aw, sugar.

This has been one busy week.

Hence, the no blogging for (almost) a week.

Today has been a day of great accomplishment.  I finished up my registering!  We are registered at Babies 'R Us and Target.  There are still a couple things I want to register for, but that's for another day.  I'm glad to have that huge chore behind me!

The only other thing I wanted to accomplish today was baking sugar cookies.  And bake I did!  My oven was on for 4 hours and my cookie sheets deserve a break!  (As do I...)  I made 3 batches of sugar cookies, one right after the other.  In total, 21 dozen cookies.  That's 252, if you're wondering.  All for my freezer.  The crazy annoying thing about sugar cookies is that there is no break.  I was on my feet the entire time, mixing, rolling out, cutting out, popping in the oven, putting on cooling racks...repeat, repeat, repeat.  And repeat again.

Cookies I have left to bake: hershey kiss, peanut butter balls and chocolate crinkles.  I so hope I'm done with the sugar cookies (except the frosting part).  They are by far the most stressful.  Lucky for me, they also freeze the best.  :)

And just because I'm too tired to get up off the couch and get in bed, I'm going to share my sugar cookie recipe with you.  They're SO YUM.  And please note, it's Aunt Iva's recipe.

Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter

1 & 1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. almond extract

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 c. milk

4 c. flour

Mix all ingredients, in order, until, ya know, it looks good.  And don't be a hero.  Use your Kitchen Aid.  Otherwise, you'll have very sore arms.  Especially if you make 3 batches in a row.  (I haven't always owned a Kitchen Aid!  I know from experience!)

Now that the dough is ready, plop some of it down onto a floured surface.  A huge wooden cutting board is the best thing.  But my Mom owns that, not me.  So just find something that works.  I probably start with about 1/3 of the dough to make sure it all fits on my 'surface'.  Flour the dough well, and roll out with an (also floured) rolling pin.  Make sure that your dough is rolled out exactly even, no thin or thick spots.

Ha!  That's a joke.  My dough is always uneven.  Who cares.  It works.  I think it's supposed to be about 1/4 inch, but mine varies greatly.  Do what you can.

Cut out with cookie cutters into whatever lovely shapes you'd like.  I put parchment paper on my cookie sheet, just to make it easier, and then transfer the cookies to the sheet.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  Depending on the size of the cookie, of course.  Make sure all the cookies on the sheet are approximately the same size, thus approximately the same bake time.

I let the cookies cool for about 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then the rest of the way on wire racks. 

Store in airtight containers.  These freeze very well. 

In a couple weeks, when I start removing them from the freezer, I'll give you my frosting recipe.

Now, it's time for bed.