Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

As a rule, I don't like heart shaped things, and I also don't like the color pink.

I make an exception on Valentine's Day when it comes to cookies.

This year, I made a pink heart copycats of  Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies.

If you have never had a Lofthouse frosted sugar cookie, you're missing out. You can find them in almost any supermarket bakery section, or you can bake your own like I did. They are a thick, round sugar cookie with frosting and sprinkles. The colors usually coordinate to the season or holidays.

I came across this copycat recipe on Pinterest and had to give it a try.

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

For the cookies:
6 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

For the frosting:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
6 tbsp heavy cream
food coloring sprinkles

Cream the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat at low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Dough will be a bit sticky. Divide dough into two sections. Flatten into rectangles about 1 1/2 inches thick, then wrap with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least two hours until firm.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, until pale golden. Immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

To make the frosting, cream together the butter and vanilla. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Once smooth and creamy, add in heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired spreading consistency is achieved. Add food coloring and beat until combined.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles. Allow frosting to set, then store in an air-tight container. Let cookies sit for several hours before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

Notes: This recipe makes a lot of cookies. I only made half of it and got about fifty 2 1/2 inch heart shaped cookies. Make sure not to roll the dough too thin - the thicker the better. Also, I didn't have to add any cream to the frosting mix. It was a perfect spreading consistency with just the butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Treasure Island!!!

I read Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine on the recommendation of someone I trust. Sadly, she led me astray on this one.

It is the story of a never-named girl in her mid twenties who has been floundering in life since graduating from college with an English degree. (Ha ha ha.) For some reason she reads the actual book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and becomes obsessed (hence the three exclamation points in the title) with the book, and especially with the character of Jim Hawkins and what she describes as his core values: boldness, resolution, independence, and horn-blowing.

She decides to apply these values to her life also, which sets off a series of events that are just plain ridiculous.

I think this book is supposed to be satirical, but any satire present was lost on me. I couldn't get past the ineptness of the main character and how the supporting characters helped her along her path to whatever. 

Thankfully it's short - only about 170 pages. Skip it and watch the Muppet version of Treasure Island instead.

Peculiar

I recently read a book by Ransom Riggs called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I really enjoyed this one, although it's kind of out there.

The story is interspersed with a lot of interesting old photographs of "peculiar children." The photos belong to the main character, Jacob's, grandfather. He assumes that the photos, along with the stories his grandfather tells about the people in them to be fake. He soon learns otherwise and sets off on a journey to discover the truth.

Here is the book trailer.

This book has the potential to be really creepy, but thankfully the author takes it in a different direction. An exciting, mysterious, and intriguing story. Check it out. 

Snow!

In case you missed it, we had quite a snowstorm in Denver this week. It started snowing on Thursday night and continued until late Saturday morning. We got about a foot and a half in my neighborhood. This is what greeted me Saturday in the parking lot when I finally braved going outdoors. That's my car in the background, covered with snow. 

Need a closer look? Here you go. It was quite a workout getting all that snow off the top. I didn't even attempt to get out of the parking lot yesterday since it was such a mess. When I went out today, they had brought a plow through, and there was a huge pile of snow blocking my car.

Instead of dealing with it, I went for a walk. Imagine my surprise and delight when I returned to find that someone had dug me out! I have no idea who it was, but I'm very thankful.

I took my camera with me on my walk and snapped a few snow pictures. I thought my warm weather friends might appreciate some snowy pictures.



 Fancy a picnic anyone?

It was gorgeous outside. Not too cold, but cold enough.

Unfortunately, I discovered rather quickly that the shoes I was wearing were NOT waterproof. (Note to self: Buy snowboots!)

The geese and ducks were all huddled on the snow and standing in the pond. And I thought my feet were cold! They looked like they were freezing. I want to get them all some little goose galoshes and mufflers.

I passed this bench and had to laugh. Notice the two butt prints in the snow. I hope whoever was sitting there was wearing waterproof pants.

More snow trekking.

 I began to wonder about my judgment about halfway across this part of the path. It was hard going. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the snow is about 2 feet deep.

I really wanted to make a snow angel in this snow.

About two blocks from home this robin landed in the tree above me and let me take his picture. A sure sign of the coming spring!

The Tiger's Wife ~ Tea Obreht

Last month, the Huffington Post launched an online book club which I eagerly joined.

The first selection was Tea Obreht’s novel The Tiger’s Wife. I don’t think I would have ever picked up this book to read on my own, but because I wanted to take part in the book club, I read it.

It’s a tough book to summarize, so I’m going to steal the summary from Publishers Weekly.

“Natalia Stefanovi, a doctor living (and, in between suspensions, practicing) in an unnamed country that's a ringer for Obreht's native Croatia, crosses the border in search of answers about the death of her beloved grandfather, who raised her on tales from the village he grew up in, and where, following German bombardment in 1941, a tiger escaped from the zoo in a nearby city and befriended a mysterious deaf-mute woman. The evolving story of the tiger's wife, as the deaf-mute becomes known, forms one of three strands that sustain the novel, the other two being Natalia's efforts to care for orphans and a wayward family who, to lift a curse, are searching for the bones of a long-dead relative; and several of her grandfather's stories about Gavran Gailé, the deathless man, whose appearances coincide with catastrophe and who may hold the key to all the stories that ensnare Natalia.”

I finished reading The Tiger’s Wife a few days ago, but I’m still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. It is quite different from the books I usually read, which may be clouding my ability to make a judgment, and the ending was not what I had hoped for, but it's worth reading for the stories of the deathless man, a fascinating character.

The novel as a whole is rather disjointed, jumping back and forth in place and time - almost like a book of tied-together short stories, but is still well-written. I won't criticize too much since the author is only 26 years old.

If you are looking for a mostly serious and gloomy, sometimes violent  book, check this one out.

And join the book club. I linked to it at the top of the page. February's selection is Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton.

Come To Me

Right now I'm really loving the song Come To Me put out by Bethel music. Turn up your speakers and give it a listen. It's beautiful.