Lemon Caramel Cookies

Yes, I love lemon. Yes, I love caramel. And using Caramel Hershey Kisses is so fun in so many recipes! This is now my new favorite cookie. It’s a shortbread type, so it’s not overly sweet. I may just wrap these around a big chunk of caramel the next time I make them. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients
1 ½ cups butter, softened
¾ cups sugar
1T lemon extract
3 cups flour
2 cups chopped pecans
30 caramel kisses

 

Directions

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

 

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and lemon extract until fluffy. Add the flour and pecans; beating at a low speed until well blended.

 

Cover and refrigerate for an hour (it makes the dough easier to handle)

 

Take a spoonful of dough and wrap around the unwrapped kisses and roll into a ball. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes until set and bottom edges are light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Options

• Drizzle with melted chocolate after cooled
• Use another kind of nut: almonds, peanuts, etc
• Use another type of extract or flavor of kiss.

 

What is Autism?

Autism is what is known as an umbrella, or spectrum disorder. It covers a wide variety of symptoms and challenges. It is a neurological (brain) developmental disorder. Basically, it means that the individual’s brain is hardwired differently. I have often compared it to the old-fashioned telephone switchboards, where all the information comes in, but if the plugs aren’t in the right spot it’s not going to get where it needs to go.

Autism cannot be cured. However, therapies, treatments and nutritional diets can help with the way our mind processes and improve behavior.

Every child with autism is different. If anything, autistic individuals shatter the concept of ‘typical’ anything and break the mold of life. They view the world through a lens few can even fathom. In addition to seeing the world differently, autistic individuals can struggle with communication as they struggle with relating to others.

Symptoms often fall within the following categories (to be discussed in future posts)

• Social Situations
• Communication
• Repetitive Behaviors
• Sensory Processing
• Physical and Medical

There is so much that we don’t know about Autism. What we do know is that it’s far more prevelant than we ever knew. Whether it’s actually happening more, or we are simply recognizing and diagnosing it more is unknown.

Either way, with 1 in 110 children being diagnosed chances are that you know someone with Autism. How has Autism affected you?

A Farmwife's Easter Egg Hunt

One of the most fun traditions of Easter is the Egg Hunt.  However, they don't have very many for adults (unless you happen to be brave enough and close enough to take on the crazy moms at Alpenrose Dairy in hunting for diamonds in their eggs - I am not).

On the farm, we get a daily egg hunt!  Here is what it is like for me.

Go outside, and get a big bucket of scratch (cracked corn, sunflower seeds and whatever other treat we mix in there this time)

Head out to the aviary / coop area.

Toss scratch out to the Lovely Ladies.

Some get too impatient and just come and get it from me.

Gotta give treats to the pheseants too!

Look!  Pheseant eggs!

Found one!  Lazy bird didn't want to go lay it in the nest.

Found some in the coop!

Today's Bounty

Happy Easter!

Name the treat Contest, Part 2

Well, I had some amazing name suggestions, and I just couldn't do it on my own.  SO, I've picked my top 4 and will let YOU decide. 

This sweet confection (recipe found here) really needs a name!  See the contest on the sidebar and vote!  Winner will get a wonderful surprise in the mail (and yes, that will most likely include some of the newly named treat as well).

Contest ends on Friday, April 7th at 10:30p Pacific.

Google me this

When I'm fighting insomnia or needing methods of procrastination I will occassionally spend time googling people I know.  I really have found some interesting things that way.

Well, the other night I decided to google *this* site name, just to see.  Because, you know, I stalk my analystics and often wonder how people find my site.

I was happy to see myself pop up right away (btw - Bing doesn't bring up nearly as much, so stay with Google! :D )

I also found someone else who had TALKED about me!  The Accidental Farmwife had done a similar thing and Googled 'farmwife' to see what else was out there.  Ahhh, the amazing things we find when we seek to find more about ourselves.

So, what's the most interesting thing you have found out about someone (or yourself) by using Google?

Thursday's Sweet Confection

This *to be named*  dessert came about after I happened upon a bag of caramel Hershey Kisses.  They begged to be made into a sweet treet.  And not just ANY sweet treat or cookie - something special.  So, this is what I came up with.

6 egg whites *

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Pinch salt

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 bag of caramel kisses, unwrapped

*a trick I learned years ago when trying to beat egg whites, they will work much better if they are at room temperature!

In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle with cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form.

Gradually add sugar, cocoa, vanilla and peppermint extract, beating until stiff peaks form, about 5-8 minutes.

Line mini muffin tins with liners, place a spoonfull of mix in each tin, add 1 unwrapped kiss in each.  Then cover with another spoonful.  Do not fill all the way, as they will rise.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 275 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until firm and hollow when tapped.

Makes apx 48

These sweet delights need a name!  Hop on over to my facebook fan page, become a fan and enter a name!  Winner will be announced on Friday, March 26th.

Chore Wars

The generation-old battle between parent and child and the completion of chores continues on in my household.  My kids are fairly good at getting things done, but they often rush through it just to get it done, skip steps, etc. 

A couple things I've learned about my kids:

• They are easily distracted (like raccoons and shiny objects)
• They do better when they only see what they need to do, and are able to check off when things are done
• They like knowing ahead of time what is expected of them
• They do better when they can touch, feel, physically check something off, etc

We used to have a weekly chore list, and they'd check it off each day.  Some of the chores alternated between the two of them, and we found that they'd often get confused who was doing what on which day. 

I came up with the idea of a small, individual checklist.  I bought 1/2 sized clipboards at Wal-Mart.  I made chore lists for each day, then put them back to back on a piece of construction paper and laminated them w/ the self-lamination sheets you can get at the store.  They have chores for Mon-Sat.  They use a dry-erase marker to check of when they're done, then they will get a parent signature to verify that it is done to expectation.

At the end of the week, they will turn in their clipboards and we will calculate their allowance based on the percentage of the work that they completed.  For example, if they did 80% of their work, and their allowance is $5, they will get $4.   We still haven't figured out the amounts, I'm trying to determine what would work best.

Here are some great links and resources for chores as well:

Age appropriate Chore List: http://www.familyroi.org/Family_ROI_Age_Appropriate_Chores.pdf
Online, interactive chore chart: http://www.chorewars.com/