December 26, 2011 - My Healthy, Happier Life

ashleyd / December 26, 2011

Delicious Toffee Cookies

In 1968 my grandparents’ best friends The Battins, shared this toffee recipe with my grandmother and since then it has become a family Christmas favorite.

Mrs. Battin’s Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20-25 minutes depending on oven

Oven Temperature: 350 degrees

Servings: 24 2X2 squares

Cookie Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoon strong brewed coffee

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter, melted

3/4 cups sifted powered sugar

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and brown sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add almond extract and coffee to butter mixture and mix well. Blend baking powder, salt, and flour in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Add chocolate chips and nuts to mixture. Once well mixed, press into a greased jelly roll pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

While cookie is baking, prepare the glaze by combining melted butter, powdered sugar, extract, and milk.

Spread the glaze over the cookies using a knife or off-set spatula.

Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing and removing from pan. Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

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ashleyd / December 26, 2011

A Two Family Christmas

Many friends and readers have asked how Bo and I manage two families during the holidays.

It is not always easy even though we are both from Savannah.

This year, however, we both feel we’ve done pretty well so far. We did our best to discuss our thoughts with both families ahead of time so no one was confused or hurt. This year we did Christmas Eve with Bo’s family and then spent Christmas Day with my family.

Christmas Eve

After enjoying the Christmas Eve service at Isle of Hope Methodist church, we stopped by a neighborhood cocktail party for drinks and socializing with some of the Diamond’s close family friends.

Afterwards, we returned home for a late evening of dinner, lots of wine, and presents!

Dinner was a group activity as Bo and his dad grilled the meat and Meg finished off the mushroom risotto while Bo’s mom was the master mind behind it all! Everything was delicious and a wonderful way to spend the holiday together.

Christmas Day

After a cup of coffee with the Diamonds, we headed over to my parents’ home 20 miles away. We’re lucky that it’s only a 20 minute trip which allows us to go to and fro between the houses easily. We enjoyed Christmas breakfast before diving into the presents! Mom and I prepared easy stick buns, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit for Christmas brunch! (Pictures to come later as they are on my other camera.)

As you can tell from my face, I wasn’t sure how long the gift giving process would take. We’ve always done gifts one at a time so each person can appreciate it but this year it took almost two hours!

After the present fun and completing our virtual holiday 10k, Bo and I returned home to help with Christmas dinner. This year, the weather didn’t work in our favor, and therefore we weren’t able to fry a turkey. Instead, the boys smoked a turkey in the infamous Green Egg and enjoyed a random array of sides. Each person was able to make one request this year and it resulted in a random but delicious array of flavors and dishes.

These poor boys were in and out of the rain and wind for over two hours smoking the turkey. Meanwhile, inside the rest of us enjoyed a few glasses of delicious wine and a cheese plate.

My favorite part of the meal was enjoying two cookies which only come along once per year, peanut butter blossoms and and Mrs. Battin’s cookies. I’ll share the Mrs. Battin’s cookie recipe in my next post!