Sandy Hook Elementary School...

Today I was blessed by a friend  through a email with the following poem.  This tragity at Sandy Hook Elementary will not soon be forgotten. Being  myself a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, daughter, and sister my  heart grieves for those who have suffered such a loss. Tears fill my eyes with every thought and image of this terrible wrong doing. I thought I would share this poem with you, and ask that each and every person who reads this post will stop and  take a minute to please pray for those morning the loss of a loved one due to this tragidy.

I do not know the auther personally, but I thank them for touching my heart with such a beautiful gift of words.


Twas’ 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38
when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven’s gate.
Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air,
they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.
They were filled with such joy, they didn’t know what to say,
they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.
“Where are we?” asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
“This is heaven.” declared a small boy, “We’re spending Christmas at God’s house.”
When what to their wondering eyes did appear,
but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.
He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same,
then He opened His arms and He called them by name.
And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring
those children all flew into the arms of their King.
As they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
one small girl turned and looked at Jesus’ face.
And as if He could read all the questions she had,
He gently whispered to her, “I’ll take care of mom and dad.”
Then He looked down on earth, the world far below
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe.
Then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
“Let My power and presence re-enter this land!”
“May this country be delivered from the hands of fools”,
“I’m taking back my nation. I’m taking back my schools!”
Then He and the children stood up without a sound.
“Come now my children, let me show you around.”
Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran,
all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.
 Then I  heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
“In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT.”

Written by...Cameo Smith

May God bless each and everyone...
Sharon

 

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookie Cups...

Hi everyone. Today was my first cookie baking day before Christmas. I am running late with my baking this year, and being my first Christmas of going totally gluten free, it has left me quite overwhelmed to say the least.

I did however run across this great recipe on the Betty Crocker site, and I decided to make it my first attempt of gluten free cookies for my cookie trays this year. I needed something that was going to taste good enough to please my family members who are definitely not gluten free eaters, and for myself and husband who are totally gluten free.

Although it uses their gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix, and is not a recipe from scratch, I am well pleased with the results. Not only was it quick and easy, but tastes delicious. I must admit it took a little more time than conventional drop cookies, but the effort and decorative look of the cookies will look quite pleasing on my gift trays.

The recipe made 54 cookies, and with a quick tip I used, helped to speed the process along.  After mixing the dough I divided the dough in half down the center of the bowl. I used a cookie scoop, leveling the batter to the top of the scoop, then divided the portion into two. So all in all, I got about 12 scoops per side, with two cookies per scoop when divided in half. This was a quick easy way to insure the same amount of dough was used per each cookie.

I also made sure I had all the miniature peanut butter cup candies unwrapped before I started  mixing the dough, as once the cookie cups come out of the oven these treats need to be placed in the center of each cookie cup immediately.

I had found these cute little Christmas cup liners at our local Dollar Tree for the mini muffin/tart pans in which to drop the rolled balls of dough. Aside from rolling the dough balls, and pressing the mini peanut butter cups into the center as soon as they come from the oven, this was a rather quick process, and I was done in no time at all it seemed.

You will find this and other gluten free cookie recipes on their site at http://www.bettercrocker.com but I wanted to share this recipe with you in time for the holidays. The cookies are really delicious and look quite festive. These would be great for a cookie exchange, or as a gift for someone you love. Hope you enjoy!

By the way...If I were rating the results of this mix  and recipe, I would definitely give it 5 Stars!

Gluten free Peanut butter cookies...

1 Box 19 oz) Betty Crocker GF chocolate chip cookie mix
1 egg
1/2 C softened butter
1 teas. vanilla
1/2 C creamy peanut butter
Approx 60 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place the mini paper baking cups in each of 24 mini muffin/tart tins.

In a large bowl mix the cookie mix, egg, butter, and vanilla with a spoon. (I used my hand mixer on low speed)  Stir in the peanut butter. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls (using method I previous mentioned above to divide) Place in the lined mini muffin/tart tins.

Bake 9-11 minutes (I baked mine for 11 Min), or until just lightly browned. Immediately press the unwrapped peanut butter cup candies into the center of each cookie. Cool entire pan on a wire rack at least 5 minutes before removing cookies from tins to a cooling rack. Cool completely and enjoy.

Hope you have a great wheat free cookie kind of day!
Sharon