This weekend has been quite productive for us.  Yesterday Scott took care of the oil change on my car and unfortunately noticed I have both a screw AND a nail in one tire.  It’s not losing pressure, so we’re going to leave it as is til I go get my alignment fixed next Saturday.  While he was doing that, I quested for a couple things to help decorate the house.  I ventured to Walmart, Marshall’s, and Jo Anne Fabrics & Crafts (all three are in the same shopping center) and found nothing that appealed to me.  I wanted a wreath for the door, but all the fake ones just didn’t cut the mustard.  I had to stop at Home Depot to get filters for the heater and they had real wreaths that trumped any of the fakes ones I saw.  Just what I was hoping for, it looks perfectly festive.  We also had the TV solely on our cable’s Christmas music station all day.

The holly bush out front has been sprouting berries just in time for the Christmas season.

We went house hunting in the late afternoon and the last two of the four properties we saw we liked a lot, but I don’t think we’ve quite found our house yet.  We’re getting much closer!  It was nice to walk into a place and not want to immediately walk right back out.  Later, we went two doors down to hang out with our neighbors and their friends.  This meant chillin’ by the chiminea and pug time with Tony!

  Happily chewing on his doggy stick

What a happy pug!  I’m so happy there was at least one other couple in our block that are fun and not insane or crazy like our other neighbors.

Today I kept the holiday spirit going by lighting a piney candle in the kitchen and going to town on a bunch of recipes.  I also set out another decoration and realized I need to locate the bin of the rest of our holiday stuff.

I’ll have to share two of the recipes in a future post as they are still going and I’d like to make sure they taste good before sharing.  But, I can share with you all the cookie recipe I used today.  While running to the store for a last minute item, I saw a bunch of baking stuff on sale and thought, “I need to make cookies!”  I picked up a red and green Cake Make sprinkles and some Reeses’ Peanut Butter Chips.  I busted out one of my cookbooks and set to work.

If you own a stand mixer, this cookbook is probably a good one to add to your collection.  Here’s what I made!

Peanut Butter Chip Holiday Cookies
Adapted from Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe from Kitchen Aid Best Loved Recipes.
Makes about three dozen cookies, depending on size.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg (or equivalent amount of egg whites)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• bag of peanut butter chips, like Reeses’

Place peanut butter and butter in bowl of electric stand mixer.  Turn to medium and beat until smooth, about one minute.  Stop and scrape the bowl.  Add sugars, egg, and vanilla.  Reduce speed to medium-low and beat about one minute.

Turn mixer to low and gradually add in all other ingredients mixing for 30 sec.  Turn speed to medium low and continue to mix for another 30 sec.  Once mixing is done, fold in by hand approximately 2/3 cup of peanut butter chips.  Use more or less as desired.

Roll dough into one inch balls and place about two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Leave as is, or for texture press flat with fork in criss-cross pattern to 1/4 inch thickness.  Decorate with colored sprinkles if desired.  Bake at 375F for 10-12 min.  Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

I was nearly out of my regular peanut butter, but I added in some of PB&Co’s White Chocolate Wonderful.

I decided to nix the forking step and just sprinkle the Christmasy colored decorations on instead.

I love how cookies just fill the entire kitchen with a deliciously sweet scent.  It made me feel completely ready for the next few weeks of the Christmas season.

These cookies have the perfect soft, chewy center and the peanut butter chips were a great addition.  Scott was pretty excited since he loves anything PB.  I’m off now to finish up dinner and get in my 30 for 60 workout today.

What’s getting you into the festive spirit?