It's Almost Here - AAAAHHHHHH!!!

The van is packed - I think I may have overdone it! I have no idea - since I've never even been to the Grandy Farm Open House before I just didn't know how much inventory to take with me. I am going over after work today to set up my space. Sheala and Robbie and I stopped over at Caroline's to pick up my Mom's little bookcase - I think it will fit next to my spot in the kitchen at the open house so I can put little items on the little shelves. I really had fun making the different hostess sets and even though I HATE pricing and inventory - I got it done.

Sheala and Robbie forgot their keys to get in at home after school - so I took them home with me and we made sugar cookies for the open house. They were a huge help - rolling out the dough - cutting out the shapes and sprinkling green and red sugar on top. We used Aunt Betty's Easy Sugar Cookies recipe - the BEST cookies ever - you can roll and reroll your dough over and over again and the cookies never are tough.

Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 400

1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla (I double this to 2 tsp - Clear vanilla makes all the difference if you can get some)
½ cup sour milk (add TBS lemon juice OR vinegar to milk)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
4 cups flour

Put baking soda into sour milk (do this first - it expands)

Cream sugar and shortening, add one egg at a time, add salt and vanilla.

Add baking powder to flour and then alternate that mixture with milk mixture.

Make sure you watch them in the oven though because they brown very quickly.

Robbie had fun making an experiment after most of the cookie dough was gone - I told him he could add stuff - Leftover egg wash, more flour, Paprika, Chili Powder, Black Pepper, Nutmeg and I don't know what else - we didn't bake it but it sure looked fantastic with all those colors in it! Then they played "Guess Who" it was so much fun to watch them having fun that I was sorry to see their Dad pick them up.

OK - see you on Saturday - if you can't come then make it on Friday or Sunday - you don't want to miss the open house! ME