Joy in the Kitchen!

Holidays are always a fun time to add excitement to your family!  Some years I make a bigger deal out of them than others, especially smaller holidays like St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe if we had some Irish lineage, we'd be more inclined to Corned Beef and Cabbage (which we tried last year and with a huge fail from the family) but as we're Danish and Scottish, we lean more to celebrating with "color" and theme. This year I'm being a bit lazy.  I THOUGHT about doing green shamrock pancakes for breakfast ....  but mornings have been tough lately and I'm on day 2 of a headache, SO....  I'm settling for Lucky Charms and green tinted milk.  Can't you just picture how festive the table will look with the green milk AND a leprechaun! My lunch crew tends to prefer peanut butter sandwiches - and are too young to understand the holiday anyway so I'm off the hook there. Dinner will be our main festivity and will include: Shepherds Pie (which IS a co

T his cookie recipe was in an old Watkins Cookie Book.  They really taste a lot like a ginger snap.  They are especially good right after they're baked and still warm.  Mmmmm!  I played around with the recipe as usual.  I'm not a huge fan of shortening so I substituted butter, and this time I subbed 1/2 C. whole wheat flour for part of the white.  They're good either way, but the whole wheat makes them a little chewier and a step closer to a healthier choice. :-) Dusty Millers 3/4 C. butter 1 C. sugar 1 large egg 1/4 C. molasses 2 1/4 C. flour (or sub in 1/2 C. whole wheat and another 2 T. white flour) 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. ginger 1 tsp. cinnamon cinnamon sugar Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in egg and molasses.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.  Add flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon.  Mix well.   Roll into teaspoon sized balls, roll in cinnamon sugar and flatten with the bottom of a glass.  Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes.   Remove from cookie sheets immediately an