The Phantom Moon

Cookie Love

For the past few weeks, my little helper and I have been on a baking streak.  And let me tell you, working with a 4 year old is so enjoyable but double the work!  I laughed with my sister the other day and confessed that it sometimes felt like I was working alongside my 73 year old grandmother.  We've had mostly hits and a few misses here and there, and I'd like to think this one is a hit.  I used a recipe for Lemon Sugar Cookies and although the dough seems a little too sticky for my taste, it's pretty easy to whip up and use as long as the dough is super chilled and you have plenty of extra flour for your table and rolling pin.

I think the next time I make this I'll add an extra 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sugar to the actual dough.  I'm thinking that will solve the sticky dough issue?  I'm not really an expert at rolled cookies though so if any of you are wiser and have a better solution please post it in the comments for all of us amateurs out there.

Can you tell which cookies BB helped me out with?  I love how the decorations are totally clustered in the middle.  And yes, we used Easter decorations but that's all we happened to have on hand so it worked in a pinch.

And here's the present my little helper left me with ... a tiny nibble on one of the heart cookies.  And that is the extent of her sweet tooth.  After that bite she put the cookie back and sweetly asked, "can I have an apple?".

Here's the recipe if you'd like to make some yummy Lemon Sugar Cookies (via).  Enjoy!:

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
LEMON DRIZZLE
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

BEAT butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla; mix until smooth.

COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in separate bowl. Add to butter mixture; mix well. Divide dough into 3 balls. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate at least 4 hours.

HEAT oven to 350°F. Roll each ball on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness; cut into desired shapes.

BAKE 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with Lemon Drizzle, if desired.

COMBINE powdered sugar, water and lemon juice; mix well. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

New Neighbors

While working in my garden a few days ago, I discovered that we weren't the new kids on the block after all.  It appears that a new set of neighbors had moved in without our realizing it.  And of all places they moved into our yard, particularly in one of our trees.  Who moved in you ask?  A family of squeaky hungry little Robins.

The minute you step close to their nest (which you can practically touch given that it's right near our porch), these little buggers start squeaking and squawking, sticking their little open bird beaks out of the nest just waiting for their momma to come by with yummy food.

After a while their acrobatics scared me a little since I wasn't sure if the little squeakers would fall out of their nest, so I backed away hoping they'd take the hint and tuck themselves back in.  It took a while but they finally did give up and headed back in.

When I went to check on them an hour or so later Momma bird had returned and was sitting in her nest with them.  I, being the city girl I am, decided to get a closer peek and walked back to my original vantage point when Momma bird saw me, turned her head and gave me the stink eye.  And not just any stink eye ... it was the kind that said, "back up, girlfriend, or I will peck your eyes out!".  So I obliged and walked away.

I'm hoping that the little buggers grow up ok and I can take plenty of photos of them at the same time.  I have a feeling that we'll have plenty more "nature" moments like this in our future, and hopefully they aren't always filled with aggressive mothers ...