Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Every Thanksgiving I make this Spinach & Artichoke dip (which is amazeballs, and you should make immediately!) and some type of dessert.

This year I was making a 6 hour drive the day of, (I know, I know...we leave at 4:00am...crazy sauce) so I needed something portable that wouldn't easily get smashed (like cupcake frosting), and didn't need any refrigeration.  I found these White Chocolate Topped Chewy Gingerbread Cookies on Pinterest and thought they'd be perfect.  I also saw these Chewy Ginger Cookies with Cinnamon Chips which gave me the idea to also add the highly coveted and seasonal Hershey's cinnamon baking chips to the tops of the cookies.

These were such a hit at Thanksgiving, I decided to make them again recently.  

I followed this recipe here, except I also added the cinnamon chips.

The first time I didn't have time to refrigerate overnight, so I just popped the dough in the freezer for about 20min. - it worked well enough.

This time, I skipped the chilling all together, and they still come out nice and fluffy.

Don't over bake!!

YUM! Perfect, seasonal goodness!
Um, ALSO, can we please discuss my sadness for the end of Starbucks' winter holiday drinks?! Namely my beloved GBL, Gingerbread Latte.
I have been savoring every last one...they're gone when they run out of the syrup...which seems soon.
Sob.
Guess we will just have to make more cookies!!

So There.

Featured on Blog Series: Flower Hair Clip Tutorial

Over the holiday season, Frugal Foodie Mama had a wonderful homemade gift tutorial series on her blog HERE, and featured yours truly!

Check out my hair clip tutorial here, on how I make some of my items I sell on My Etsy Site!

http://www.thefrugalfoodiemama.com/2012/12/santas-little-bloggers-fabric-flower.html

I have found babies, little girls, and adult women alike all enjoy receiving these flower hair clips as gifts!
These flowers can also be clipped onto a headband, or look great attached to your handbag, blouse, throw pillow, or anywhere you'd like!

So There.

Happy New Year, friends!

Happy New Year!

I hope each and every one of you had fun ringing in the new year, and I wish you the best possible 2013!!

My attempt to revamp my blog and really try to post more regularly began in October of 2012, and I am still trying to get into a groove. Some weeks I get to 3+ posts, and other weeks I get busy and don't get to 1!
I want to start using the auto-post scheduling Blogger feature more often, and try to have themes, like my Things I Love Thursdays.

Anyway, I so appreciate you reading and supporting my little blog, so THANK YOU!!!
It really means a lot!

Here are some of the most popular posts of 2012!

http://sotherebyamy.blogspot.com/2012/01/let-it-snow-let-it-snow-let-it-snow.html

http://sotherebyamy.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-stocked-up-on-pillsbury-grands.html

http://sotherebyamy.blogspot.com/2012/10/all-dressed-up.html

http://sotherebyamy.blogspot.com/2012/10/blue-moooooooooon.html

http://sotherebyamy.blogspot.com/2012/10/bringing-forest-indoors.html

Happy 2013!
So there.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love seeing all the pretty lights all around town.

And my little festive light I hung in my apartment.

I am loving my winter "tablescape" (In the words of Sandra Lee! Oh my god, you guys, have you caught her new show on the Cooking Channel?? She's so epic. My mom and I are obsessed. She's a riot).

Anyway, I started by mixing some green, silver and gold glitter ornaments with some cinnamon scented pine cones in a couple different large hurricane vases. Then, I have my yarn wrapped beer bottle and sweater wrapped vase that I made from Pinterest tutorials.
Finally, the pièce de résistance: my friend and I spend a recent morning, over scones and mimosas, making the festive, wrapped cone Trees! I wrapped one with a faux fur skinny boa, one with burlap and a vintage-looking gold beaded garland, both from Michael's, then, made the third one out of strips of wax paper. How cute are they?! I love them. I mean, who doesn't want a fur tree!

We used this tutorial here:  Handmade Christmas Trees from the lovely Shauna Mailloux.
She has so many great ideas, plus Pinterest has so many others, as well. These are so fun to make!

While I was at Target the other day, I saw this bin of the cutest ornaments...then realized these all would be SO easy to DIY! Take that, Target!!

Those little reindeer on the right are just yarn wrapped plastic animal toys, same as how I wrapped the beer bottle above.  The big sweater ornament balls on the left would be easy to craft, same as my sweater vase above.  And the little silver glitter reindeer guy behind those is just like This Tutorial I was going to use to make some decorative bookshelf trinkets (also can be ornaments or book ends).
Sorry retail shops, you've been found out thanks to Pinterest!! Ha!

And, check out my little twine clothesline card 'tree' I hung on my wall to display all my holiday cards!

Happy Holidays, everyone!
Thanks so much for supporting my little blog. It means so much!
So there.

Season's Greetings

You guys, I decided to MAKE my holiday cards this year. Like, start with blank cardstock and a pile of crafting materials, make them.
It was quite a bit of work, but they turned out so cute!

I used buttons, rhinestones, metallic paint, burlap, twine, ribbon, scrapbook paper, pieces of old holiday cards, and Chevron print glitter tape adhesive ribbon. Plus Elmer's Glue and hot glue. And went to town creating my own layouts and design ideas.
I used the end of a pencil, and a wine cork to do the painted dots.

What do you think?
Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!
So there.

Espresso Truffles

It's that time of year again...I'm making Peppermint Bark!!  It seems to get a bit easier every year I make it.  Still a bit imperfect...we'll call it rustic-looking; but hey, I guess that is what makes it different from, say, This Peppermint Bark. 

But I also have something special to share...

My first Guest Post!

I have so many crafty, foodie friends, I'm always asking them to do a guest post with their great creations!

Today my friend Molly is awesome enough to share her amazing truffles she makes every year! 
Don't these look amazing!? Also, her food photography puts mine to shame!  I need to hire her just to come over and be my photographer while I'm cooking and crafting!! Enjoy :)

Espresso Truffles

Truffles are an elegant candy that are perfect as a special holiday party treat. They might appear intimidating, but are easier to make than you think! You can have fun with the coating too, whether it's nuts, crushed Oreo cookies, coconut, cocoa or drizzled chocolate of a different variety. Package them up in gold truffle wrappers and your friends will think you picked them up at the local candy shop! 

Although there are a couple steps involved, as long as you have some room in your freezer and plan ahead, the actual result is beautiful and well worth it. 

See the full recipe here:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/espresso-truffles-10000000608415/index.html

Merry Christmas!
Molly

Things I Love Thursdays

Time for another Things I Love Thursdays!

1. First of all, my bestest friend since 6th grade has been living in London for the past 2 years, and is home for the Holidays! Hooray!!
We obviously had to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Avila's El Ranchito in Costa Mesa. Yum!

Check out her amazing website dedicated to Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier and her great photography blog, Days in Mayfair.
 

2. This Jar Opener from The Container Store is the best $9 I ever spent. It works on any size jar, from the tiny hotel size jam I stole was given, to a big jar of sauce. It is so easy to use!

3. These frozen pasta meals and soups from Bertolli are actually really good! Thanks to my Momma for telling me to try them, and to Vons for finally having them on sale for $5! This one is a creamy, cheesy tomato soup with spinach, basil, chicken, and tortellini. YUM! Just add a cup of water, and heat on the stove like canned soup, until it thaws and is warmed through. Tasty!! And so perfect for this "I guess it is FINALLY winter in Southern California" weather we're having lately. Brrr!

  

4.  You know you are finally in a nice apartment complex when the leasing office and mailboxes both have Holiday craft and recipe tutorials posted! How adorable is that?! I'm going to like it here...

                              

5.  And finally, thank you to the always witty Urban Outfitters for the To-Do list that we all REALLY need, especially around the holidays.

 You're welcome!

 

So there.