Cookie Feathers

Because that's what I have on my mind right now...cookies and feathers - or more specifically, cookies and our missing cockatiel named Buddy. I've recently written about how, about a month ago, hubs walked outside without knowing that Buddy was on his shoulder. It only took a second for Buddy to fly away. We searched feverishly for him, canvassing neighborhoods, putting up flyers, placing ads in the paper and Craigslist, calling vets offices and pet stores, going door to door and personally asking folks to keep their eyes open for him - but to no avail. There were a couple of sightings of him in the first week, but that's about it. Until now. Imagine our thrill when several people called and emailed us this week letting us know about a recent Craigslist ad posted by someone who had found a cockatiel matching our Buddy's description! Now, I'm really, really, really trying not to get my hopes up. This cockatiel was found about 32 miles away - which isn't unusual for a bird, but it really could be anyone's bird. Tomorrow (Thursday) I meet up with the person that found the bird so that I can handle the little guy and try to figure out if it's ours. The manager at a nearby pet store is going to kindly let us use one of their rooms. Yes, I'm really trying not to get my hopes up but I guess I'll know by tomorrow evening if our Buddy has been found or not:)

Now about those cookies...

This is the last week of school and of course, the last week of school is filled with fun activities, end-of-year celebrations, and gift giving . My oldest girl requested that I bake a couple of batches of cookies for her school party and she chose M&M cookies and Peppermint Surprise Brownie Bites. The latter are made with York Peppermint Patties and when I went shopping this morning and found that I would have to spend $7.00 for two bags of patties, I decided that I would make Andes Mints cookies instead:) So that's what I've been working on today (reminding myself that these are for the children and teachers - not me!) I'm also baking Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Chip Cookies to go along with some of the M&M and Andes Mint cookies for gift boxes for the teachers. I thought it would be fun to give them a nice selection of four different kinds of cookies. I'm going to be up late, I can tell!

The recipe that I used for today's M&M cookies and the Andes Mint cookies (and the chocolate chip cookies, of course!) was taken from one of the chocolate chip cookie recipes in the book Mom's Big Book of Cookies: 200 Family Favorites You'll Love Making and Your Kids Will Love Eating . Oh.My.Goodness, what wonderful cookies it makes! They turn out to be very soft and moist and oh so yummy. Not puffy, fat, and dry like many of the cookies I've made before, hehe! I will use this recipe time and time again for all types of cookies, just substituting the chocolate chips for whatever we have a craving for!

The Snickerdoodle recipe is just as delicious and is my family's personal favorite. I'll try and post some recipes when I have some more time. In the meantime, check out that book - it's wonderful!

Yard Sales - How I've Missed You

I've been especially good this spring at not bringing anymore "stuff" into our home. Surprisingly enough, I haven't been to a yard sale this year at all, I don't think. I'm preparing for a yard sale of my own right now and goodness, we need the space! But this weekend, I spied out a yard sale just right down the road and I thought maybe I'd take a peek. It was near noon and I figured that probably all the "good stuff" was gone by then anyway. No huge risk of actually finding anything, right?

I guess it goes without saying that I did find a little goody. I've been thinking lately that I'd like a piece of furniture under my (once gold) mirror in the living room, something to put flowers or books on - and what do you know - I found it! It's an old little telephone table, I was told. I also found a couple more items that I'll write about later. So I brought my new old table home, put it in place,and cut a bouquet of roses from my rose bush to place on top. It's like the table belonged there all along, don't you think?

I love the little niche inside - a perfect place to slide my Carl Larsson books. The table is sturdy but the finish needs attention. I can't decide if I should keep it dark or paint it white. Eventually we will have very tall white beadboard in the living room, kitchen, and hallway, so I guess it depends on if I want contrast or softness. Hmmm....something to think about:)