Leader Enterprise - Mother's Day 2017 - Making Memories

Mom's Cowboy Cookies

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and Grandmoms! Even if you aren't a mom, we certainly all have, or had one, and this is always a wonderful time of year to remember them and their influence in our lives. As the saying goes "Once a Mother--Always a Mother".

In the past, I've done presentations for a number of Mother's Day banquets. One of my favorite things to share is ideas to make memories with your child. But of course, I have to begin by sharing a humorous story. This is a favorite from Reader's Digest: "The sight of my mother cleaning her dentures fascinated my young son.  He sat riveted as she carefully took them out, brushed and rinsed them, and then popped them back in. "Cool Grandma! Now take off your arm!" 

We grandmas, nanas, grammys - whatever you are privileged to be called by your grandchildren, have a wealth of riches to share with our families. We may not have much material wealth to give, but our time, our wisdom, our ability to listen, or simply to love, are the best things we can give to our family now to leave a legacy of love behind when we are gone.

Here are a few practical ideas to help make memories with your kids and grandkids:

Put notes in their lunch or on their pillow: it helps keep communications open. Children will oftentimes turn off our voices, but will soak in words on a piece of paper. And it can be read and reread.

Make sure you give plenty of hugs: proper touching improves a child's development. Touch their head, shoulder, hand, etc.and smile when you do. Silence sometimes speaks louder than words.

Turn off the tv and play games; simple games like I Spy say to your child that they are worth your time. 

Teach your kids to be responsible: chores are good for a child. Turn on the music, give them a dust cloth, and see how much work you can do together in 15 minutes. Even young children can learn to gather the trash.

Make a fort over the dining room table. Remind them how it was a popular thing to do when you were younger.

Make birthdays special: share a memory from their childhood and tell them one from yours.

Have fun in the kitchen. Teach your children to care about family recipes. Share details about what you remember your grandma doing in the kitchen. Allow them to stir, chop, plan and bake. Teach your kids how to measure and mix. They'll be more likely to eat something new if they've helped prepare it.

In honor of my own precious mom, Marie I. King, who went to her Heavenly Home when she was only 64, I'm sharing a couple favorite recipes from her files. 

This is the cookie my brothers and I remember most from mom's kitchen. 

COWBOY COOKIES

1 c. shortening (margarine)

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. dry oatmeal

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (12 ozs) bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Blend shortening and sugars until smooth; add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Add oats and vanilla, then stir in chocolate chips. Bake 12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. Yield: about 6 dozen (smaller cookies)

Mom's Zucchini Casserole

MOM'S ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE

4 c. peeled, diced zucchini

1 grated carrot

1 grated onion

1 can  (10.75 ozs) cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream (don't use fat free)

1 box (chicken flavored) stove top stuffing

salt and pepper to taste

1 c.  crushed cornflakes mixed with 1/4 c.  melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Boil zucchini in salted water for 4 minutes; drain. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl and place in greased 9" X 9" casserole dish. Top with cornflake crumbs. Bake 45 minutes, uncovered. You can also add chopped cooked chicken to make this a one-dish meal!

~If being a mother was going to be easy, it wouldn't begin with something called labor - Author Barbara Johnson 

Turkey Cookie Treats (Kid-Friendly)

I like to have a simple 'craft' project for my younger grandkids when we get together for T'giving.  This turned out to be a very fun project and easy enough for little hands to help. 

(hover over photo to pin) 

I had the cookies already baked and just set out the frosting and decorations and it went very smoothly. FUN!!

Instead of using frosting for the beak, we just added another candy corn!

Use what you have and it will work! 

And for goodness sake, let's bypass the idea of perfection...little ones enjoy 

doing 'their own thing'...just remember it's more about having

fun and making memories together! 

I do hope you'll try it this year. 

A few of my grandchildren...Chloe, Claira, Caden and Sam!

(And for fun....my daughter Deb =) 

TURKEY COOKIE TREATS 

1 pouch (1 # 1.5 ozs) sugar cookie mix

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 egg

1 (12 ozs) tub whipped chocolate frosting

candy corn

1 tube orange (or yellow) decorating frosting

M & M's mini chocolate candies

1 tube orange (or black) decorating gel 

Preheat oven to 375. In medium bowl, combine cookie mix, butter and egg; stir until dough is smooth. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet by rounded Tablespoonsful 2" apart. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on sheet 1 minute before removing to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. 

Frost and decorate 1 cookie at a time. (Or have your group do 1 at a time together).  Spread chocolate frosting over the cookie, adding candy corn for feathers (before frosting dries). Pipe yellow icing to make a feet and a beak. 

(We used a candy corn instead).  Add M & M's for the eyes; pipe a little black (or orange) gel for the center of each eye.

Take lots of pictures and stand back and admire your new flock! 

• You might also enjoy...

Mini Brownie Treats

Strawberry Yogurt Bites (2 Ingredients!)

​

Leader Enterprise - Mother's Day - May 6, 2015

Sunshine & Shadow Cookie Bars

Happy (Belated) Mother's Day to all Moms and Grandmas. What a special time set aside to celebrate the Mothers in our lives, whether you're related to them by blood, or by the heart. 

My sweet angel mama went to her Heavenly Home in 1987. I gave her a book for her birthday a few years before, and I want to share some thoughts from this lovely little book entitled "Momilies - As My Mother Used to Say", authored by Michelle Slung. The first page of the book reads "They can't help it.  Mothers HAVE to say these things. It goes with the territory. It's as though when a woman gives birth, she gets lots of flowers, tons of attention, and the solemn obligation to utter 'momilies'. How else to explain how universal these sentiments are? From generation to generation, mothers say the same things to their children. They do it because they love you.  But mostly because THEY JUST CAN'T HELP IT!!" 

Maybe reading some of these will stir sweet memories of your own mom or grandma, or aunt. 

-As long as I'm around, I'll be your mother.

-You can be sure of two things in this world; there is a God, and your mother loves you.

-If somebody else's mother lets him jump off the Empire State Building, would you want me to let you do it too?

-That's not a request - it's an order.

-Oh, so it's the egg teaching the chicken?

-If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

-Don't take candy from strangers.

-Don't cross your eyes or they'll freeze that way.

-Always put on clean underwear in the morning in case you're in an accident.

-Don't expect too much and you'll never be disappointed. 

-If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well. 

-He's no better than you - we all stand up naked under our clothes.

And one of my favorites: because I said this to my son when he was a teenager, he now says it to me before I leave on vacation - Don't do anything you wouldn't do if I was sitting on your shoulder. 

Here's a couple of my favorites from my mom's recipe file: 

Mom's Cowboy Cookies

COWBOY COOKIES

1 c. shortening (margarine)

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. dry oatmeal

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (12 ozs) bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Blend shortening and sugars until smooth; add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Add oats and vanilla, then stir in chocolate chips. Bake 12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. Yield: about 8 dozen.

SUNSHINE & SHADOW BARS

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 c. packed brown sugar, divided

1/2 c. white sugar

2 lg. eggs, separated

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tb. water

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350. Grease 9" X 13" baking pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. In large bowl, beat butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and white sugar on medium speed until fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and water. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until combined. Spread dough evenly in prepared pan. Press chocolate chips lightly into the dough.

In clean bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks and slowly mix in remaining brown sugar. Spread egg white mixture over dough and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan 1 hour. Bars can be stored in airtight container for 3 days).Yield: 16-20 bars.

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.~Abraham Lincoln 

Mom's Cowboy Cookies

When my brothers and I recall memories of our dear mama, they always include this wonderful cookie. 

I never realized until I was married that chocolate chip cookies didn't always have oatmeal in them...that's the only way we knew mom to make them!!

(She stre-e-e-tttched everything!) 

(I also didn't realize until recently I didn't have this recipe on my blog - GULP!)

My favorite memory of my mom was when she would spend one whole day baking cookies for the freezer.  We'd take them in our homemade packed school lunches...we'd share with drop in company..and we'd get to enjoy one or two on the day she baked ALL.DAY.LONG!

I can remember the excitement I felt when I'd get off the school bus and the kitchen windows were all steamed up.  We'd walk into the kitchen to the glorious and comforting smells...and see all the counters and the table covered in fresh baked cookies.

Still brings a tear to my eye to think of it!! 

It MUST be why I'm such a cookie monster today. 

My dad was a big coffee drinker...and since he loved dunking cookies in his coffee...mom always made crunchy cookies.  They're my favorite ever.

(Too bad for my hubby as his mom always made soft cookies, so I give in to him every now and then for his sake=)

I proudly present to you these beloved MOM'S COWBOY COOKIES!!!

(this photo is taken next to a cut glass candy dish I inherited from my grandma) 

MOM'S COWBOY COOKIES 

1 c. shortening (margarine)

1 c. white sugar

(I cut sugar amounts down to 3/4 c. each)

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. dry oatmeal

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (12 ozs) bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Blend shortening and sugars until smooth; add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Add oats and vanilla, then stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonsful. Bake 10-11 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet.  Allow to stand about 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Yield: about 6-7 dozen.

Linked to Weekend Potluck

More favorite cookie recipes....

The BESTEST Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Chocolate Mocha Crinkle Cookies (from cake mix)

Homemade Vanilla Wafers

Molasses Crinkles

​

Summertime Craftin' at Nana's 2012

I have 2 granddaughters, Charlie & Chloe, that live near by...and they love to do crafts. I wanted to be sure we had some craftin' time together before school started up again.  

I had made one of these bags for myself and it was so simple, that even these young pre-teen girls had them finished in no time flat.  I did the cutting, and off they went...

First I got a couple of t-shirts for them at Goodwill.  I'm sure we all have some t-shirts not being worn any longer in our closets or dressers.  Get to diggin them out...you can do this!  It can be made in a matter of minutes!

These cute bags would make a great gift...be nice to take to the beach, or even use to wrap a gift up in. 

I carry mine with me when I'm taking walks...it's soft on the shoulders, light to carry and it stretches.  They're really very nice.  

You cut off the sleeves, then cut out the neckline - you can do a v-neck, round or square cuts - cut up strips about 4 - 6" from the hem...tie them and you are ready to rumba...

Here's a link to a simple tutorial from Skip to My Lou {Craft Camp}. Cindy is always inspiring me with simple & fun crafts. 

Please be sure to check out her post at the link below. 

Recycled no-sew t-shirt summer tote bags

I've been dying to make some of these adorable felt flowers too, and I knew it would be more fun if the girls helped me learn. 

I set up the laptop on the kitchen counter so we could refer to the instructions as we needed to...it worked quite well and the girls kept very busy and were pleased with the results too.

I had purchased a grapevine wreath (also at Goodwill) and it was the perfect size for the girls to decorate for their home. 

Just look at those darling flowers they made for the wreath. 

While Chloe and I were doing the 'roll up' kinds of flowers, Charlie got busy and created her own style 'tulip' for the right side of the wreath! What a fine job!

Here's the link for a simple tutorial from The Crafted Sparrow. They are quick & inexpensive to make and really cute!  I suggest you give them a try. 

Felt Flowers Tutorial {5 to choose from}

Charlie & Chloe teach me when we do crafts, and it's such a fun time to make memories. 

Creatin' & Craftin' Day at Nana's

{I have put off typing up this post because I like simple and quick...this was going to demand some time, but I'm so tickled to finally share this fun time I spent with 2 of my granddaughters just before Easter.}

I have the cutest grandkids on the earth - every single one of them! 

Now I know...some of you are probably ready to fight me over that thought, but aren't we just gifted with special special gifts when God puts GRANDchildren in our lives??

They most certainly do make life GRAND!

Our son, Dave, spent 9 yrs in the navy.  All 3 of his children were born long-distance from home (where we live) so since he

became a civilian, about 6 yrs ago and they only live a few minutes from us now, it's just the best fun to get to bring the granddaughters here to spend a day creating.

Charlie & Chloe both have creative genes and they often teach ME while I'm trying to teach them.

I just loooove these pictures of them wearing the 3 new t-shirt scarves them made for themselves. 

Charlie, 13, is on the left...Chloe, 11, is on the right

I've been having a BLAST making t-shirt scarves. Tonya Ferguson introduced me to them in one of her post...

4 little Fergusons make t-shirt scarves - please take a peek as they are just so cute and simple...even her 8-year old made one.

C'mon now Gals - of course...YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

I also looked a this tutorial at My Blessed Life to get some cool ideas too.

(I ended up doing much of the cutting, just because it was easier for them)

The girls also worked long and hard to make Duct Tape Flowers

for their flip flops! They did most of that all on their own!

Have you seen the adorable patterns they're making on duct tape these days???   We also covered some baskets for their bathroom with some of this 'fun' stuff. 

The girls got creative and made some multi-colored flowers for their flip flops!!  Soo cute aren't they?

This was the photo that 'sucked me in' when I first saw them posted at Skip to my Lou

The girls had a great time in the kitchen making Butterfinger Bites

simply by spreading peanut butter between Cheez-It crackers and dipping them in chocolate.  (Who knew??)

And we made some yummy treats by spreading peanut butter AND nutella between Ritz crackers, then dipping them in white or dark chocolate....inspired by this post at Plain Chicken . Charlie got creative and began making swirls over the top and they looked sooo pretty.  Tasted great too!

The girls also made these simple Springy Marshmallow Flower Pops

from Madtown Macs. It's a simple process and the girls were excited to take this 'bouquet' home with them. (along with 90% of the goodies we made). After you push a stick into a large marshmallow, you coat it with white chocolate (ours had little blue specks in it) then push through a muffin paper!

Before they headed home, we quickly made some Peanut Butter Hard Shell Ice Cream Topping that I found at Chocolate Covered Katie....to 'top off' their day.

(Katie has a Healthy Dessert Blog that I follow!!!)

All you do is stir together peanut butter, melted coconut oil, and sweetener of choice (we used liquid stevia) to make this delicious treat.

We were all pretty impressed at how simple - AND DELICIOUS! -it was.  (see the link above for the measurements)

WHEW!!  We were all very tired at the end of the day and agreed we shouldn't try to do so much the next time!