Small Batch cookies in jars

Earlier this week,  I baked 2 new recipes to test and see if they would work for gift giving.  Both turned out first class!  Here are the links to the blogs that inspired me. 


See the Brownies Original recipe from Brenda at Coffee, Tea, Books and Me

See the Lemon White Chocolate Original recipe at The Frugal Girls


I halved both recipes to make Small Batch cookie mixes.  Our circle of friends are mostly empty nesters and I think they probably prefer smaller desserts over big family sized ones.  Plus,  I had a bunch of pint jars in the attic and they are the perfect size for small batches. 

For the Brownies I layered
1/2 +1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
2/3 cup flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
mini chocolate chips to fill the jar to the top, about 1/3 cup.
I stocked up on mini chocolate chips a few weeks ago at Aldi,  they were about $1.29 for a 12 ounce bag

The lemon white chocolate cookies are so simple
The mix is just lemon cake mix and white chocolate chips.
One cake mix divided exactly in half fills up a pint jar about 3/4 full,
then the chips go in, only about 1/4 of a bag will fit but that is plenty to make the cookies loaded.

The small batch brownies work great in a 9 inch pie pan.

A small batch of cookies makes 12 and can be baked in one baking on one sheet. 

 

I still need to make up the mixing and baking instruction tags - both need an egg,  the brownies take some melted butter and a little water. The lemon cookies need some  oil. 

Look at the first bloggers posts for all the instructions if you decide to make them. 

Both are really good and easy!

 

 

Adding some length

Both my granddaughters are tall and long-legged for their ages. Their pants tend to be too short long before they outgrow the waist size of the garments.

These size 4 jeans belong the 3 year old granddaughter. They have those elastic cinches in the waist and they are drawn up as small as they go and they fit her in the waist OK.

But length wise, they were too short.

So, I gave it a go, seeing if I could lengthen them.

Jean hems are thick and hard to sew over so first I used a seam ripper to unpick that stitching. 

Then I pressed the bottom edge flat. 

I used a 2 inch strip of brown polka dot fabric folded in half and pinned it to the hem.

I sewed it on with a straight stitch and then pressed it again. 

I added 2 rows of decorative stitching but it does not show up much. That's OK though, because the stitching finishes off all the seams even if no one can really see it.

Hopefully the 1 1/4 inch in length added will be enough that she can wear these jeans a little longer, 

At least until she wears out the knees......

Today.......

I baked 3 batches of buns, 1 batch is for us to eat at home and 2 batches will go with husband to work for a birthday dinner there.

I had some yummy tea from my friend Elizabeth in a silly Santa mug.

Mended a bath towel

Put fresh sheets on the bed and added a very warm afghan and a fuzzy blanket

Because.........

This is our weather forecast. It will be below freezing for a week!

I think I will just stay home and hibernate until it warms back up. 

How to see what is under a scratch off

I get a mailer from DressBarn every so often that includes a scratch off.

The store clerk scratches it off to reveal the discount after the shopper picks out their purchases.

This is meant to only be a helpful hint and

I hope this is not cheating, but I discovered if I shine an LED flashlight behind it, I could read the discount without scratching and voiding the coupon.

Sadly, mine is just 15% this time. I have no plans to shop their right now anyway, no matter what the discount is. But it kind of fun to know either way. 

CVS this week

I had to go to CVS to refill a prescription so I did this small deal.

Tide was 5.94 and I used a $2 coupon from yesterday's newspaper on each. 

Charmin was $9.99 and I used a big 25 cent coupon also from yesterday's paper. 

I also used a $6 ECB from last week 

So total purchase price was about $12 and I got back a $5 ECB.

I also bought some stocking stuffers while I was there, but shhh, they are a secret. 

And this CVS had a lot of interesting stuff, on a table by the front door, marked 75% off. 

CVS tip- the coupon machine is also a price scanner if you want to quickly the price of something or see it something is on sale. 

I am really enjoying our new range. It was especially nice for big Thanksgiving cooking.

Right now, I am testing out a recipe to see if it would work for some little Christmas gifts in jars. 

It's baking in the top oven. 

I'll let you know if it works.