What I Learned This Weekend!

This past weekend we ventured an hour drive to visit with my sister and her family. We don't get to see her often due to our families conflicting schedules and sometimes the drive just seems so long. My mom went down as well with plans of making cookies for the holiday.

We arrived around lunch time, would have been sooner but we had a mishap with the homemade bread the previous night and my daughter woke up with a swollen eye. After determining that we needed to stop and get store bought bread because we definitely had no time to make fresh bread, and Bug was having an allergic reaction to clove oil from the night before, we set off and made our stops. We were greeted, as usual with open arms and a loud house. Side note: My sister is in denial that she needs to get her hearing checked. We started making the cookies soon thereafter our arrival. I sat on a stool ever so uncomfortable, attempted to mix the ingredients that were told to me. How many people does it take to make a batch of cookies? In our family, it takes at least 4. We successfully made old and new recipes. My favorite being the orange and lemon wafer cookies. YUMMY! 

We had a great day and it gave us time to catch up on the happenings in our lives. My sister got to feel the baby move in my tummy, boy was the little one active from all the noise yesterday. We got to discuss family, work, school, teenagers issues, preschoolers and pregnancy. It was a very loud day to say the least. But everyone had fun and created memories that hopefully last a long time. I love creating new traditions.

To end the night, my partner and I got to discuss the day and just enjoy the ride home together. He and I don't always get quiet time to talk and really hear what each other is saying. The kids passed out as soon as we hit the main road.

What a great day!

Here is the "delish" recipe my mom had:

Orange-Lemon Wafer Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Thin orange or lemon peel strips, optional

Directions

• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange peel, lemon peel and extracts. In another bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. If desired, top with orange peel strips.
• Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: about 4 dozen.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!