As cliche as it is, I am constantly amazed by how sweet, smart, adorable, and funny our child is.
Every day when Hubba Bubba comes home from work, I have a new story for him of how Eleanora shared her favorite toy with a friend…
… or counted backwards (Um, where did you learn that?)…
… or sang an entire song from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, complete with sassy hand motions.
Last night, as we did our nightly bedtime routine in the rocking chair, Eleanora was being her usual sweet, smart, and adorable self.
After we sang “Just a Boy and a Girl and a Little Canoe,” she put her hands on my face and rubbed my cheeks.
Her hands are so soft and sweet that anytime she touches me, I just melt into an absolute puddle.
As we sat there in that great moment — the universe spinning slowly around us — with Eleanora’s little hands so precious upon my face…
… Eleanora said…
“DADDY HAS A BEARD TOO!”
Too?!
Hmm. I wouldn’t exactly call that comment sweet, smart, or adorable. But at least I had something funny to share with Hubba Bubba when he got home from work.
For Valentine’s Day this week, I’m sharing this fun recipe for some super yummy Strawberry-Frosted Sugar Cookies. Chewy, fluffy, and gorgeously PINK with a light strawberry flavor, they’d be delicious (and pretty) for Valentine’s Day, or all through spring.
In the meantime, Happy Valentine’s Day from The Lexingtonienne and my two sweet, smart, adorable, and very funny Valentines.
STRAWBERRY-FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES (pdf)
Adapted from a tastykitchen.com recipe
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
For cookies:
- 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
- 2 C granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 C all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
For strawberry frosting:
- 1 1/2 C fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and cut into pieces
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 C powdered sugar, measured then sifted
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
In a small bowl, stir 1 Tbsp granulated sugar into the strawberries. Cover and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or up to several hours, or until the strawberries have yielded a nice amount of syrupy juice.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and 2 C granulated sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until thoroughly incorporated.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually mix flour mixture into butter mixture until well combined.
Roll dough into approximately 1″ diameter balls (I used a #40 cookie scoop), and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are set but still light on top. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
When cookies are totally cool, make the frosting. Remove strawberries from the fridge and place them in a sieve or mesh colander over a bowl (to catch the juices). In a large mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, corn syrup, and juice from the strawberries. Unless your strawberries have produced a large amount of juice, you will probably find the mixture hard to stir at this point, as it will seem like there is not enough liquid. Using the back of a spoon, mash the strawberries against the sieve or colander to press more juice out into the bowl. Add this pulpy juice to the sugar mixture, and repeat until you have enough strawberry juice to be able to stir the frosting together. Whisk mixture together until smooth and free of lumps.
Once the frosting is at a spreadable consistency, spread frosting onto cookies (for thinner frosting on top), or dip the cookies into the frosting (as I did, for thicker frosting on top) and set on wax paper or parchment paper to dry. The frosting will dry smooth and hard on top, but it will take longer if you’ve opted for thicker frosting.
Once frosting is dry, store cookies in an airtight container for up to a few days. If they last that long.
XOXO,
