Tuesday, March 09, 2010

TWD—Thumbprints For Us Big Guys and Catch Up Wit Da Guys

First up, a couple photos of da guys.

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Parker was student-of-the-day at school last week.  He got to do a display of his favorite things and make a poster with lots of photos.  Every photo we went through and looked at for Parker’s poster was him being goofy in one way or another.  He really is always being silly.  But then he got to lead the school in the pledge of allegiance on tv and he got all nervous and serious.  I could barely get this smile out of him.

Here’s the “normal” Parker.  That’s more like it.

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Taylor had his kindergarten music program last week, too.  Those are always fun!  Unless you’re like me and take really crappy pictures and video while the husband is teaching that night and can’t be there, especially to stop Sam from bumping my filming arm the whole time.

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That and when the annoying couple a few rows in front of you will NOT stop putting their heads together and swaying to the music, thereby blocking your filming view.  I just wanted to go knock their heads together.  Okay, sorry, I just had to get that out.  I feel better now.  Sigh.  And because of that, there will be no video worth sharing, unless you want to see those lovely heads.

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Then here’s how I have to get ANY pictures of Scottie if I’m going to get any of him at all.  While he’s not looking, say “Hey, Scottie”, then when he turns, snap a quick one as he tries to back out of the shot.  Nice.

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Okay, you’re here for the cookies, I know.  Here goes. 

I thought these were titled such (Thumbprints For Us Big Guys) because they were going to be bigger than the average thumbprint cookie, but not so much.  But the hole I made in them with the end of a wooden spoon sure made craters in the cookies.  When I think of Big Guys, like my husband, he just doesn’t go for jam.  He rarely eats any jam, but when he has one of his two or so pb & j’s for the year, it has to be raspberry jam.   I do agree with Dorie that hazelnuts are a “grown-up” kind of nut, but I just couldn’t “do” jam.  (Although, I do love those thumbprint cookies that are rolled in walnuts or pecans and have jam in the middle!)

I will admit, just because I’m a big girl that way, that I don’t read ALL 400 TWD blogs every week.  I know, don’t hate me. ;)  That being said, I hadn’t ever seen Mike’s blog from Ugly Food for an Ugly Dude before.  Just clicking over to get his link, I read a few of his posts and dude, he’s rather funny.  Anyway, where was I going with this?  Oh, Mike chose our recipe this week.  You can get the recipe for these de-licious cookies on his blog.

Why were they SO delicious?  Chocolate, my friends.  You had to know it.  Now THAT’S a big flavor!  ;)

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And not just any chocolate, but Nutella.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who will use Nutella with these cookies that are just screamin “use me”.    I reckon I don’t much really care.  All I know is these are scrumdillicious!  Nutty, buttery, tender and chocolaty.  I thought the big crater in the middle was perfect for filling with Nutella!

I only made half a batch and got 24 cookies---pah-lenty.  You may recall Dorie specifically saying DO NOT OVERBAKE the cookies.  I made the first batch just fine, perfect in 14 minutes.  Then with the second batch, I did the usual.  Baked 10 minutes, checked them, set the timer for another 2, checked again, then MEANT to set it for the final 2 minutes.  Oh, it was probably 6-7 minutes later that I realized the timer hadn’t gone off.

Quick, get them off the baking sheet!

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Okay, maybe not that fast.  Hate to say it, but although the cookies were well done and darker than the others, they were/are still edible and quite tasty to me.

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So, you may notice a few of the cookies have Hershey’s Kisses on them.  Didn’t know the craters would be so big, so the Kisses didn’t really work.  I didn’t want them totally melted, so I put them on after the cookies were mostly cooled.  Wouldn’t you guess it, those are the cookies the boys ate!  Found some new Kisses, so I just had to try them.  Kisses filled with buttercreme.  They are super sweet, but not bad.

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The Nutella with these cookies is fabulous.  Did I say that already?  Okay, I’m done then.  Great pick, Mike, thanks.

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And finally, FINALLY got Sam’s hair cut.

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Thanks, Tes!

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Sam is so good when he’s getting his hair cut.  He just sits there perfectly still.

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Ahhh, much better!

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Um, Daddy, we DON’T sit on the counter, then look who follows!

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OH, and I almost forgot—we sold the house!!!  One week after putting it on the market, we got an offer and took it.  The house is under contract.  Holy cow, I’m so thankful.  I really don’t know how long I could have kept the thing so perfectly spotless!  We close on April 30 and it has worked out splendidly to move in to a duplex right by the kid’s school until we move in June.  Some friends from church are looking for someone to sub lease their duplex as they are moving near the end of April.  Could not be more perfect.  We got a great deal on the house, and are really being blessed with having a place to leave until the school year is over.  HUGE sigh of relief!

45 comments:

vibi said...

Love seeing your boys like that!

Guess whom I thought of as I was filling my cookies with Nutella! LOL

Yours are so much more beuatiful though... with flutted swirls and powdered sugar! WOW!

Paula said...

Congratulations on selling your house so quickly!

Nutella sounds good--even if messy. Guess maybe that would make it a "one-bite" cookie--my husband's favorite.

p.s. You don't visit all 400 every week??? Shocking! :-)

Nickki said...

OMG...your cookies look amazing! I LOVE the swirly thing you've done with the nutella. My kids would eat anything I gave them if it was spread with nutella! What lovely pictures, you have a beautiful family :-)

Lisa Ernst said...

Those cookies look awesome! I must try these. I am only interested in a chocolate or Nutella version too, no jam for me either.

Jessica said...

I love all of the pictures of the boys!
Congratulations on selling your house so quickly. I know that having your house on the market can be a super stressful time.
And, your cookies look wonderful! I love the pretty swirls of nutella in the centers. The Kisses were inspired, in my opinion. It's similar to the Hershey PB cookies with the kisses.

Fallon said...

Congrats on selling the house!!

Nutella has to be the best and I don't know how you managed to keep a jar in the house like that. I would have to eat it with a spoon till its all gone or a rather bad stomach ache till I was satisfied. LOL

chocolatechic said...

Yay! for the house being sold!

Your boys are just to cute!

I tried them with the Nutella, and I liked strawberry jam better.

Hindy said...

I can never quite get over that you have four boys and still manage to bake and blog about it. Your guys get cuter every week. And your cookies are pretty nice too! And you're going to manage a move! Take a deep breath...

Bella Baker said...

The boys are just so adorable!! And congrats on selling th house!! yaay! The cookies look fabulous! I loved these too!! So yummy!

noble pig said...

Congrats on the house sale!! I still have my home in California...maybe I should put it on the market??

Flourchild said...

Congrats on selling your home! I know that is a big relief!
Your cookies look very good..love the swirls!

Rachel said...

It was fun reading your blog! Your boys are so cute and your cookies yummy with chocolaty goodness! :)

Soy*Baby said...

You have such cute boys. Congrats on selling the house. That is always a huge relief. Nutella makes everything tasty. Your cookies look great.

Funny you mentioned pet hair in the comment on my blog because I asked Pete if there was any hair on the cookies and he was all "we eat pet hair all the time. who cares." I would like to shave both the cat and the dog but I don't think they would look very cute.

mike said...

Wow Katrina - those are so perfectly round! How did you get them that way? They look fantastic - and were good with the Nutella, but I want to try the jam addition as well. Great photos - it's amazing you have time to bake with all the activity going on. Nice job and congrats on the house!

Maria said...

Love the cookies and congrats again on selling the house! So glad you will be in Utah soon:)

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Love all the variations - especially the kisses! :) And congrats on the house!!

Leslie said...

Finally, some new pictures of the boys! They're growing so quickly!

Congrats on selling the house!!! You worked so hard to get it ready and it really paid off.

Your cookies look luscious with those melting kisses, but the Nutella ones have my heart.

Mimi said...

I love the pictures of the boys. How fabulous that you have sold your house and found a nice place to stay till school is out.
Your cookies look fantastic, nutella was the perfect choice for the centers.
Mimi

Jacque said...

First, congrats on selling the house... home buying and selling can be SO stressful. I'm glad it went so well for you.

Second, your boys are just too cute for words. You must be one proud mama.

And lastly, the cookies... yummy! I could really go for the kisses version.

Amber Marie said...

Congrats on selling your house! And so quickly too. The nutella idea is great. I'm normally not big on jam cookies so it seems like a good alternative.

Tia said...

yay for parker!!!
i can't say no to new 'kisses' either. just gotta try them , it'a like a compulsion or something.

Susan said...

Great looking cookies! Congrats on the house sale.

Pamela said...

Congrats on the sale of the house!! Sounds like things are falling into place and I'm so happy for you all. Sam looks SO BIG with his haircut. It happens every time, doesn't it? With each cut, they get bigger and bigger. Sigh...

Anyway...BRILLIANT use of Nutella. I thought of doing it too, but once I lost that tray of cookies, I just wanted to finish up.

Cathy said...

Oh, your sweet boys are so cute!! Love the haircut shots! Your cookies look great - I so wish I though to use nutella!

Unplanned Cooking said...

Congrats on selling your house! And your boys are so adorable. Fun pictures.

Anonymous said...

The pictures of the boys are so cute. Great news on the house! We are thinking ours will be on the market by the end of the month and I am terrified of trying to keep it spotless for weeks (months?) on end.
nutella = genius

Kayte said...

I don't know where to start, there is so much to celebrate over there! Congrats to the kiddos on their achievements...very fun to see and hear about always. Love Sam's new do...he looks like such a big guy now...so grown up without the baby curls. Oh, well, it happens. Congrats on the house selling...I was wondering just how long you were going to have to keep it in "show condition" YIKES, happy it sold quickly. Oh, yeah, the cookies...wow, those look amazing...that swirly business is so pretty (and I don't even like chocolate)...fun to see how the kiss did as well. You are a genius.

Jessica said...

I almost tried using Nutella-- now I wish I had! PS: Where on earth did you find buttercream-filled hershey's kisses?! That sounds like my heaven!

art and appetite said...

First of all, congrats on selling the house!

The boys are so cute! Mommy must be proud! Hehe.

Thanks for sharing the recipe btw, it gives me a reason to get some Nutella. YUMMM

Anonymous said...

Cute pictures of your cute boys!

I don't know why these cookies didn't do it for me, but I did like the Nutella filling. My husband eats grape jelly on PB sandwiches, but he said no way to jam in the cookies. Gotta keep the hubs happy or I'd have to eat all of this stuff myself!

Kathleen said...

Nutella sounds so good in these cookies! Congrat's on selling your house!!!

TeaLady said...

Piped nutella. Beautiful. ANd using kisses (haven't seen those yet in stores)- perfect.

Ah, but he was soooo cute with his long hair.

Yay for selling the house so quickly. Lucky you!!

Liz said...

Wow, that is so amazing about the house! What a blessing.

Also a blessing? NUTELLA. Oh yeah.

Anonymous said...

I'm definitely going to have to make these with Nutella next time. Yummo! And congrats on selling your house. :)

Melissa said...

Your cookies are so pretty with the nice piping. Congrats on the house!!

Eliana said...

Not sure what's cuter - your boys are these thumbprints filled with chocolate :)

Gourmified said...

Katrina! Seriously! You guys are moving to Utah!?! AWESOME! We live in SLC...Eagle Mountain is soooo far away! We used to live in Lehi and still thought it forever away then, too. Haaa! Good luck on the house hunting!

Your cookies look delish! I should have tried with chocolate in the center. Probably would have liked them even more.

Sue said...

Your thumbprints look fancy AND delicious! Love Nutella(even made it homemade once)!

Unknown said...

Congrats on selling the house!! I'm so glad it sold quickly for you, especially in this economy.

Great job on the cookies - Nutella was a perfect choice! Love the photos of your boys - looks like they keep you busy :)

Valerie said...

Congrats on selling your house so quickly! That is so awesome. Do you have a place picked out over here yet?

Chalit said...

He looks so proud! Nutella never used in cookies. Those look so delicious!!
http://www.militarymovesyou.com/

Lisa said...

In the words of the cookie monster "Gimme cookies, I want cookies!" I'll change that to, "I want nutella thumbprint cookies..NOW!" in an "I want an Oompa Loompa!" demanding tone lol They look amazing, Katrina! Love the photos of your boys too..especially the haircut :)

Oh, kudos to selling your house so rapidly! In this day and economy, that's a feat in itself lol

Anonymous said...

Your boys are growing up so fast. Everyone looks so happy. Congrats on selling the house.

I need to go back and make these cookies. They sound awesome.

Anonymous said...

Adorable kids!

trulyepicurious.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Yayy on selling the house :) :) Loves all the pictures! I like thumbprints, even if with jam. But ofcourse, Nutella ones would be sooo much better!