Healing the Heart

For the most part I live a very blessed life. Every now and then, however, life can really kick in and slam me in the gut.  The last few weeks have been very hard for my family.  Lots of tears, heartache, anger, bewilderness. Because of that my brain hasn't been fully engaged and I've not been doing the normal things I love to do like being in the kitchen, gardening, sewing (even blogging!).

This weekend my soon-to-be three year old granddaughter helped bring me back around. Her hugs & kisses, her "I wuv you", her laughter, her curiosity, her joy of everything around her filled my heart. She reminds me that even when I think things are as bad as they can be, there is still so much good around me.  It's been said that life is easier if you hear the steps of grandchildren walking beside you. Thank you, Avery, for taking that walk with your Nana.

Whenever I have stressful things going on in my life I find I have to do simple things to keep the stress level to a minimum. These simple things, through the eyes of a toddler, are so joyful.

Watering the sunflowers (they have gotten huge!)...

Blowing bubbles with Harley...

Feeding the birds...

Playing in the dirt...

We made cookies Friday night.  Easy cookies, cookies that kids and adults all like.  Cookies that don't require a lot of kitchen clean up (that's important, too!)

Licking the beater...

Stirring the M&M's in...

M&M's Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup M&M's (I use the whole bag!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until well combined.  Beat in the vanilla extract.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in M&M's.

Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, drop batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets (or spray baking sheets with Pam). Bake the cookies for about 13-15 minutes, or until light golden brown in color and just set around the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.