Easter 2011

Easter this year was strange. Most of the time we go camping, with the Phillips Family. And if we don't go camping, we at least get together with them. Well, we didn't do either of those things. It just felt weird. We didn't even get the opportunity to decorate cookies with my extended family. At the last minute, on the day before Easter, my sister and I decided we should do something Eastery, so we put together a quick little party for the kids.

Look at this awesome cookie my sister decorated.

It's me!

And I then I made one that looked like her-

Easter Egg Cookies and the recipe

Easter Egg Cookies

1 cup soft margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup instant oats

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg, and salt. Then flour and oats. You may have to mix oats in by hand. Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick, use flour as needed to keep from sticking to rolling pin and counter. Cut into desired shapes.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.

Frost with buttercream frosting. Sorry I don't have a recipe for that. It's pretty much butter, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar.

Easter 2010

This past weekend was filled to the brim with all kinds of fun Easter events. It all started Friday with an Easter egg hunt organized by a kind neighbor. On Saturday, dyeing Easter eggs, then an Easter egg hunt and lunch with Chad's family and then decorating cookies with my family. On Sunday, Easter baskets and another Easter egg hunt and Easter dinner with my family. And then Monday, an all day party with the Phillips family, which included yet another Easter egg hunt and ended with a crazy drive home in the snow.

It was simply just a fun weekend where we got to spend a lot of time with lots of people we love.

My mom the rebel and the flat egg society

For those of you who know my mom, you know that the word rebel would never be used to describe her. But I have proof that at one time a crazy hair grew on her head. Here's the proof-

Years ago, probably around 50 years infact, my Grandma found a recipe in a magazine for Easter egg cookies. And every year for Easter she makes the cookies.

My mom carried on the tradition and makes the cookies too. They are an interesting cookie made with margarine (which I generally despise, but is a must with these cookies), oatmeal, vanilla, egg, and very little sugar. They don't taste very good by themselves and frosting is a must.

I thought that it was just the recipe that was the tradition. It wasn't until a few years ago that I learned there was something a little different about how my mom makes them vs how my Grandma makes them. I didn't know there was a difference until recently because growing up we were almost always out of town for Easter and it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I saw my Grandma's Easter cookies.

Her cookies look like this-

She forms the dough in a egg shape on the spoon.

Thirty or so years ago when my mom starting making the cookies in her own home, my mom decided she liked the cookies rolled out flat and cut out in an egg shape. She couldn't find an egg shaped cookie cutter, so my dad formed her one out of a Blue Diamond almond can.

I much prefer my Easter egg cookies flat, probably because that is what I am use to. My sister does too, and she hilariously referred to us as the "flat egg society". So, some of my aunts are kind of funny about the flat egg thing like we broke protocol, but I am pretty sure my Grandma could care less.

I have called dibs on the infamous cookie cutter when my mom passes away (which hopefully won't be for a very long time of course.)