makeup has slowly become better quality. I rarely have to buy after purchasing good quality. These are my favorites at the moment 

Baby Quilt For A Friend

  A sweet friend just had a baby girl. I know, I know, wheres' the pink?

Isn't pink just so obvious?

I went a different route with this one. I still really feel like its feminine with all the flowers and the huge flowers that are quilted on.

It was a pretty quick quilt (of my own design) but don't tell my procrastination that.

Not sure what it is with quilts but after I cut the pieces out I run out of steam and the piles just sorta sit there for a month or five. Haha 

The fabric collection is Raveena. I ordered a pack from HERE  

 My daughter did such a great help modeling.

This was her first job ;) 

Love the way the quilting looks on the back minky