In my last post, I spoke about my time freeing up due to my mom being taken care of in an assisted living facility and now we just sold her home.  So no more taking care of a house that was 70 years old, that we had no control over until we had started taking care of my mom and dad 11 years ago!!  So here are some of the things that have filled my life with Love:Making valentine cookies for neighbors that were moving out…

These cookies that I saw online were my inspiration…I’m determined to get better…I used the recipe from my snowflake cookies on the post from “A Grand Hotel,  A Tree and Grand Cookies” !!

These are the cookies I packed to give our next door neighbors that were moving…I put them in a pretty box lined with wax paper.And then I thought I would try gluten-free sugar cookies, since I eat gluten-free whenever I can…these are the ingredients I used, about the same as regular sugar cookies, replacing the flour with Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour…

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup Butter, soft
• 1 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt

  Step 1

  In a small bowl, combine Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

  Step 2

  In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until combined. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly combined then add flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated.

  Step 3

  Shape dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

  Step 4

  Remove dough from refrigerator and discard plastic wrap. Place cold dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness, removing and replacing parchment paper as needed. Cut out desired shapes using lightly floured cookie cutters and place on prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. If necessary, chill dough for 20-30 minutes after rolling and before cutting out cookies.

  Step 5

  Bake cookies until edges are slightly golden, 15-18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cool completely (about 30 minutes) before decorating. Decorate with royal icing!

  Royal Icing Recipe

  Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons meringue powder
  • 1/4 Cup warm water (plus more for thinning to flood consistency)
  • 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla or almond extract

  Directions:

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine powdered sugar and meringue powder.
  2. Add the water and extract slowly. Beat at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form (about 5-7 minutes).

  Notes:

  • This makes a very stiff icing that will harden as it dries. You will use this to outline your cookies (with a squeeze bottle or piping bag). Using the same batch of icing, add drops of water to thin the icing to flood consistency and fill in your cookie.
  • I always make WAY too much royal icing so this is the solution for me. If you need a large batch I would suggest bumping the powdered sugar up to 4 cups, the meringue powder to 3 Tablespoons, and the water to just under 1/2 cup. Flavor to your taste.

   

And as you can see there isn’t much difference in the way they look, or taste…Victor even liked them!!

❤️

This also has filled our life with love…minding our grandchildren for a whole week… while their parents took a well-deserved break in Jamaica…Our drive to get there was a little dicey, but we made it to spend time with our grandkids as they were having a snow day!!The boys and the dog like to get up nice and early, sometimes 5 am!!

Victor and I enjoyed some sledding with the boys, which I haven’t done since my children were young…we did good, didn’t even ache the next day!!Taking care of the boys was a cinch compared to taking care of Raffa…here I’m trying to make her listen to me…not a chance!!  However, the snow did melt, we even had a couple of 60 degree days, so I was able to take this little girl on several walks to get out some of her energy!!

We played Hedbanz and did jigsaw puzzles…We dropped them off at school…Went to an award ceremony, where Aaden got an award for making high honors for 2 semesters and got an award for outstanding student in his class…how lucky were we to be able to see that??We went to Taekwondo classes and got to see Aaden in action, practicing for his red belt!!

Took them out for ice cream…

Went to the new Lego Movie 2, which was soo good…the moral of this movie was all about working together and sharing ideas to live a happy life, something the whole world could use right now!! And more ice cream😉Well it was a busy, tiring week taking care of these 3, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world…how often do you get to experience your grandchild’s world for a whole week…the cherished memories we made were priceless, memories they will take with them into adulthood…this is how I wish to fill my life with love💕

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS…MAY YOU FIND THE LOVE THAT IS ALL AROUND YOU IN YOUR LIFE AND SHARE IT…YOU WILL CHANGE THE WORLD❤️