notes from Terry Ann

Milwaukee Cookies Old and New

I grew up in Milwaukee and every year we'd go downtown to see the cookie display at the Electric Company, and we'd stand in line to get our copy of the annual cookie book. My sister and I chose a few new recipes to try each year, and my mom was happy that all the baking got done while she was at work. Some of the cookies didn't turn out - like the jam filled cookies that were really soggy; and others were so good that they became favorites. Here's a recipe that we tried because we had never heard of using cracker crumbs in cookies - and it was so good that I've made them every year! These fragile cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, and I can never eat just one!

Chocolate Kisses

3 egg whites (large)

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup soda cracker crumbs

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar gradually, beating until very stiff. Beat in Vanilla. Gently fold in Cracker crumbs and melted chocolate. Drop from teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet (or parchment lined cookie sheet). Bake about 10 minutes.

 

Many of my grandmother's favorite recipes came from the earlier books - this is the cover of the 1958 book. One of the best surprises ever was the year my sister gave me a copy of this book - it has lots of good old traditional recipes inside.

The Electric Company printed books from 1928 all the way through the early seventies, and they have come out with some commemorative books in recent years. Go here to download copies of the recent books and to look at a collection of the covers throughout the years. I found "Frosted Maple Cookies" in the 2006 book - I think these will be one of the new cookies I'll try this year. It calls for boiling raisins for 10 minutes - and I've never done that. This year, I don't even have to be in Wisconsin to continue a Milwaukee tradition!

Don't forget to hop over to Pieces from My Heart  today for Sandy's brand new pattern - and remember to leave a comment so you are eligible for her giveaway! The other designers in the Cross Country Christmas Blog Hop will share their favorite recipes today - I wonder how many will be for cookies?

Favorites Old and New

Get started on a homemade holiday by hopping over to Gudrun's blog today. She has a free "Quilt As You Go" pattern that is sure to become a favorite. It's simple enough that you'll have plenty of time to whip one up in fall colors and another one for Christmas!  

During our Cross Country Christmas blog hop, enjoy a free pattern from each of the 12 designers and remember to comment on all 12 blogs to be eligible for a big grand prize! Tell your friends and enjoy the hop together - I look forward to meeting you and sharing some Christmas stories! 

And now for some old favorites . . . When I was growing up, my favorite Christmas presents were usually creative toys. I loved making my own flowers - each one different. Fun fun fun!

I spent hours and hours at the kitchen table baking plastic critters with a Mattel "Thingmaker" - my favorites were the ones you could put on the end of your pencil. I can still smell that hot plastic and hear the sizzle when it went into the water to cool.

My sister and I got each other surprise presents every year. One year, instead of splitting up in the toy store and being sneaky, we decided to get each other the exact same paint set. At first we let my mom think we both chose the same thing by accident - but we eventually "fessed up" and told her that we had planned it together. I still love paints and markers - in fact I often start my quilt designs on graph paper with crayons and markers.

Lucky 7

Less than 7% of you correctly guessed Sandy Gervais as the cute blond in the picture! Lots of guesses for Heather, Pat, Sherri, and Kari - probably because of those blond curls. Roseann even got a few votes!  I chose the 7th correct guess, so the prize goes out to Leslie Schmidt. Congratulations Leslie!! Just email me your address and I'll send your fabric right away.

Here is a picture of how Sandy looks today . . . nope, no resemblance at all, other than the fact that they are both facing the same way!

 

While downstairs tonight, I decided to cut out a Christmas quilt so I have a new quilt to work on during the Cross Country Christmas blog hop. I fell in love with a quilt on display at Bear Patch and had to get the kit! Usually I buy kits and then go home and use the fabrics for something completely different, but this time I want my quilt to be exactly like the one I saw in the shop! But wait - when I got home I found some cute snowmen and Christmas trees in my stash, so mine will be a little different after all. Can you tell which ones I added in? The fabrics are mostly from two fabric lines : "Have a Sheri Berry Christmas" by Lyndhurst Studio and "Be Merry" by Riley Blake. I'll keep you posted as I work on it this week!

A Christmas Angel

Here is one of the 12 Cross Country Christmas angels . . . can you guess which one? The only hint that I can give you is that it's not me - because my angelic photo is posted on another designer's blog. This could be Gudrun, Sandy, Pat, Heather, Pam, Kari, Terri, Sherri, Carrie, Roseann, or Linda . . . what do you think? As you are hopping around to the other designers' blogs, see if you can find my picture too.

You have until Saturday night to figure out which designer this is. Leave me a comment with your best guess and I'll draw a name (from the correct guesses) and post the winner on Sunday! The winner will receive some fat quarters from our Neutral Territory fabric line from Red Rooster. Good Luck!!