Lizy B

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Pizza Cookies for Jack's Surprise Party!

A few weeks before Jack's 6th birthday,

he caught me looking at Sweet Sugarbelle's pizza cookie tutorial.

(You can find it HERE)

It stopped Jack in his tracks as he rushed by the computer.

"Whoa Mom! Those are the coolest cookies ever!!!!

Are you going to make those?!"

Right at that moment a little light bulb turned on over my head.

Surprise party.....Jack....PIZZA COOKIES!!!!!

"Yeah Jack, someone just asked for pizza cookie favors.

I'll make them in a few weeks."

he-he-he

I love surprises.

Why a surprise party?

Jack has a summer birthday, late August.

So, while it is easier to track down his friends through email and evites,

you never know who is out of town and able to come.

I figured this way,

if it turned out that not a single one of his friends could come....

no broken heart.

What...you don't quite believe that?

Okay, fine.

Maybe that was only 50 percent of the reason.

I knew, without a doubt, if I had to hear thirty days of,

"Is it my party yet?"

"Is my party today?"

"Will Ryan be there?"

"Will Paige be there?"

"How many tokens do we get?"

"Will there be pizza?"

"Are Grandma and Grandpa coming?"

"Can I have soda?"

"Can I invite Riley?"

(the 15 year old neighbor)

"Can I invite Adena?"

(she cuts Jack's hair)

"Can I invite the mailman?"

I might strangle the giant mouse when we finally showed up at Chuck E. Cheese.

It's not cool to attack the giant mouse.

It's just not.

I told him he needed to come with me to deliver the cookies.

I had to show him the balloon with his name on it

before he actually believed the party was for him.

He was shocked.

Way beyond surprised.

We took pictures with all his friends when they started arriving.

He was more and more excited as each one came through the door.

They all talked strategy before he headed into the magic ticket booth.

At the end of the party, he stood in front of the prize counter

with his little tickets and kept repeating....

"I just can't believe I'm doing this...

this is awesome."

Score one for the Mommy.

Happy Birthday Jack Jack.

You make our hearts smile,

every

single

day.

Thanks for stopping by,

Lizy B

Monday, August 27, 2012

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies!

I don't always make sugar cookies.

I make other kinds too....really I do!

I shared this recipe in a guest post over at Itsy Bitsy Paper Blog last week!

I'd thought I'd share it here too.....enjoy!

Lizy B's Favorite Cookies in the Whole Wide World!

This recipe came about in a silly sort of way.

When my family and I travel anywhere with friends, I always bring cookies

(if you've ever stopped by my blog this won't surprise you too much).

One particular trip, I sent out the email I always send...

"I'm turning on the oven today to bake cookies for our trip...any requests?"

I usually hear...'Chocolate chip'....'Peanut Butter'....'anything with some sugar in it...'

but this day, Miss Christy replied...

"How about......Oatmeal Raisin Pecan?!"

And that was that.

These are now the cookie that I can't ever bake for myself.

Know why?

Because I will eat them ALL!!!!!!!!!

(that's not a joke people....it has happened...more than once)

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

1 1/2 cups A.P. flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 lb. unsalted butter (room temp)

1 cup lt. brown sugar - packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs (room temp)

3 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raisins

1 cup pecans-broken or coarsely chopped

preheat oven to 350-makes approximately 32 cookies

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat until fluffy, approx 3 min. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Incorporate dry ingredients using your mixer's lowest setting. Then add oats, raisins and pecans. (You can chop your pecans if you like. I measure out one cup of pecan halves, scoop a few into my hand at a time, and crack them as I drop them into the bowl) Scoop out onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets. Bake 14-16 minutes. They are done when the edges just start to turn brown, the rest of the cookie will look underdone.

(If you eat one right away...the center will still be gooey.)