Guest Post: Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

I am not a baker but do love to cook. However, I decided I needed to come up with a chocolate chunk cookie that suits my needs; lots of chocolate, and thick. Many people like cookies that flatten as they bake, but not me. I like them thick, the thicker the better:) My kids get all excited when I bake a treat during the week, because it is not something I do often. I am not cool so have to do everything by hand, no KitchenAid Mixer here, like my dear friend Kelli. This is really the ultimate chocolate chunk cookie recipe giving me everything, huge chocolate chunks and a nice sized cookie. I highly recommend doubling the recipe as the basic recipe only makes about 36 cookies, which will not last long. When making this cookie the dough may seem crumbly so get your hands in the mixture to make a large ball:) We like messy cooking in our home, so why not do it with baking as well! I hope you all enjoy this recipe. Fall is coming so baking season is coming up quickly!

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter-unsalted, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz Semi-sweet baking squares-chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beat well. Chop the baking squares by hand(1/4 inch chunks or so). Stir the chocolate in by hand. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets(I do 12 to a sheet). Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes(set your timer) Immediately move from pan to wire racks to cool. Enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk!

Nichol is a mom of two, and blogs over at KiddiesCorner Deals, where she posts about online kids deals, recipes, reviews and giveaways. She knows kids are expensive, but shopping for them doesn't have to be! She is thrilled to be guest posting on Kelli's blog while her family is away on vacation.

Guest Post: Felt Napkin Rings

Hello, Random Thoughts of a Supermom readers.  I’m Paula from Sweet Pea and I’m delighted to be guest posting today for Kelli.

When I was a child, I remember my mom and grandmother making felt napkin rings as party favors.  I never forgot them and always wondered how they were made.  This spring in Southern Lady Magazine, there was a feature on these cute napkin rings that I so fondly remembered, but no instructions.  Following the picture in the magazine, I figured out how to make them.

I played around with felt and came up with these three samples.

Aren’t they fun?  Would you like to make some?  I thought you would! 

Supplies Needed:

Felt in colors of your choice

Scissors and/or rotary cutter

Ruler

Sewing pins

Make the Napkin Ring:

Make the napkin ring which also becomes the center of the felt flower by cutting 7” x 2” strips.  (My pictures show three strips.  Cut as many strips as you need to make your desired number of completed napkin rings.)

Fold each strip in half and secure with pins.  This will make cutting the felt much easier.

Cut a heart shape on each end of the strip, stopping a little less than half-way through the width of the strip.  Then cut from heart to heart.  This is difficult to explain, so I roughly sketched in red how you should cut but be aware that the heart on the right doesn’t look so much like a heart.

They should look like this once cut.

And should look like this when you open each strip.  (Kind of like a bone!)

Make the Flower:

Cut a 4” square for each flower.

Fold the square into fourths and pin.  (Sorry for the color switch.)

Cut a half circle starting from the halfway point of one side and ending at the halfway point next to it.  (Cut from black dot to black dot.)

Do not make a half circle on the side that contains all of the folds.

Now make a small clip across the folded end.

It should look like a flower when you open it up.

Make the Sepals:

Cut a 4 1/2” square for each sepal.  In nature these are green but feel free to choose any color you wish.

Fold the square into fourths and pin.  Cut a sailboat shape out as shown below. (Another felt color change..I made quite a few versions.)

Cut off the folded tip to make a hole in the center and it should look like this.

To assemble the flower, place a flower on top of the sepal, lining up the holes in the center.  Wrap the napkin ring part around a napkin and then bring the ends through the lined-up holes and you’re done.

Felt is inexpensive and this idea could be used to coordinate with the season.   Here I’ve used two for a fall place setting and one for a summer one.

This project makes a great table favor.  Pink or blue could work for a baby shower or all white could be used for a bridal shower.

I hope you enjoyed this project and that you might consider trying it.

Many thanks to Kelli for having me today.  I’d love it if you’d stop by Sweet Pea sometimes for a visit.

Disney Crafts: Mickey Toes

I'm going to preface this post by saying that I'm really not a big fan of feet...they kind of gross me out! So sharing a picture of my feet on my blog is kind of a big deal, but this was such a fun thing to do for Disney that I decided to share it with you:)

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To start your Mickey Toes, you need a base coat of bright red.

Then you need to gather your supplies: black nail polish, contact paper, and a hole punch or two.

 Using your hole punch, punch three circles in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head into your contact paper. I ended up using a standard hole punch for the head and a smaller punch for the ears. You can make it work with the standard punch too it will just take some practice. {The top one is done using only the standard hole punch and the two bottom ones I used the smaller punch for the ears.}

 After you've got the perfect Mickey, peel off the back of the contact paper and stick it on your big toe. You can face the Mickey head towards you or away, but I figured I would be looking at it more so I faced it so I could see it:) Press down all around the shape to make sure it is sealed good and no polish will run under the edge.

 Paint a coat of black polish over the cut out Mickey and allow it to dry. You can do more than one coat, but with black you really only need one coat to cover really well.

 Now your toes are ready to head to Disney and visit Mickey Mouse:)



Disney Crafts: Personalized Mickey T-shirts

...and place adhesive side down on your shirt.

Walt Disney World Tips: Part 2

Today's post is all about what to pack when you are heading to Walt Disney World! Ironically I'm posting this late today because I've been busy buying a few last minutes things for our trip...and packing:)

Packing for a trip to Disney starts pretty much like packing for any vacation. After checking to see what the weather will be like when you are there, you pack a set of clothes for each day and probably a couple extra sets just to be safe. Everyone in your family needs to have a {really} comfortable pair of tennis shoes....you will be doing a lot of walking in Disney and flip flops just won't cut it! For Disney, you also need to include a bathing suit, especially if you are planning on going to one of their two water parks. Even though you will be wearing your tennis shoes all day, you might want to consider packing some flip flops to wear to the pool too! You will need to bring a little bit of rain gear just in case the weather doesn't cooperate:) We usually take ponchos because they are easy to toss in our bag and carry around at all times, just in case it rains. On our last trip, we also found that an extra poncho is perfect for covering up your stroller when you park it outside and head it to see a show and get out of the rain!

There are also a few other things that you want to be sure to include in your suitcases before you leave for Walt Disney World. Refillable water bottles or some other kinds of drinks are a necessity, especially if you are going to Disney in the summer. Florida can get pretty hot and steamy during the summer months! We actually bought Henry and Grant hydration backpacks this year to see if that is easier than keeping up with 5 water bottles all week! Don't forget the sunscreen, and not just for when you are at the pool. You will probably be in the sun all day long, and even during the winter months you will need to lather up on sunscreen before heading out to the parks each day. I also carry some band-aids or a first aid kit in our bag just in case we get any scraped knees or pinched fingers...these fun Mickey Band-aids are perfect for a WDW vacation:)

After all the clothes, shoes, and necessities have been squared away, you can move on to some of the more fun stuff to pack. I always try to stick a few snacks in our bag just in case someone gets the munchies, and we don't want to spend a small fortune on chips or cookies. The great thing is there are all kinds of Disney/Mickey snacks in the stores now, so your kiddos will still feel like their snack is special even if it came out of your bag:) Snacks are also a really good distraction when waiting in line for the rides! Stickers are another great way to entertain your little ones when they are waiting in lines or riding to and from the parks. Another really great tip that I read before we left for our last trip was to take pennies and let your kiddos throw them in the various fountains around Disney! I found that mini M&M containers are the perfect size to hold pennies, so each of my boys has their own supply of pennies to use any time we see a fountain:)

A few more great suggestions are Glow in the Dark necklaces and bracelets {you can get these at the dollar store and in the dollar section at Target}, disposable cameras for the kiddos to use, and temporary tattoos with your contact information on them {just in case one of your kiddos get lost}...and don't forget those autograph books!

Come back tomorrow to see a great shirt you can make for your kiddos plus something fun for mom too!

{ Click HERE to see Walt Disney World Tips: Part 1 Planning}