- For my totally awesome husband who dresses up for Halloween and wears his jammies to the Polar Express PJ party for his girls!
- Thankful that he is so involved in creating great, fun memories for them.
The Leaf Experiment
So Mike was telling Nadia about a science experiment from junior high and she was all excited to try one of her own. Mike did a little research to see how to attempt it at home and they set everything up. First they had to pick a leaf and Nadia chose one from our Texas Red Oak. The goal here was to remove the green (chlorophyll) from the leaf to show it’s true color before photosynthesis occurs.
Required supplies: leaf, rubbing alcohol, glass, pot to heat the water in.
Nadia putting water in the pot.
Nadia putting alcohol in the glass.
The leaf in the boiling water.
Putting the leaf in the alcohol.
Once the leaf was in the glass, she put the glass back into the pot of hot water. She should have seen results in just a few minutes.
And guess what? It didn’t work. After some more reading Mike found that this experiment really works better on something like a spinach leaf, not a thick and hearty Texas Red Oak. It was a delight for me to watch Nadia have so much fun with Mike while attempting this. We will try again and report back.
Wookiee Cookies
I found this recipe in “The Star Wars Cookbook” that a friend gave us for my daughters birthday. I thought the name was fun and so it was the first recipe that we tried. From the first batch, our family was hooked and I haven’t made another type of chocolate chip cookie since. We have made them for so many events and been repeatedly told that they are the best chocolate chip cookies ever.
Wookiee Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Put the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Set aside.
- Put the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in another mixing bowl. Using the electric mixer set on high speed, beat together until well blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop a rounded tablespoon of the dough and drop on a baking sheet. Be sure to leave about 1 inch between the cookies because they spread as they bake.
- Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- Place cookies on cooling racks and let cool completely.
- Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.
My personal baking tips for this recipe:
- I use 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon.
- I use salted butter.
- I bake on parchment paper.
- I use a counter top convection oven – so I drop the temp to 350 and bake for 7 minutes.
Thankful Thanksgiving Thursday
- For my sweet little family – oh how I love them.
- For the rest of our extended family.
- For our friends.
- For our church.
- For our home and all it’s many comforts.
- For the girls hysterical laughter so often when they play.
- For Mike’s job.
- For so much good food.
- For clean water.
- For our cars and the money to pay for gas.
- For cookies and milk.
- For getting to snuggle up and read books on the couch.
I could go on and on, but will stop there for now. We hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!