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Showing posts from November, 2013

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

Thanksgiving Craft: Crayola Mayflower Place Cards #ColorfulThanks

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Howdy Pilgrims! Many thanks to Crayola for inspiring and sponsoring this last-minute Thanksgiving craft! It was so easy to put together because I already had all the Crayola supplies on hand.  After all, Crayola products have been a part of my crafting repertoire ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon! In fact, you could go so far as to say that Crayola crayons are something of a treasured heirloom in my family.   So, for the kids at this year's Thanksgiving dinner, I designed a simple project that captures the spirit of the holiday and performs many tasks -- place card, activity, and take-home gift!  The sails of my Crayola Mayflower Place Cards provide the inspiration for each child to doodle and draw the things that they are most thankful for.  I can't wait to see what my girls come up with! Here's how to make a whole fleet of Crayola Mayflower Place Cards of your own: DIY Crayola Mayflower Place Cards (ins

Free Printable: Wide-mouth Mason Jar Labels, Fall Colors

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This is the first year, in over a decade, that I haven't made it to my mom's for Thanksgiving.  It's also my mom's first big holiday since my grandmother passed away.  So, my brothers and I thought it would be a nice idea to come up with a way to bottle all our love and thankfulness for our mom.  In that way, we can all "be there" for Mom, even though, physically, we'll be spread out hither and thither.   I hadn't planned on writing about this project, but since I created some custom mason jar labels in the process, I figured I might as well share the printable with my readers. You can download these labels from Google Drive for free.  I posted them as an MS Word document, so you can personalize/customize each label inside the text boxes.  You should also be able to use MS Word to convert the colors to match your project or season!  To download the labels, click HERE .   You won't be able to see a preview of the labels in Google Dr

Upcycling: Dreidel Treat Boxes for the 8 Nights of Hanukkah

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Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel You're a sparkly little one A box made out of paper that was easy and so fun For Hanukkah this year, I decided to fiddle around with some tissue paper tubes to see if I could come up with a way to turn them into dreidels. As you can see, my tinkerings were a success! What I love most about this project is the versatility.  You can paint and glitter them any color to match your home or table decor.  They make a great treat for guests at each place setting: They can be filled with a different small gift for each night of Hanukkah and strung on a garland -- a Hanukkah spin on the Advent Calendar! I sterilize my tissue tubes in the microwave, but if tissue or paper towel tubes make you squeamish, you can still use my template on basic cardstock. This is a fun family project.  When done assembly line style, you can whip up a whole party's worth of dreidel treat boxes in an afternoon.   The tops of the dreidel boxe

Holiday Cookie Recipe: The Shirley Temple Kiss
{a pretty in pink chocolate cherry delight!}

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Hello Sweetie! (Doctor Who fans, that was for you) Let's see...so far this week on Rook No. 17 we've gone from the very dark --a book review of E.B. Hudspeth's The Resurrectionist -- to the opposite end of the spectrum with a light and cheery Hello Kitty shopping trip with my adorable niece.  Are you beginning to suspect a split personality?  Have no fear; with a wave of my magic whisk I'm going to bring both the dark and light together... Voila! I'm tickled pink to introduce, The Shirley Temple Kiss It's a chewy cherry cookie with a Hershey's Special Dark Kiss.  The inspiration for this sweet little confection came when I saw a pin of the Cherry Icebox Cookies from A Pretty Life.  I was, of course, completely charmed by the pink, and loved the idea of a cherry cookie.  So, I took my favorite cookie recipe of all time -- The Coconut Kiss -- and added just enough chopped maraschino cherries to give the cookies a light cherry fla

Gift Guide: Hello Kitty Let's Play Dress Up
{An interactive shopping experience with the KuKee App}

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This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and KuKee, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #KuKeeapp  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO . One of the  fun features of this line are the velcro-backed dress-up pieces that allow your child  to change Hello Kitty's attire, right on their own clothes. For my two girls, gone are the days of big hair bows, ruffled pockets, and cute-as-can-be character appliques.  They've traded in the frills and fancies of early childhood for the designer jeans and trendy sweatshirts of pre-teendom.  Each stage has its joys, but I must admit, I sometimes miss the dress-up fun the girls and I used to have when they were little.  So, it was with no uncertain glee that I greeted the news that my 3-year old niece had fallen head over heels for Hello Kitty!  I was thrilled to have the opportunity, this past weekend, to spend some girl-time with my sweet little niece, shopping at Macy's for t