Andes Mint cookies

Andes Mint Cookies

Per my Amazing Aunt Becky's request, I am going to try and post a favorite recipe each week.  Probably shoot for Wednesday or Thursday to do that.  This week is one of Ben's favorite cookies ever.  I originally got this recipe from Becky Higgins in 2007, but her website has changed, and I don't see the recipes column anymore.  There is an "easier" recipe for these out there just using a boxed cake mix, but we have tried both, and this original version is way, way better.  Each year our library has a Valentine's Chocolate sale to raise money for the library.  I have volunteered to bring these cookies for the last 5 years, and I have been told they sell out very first.  These are good!   They freeze well too, and I have doubled and tripled the recipe several times.  I have made these for our neighbor Christmas cookie plates for years too.  Everyone loves them. What is not to love about chocolate and mint in a cookie???  Enjoy!

Andes Mint Cookies

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 Tbl water

Melt the above in a saucepan over medium heat until just melted and then add...

2 cups chocolate chips (I always use semisweet)

Stir until completely melted, but don't over heat or boil.  Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes then pour into your mixing bowl and add

2 eggs, beat well, then add

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together and then cover bowl and chill in fridge for 45 minutes.  Roll into balls (I use the medium cookie scoop from Pampered chef which is about 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of dough) and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake 350 for 10 minutes--do not overbake!  

Right after you take the cookies out of the oven, place an Andes mint on top of each cookie and allow to melt for 10 minutes, then swirl the melted chocolate like icing (see picture above) and then allow to cool completely and ENJOY!

2019 Blue Jeans Week 8

Fighting the winter blues this week.  Weather has been cold, icy and gray, but we found some fun and got away to watch Miss E power lift this weekend.  Last of the basketball games this week and indoor fun with friends when weather limited us again.  Take a look at our week...

We love puzzles, and Sunday afternoons and evenings are the best for them with a fire going to keep us warm.

 President's day was cold and snowy, so we called some friends and had a pizza picnic at the church gym and then played games all afternoon with them.  We needed to get out of the house and sure had fun with these friends today!

Basketball game 1 of 2 this week, and the last week for them.  Yeah!  Miss Ella did great, and they won their last two games.  Great way to end the season!

During halftime of the boys game the girls' cross country team was recognized for being league champs.  A great group of girls!

This popped up on my phone this week from a teacher friend in a different town whose son (boy in the purple) is a friend of Mr J's at church, and they ended up working together at a regional science conference this week.  Cool!

Power lifting meet for Miss E.  Her bench press.  She did 130 lbs.  Very impressive!!

The Clean....love that look of determination

She did 120 lbs!  Way to go Miss E!!

After her meet, we were close to the state capitol, so we stopped to tour it.  We hadn't been there in many years, and Mr J had never been there.  It was recently remodeled, and gorgeous!

At the state capitol.  Ben and Miss E went on a tour that went clear up to the very top of the dome and they went outside and walked around at the very top.  Mr J and I stayed on the ground :)

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you had a great week!  Have a recipe coming later this week just for my Aunt Becky (love you!!), so check back later in the week!

2019 Blue Jeans Week 7

Last week we had an unintentional 5 day weekend (because of bad ice and snow storms and school closed), and this week we had a planned 5 day weekend because of parent teacher conferences and President's day.  Our weather has been awful, and I think we all were suffering from cabin fever after all those days home and not getting out because of ice and snow storms.  This week we had lots and lots of basketball to make up for the games that were cancelled last week.  Just one more week of that and then we are done!  Yeah!  It was a good week.  Take a look...

We babysat some friend's kids and they enjoyed making this huge train track with Mr J.  Reminded me of when he made these all the time as a little kid!  It was fun to see them out again!

Working on a school bond campaign and getting people registered to vote.  Are you registered?

An adorable picture from Miss O this week and her cute roommates.  They had a friend that wanted to practice group photos, so they volunteered.  So cute!

I do laundry once a week--every Tuesday.  If anyone wants any more laundry done, they are on their own, but I will do it on Tuesdays.  Doing Mr J's laundry this week and thinking, Man, he has a lot of socks! So I counted....13 pairs of socks in one week!!! Who wears 13 pairs of socks in one week?  We we had a little talk when he got home :)

Basketball game #1 of 3 for the week.  Miss E warming up with her team.  Had some really good games this week!

Basketball game #2 of 3 for the week.  Miss E getting the ball in. This game was intense!  They won by 2 points at the end!  Woohoo!

Needing to get out of the house, and with it freezing cold and snow outside, we went to the church to play ping pong, but it was a tight fit as they were all set up for a church dinner coming up, but we still had fun and it was nice to get out of the house!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a great week!!

2019 Blue Jeans Week 6

Crazy weather week.  What was supposed to be a busy week full of school and basketball turned into a week of 3 snow days and no basketball and everything cancelled.  Ice storms will do that.  But we had a great week.  Getting ready for Valentine's day and snow days give us outlets for our kitchen experiments!  Take a look at our week. . .

Beginning of February is traditionally our time to make our family Valentine's Day box and get started on our valentines!  Everyone is working hard!

Our Family Valentine's day Box!

Snow Day #1....Miss E making 2 different kinds of yummy pancakes!  Breakfast for dinner is always a favorite at our house!

Snow Day #2.....Miss E made some amazing cupcakes--dark chocolate cupcakes with coconut frosting and then she tinted some coconut and made chocolate hearts and shapes to go on them.  Fancy!  They were good!

Snow Day #3....we went over to my mom's where she had all the stuff ready for us to do some fancy cookie decorating!

Even Ben joined us for part of it!

Some of our creations!  Snow days are fun!!!

Hope you had a good week!  Thanks for visiting!

2019 Blue Jeans Week 5

Baby, it's been cold outside!  Winter is in full force here!  It has been a cold week, but thankfully not as cold as some other places.  Anytime you see single digits and negative numbers in relation to the temperature, it is too cold for me!  Got some pictures from Miss A this week, celebrated our state, Geography Bee, cookies and checking off the 'to-do' list rounded out our week.  Take a look...

Miss A serves with these cute girls in the woman's organization in her church congregation at college.  An amazing group of ladies!

Miss A and her awesome roommate show off their entry in her apartment's snowman building contest.  Pretty awesome snow octopus!

Happy Kansas Day!  We always celebrate our state's birthday with a sunflower cake.  Miss E was at a ball game, so Mr J and Ben got to show it off.  

On the super cold days, we kept the fire going 24/7.  This is how I enjoyed those super cold evenings--in fuzzy socks in front of the fireplace with a book!  

Getting our passports renewed for a trip we have coming up this year.  Always so many things "to-do" when you have a big trip coming up!  

Mr J took 3rd place in his school's geography Bee.  The young lady in the middle won it, and she did awesome!  Mr J's goals were not to get last, and he really didn't want to win either, so he was happy with the result :)

Miss E decided to make some fancy macaroons.  They were yummy!!!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are staying warm!

My 2018 Reading List

Per tradition, I always have the goal to read as many books as I will have candles on my birthday cake for that year.  Some years I go over, some years I have not met the goal, and some years I barely make it.  This past year was a good reading year.  I went past my goal which I don't think I have done in a while.  I also have the goal that 5 of those books should be non-fiction.  So here is my list, not in any order besides the order I read them in. 

1.  Letter from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkein
2.  The Secret of the India Orchid by Nancy Campbell Allen
3.  Radio Girls by Sarah Jane Stratford
4.  The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
5.  The Wright Brothers by David McCullough***Non-fiction
6.  I am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley--a Flavia deLuce mystery
7.  Edenbrook by Julianne Donaldson
8.  Miss Whitaker Opens her Heart by Jennifer Moore
9.  A Man Called Ove  by Fredrik Backman
10.  Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley--a Flavia deLuce mystery
11.  The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley--a Flavia deLuce mystery
12.  Miss Wilton's Waltz by Josi Kilpack
13.  Lieutenant Terry's Christmas Fudge by Gerald Lund***Non-fiction
14.  A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa***Non-fiction
15.  The Chase by Clive Cussler
16.  All that Makes Life Bright by Josi Kilpack
17.  The Lady of the Lakes by Josi Kilpack
18.  The Vicar's Daughter by Josi Kilpack
19.  The Striker by Clive Cussler
20.  The Wrecker by Clive Cussler
21.  Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald
22.  A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin
23.  Fire Fly Lane by Kristin Hannah
24.  A Long Time Gone by Karen White
25.  The Scourge by Jennifer A Nielsen
26.  The Assassin by Clive Cussler
27.  The Gangster by Clive Cussler
28.  Exile for Dreamers by Kathleen Baldwin
29.  For Love or Honor by  Sarah M Eden
30.  Refuge for Masterminds by Kathleen Baldwin
31.  The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox***Non-fiction
32.  Seeking Persephone by Sarah M Eden
33.  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
34.  The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah M Eden
35.  Courting Miss Lancaster by Sarah M Eden
36.  Promises and Primroses by Josi Kilpack
37.  Friends and Foes by Sarah M Eden
38.  As Chimney Sweepers come to Dust by Alan Bradley--A Flavia deLuce mystery
39.  84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff***Non-fiction
40.  Loving Lieutenant Lancaster by Sarah M Eden
41.  The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan
42.  Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley
43.  Drop of Gold by Sarah M Eden
44.  The Book of Mormon***Non-fiction
45.  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Looking back I LOVED the book A Man Called Ove.  I laughed and laughed when I read that.  I enjoy Alan Bradley's Flavia De Luce mystery series and Clive Cussler's Isaac Bell series.  I really like proper romances and regency romances--books by Sarah M Eden, Josi Kilpack, Nancy Campbell, Julianne Donaldson and Jennifer Moore.  I enjoy WWII historical fiction.  2018 was a great year of reading and looking forward to what 2019 brings!

Happy reading!!!!