Livin' the Dream in Lima

See? I told you I would make them eventually!  Today has been a wonderful day. I had a great day at school (kids weren't too crazy, despite tomorrow being our last day before break.) I even got a Christmas card from one of my students, along with a little bag of puppy chow. Receiving a hand-written note from a student has to be one of the most rewarding gifts a teacher can receive. Tomorrow, we're having a more relaxed day at school. I made each of my classes some Brownie-Covered Oreos, and we will be making polyhedron Christmas ornaments. (Well, since we are in a public school, it has to be a "holiday" ornament. Bah humbug...) Since I was busy making other things in the kitchen tonight, I kept today's cookie simple and easy: Butterscotch Haystacks! There are many variations on this recipe. Some have marshmallows, some have peanuts, some have peanut butter. They all have butterscotch chips and chow mein noodles. I usually go the easy way: Buttersc...

This will be a quick post, as I'm completely wiped! However, I still found some time to make my Cookie of the Day! I spent the morning going for a run, making truffles, and cleaning like crazy for the Tour of Homes that my mom's house was on this afternoon/evening. The tour was from 1pm-4pm, and then 6pm-9pm. We had special visitors in between, and then spent some time at a neighbor's Christmas party afterward! It has been a loooong day, but definitely fun. I will do a full recap post of the Tour of Homes tomorrow or Monday when I have some more time. These Cookie Dough Truffles are great because they don't require the use of an oven! And there are no raw eggs, so they're a perfectly safe alternative to regular cookie dough. And they taste just like that! A cookie dough ball all wrapped up in a chocolate shell. The perfect afternoon pick-me-up, or lunch dessert. (Because what's any meal without dessert? Even if it's just something small. :-P) ...

There's a funny story how today's 'cookie' came to be. Last night, I was all set to make Butterscotch Haystacks. (No worries, they will come another day. I promise!)  I had melted the butterscotch chips, and was just getting ready to pour in the chow mein noodles to stir and combine, when I decided to taste the butterscotch mixture. Because it's no fun to bake without tasting! And then, I realized I hadn't melted butterscotch chips. They were definitely peanut butter chips. How can you make BUTTERSCOTCH Haystacks with PEANUT BUTTER chips?? Now, I could have thrown away the peanut butter mixture and just started over. But I'm not one to throw away a $2 bag of baking ingredients! So, I thought, "What could I do with this melted peanut butter stuff?" And then I thought of my very favorite kiosk at the mall in the Bean Town. It is a popcorn kiosk, based out of Bluffton. Shirley's Gourmet Popcorn makes the absolute best flavored/ch...