Thursdays are my best.

I love Thursdays. It's the day after cleaning day. And I am off from work. And I have no agenda. And I get to do what I want. And Mr. WhiMSy love knows that whatever I am doing, he is not allowed to give snarky remarks. Such as, when I stay in my pajamas all day. Or I plant myself on the couch all afternoon & declare myself stranded on an island. Or when I blast Billie Holiday on the stereo while baking banana walnut bread...

 This baking moment was inspired by my 6 year old who, after seeing the bruised bananas on the kitchen counter, told me, "Mom, I really wanted to eat a banana---but they're all DIRTY!"

♥

Dreamy Lemon Bars

I got this recipe from my mom & grew up eating these yummy treats! It's very simple. 8 ingredients. You mix the first 4 ingredients, spread it in a pan & bake the crust. Mix the last 4 ingredients, pour that on top of the crust & bake it. Done.

Ok, I'll break it down for ya. Here's the ingredients you'll need:

1 CUP butter

2 1/4 CUP flour

1/2 CUP powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon lemon rind

1/4 CUP lemon juice

4 eggs, beaten

2 CUPS sugar

Mix the butter, flour, powdered sugar & salt.Spread it in the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan. The directions don't SAY to do this, but I think I remember my mom marking the crust with a fork. Bake that for 25 minutes in a 325 degree oven.

Next, mix the lemon rind, lemon juice, sugar & eggs.

Pour that on top of the baked crust. You don't have to wait for the crust to cool. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Done!

Well, almost. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cut into squares when cooled. And then eat.

Sugar Cookies & a Snowy Day!

Yesterday I baked my traditional holiday sugar cookies. I, along with my little brother & big sis, used to help our mom make & decorate these cookies every Christmas. And now I do it with my girls. It's really an all day thing. Quite a job. And now I understand why mom so generously handed down the task to me. I love it though! I make a big production & celebration of it every year.

I must admit that while gathering the ingredients & preparing for the measuring, mixing, sifting & stirring, I noticed the family playing outdoors. In my snowboots & apron, I joined in on the snowy fun!

Mr. WhiMSy love was trying to build a snowman for the wee WhiMSy kidlets, but the snow was too powdery this time around. Not so swell for snowman building. Or snowball fights. But, he had a plan! He built a foundation using some boxes he got from work...

...& then somehow the snowman ate the boxes because it ended up looking like this. This is the weirdest snowman I have ever seen. Poor fella. He is kinda cute though, & the girls ADORE him!

Vintage button eyes....of course! And a red ribbon smile.

After our chilly fun, it was time for hot cocoa & then back to work on the cookies!

My 6 year old is proudly wearing her cupcake apron from Jeanetta of splendid designs. She baked with grandma the day before, so that apron is working over-time!

Sshhh! I snuck some dough.

Now it's frosting time!!

This year the cookies will have a psychedelic theme. I went kinda dark & crazy with the NEON food coloring.

This is my favorite cookie of the day. Compliments of my 4 year old.

This morning we put goodie plates together & will be delivering them to family & friends. (I'm also tucking some away in the freezer to save for Christmas afternoon at grandma's house!)

And I might as well mention now that WhiMSy love is officially closed for the holidays. I'll be honest & say it was kinda hard to do. I've never closed my shop before. So, if you see double or triple blog posts in ONE day, just know that this is my outlet while the shop takes a break!

Now the wee WhiMSy elves & I are off to deliver some tasty treats...

Oreo Truffles

My super duper friend Tia has been busy making loads of treats for a wedding this weekend. I went over to her house to help her make (& sample) some. We made Oreo Truffles & I couldn't believe how EASY they were to make--& how deeeeee-licious--so I had to turn it into a tute (tutorial).
I snapped a photo of the recipe, but if you can't read it here, go to THIS LINK at Recipe Zaar for all the details.
To make about 40 truffles all you need are:

1 package of OREOS (I HIGHLY recommend the double stuff mint ones. The truffles made from these are TO DIE FOR!)
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb. of milk chocolate
1/2 lb. of white chocolate

The first thing you'll do is chop all the oreos into crumb size bits.

It'll look like this....

Next, in a separate bowl, add your cream cheese...

...& toss in the crumbed oreos.

Add your vanilla...

...& cream until smooth.

You'll roll the mixture into small balls & place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 45 minutes. While the oreo balls are partying in the fridge, melt your milk chocolate chips.


Tia mixes about 1 TB of shortening in with the chocolate to make it more smooth.

Now toss each oreo ball into the mixture...
& carefully coat it with chocolate. Tia says a small fork works best.
Lift the chocolate coated ball out of the melted goo & let the excess chocolate drip off.
Place the treat onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.

When they are all done being dunked in the chocolate bath, you'll get to drizzle them with the white chocolate. For the mint truffles we added some green food coloring to the white chocolate before drizzling.

Don't they look so perty? They taste so good too!

She also made chocolate covered pretzel rods...

...& mini cheesecakes using mini vanilla wafers as the crust in the bottom.

I think I'll be crashing a wedding this weekend...

**Top photo courtesy of Tia Pollick.