And the sun doth shine

Can you feel it? I can, spring is in the air. The daffodils are blooming and the geese are noisily making their way north.

Another sign that spring is on its way? All the great Green goodness being planned.

The last winter date of the Coppell Farmer’s Market is March 20^th. I’ve really enjoyed going to the market this winter. There was just a little bit of produce, but the meat and egg sellers were there along with some value-added venders.

Also in March is Earth Hour! March 27^th 8:30pm local time to be exact. This will be our third year to turn off the lights for Earth Hour. We have a wedding that night so I’m not sure how we’ll celebrate. Maybe we’ll do it the next night? Obviously the lights will be off while we’re gone, but I want to do something with the Man to talk about what we want for the environment.

April is the beginning of some great potential in Denton. April 10^th is the first Denton Community Market. The website is new and there’s not too much there, but they do have a large presence on Facebook

Denton actually has a farmer’s market, but it’s not very robust. We’ve gone a couple of times and were disappointed with both the number and quality of vendors. By quality I don’t mean the produce was subpar, just not the organic we prefer. We do try to stop when we see what seems like random vendors to support the cause. Obviously this hasn’t happened often enough, because during the season we drive all the way to Coppell to shop their farmer’s market. The Denton Community Market is hoping to change that and make the market more of a destination, a place where local growers and vendors can sell locally grown produce and arts and crafts.

The Coppell Farmer’s Market opens April 10^th as well, but we’ll be supporting the local folks in Denton!

And don’t forget Earth Day on April 22! What are your plans for Earth Day? Will you be joining people in 100 other countries and turning off the lights for Earth Hour?

And back to the grindstone

After having a wonderful two weeks off from work, and still not having time to do the random things like clean house and post here, I’m back at work. It was a hard morning!

Even though I didn’t get to clean the house much, the littlest man and I did make a ton of cookies. We made some No-Bake cookies that actually turned out well for the first time in a couple of years (I don’t know what I did differently!) and some Triple Chocolate Chip cookies that apparently everyone else but the three of us liked. We also made Ginger cookies, mmmmm, that were still moist after a few weeks in the cookie jar. And Sugar cookies that were pretty ’effing good.

The sugar cookies lasted just half a day when we took them to the family down in Houston. These were last minute because, apparently, Santa can’t eat ANY of the other cookies we’d made. Thus, I wanted a fast cookie for which I had all the ingredients, that I didn’t have to put in the fridge to rest, and that I didn’t have to roll out. I found the answer on Hillbilly Housewife. I made changes, including using real butter, unrefined sugar, and more vanilla. I also changed to lemon flavor because, well, I love lemon and I had it.

Drop Sugar Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup organic sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 –2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon organic lemon flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-1/2 cups flour

In a medium sized bowl (I used my stand mixer) cream together the butter and sugar, until it is smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, milk, vanilla and lemon flavor, mixing well. Add in the salt, baking powder and flour. Mix it all until the dough is smooth. Drop the mixture by small spoonfuls onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet (I also used my Silpat mat). Bake at 375° for about 8 to 10 minutes.

I don’t know that I’ll be baking cookies for a while, I need to lose weight!

I hope everyone one had a wonderful holiday season