Oatmeal Cookies With Added Toffee & Coconut.

Good Monday night everyone! Ah, I've missed posting food recipes even though it has only been a week! It seems like forever ago. I am so glad to say that I can finally be back in the kitchen again.
I am also glad that spring decided to come back. Saturday we got around 3 inches of snow. It is almost all gone now and sunny weather is back, more snow would be pretty hard to take.
One thing I really enjoy about food is getting to try new dishes. I love eating at other people's houses to try new dishes. Sunday after church I had lunch with my friend and her Mom and boy, my friend's Mom can cook! We had this yummy oven-cooked glazed pork, Spud Mashed Potatoes, and salad. This was the first time I have ever had Mashed Potatoes out of a box and I fell in love. They are way better than homemade. Can't believe I am saying this! I was also introduced to putting Cinnamon-Sugar on top of Vanilla Ice-Cream. All I can say is wow, why I never tried that before I don't know.

Here is a twist to your average Oatmeal Cookie. The toffee bits and coconut made me love the Oatmeal Cookie even more. I undercooked them slightly and am glad I did. Because they still continued to cook after I took them out and turned out chewy and moist. Didn't last long here at all. And, the dough raw is not bad at all.

Oatmeal, Toffee, & Coconut Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 bag of Toffee Bits

1 cup coconut

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Beat butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in oats, toffee bits, and coconut. Drop by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool for 1 minute and then remove to wire rack. Yield: 4 dozen cookies.

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Anna. The one of out us 6 you don't see too often on here. The camera and her don't get along very well. I can't blame her though, because when I was her age the camera and I weren't best buds either. I am still not the biggest fan of getting pictures taken. I enjoy being behind the camera. So does Anna. And she is pretty good at snaping pictures. Really good. And she is only 12. But her and a football get along really well.

I'll see you with a fun contest that involves something about you next. Have a great Monday night!

1st Guest Blogger.

Hi everyone! One of my favorite bloggers, Jessica over at Turkey Cookies is my guest blogger today. Thank you Jessica for helping me out!

I'm flattered to be hanging out in Priscilla's kitchen today. She always makes the most delicious goodies which become quick favorites in my house. I love to bake most anything but I have a particular weakness for cookies. Baking is my stress relief and there is no better way I would rather spend a weekend day than in the kitchen with some flour, butter, and sugar. I thought long and hard about what recipe to share here. Priscilla really does make some yummy treats and I wanted to share something just as tasty. On the most lovely spring day so far this year I thought meringues! Both are cookies that just scream springtime to me and are a nice break from the variations of chocolate chip cookies that I often make.
Meringues
INGREDIENTS:
4 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder (or hot chocolate powder)
1 cup sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Whip the the first three ingredients together with an electric mixer on medium high speed until they increase in size and become frothy. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Mix the instant coffee and cocoa powder together with the vanilla in a small bowl until dissolved. Slowly add the sugar into the egg white mixture and mix on high speed until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Add the coffee/cocoa/vanilla mixture until just combined. Put the mixture into a pastry bag (or ziploc bag with the end cut off, like me) and make small thumb-sized meringues about an inch apart. Bake in the oven for twenty minutes, rotate the pans, and bake another 10-20 minutes or until the meringues appear dry. Then let them cool in the oven until they are crispy for 30 to 40 minutes.
You really cannot eat just one of these meringues. Thanks for sharing your space with me today, Priscilla. I really enjoyed the chance to share one of my favorite recipes with you!

Hope you all enjoyed this new something and see you shortly with another post soon. Have a super Monday!

The Baseball Star Of Moscow.

Happy Friday everyone! I am super excited about this whole new blog look. What do you guys think? Like it or don't? Shannon at Eight Crazy Design re-did my whole blog for me. She is awesome to work with. I am still changing some things around, so it isn't all there just yet. My blog has been in need of a makeover for a while now.

Also, I joined the other foodie bloggers and got a twitter account, like I need to spend more time on the internet!

A congrats to the winner of the handcrafted necklace:

Garner5 who said: Taco Bell is my favorite fast food restaurant. Love the Chili Cheese Burrito!Please contact me at priscilla91@iowatelecom.net so you can receive your prize! On a side note, 1 inch of snow is forecasted for tomorrow. I sure hope the weatherman is wrong this time!

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I can safetly say my little brother Joe is one of the best baseball players in Moscow. Because Moscow, IA has a population of about 300 people. And out of those 300 people I can say there isn't too many 14 year old boys.
He wants to be a player on the St. Louis Cardinals one day.
Out of all the baseball teams there are he could have picked another team. Because the Cubs and the Cards don't get along that well.
If he happened to become a Cardinal, I'd cheer for him even when they play the Cubs (but still secretly root for the them). Because he is my baby brother.

While he is most unlikely to become a baseball player, that doesn't matter to me. In my mind he'll always be the best little brother baseball player I could ask for.

Have a great weekend guys, hopefully there will be some good weather in store for us! See you with a guest blogger Monday!

Beautiful Necklace Giveaway!

Contest is now closed! Wow, thank you readers for your get well wishes and even prayers. Thank you for caring that much. I know I've said this but you guys are amazing. Here is a giveaway you'll love. Erin at ErinBowe makes some of the prettiest jewlery and necklaces. Some of her necklaces are colorful while others have these neat desgins on them. I especially like the above necklace, where you get your initial stamped in the necklace. Erin also has some pretty earrings and rings in her store, make sure to check her out!

The prize....the above necklace valued at $50!

To enter....tell me what your absolute favorite fast food restaurant to eat at is. It doesn't have to be good for you, but we all enjoy splurging once in a while! I have 2 favorites, I love love In-N-Out and Green Burito. But since the state of IA lacks in that area, I'd say Taco Bell is my favorite here in the Midwest.

The deadline....Friday at 1 PM CST.

Get 2 extra chances by....suscribing to my blog.

Get 3 extra chances by....following my blog.

Leave me an extra comment for each extra chance you do.

Ouch!

Hi everyone. Hope your week has been treating you well. Monday was a rough day for me, I smashed my right hand pretty bad. I was closing a door and the wind (which was blowing really hard that day) shut the door on my hand. I've never felt such pain before and hopefully will never smash my hand like this again. So, currently I am not able to use my right hand except for my thumb. Which means baking/cooking is on hold for a little while. I wish I knew how to bake with 6 fingers. But, that doesn't mean I am going to stop blogging....no way. I am going to be having some guest bloggers posting for me for some fabulous food recipes. And, there will be some giveaways coming up. There is also something new coming to my blog, so stay tuned.
Thanks for understanding, I wish I could still be posting food recipes for you amazing readers!

Soft, Chewy, & Gooey Breadsticks.

Good Monday everyone! Doesn't feel like a spring day today, we are having cloudy, cool, and windy weather. 2 of my brothers and I recently signed up for our church's softball league this summer. I've never played on one before, so I am hoping I am not too much of a embaresement! I am really excited about it too, I love playing sports. There are of course more guys than girls on the team, but one of my friends signed up as well so I am glad I'm not the only girl on the team. There should be some pictures soon from playing on here. For me, the most important thing is to remind myself this is all simply for fun. This isn't the big leauges!

These are some of the best breadsticks I have ever had. They are soft, chewy, and best warm straight from the oven. I like taking them out of the oven when still slightly white on top, because they are so much better that way. Some of my favorite breadsticks I like to eat at restaurants would be Pizza Hut's or Olive Gardens. I also enjoy a breadstick and a salad together for a meal, it isn't much but appetizing. The pictures you see of the salad will be showing up in a post soon. It does look similar to the Texas Salsa recipe I posted a while back but it is much different. We all adore this salad. And everyone we introduce it to loves it as well.

Soft And Gooey Breadsticks

Ingredients:
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups flour, and remaining sugar and water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes. Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a 6-in. rope. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until slightly brown. Yield: 3 dozen breadsticks.

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Spring means baseball season. Baseball season means my brothers spending countles hours playing it every evening. Trying to imitate the professionals. And it can be amsuing at times, because well, my brothers aren't professionals. Although they do amazingly well for 3 boys who live in the middle of nowhere. I'd have to say the oldest is the best at baseball. Andrew has always been the best out of all of us at sports. But that means that us younger kids have always tried to be better than Andrew, because in our family if you could beat Andrew in anything....that meant you were pretty good. In our family.

I'll see you shortly with a tasty dessert, have a great Monday!

Brownies With Peanut Butter, Vanilla Pudding, & Cool Whip.

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Winner of the 2 mugs picked by random.org is:

BrittWilk who said: this week I'm going to start getting us organized for moving logistics!

Congrats Britt! Please contact me at priscilla91@iowatelecom.net.

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Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all are enjoying some beautiful spring weather this weekend. House cleaning was in full swing this morning and afternoon. While I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning, I love being in a clean house. Friday we hopped to the theater and saw Knowing. I really liked that movie, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. My Dad was telling my little 14 year old brother he had a shocked and frozen look on his face during the movie. My other little brother walked out of the theater hating it. Today he says it wasn't too bad after all. I personally liked it. It had lots and lots of action. I like action movies. Another movie with not many language issues at all. My favorite character is the little boy Caleb, John's (Nicholas Cage) son.

If you are a big peanut butter fan, I know you will love these brownies. The peanut butter is mixed with vanilla pudding and spread inbetween the brownie and the cool whip chocolate topping. The cool whip topping is light and fluffy but yummy on top of the peanut butter mixture and brownie. They taste best when the brownie are still chewy, so it is important not to overbake them.

Triple-Layer Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (19 to 20 oz) brownie mix, prepared in 13x9 inch pan
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 oz) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups Cool Whip Topping, thawed
6 squares Semi-sweet baking chocolate
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare brownies according to box directions. Whisk milk and pudding mix 2 min. while brownies are cooling. Add peanut butter and sugar, mix well. Cover and refrigerate pudding mixture until brownies are completely cooled. Spread pudding mixture over brownies. Melt chocolate squares and combine with cool whip. Spread over pudding. Refrigerate 1 hour.

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My friend sent me a link to this youtube video, I wanted to share it you guys. I was laughing so hard at this, what a funny movie.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you with a dinner recipe next!

Welcoming Spring With A Giveaway!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

Happy Spring everyone! Ah, it is finally here. Sunny skies, big fluffy clouds, nice weather, longer evening hours, BBQ's, friends over. Welcome spring. You have been missed.

Jean Ann at Little Pig Pottery is helping us welcome spring. Jean Ann has beautiful pottery ranging from vases, mugs, plates, and bowls. Her work is so pretty, some of the best pottery I have ever seen. I love the dragonflies she puts on her pottery. If you are looking for some pottery, be sure to check her store out!

"Win These 2 Mugs"

The prize....Win the above 2 handcrafted mugs.

To enter.....tell me what you have planned this weekend. Are you going to be enjoying this nice spring weather outside at the park? Maybe spring cleaning? I am attacking the house tomorrow, it is in need of much cleaning.

Deadline is....Saturday at 3 PM CST.

Get extra chances by....Following my blog (under Who's In The Kitchen) OR Suscribing to my blog. Leave me an extra comment if you do any of the above.

Classic Crunchy Choc. Chip Cookie W/Brownie Mix.

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A big conrats to the winner of the purse picked by random.org:

A who said: I'm wearing a green shirt--no pinching for me!!!

Congrats A! Please contact me at priscilla91@iowatelecom.net so I can get your prize out to you!

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Good Wednesday everyone! This week is flying by, I can't believe we are already halfway thru March! It seems like yesterday was March 1st. I recently learned how to play "Apples to Apples" (lame that I only learned recently) and I absolutely love that game! I like it when you get cards like when the red card is "frightening" and someone throws in a green card that says "Brad Pitt". I also love playing when you play only with the green cards, where you describe everyone with the adjectives. I've got some pretty mean cards that way. Lets say I'm glad it is all in fun! But why do brothers find great pleasure in giving their sisters cards that say things like insane, painful, or frightening? I am still trying to figure that out.

I took this recipe from the King Arthur Flour, Cookie Companion book and tweaked it. Yum, the addition of a brownie mix adds great flavor and a bit of a brownie like cookie. This recipe is one of my favorite ways to make Chocolate Chip cookies with the addition of vinegar and shortening. I also enjoy all the chocolate chips in this cookie, a whole 3 cups. I personally think the more chips the better.

Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookie With Brownie Mix

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp. vanila extract

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp. white vinegar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 - 1/4 cup brownie mix, dry (staright from the box)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, salt, and vinegar. Beat in the eggs, then the baking soda and flour. Stir in the brownie mix and chips. Drop the dough by a small tablespoonful onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

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Little brothers. I've got 2 of them. They definitely keep my life exciting. They are opposites of each other but keep each other in tact. They are full of energy when it comes to sports. And yes, they are way better than me at the whole sports thing. Although that doesn't keep me from still trying to be okay in their books at it.

Have a fabulous rest of your week and I'll see you next with a tasty recipe!