Chocolate Covered Ritz Cookies

Last night I hosted a Christmas cookie party. Cookies and cocktails are a big hit and I was treated to a houseful of friends for a fun evening. Our little dining table was covered in delicious cookies!

It's such an easy and festive party to host for the holidays. Everyone wants Christmas cookies and what better way to show off your favorite family recipe or to try that new recipe that caught your eye on Pinterest. I'd love to show you a bunch of photos of my living room full of friends and laughter, but I was so busy talking and munching on cookies that I never once got my phone out for pictures. I checked with friends this morning, and they didn't take pictures either. I think it was a good party!

If you want to host a little cookie get together, it's something you still have time to pull of this month. Invite your friends, have everyone bake a couple dozen of their favorite cookies, and be sure they bring some copies of the recipe! Get some festive plates and napkins and lots of bags so people can take extra cookies home. Then, you just need to add some drinks. You can't go wrong with cocktails, but you'll probably want to throw some coffee and milk in there, too, just in case.

I made chocolate covered Ritz cookies, one of my favorites. My mom makes these cookies every year, and has for as long as I can remember. It's a fairly easy recipe and the only thing that really takes a lot of time is dipping the cookies in chocolate. You could certainly make them any time of the year, but they always mean Christmas to me. I added some holiday sprinkles to my finished cookies as a festive topper.

What's your favorite cookie to make at Christmas? Do you have old family favorites that you make year after year, or are you more adventurous, trying out new recipes instead?

Chocolate Covered Ritz Cookies

Ingredients

• Ritz crackers
• peanut butter
• chocolate chips
• Crisco

Directions

1. Spread peanut butter on Ritz crackers and make little cracker sandwiches.
2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, adding 3-4 T Crisco to thin it enough for dipping. Add more Crisco or chocolate chips as needed.
3. Dip cracker sandwiches in chocolate, covering each one completely.
4. Place dipped cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets. Add sprinkles if desired. Cool in refrigerator.
5. Store in fridge. Can be served cold or at room temperature. 

Linked up at Memories by the Mile, Kenarry, FoodySchmoody, The Country Cook, The Evolution of Mom, Tip Toe Fairy, MamaBuzz, Live Laugh Rowe.

Shiner Cheer cranberry bread with maple butter glaze

I love to make bread. Except that I tend to eat it all when it's homemade. So, I end up not making it very often. I mean, I don't need a loaf of bread for dinner, no matter how good it is.

A few months ago I discovered beer bread. It's a basic recipe that essentially customizes itself based on the beer you choose to use. And there are so many beer choices out there! You could go for something sweeter with fruity flavors, or something local, or something seasonal. Turns out, you can add lots of extras, too, like shredded cheese, herbs, or fruit to make it even better.

After buying our first six pack of Shiner Cheer for the season, I decided that it needed to become beer bread. I like Cheer, but it's not my favorite Shiner. However, as a bread... it's amazing! I couldn't believe how well this turned out. In my mind, of course, it was a delicious, sweet bread with hints of the beer. It's a beautiful thing when your dreams come true.

You're going to want to get a few bottles of Cheer to keep on hand for the next month. This is a wonderful bread for sharing. Keep it warm for breakfast or brunch. Slice it into smaller chunks for an appetizer. Or, my personal favorite, make up loaves for friends, family, and teacher gifts. You can't go wrong with warm, fresh bread!

Shiner Cheer cranberry bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (you can use 3 cups self rising flour and omit the salt and baking powder)
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 4 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 12oz can or bottle of Shiner Cheer beer
• 1 c dried cranberries
• 1/4 c crushed pecans
• 2 T melted butter
• 2 T maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, cranberries, and pecans.
3. Add the beer and stir until combined with wet ingredients.
4. Plop the dough into a lightly greased loaf pan.
5. Bake for 35 minutes.
6. Melt 2 T butter and mix with 2 T maple syrup.
7. Pull the bread out after 40 minutes and carefully poke 4 holes along the top of the bread with a knife.
8. Spoon the butter and syrup mixture over the top of the bread.
9. Return to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes until done.
10. Let bread cool for 15-20 minutes before trying to cut it.
11. Best served warm with delicious spiced maple butter.

Spiced maple butter

• 4 T softened butter
• 1-2 T maple syrup
• dash cinnamon

• Mix all ingredients and chill for 15-20 minutes.

I'm going to be making this all month long. It was a hit cut up into small pieces as a Thanksgiving appetizer. It's going to be an extra at my Christmas cookie party. And it's definitely going to make an appearance on Christmas day!

What special seasonal treats do you love to make during the holidays?

8 layer dip

I love a good Halloween party. It's fun to dress up when you know there are going to be lots of other people dressed up, too. In the past, we haven't done much dressing up for Halloween. But, Phee has changed that and likes us to dress up with her sometimes.

We have good friends that love Halloween. They often throw a party and we went last year. I didn't take my 8 layer dip, but I wish I had. The one I made was tasty, but there was a similar dip already on the table when I got there. I've never gone to a party with this 8 layer dip in hand and had it be a duplicate dish.

I love this dip. It's like nachos, without the mess. And there's plenty of cheese. I hate it when I make nachos and there are cheeseless chips. This dip has everything- beans, meat, cheese. It's been requested a number of times and I always enjoy making it! If you're heading out to a Halloween party this year, take this with you. You won't be sorry!

8 layer dip

Ingredients

• 1 can refried beans
• 1 lb ground beef (or turkey) browned and seasoned with taco seasoning
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 small can sliced black olives
• 1 tomato, chopped
• shredded lettuce
• sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
• guacamole

Directions

1. Spread black beans on the bottom of a 8x8 pan.
2. Spread guacamole on top of the beans.
3. Add a layer of seasoned ground beef (or turkey).
4. Spread with sour cream (or Greek yogurt).
5. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar.
6. Add a layer of black olives.
7. Add chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce.
8. Feel free to sprinkle a little more cheese on top.
9. Serve with chips and enjoy!

What's your favorite party dish? Do you go all out and make lots of appetizer type foods, or do you like to keep it simple and go with more dips, chips, and veggie trays?

DIY Snoopy costume

I love to make Phee's Halloween costumes. She's had some good ones, but this Snoopy was her favorite I think. If it had fit her, she would have happily worn it again the next year. She even asked about it this year!

I never did write it up the year she wore it, so I thought I'd share it now. It really is easy and it's something that you can take apart and use after Halloween, too. I love the costumes she picks that use regular clothes.

For Snoopy, we used a white zippered beach coverup. Until the week of Halloween, I really have no idea what the Texas weather is going to be like. I decided to go with short sleeves and then we added a white tshirt underneath when it turned out to be a cool night. If you're in cold weather, you could use a white sweatshirt as your base.

To make your DIY Snoopy you need:

• white pants or leggings
• white hooded beach coverup or hooded sweatshirt (depends on your weather!)
• white longsleeve shirt (depending on your weather)
• black and white felt
• black and white thread
• black face paint

Cut out a couple large black spots and two large black ears. Using big stitches, lightly sew the spots onto the coverup/sweatshirt and the ears onto the hood. If you use the big stitches, it's easy to pull them out after the fact and use the base piece later.

Cut out and sew together a small white tail. I stuffed it with a little bit of extra white felt before sewing it to the back of the coverup. Don't skip the tail- it's really cute!

Add white leggings/pants and white tennis shoes. Use black face paint to color your little one's nose black.

We had to use a couple white barrettes to keep the hood up on Phee's head. I made the ears a little bit too big for the hood, but it was awfully cute.

There you have it. It's really easy to put together, even last minute, and it's cute.

What great DIY costumes have you made?

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Looking for more costume ideas? I've got you covered!

Fun & useful birthday party favors

This post contains Amazon Associate links.

We had Phee's birthday party a couple weeks ago. Don't worry, that whole post will be coming soon. It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work, too. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't come up with these crazy elaborate ideas. What can I say? I like a good party!

One thing I always struggle with is party favors. I don't like all the little 25 cent plastic junk. And I don't like bags full of candy either. Neither is particularly useful and honestly, we still have candy from Easter sitting on our counter.

In the past I've come up with ways to coordinate the favor to the party. The year that Phee had a Frosty the Snowman party (she's really a December baby, but we celebrated her half birthday with better weather this year) she made snowman sugar cookies and decorated them with fun snowflake sprinkles for her friends.

As she gets older, though, it's harder to come up with things that are inexpensive, fun, and not likely to lay around under beds and couches forever.

Here's what I've come up with and I hope that this list gives you some great ideas when it's time for your next party!

Fun & useful party favors

• Stickers (separate the pages of bulk sticker books)
• Decorative pens & pencils (bulk packs)
• Gel/glittery pens (bulk packs)
• Crayons/markers (shop the back to school sales)
• Craft stamps (check craft store clearance)
• Small coloring/activity books
• Books (match to theme of party, or check the dollar spot at Target)
• Mini puzzles (check the dollar spot at Target)
• Bubbles (check the wedding aisle at the craft store for a bulk pack)
• Sidewalk chalk
• Individual goldfish cracker/cookie/other snack packs
• Homemade cookies (decorated to theme)
• Individual craft projects (check the craft store for little projects, or multi-packs of themed projects) 
• Fun socks (match to theme of party, or check the dollar spot at Target)
• Homemade CD of favorite songs
• Sunglasses
• Mini Lego sets 
• Matchbox cars (separate a multi pack)

If you're looking for more party ideas, I have a whole Pinterest board! What have you found to be the best party favors? What do your kids prefer?

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Come find Life in Random Bits on Facebook! I'd love to have you join the fun!

Linked up at Just Us Four, P is for Preschooler, The Grant Life.

Birthdays: family, together, love

I love July. A lot. It's my birthday month. I love my birthday and making a big deal about it.

Partially, I think that stems from the fact that I have a summer birthday so I never got the fun school celebrations. No taking cupcakes or cookies in on my big day. Nope, I was home running around outside, or, as I got older, babysitting or working.

I was lucky, though, because I lived with family very close. So I still had big birthday celebrations. Growing up, everyone got to choose whether they wanted birthday breakfast at Grandma's house on Sunday morning, or birthday dinner at her house on Monday night. For years, I chose dinner and my favorite meal, chicken and dumplings. When I got to be a teenager and realized what a hellacious request that was of my grandmother in her unairconditioned house during the hot, humid Ohio summer, I started changing my dinner request to cold cuts and a sandwich bar.

One thing I never stopped requesting: angel food cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream. I've had that combination to celebrate every birthday for as long as I can remember. Grandma Helen would bake the angel food cake and then invert it on an old glass Coke bottle to let it cool. I dearly miss scooping the angel food crumbs out of the pan after she had taken the cake out. The gooey bit of cake left behind was the best part of the whole thing.

I miss those family birthday parties. They were ordinary and comfortable, but special all the same. We all gathered for Sunday breakfast and Monday night dinner every week. Six in my family, four in my aunt's (on the other side of Grandma's house- we were all in a row!), three or four from the other aunt in town. At other times, there would be other family visiting or living in town for different periods of time.

It was routine to all be together a couple times a week. Sometimes we barely stopped our games outside to scarf down dinner. Sometimes it was a rush to make it on time from work or practice. But the family was always there. Everyone would come together to celebrate the birthday person and that's what made it so special. It wasn't cupcakes with friends and a disruption of the school routine. It was the old familiar: family, together, love.

What are some of your best family birthday memories?

I love the 80s!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

Today's post for the Play in May challenge is about a fashion trend you wish were still in style. For me, that would be the 80s. I love the 80s. A lot. I wasn't old enough during the 80s to take full advantage of the awesomeness that decade. Actually, I wasn't really old enough to realize the awesomeness of that decade until well after the fact. But whatever.

For my 30th birthday I had an 80s party. It was so much fun! I planned it all myself and got all sorts of really cool stuff for the night. We had toys, candy, music, and movies. Really, if you're going to DIY an 80s party, this is the way to go: dollar store, eBay, Amazon, then use your own movies, and some Pandora 80s stations. Throw in some bright colors for decorations and you're set.

I'm all about those bright colors, by the way. I've just purchased a couple nearly neon t-shirts that I adore. I've also discovered, via Phee's preschool class, that jellies are apparently back this year. Which is great news for me because I still have the pink ones I bought for this party!

So, if you want to bring back the 80s like I did, here are a few tips and ideas for a totally awesome party! (Excuse the lackluster quality of the photos. This party was a few years ago and the pics were either taken with an actual old camera, or my old iPhone. Either way, not that sharp.)

Clothes
We got some great outfits for the party! Everyone dressed up, at least a little bit, which I did not expect. I was quite excited. Even Phee was dressed up as baby Flashdance with her Madonna t-shirt and striped legwarmers. She was the center of attention all night.

Bright colors, crazy hair, lots of accessories, off shoulder shirts ad you're set. I wore a denim skirt with leggings and jellies. We had 80s punk rockers, and some 80s t-shirts to go with Phee's shirt, too.

Decorations
I got a couple posters- Don Johnson, Alyssa Milano, David Hasselhof- from eBay. Then I printed out some movie posters and album covers. Mixed with a pack of really bright tissue paper, they made for some fun wall collages. We actually referred to one of the movie posters at one point last night to find an actors name.

Movies and Music
I had plenty of movies to choose from, plus Netflix. We played Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club, two of the best, muted. Then we had some music going using the Pandora 80s stations. I mixed between 80s pop and 80s new wave- my absolute favorite.

Favors & extras
We had a bunch of 80s candy, too: pop rocks, ring pops, pixy stix, laffy taffy, fun dip, and more. I also had a couple Rubik's cubes, some slap bracelets, jelly bracelets, and Garbage Pail Kids cards, and those weird shutter shades for everyone to play with. They were all a big hit!

It takes some searching to put it all together, but you can usually find most of the candy at the dollar store. Sometimes, you can find some of the bracelets and toys there, too, or at a party store, but you can always find them on Amazon. We have Amazon Prime, so I tend to go there first if I can't find it locally.

Is there a fashion trend that you wish was still in style? How about the 80s: love it or hate it?

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Link up and see what trends some other bloggers would love to see again!

Linked up with Nancherrow, The Grant Life, Simply Gloria, Just Us Four, Bloom Designs, Heather's French Press, The Recipe Critic.

Super Bowl Favorites

It's Super Bowl week!  If you're poking around the internet, you've surely seen at least 47 different chili recipes, plus other party and snack food recipes galore.  Well, it isn't any different here!  I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites for game day.

Kick off the party with this really tasty dip.  I can't get enough of it when I make it.  It's easy to whip up, and you could even get it ready the day before and leave it in the fridge.  Less party prep on the day of your Super Bowl party? Sounds like a good day to me!

Follow up the dip with this sweet buffalo chili that you can make in the crock pot.  It's easy to adjust the heat of this chili by putting out some hot sauce and jalapenos for people to add to their bowls, along with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Add a veggie tray and some cookies or brownies and you've got a great spread for your party!

What are your favorite party dishes?

Linked up at Heather's French Press: Wake Up Wednesdays, The Recipe Critic: Time to Sparkle, The SITS Girls, Just Us Four.

Oatmeal Valentines

There are any number of candy-free valentine ideas out there.  Whole collections of them.  And, if you're a big Pinterest fan, like me, you've seen a bunch of these really cute ideas.  I didn't want to duplicate something that Phee might see anyway, though, and I wanted her to have something unique to give to her friends.

I have no idea how I came up with this, or what even made me think of oatmeal.  I imagine I was daydreaming while Phee was having an oatmeal bedtime snack- one of her favorites.  But, "You oat to be my Valentine" stuck in my head and made me giggle.  So, we went with it.

Cute, simple and healthy.  You can't go wrong with that combination, especially on a holiday full of chocolate and candy.  Phee gets to share one of her favorite snacks with her friends and I'm happy that we didn't add to the sugar rush of the day.

Materials

• individual oatmeal packets
• individual raisin boxes
• plastic baggies
• cardstock
• adhesive
• stapler

Directions

1. Print out the oatmeal valentine page and cut out the sayings.
2. Cut card stock to 6.5" by 3.5" (3.5" is a good minimum, but 4" works really well) and fold in half.
3. Affix the oatmeal saying to one side of the folded card stock.  Kids can write their name or personalize the valentines on the back of the folded card stock.
4. Put one oatmeal packet and one raisin box in a ziplock baggie and seal it.
5. Put one folded piece of card stock, with oatmeal saying affixed, over the top of the sealed baggie and staple it in place.

{the labels for the baggies- just copy and paste it into Word to resize it}

What fun things are your kids giving out for Valentine's day this year?  Are you looking forward to any of the treats they're likely to bring home?

Linked up at

Cupcake Diaries
Whipperberry
Creations by Kara 
Pieces by Polly

Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Football kicks off tomorrow night and I cannot wait.  Little does Phee know that tomorrow night it's momma's turn to use the TV.

Looking for a delicious snack for football season?  I've got a great dip for you.  I started making this about ten years ago when we lived in New Hampshire.  I don't make it very often because it's not healthy and I will eat it all.  I love chips and dip a little too much.

This is easy, tasty and transports well if you're not watching the game at your house.  It also doesn't have a lot of measurements so you can make it to your own taste, or for whatever amount of ingredients you have on hand.

Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Ingredients

• 16 oz sour cream or 16 oz greek yogurt (healthier and you can't taste the difference!)
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dip (make sure you get the dip, not the dressing)
• bacon bits
• shredded cheddar
• green onions

Directions
1. Dump the sour cream into a bowl and mix it well with the Hidden Valley Ranch packet.

{mix the seasoning packet and sour cream really well so there aren't any clumps}

2. Add bacon bits, shredded cheddar and chopped green onions to taste.
3. Mix it all up really well.

{when everything is mixed together, the dip is sort of chunky and lumpy}

4. Scoop it into a bowl or tupperware for serving or transporting.
5. Garnish with just a little bit of cheese, bacon bits and onions for a nice presentation.
6. Enjoy with tasty potato chips.

{lovely garnish for dip that's about to be devoured}

This is one of the best party foods I've ever had and I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl which is the next time I'll probably make this.

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