Hot Buttered Rum

Only a few days till Christmas.  Our house is surrounded by lots of snow, the lights are up, and the blow-up Tigger is waving happily as he comes out of his blow-up Christmas tree... (Our boys love it!)  Our tree is up, and I have Christmas music blaring as much as I can.  Right now I'm listening to a rocking version of the Carol of the Bells by David Crowder.  Rockin'!!!! (it's very therapeutic to rock out to Christmas carols you know....)

And I am slowly thinking about Christmas goodies.

I don't like to rush the whole baking thing....I don't want any extra "gifts" attached to my thighs and stomach this year.  I like to wait to bake....and then let everyone else eat it up!   But my LIST is up on the fridge.  I'm trying a new gingerbread cookies recipe as we speak, Monkey Munch will be made in a few days, David's cookies - though I'm on the look out for cherry flavoring....eeeek., maple fudge, almond roca....and I think this year....Candied Orange Peel.  I think I may be the only one who will eat it though...but I am okay with that. :)

Anyways, one neat thing my husband David and I are doing this year is watching Christmas movies each night whilst snacking on lovely cheeses and sipping on wines...or hot toddys.  We've watched movies like "White Christmas", "Christmas in Connecticut", "Holiday Inn",  "Home Alone", and last night's was "A Christmas Carol - with Patrick Stewarat... HIGHLY recommend!!!"

But tonight, I have a new drink to try.  Hot Buttered Rum.  You can buy the mixes at stores, but why not try it with REAL BUTTER!!!  So we are. 

Here's how.  Go pop some popcorn, Catch a Bing C. flick, and sip on this.

Hot Buttered Rum

adapted from: A Thousand Threads

What You Need:

3/4 cup of softened butter ( I used salted...you can use unsalted)

2 cups of light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp of ground cloves

1 tsp vanilla extract

Rum (dark or spiced)

boiling water or apple cider

What to do:

1.  Cream together butter, sugar, spices, and vanilla.  Roll into a cylinder and wrap in parchment paper.  

2.  Freeze.

3.  When ready to make, cut of 2 tablespoons of butter mixture and place in a small mug. Add 1-2 oz of  rum and then top off cup with boiling water.  Stir and serve immediately!

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

We truly just came out of some crazy, crazy weather these past few days.  Lots of snow, wind, and freezing rain....makes for an interesting week.  My oldest has been having "Snow Days" for the past couple of days, and we only ventured forth today....because we needed groceries.

Looking on the positive side to the Great Blizzard...WE WILL HAVE SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS!  Lots o snow....:)  Good thing too, shhh, we got the boys some GT racers.. (Good thing they are not proficient readers yet...that,  and my blog doesn't have Lego or Ninja Turtles in it...so no interest what so ever....)

BUT, the boys WERE interested in these AMAZING cookies.

I will put this out there.  These are my favourite Oatmeal cookies so far.  They were eaten up with great gusto and I have to make another batch here soon.  SOOO GOOD.  Definitely on my go-to list.  So here it is.  Add it to your Christmas baking list.  You will not regret it.  :)

ICED OATMEAL COOKIES

adapted from Mother Thyme

What you Need:

2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups all purpose flour

1 TBSP of baking powder

half a tsp of baking soda

half a tsp salt

2 tsp of cinnamon

half a tsp of ground nutmeg

1 cup of hard margarine or butter (softened)

1 cup of brown sugar (packed)

half a cup of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp of vanilla extract

For the glaze:

2 cups of icing sugar (confectioners)

4 TBSP of milk

What to Do:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Have baking sheets prepped with parchment paper or silicone mats.

2.  Place oats into a food processor and pulse for 10 seconds.  

3.  In a medium bowl combine, oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

4.  In a large bowl, beat margarine, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.  Beat until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat a bit more.

5.  In small batches add the dry ingredients while you are beating.  Beat until combined.

6.  Using about 2 TBSP of dough for each cookie, roll dough into balls and place onto baking sheets.

7.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Until golden brown on bottoms.

8.  Remove to cooling racks.  Cool

9.  Make glaze: combine icing sugar and milk and stir to make glaze.

Dip tops of cookies into glaze and allow to set.

Eat with gusto or savour with a cup of hot chocolate.  So yummy!