Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Last night, Little Butt and I watched The Polar Express together for the first time.

I know I have put the movie on for her before.

I think she's even owned it since last year.

But we have never gotten around to watching it.

Until last night.

I've been wanting to get into the holiday spirit lately. What better way than with cookies right?? No. That still wasn't working.

So I asked Little Butt if she would like to watch the movie with me.

Let me tell you...

Watching that movie with my 3 1/2 year old little girl was one of the most amazing and rewarding Christmas time experiences of my adulthood. Probably my life.

Seeing the magic of Christmas reflected in her eyes was truly remarkable.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives. Our work. The things that keep us 'busy' that we forget about the things that are genuinely important.

Things like family. Love. Acceptance.

Hearing the innocence in my daughters voice when she was excited about  Santa was touching.

I felt alive again. I felt like a kid again.

During the movie, we laughed together, we cried together, we held each other through the scary parts.

But in the end...we both heard the bells.

If you have misplaced your Christmas spirit, I recommend that you watch this movie. Even if you don't have kiddos, watch it anyway. It will help you remember what it was to be full of joy, hope and belief.

And if that doesn't work. Take a bite of one of these cookies and that will help remind you of Christmas!

As a kid, my favorite cookies were snickerdoodles. When I found this recipe for a holiday twist on a childhood favorite last year, I knew they had to be included in my yearly cookie baking extravaganza.

Not that I really have an extravaganza. I've only made 2 types of cookies so far. Ha!

I did add a bit of rum to the recipe because I just love the stuff, but that can be omitted. You can simply stick with the rum extract on it's own.

Let's bake some cookies!

Grab your ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, vegetable shortening, butter, eggs, nutmeg, rum extract and spiced rum (optional).

Start by creaming together the butter, vegetable shortening and 1 1/2 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs, extract and rum.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg until combined.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until well combined.

Mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons nutmeg in a small shallow bowl. Roll the cookie dough into 1 inch balls then roll through the sugar/nutmeg mixture. Make sure each cookie dough ball is well coated.

Place the cookie dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. I like to line mine with parchment paper because it reduces clean up.

Bake the cookies about 10 minutes or until they are a golden brown color. Allow to cool on the pan a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Serve and enjoy!!

I boxed mine up and gave them to our financial advisors office staff. I know they enjoyed them right then and there.

Enjoy!

Eggnog Snickerdoodles
Adapted from Taste of Home


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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• 1/2 teaspoon spiced rum (optional)
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/8 teaspoons ground nutmeg, divided

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and 1-1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. 
2. Beat in eggs and extract. 
3. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
4. In a shallow bowl, combine the remaining nutmeg and remaining sugar. 
5. Roll dough into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar mixture. 
6. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
7. Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. 
8. Remove to wire racks to cool.
9. Serve and enjoy!!

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Soup

Guess what, guess what!!!

It's finally cold here!

What?

I've been waiting!

I mean, after living in Upstate New York for so long, it's crazy to me that it was 60 degrees here...in November!

Well, while we were away for Thanksgiving Mother Nature took that time to figure out her shiz and straighten up. You go girl! It's about freaking time you figured it out...

That's what happens when you drink on the job. ;-)

When the weather turns cold, people tend to start thinking of soups and stews to fill the belly and warm the soul.

That's all well and good....if you like soup.

Here I go again with my craziness...

For as long as I can remember...I didn't like soup.

I just wasn't a soup person.

It wasn't that I didn't want to be...it just didn't appeal to me.

Last year, when I was living in Texas, my mother in law convinced me to just try her soup.

I fought her on it a bit but eventually caved. I couldn't turn her down (or away).

So I tried the soup.

Upon my first bite, the stars aligned and I suddenly knew. I knew what soup was about. It was like a whole new world opened up to me.

A world full of soup!

So when the weather turned cold (finally!) I immediately set out to make my favorite soup.

And now I am going to share with you this magical (and incredibly easy) soup.

I will tell you...do you remember the green chile chicken enchilada casserole?? Yeah. Imagine that in liquid form. That gives you this soup.

Try it!

Here's how.

Grab your ingredients: boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 can of Las Palmas green enchilada sauce, 3 cans chopped green chiles, onion, 3-4 potatoes, salt, pepper, shredded mozzarella and tortilla chips.

Place 4 quarts of water into a large pot. Toss in the chicken and boil until the chicken is completely white. Once the chicken is cooked completely, remove from the pot and let cool. Do not dump the water!

Chop the potatoes and onion into large chunks.

Now, you should still have a pot of hot, chicken flavored water on the stove top. To that you want to add the potatoes, onion, all 3 cans of chopped green chiles and the enchilada sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, shred the chicken. Once the potatoes are tender, add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Let cook another 5 minutes.

Now it's time to start assembling your bowl of soup. Take some chips and break them up into the bottom of your bowl.

Toss in a generous amount of shredded cheese.

Top the chips and cheese with the soup. Serve and enjoy!!

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients:

• 4 quarts water
• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; shredded
• 3-4 large potatoes; chopped into 2 inch cubes
• 1 large onion; chopped into 2 inch cubes
• 3 cans chopped green chiles
• 1 can Las Palmas green chile enchilada sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Place water and chicken in a large pot. Boil until chicken is fully cooked. Remove chicken from water, allow to cool then shred.
2. Place the potatoes, onion, chopped green chiles and enchilada sauce into the pot of boiling water. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Add back in shredded chicken. Cook 5 minutes more.
4. Break up chips into the bottom of serving bowl. Top chips with cheese. Ladle hot soup over chips and cheese. 
5. Serve and enjoy!

Buttered Rum Meltaways

Is it just me or is anyone else still trying to get into the groove of things after the Thanksgiving holiday??

I feel like my body is still trying to catch up from all that traveling.

I've been pretty exhausted.

However.

I'm never too exhausted for cookies!!!

On this post, each month bring around a spouses coffee. It's basically a bunch of Army wives from the same Battalion/Brigade getting together to eat, chat and just hang out.

I haven't gone in a couple months. I think I may be protesting since they don't actually serve coffee at these things. And you all know how much I love my coffee right???

Anyway. This month's coffee was a cookie exchange theme.

I was so excited when I heard that. I ran out to the store to get some ingredients to make a couple dozen cookies for the cookie exchange.

I found this recipe in a book that I have called Cookie Swap. This book has so many recipes and ideas for cookie exchanges or parties. It covers different seasons and holidays. When I ran across this recipe I knew these needed to be made.

After I pulled them out of the oven and tasted my first one, I sent a text message to a friend of mine who was coming for dinner that night. The text message read:

"Oh. My. Gawd! The cookies. Oh Catherine...the cookies."

LOL! Yes. These were so good that they didn't make it to the cookie exchange. Instead, they pretty much made it to my belly.

They are called meltaways for a reason. They literally melt in your mouth. They dissolve and all you taste is butter, rum and powdered sugar.

These cookies are amazing!

My friend's husband knew exactly how to describe these cookies. The only thing you could decipher in between mouthfuls of these buttered rum meltaways was "they taste like Christmas."

So, if you are like me and need to get back into the groove of things. And if you need a little push into the realm of holiday spirit. I highly suggest you make these cookies as soon as humanly possible.

I dare you to give a dozen away!

Let's make some cookies!

Grab your ingredients: cake flour, RUM, vanilla extract, rum extract, whole nutmeg, salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, powdered sugar and buttah!

Whisk together the cake flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a medium bowl.

Why hello there kitchen helper. Thanks so much for whisking up those dry ingredients!

Cream together the butter and 3/4 cup of the powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Start on low until the danger of flying powdered sugar has passed. Then crank that baby to medium for 1 to 2 minutes...

Until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then slowly add the rum and extracts until well combined.

Turn the mixer to low and gradually add in the dry mixture.

Until well combined.

Then roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Stick them in the fridge for about 10 minutes. This helps them hold their shape during baking.

Bake 9-11 minutes. The cookie should puff up and the bottom should be a light brown color. Using an offset spatula, immediately transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack.

While the cookies are still warm, sift the remaining powdered sugar over the cookies.

Ummmm...hello there kitchen helper. Whaaatcha doooin???

Right before serving, give the cookies another sifting of powdered sugar and sprinkle on some nutmeg to taste.

Serve and enjoy!!!

Buttered Rum Meltaways
Slightly adapted from Cookie Swap by Julia M. Usher

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Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided; plus extra as needed for re-coating
• 1 tablespoon spiced rum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 teaspoons rum extract

Directions:

1. Position a rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a medium mixing bowl until well combined. Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. About 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed.
4. Slowly add in rum and both extracts.
5. Turn mixer to low and slowly add in dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
6. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and position on parchment paper lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. 
7. Chill dough balls about 10 minutes.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 9-11 minutes or until cookies puff and bottoms lightly brown.
9. Remove from oven and immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack using an offset spatula. 
10. Sift the remaining powdered sugar over the tops of the still warm cookies. 
11. Prior to serving, re-coat the cookies with powdered sugar (as needed) and sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg to taste. 
12. Serve and enjoy!!