This & That

Andes Mint Cookies

I mentioned last week that we had Eric's kids with us, and school cancellations in addition. I happened to have ingredients for a couple of really easy, kid-friendly treats. These cookies were a really big hit with everyone except Ephraim, who isn't a huge chocolate fan and also doesn't care for mint. Good thing I also had a supply of goldfish crackers.

Caroline was my lovely assistant for putting these together. As you'll see, she was a pro. These are very tasty, and my only regret is that I didn't get them made when my chocolate-mint-loving daughter-in-law, Alison, was here. That was the intent, but viruses intervened. I found the recipe here. They work up quickly and have 3/4 of Eric's kids seal of approval.

Andes Mint Cookies

• 1 (15.25 oz.) Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• About 30 Andes Mints

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs.

Roll dough into a 1 inch ball and place on baking sheet.

Bake for 6-9 minutes.

 

Take baking sheet out of oven and while cookies are still very hot, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. 

 

In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted. Take a spoon and smooth out each mint like frosting. Let cookies cool and the frosting harden a little before eating. My husband will tell you this isn't necessary, but in the interest of trying not to burn tender mouths, wait just a bit.

 

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

I'm finally able to consistently take a few breaths without hacking up a lung. The cough is still there, but over the past couple of days I've seen a real improvement. It was really discouraging to go almost 2 weeks and not see that, so I'm really encouraged. It's definitely made its way through the family, though. Not one of my kid's families has been untouched....fevers, snotty noses, coughs, ear infections, ruptured ear drums, we've had it all, but so far everyone's testing negative for Covid.

I did have a chance to wrap up my 2021 planner so, yay. I still have a couple of weeks to wrap up in the Project Life app so I can print my yearly book. My husband and I had Eric's kids this week because my daughter-in-law had some surgery, so most of what happened revolved around them. 

Our weather though, hasn't made anything easy. They were supposed to start back to school on Monday, but we had school cancelations through Wednesday because of stuff like this. Bit of a double-edged sword. We didn't have a schedule we needed to keep, but it meant we had to be entertaining. There were lots of afternoon movies, some treat making, and some outside activity time. As an aside, you can hear the scratchy sound of my voice. This was vast improvement over the week before when I sounded like a 4 pack-a-day smoker.

We've had a lot more moisture than we usually get this winter already, and it's very badly needed.

It made for some dandy icicles,

...which Grandpa deemed unsafe. 

He was afraid someone was going to poke their eye out, so he went along and broke them all off after I took these pictures. It was a fun week, but as of yesterday morning I hadn't had a chance to put one Christmas decoration away. The tree is still up and probably a fire hazard. Grateful to have them here, grateful now to have time to dig out my house.

 

Briefly....Very Briefly

Happy New Year!

It's been a wonderful 2 or 3 weeks with family. It was my greatest gift to have everyone here. We had a couple of grandboys get sick though, and then I came down with it, just in time for Christmas Eve/Day, and now my husband is afflicted.

We're also tending some grandkids who may or may not be coming down with the same thing, so it could be a real post-holiday party here.

As soon as I can stop coughing for more than a couple minutes straight, I'll try to get some pictures of the festivities up here, but this one likes to linger longer, so I can't guarantee when that might happen.

Around Here This Week