Sunday, December 12, 2010

E: Weekend & Lots of Cookies

I hope your weekend has been treating you well! We have been busy, but in a fun way around here. As I mentioned before, Friday night was Josh/Mandi/Bryan’s company Christmas/Holiday party. LUCKILY, it warmed up a bit in Charleston, so Mandi and I didn’t feel too much like ice cubes in our dresses. A couple pictures, Me & Mandi:

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Josh & I:formom 002

Saturday morning I woke up early to start in on baking cookies for my Mom & Dad’s holiday party. I made thumbprints (for the first time), tried a new double chocolate chip recipe and made my old favorites, big oatmeal chocolate chip.

First up, I made the thumbprints. I followed this recipe, but added the jam prior to baking. 

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Next, I made the double chocolate chip cookies using these chips (LOVE these things- thanks for finding them Mandi :) :))

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And this recipe from Renee:

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And my big oatmeal chocolate chunkers:

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Finished product:

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I hope they do well at the party! Aside from baking, Saturday was spent at the gym and visiting with friends. We headed up to my parents Saturday night for dinner and to drop off the goods. A couple pictures, my parents:

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Josh & I:formom 002

 

Couple other items of note:

1. The winner of the Newman’s Own Organics pet giveaway is…. Heather from Where’s the Beach? Congrats Heather! Email us at itzyskitchen at gmail dot com and we will get your prize sent out to you.

2. A BIG thank you to Katie from Lil Veggie Patch. She was my secret blogger and made me the MOST amazing vegan pumpkin chocolate  chip bars. Josh and I must have devoured half of them in just a few days! I can’t wait to make her recipe so Josh and I can keep on enjoying them!

Not sure what we’re up to today other than football. What are you doing?

29 comments:

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

You and Mandi look awesome in your party dresses..nothing worse than freezing your butt off in a party dress tho. Glad it was somewhat warm :)

Katie...lil veggie, such a doll.
Heather...where's the beach, such a doll, too!

Your cookies...mmmmmmm, good stuff! I love those mint choc chips. I have a mint choc chip snowball recipe w/ those things. ACtually Scott loves those things even more than me. haha!

Paige (Running Around Normal) said...

Yum! I've had the Food Network on this morning, and of course it's all about cookies. Now I want to make some!!
You look gorgeous in your pictures, Erica! Your hair is seriously so shini!

Katie said...

Ooh, your lucky parents!!! I love the variety of cookies... they look so delish.

You and Mandi look gorgeous! Hope you're having a great weekend :-)

CaSaundraLeigh said...

I can't see how those cookies wouldn't go over well--they look perfect! And you made a nice variety, so I am sure everyone will be happy!
Have a great rest of your weekend--mom and I are headed out Christmas shopping! Girls day!

CaSaundraLeigh said...

I can't see how those cookies wouldn't go over well--they look perfect! And you made a nice variety, so I am sure everyone will be happy!
Have a great rest of your weekend--mom and I are headed out Christmas shopping! Girls day!

Anonymous said...

Yummy cookies!!!!!!!!! I just made some thin mints.....those all look fantastic!!!!!
Happy Holidays!

Stephanie @cookinfanatic said...

Cute pics,you girls look so pretty!! You are seriously the cookie baking queen, love the little jam cookies, how fun are those?! Glad you are having a nice weekend!!! :)

fittingbackin said...

Great pics of you and Josh! So cute! And i'm LOVING all of the cookie pictures. Those thumbprints are adorable and OMG - those chocolate chips sounds amazing. Thank you to Mandi indeed!

I'm doing nothing - about to go to Pottery Barn though - awesome. LOL

The Purple Carrot said...

Looks like so much fun! :)

And your thumbprint cookies look like they turned out awesome ... enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather said...

You girls look so cute all dressed up! So many cookies, yum girl it looks great.

ashley nicole said...

your dress is beautiful! i'm glad that y'all had fun. aaand those cookies look amazing! football is definitely on today's agenda, as well as a trip to Chapel Hill to my sister's class ring ceremony.

Priyanka said...

You look so pretty in all the pictures! You are such a fantastic baker. I think these thumbprint cookies are next on my to-bake list!

Have a great day Erica!

Jen said...

Now these are my kind of cookies!! Can I give you my mailing address?? ;-)

Happy Sunday Dear! xo

Amelia said...

You and Mandi look great at the party! The sweet treats look delicious as well. I think that thumbprint cookies are probably one of the few cookies that I have never made before. I always have a hard time deciding on what flavor of filling to use!

And I love the last picture of you and Josh. It is a really cute picture. :)

Heather (Where's the Beach) said...

I have never made thumbprint cookies before. They always look so festive though. Love the all the pictures by the way. Always fun to see people pics ;-) And I am SO excited to win this giveaway - well, my pups are going to be even more excited LOL.

Renee Paj said...

Your cookies look scrumptious!! Glad you liked the chocolate cookie recipe! :) You asked me if I knew about those combo chips...and NO! I have not seen them, but I am going to look for them FOR SURE!! Glad it warmed up a bit for you in Charleston...here its all snow, snow, snow.....

Monique said...

Chocolate and mint is probably the best thing ever!!! :) Those sound so awesome.

Julie said...

girl you were a machine this weekend! 3 types of cookies!? i love it! i bet they got scooped up in no time flat :) glad you had such a great time at the work party! you guys look great

i'm taking a lunchskies break from my paper and then back to it! although i'd muuch rather be at tjs with deej and xmas shopping!

Corey @ the runnners cookie said...

Dressing up for holiday parties is so much fun :) The cookies look awesome - I'm sure the party-goers appreciated them!!

teresa said...

what a fun party, you guys look so cute. i love all of the baking you're doing. i'm going to have to look for those chips, they look so fun!

erica said...

Loving the picture of you and Mandi. You both look gorgeous. Your cookies all look out of this world. I have been trying to get to making some cookies and have about four different kinds done. Still a lot to go.

xo

BroccoliHut said...

Beautiful cookies! I might have to make some thumbprints for myself tomorrow...r

Stephanie in Suburbia said...

Things have been busy, but I just had to tell you that I made the vegan pumpkin muffins in your Favorite Recipes area. Oh...MY...GOD! So freaking good. I added chocolate mini morsels and the muffins were sooooo freaking moist! I can't stop using "Freaking." It's my ultimate non-swear compliment. That and like 3 outfits of my daughter's are ruined b/c she ate them so fast, I didn't get a chance to wipe her hands before she smeared them all around. So yeah, I'll have to take a picture of her eating them naked.

Bridget said...

Mmm I love making cookies this time of year! Those thumbprints are so pretty!! I bet everyone loved them! Cute pics too!

Holly said...

WOWWWW all of those cookies look yummy! I don't think I've ever had those jam cookies....don't know why? They look so cute and perfect! Next time I see one, I'll snatch one up to try. :-) And I LOVE all of the flavored chips right now! Will have to try the mint one since I'm pretty much obsessed with the mint/chocolate combo.

Glad you had a wonderful weekend, girl! You are so sweet to do all that baking for everyone!

Janetha @ meals + moves said...

I love all the photos, you are gorgeous, erica! And I can see where you get your looks, your parents are the cutest couple ever. I love all the cookies and those chips look fun and different! <3 you

Krista said...

What a great platter of cookies!! I bet they went over well...And you and Mandi look so nice all dressed up. Glad to hear you didn't freeze. :)

Lea @ Healthy Coconut said...

You were right, you are a cookie baking machine. I want to reach in and taste the chocolate mint cookies.

Look so chewy and chocolaty, will find the recipe you linked too and might try it for myself. However, where did you guy the chocolate/mint chips? I've been to Walmart and Target in my area and they don't carry that variety :(

Anonymous said...

My mom makes those thumbprint cookies every Christmas, they are soo good!