chocolate peppermint and pretzels

About time I updated. I just haven't felt like writing anything lately. Earlier this month I had a friend visit! My freshman roommate from college moved back to this valley in September and now works at the children's hospital downtown. Seems like years..ok it has been years since I've really seen her. She drove all the way to my house just to visit and literally hang out. It was...interesting. =) hehehe. I loved having her here, but my girls were like leeches! They wore her out! They played games almost the entire time. Chasing around the couch, throwing things back and forth, reading, tickling...good times and a lot of laughs. I hope I didn't scare her away, and hopefully we'll get together again soon.

What else....I volunteered to help in my daughters preschool class. The kids were putting candy on their own individual gingerbread houses. It was a blast. 11 kids, each with their own house and a ton of candy. They premade the houses using graham crakers, and stuck them to little milk cartons with hot glue. Then I was in charge of helping "smear" the frosting all over the houses and then helping them with putting candy EVERYWHERE. In the end, they were able to take home adorable gingerbread houses that they decorated themselves. (to me they looked like globs of candy) =]

Last weekend we had a nice visit from my hubby's brother, wife and 3 month baby boy (codename: camper). This is his brothers final semester for his undergraduate--wahoo! and then they will be moving back east the end of next week after he graduates. So this visit may have been the last in a while. They will definitely be missed, but they are doing what they need to do in their lives right now. My girls LOVED the baby, they wanted to touch him, hold him, make him smile. It was really sweet, and I did take few pictures. The baby's parents are very particular about pictures on a public blog (which is perfectly fine!), so I found one that I hope is ok!! wow my girls are such cheeses...hehehe. Good luck on your move, be safe. =]

Last of all on this long update (sorry). I was a madwoman in the kitchen today (dishes are still not done. lol). My sister Lisa told me about these cookies on foodnetwork.com, the Peppermint Chocolate Cookie, and White Clouds in chocolate. So I went to the store with my girls to get what I need to make these yummy treats. I tried to find my circle cookie cutter, but I believe my girls have "borrowed" it, so I ended up using a star cookie cutter for the peppermint cookies. And I've never made meringue before--that was a first. Let's just say both the recipes were a lot of fun to make and really not that hard. Both required melted chocolate...lots of melted chocolate, so I also dipped mini pretzels in the chocolate for extra. What was going to be a few cookies in a tin box ended up looking like a chocolate peppermint selection in a box. =] I put together a few tin boxes for some friends and I think they turned out a lot better than I expected. Honestly, the only thing that I've tasted are the white clouds and the chocolate covered pretzels. I had just enough of the peppermint cookies for friends, so I didn't taste those, but they looked rich and delicious.

That is all until next time. My sister is coming into town next week for the christmas holiday! I'm really looking forward to that, but she may go crazy being this close to family for so many days. hehehe.