Declan's First Tooth Trauma

Declan lost his first tooth tonight and he was pretty upset and freaked out by the whole experience! He did NOT want to have the tooth pulled out but it was hanging by a thread and I didn't want him to swallow it overnight! We ended up being able to get it out - with many tears - and then Aoife saved the day and made him feel all better! They drew a picture and wrote a note to the tooth fairy!!!

 

New York

 Brendan and I went to NYC over the weekend to celebrate my 40th Birthday. We had a great time! We stayed right by Central Park, ate at fabulous restaurants and went to amazing museums!  

Aidan has the Flu

 Aidan went to a Birthday party the other night and then came down with the Flu! He's pretty sick - I just feel terrible!

Emmy's Basketball Game

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These are super easy and delicious!  Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside - and they are so fast and simple to make!  Enjoy these chocolate crinkle cookies!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking pans with parchment paper.

Put the confectioners' sugar into a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add 1 egg and beat on medium speed until blended. Add the other egg and vanilla and beat until blended.
Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture. Beat on low speed just until blended.
Roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls and roll the ball in the confectioners' sugar until covered. Place the balls on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat, spacing the balls about 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies until they are crackled and puffed, 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
Using a metal spatula, move the cookies onto the rack and let cool completely.

Repeat with the rest of the cookies. Makes about 24 cookies.

Aoife's basketball

Butter Almond Crunch

My mom has been making this every year for Christmas since I was a kid and now that I make it, my kids love it too!  We can barely keep it in the house during the holiday season and it's a wonderful gift as well.  The only issue is that it can be hard to find whole blanched almonds in the store so we have to order them. You can find them on Amazon.com or on Nuts.com.  Totally worth it!!

Butter Almond Crunch

Ingredients

¾ cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup

1 cup whole blanched almonds

¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.     Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat.

2.     Stir in sugar, corn syrup and almonds.

3.     Continue cooking and stirring until almonds make a popping sound and the mixture is golden brown (8-12 minutes).

4.     Pour candy onto an ungreased cookie sheet and spread out with a heat proof spatula.

5.     Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot candy and when melted, spread out to edges.

6.     When cool, break into pieces and serve.