Beginning

Welcome to my blog, thank you for stopping by. If this is your first time to my blog, it's nice to meet you. If you've been here before, welcome back.

My writing journey has begun. The road will have some bumps and detours. I only hope that the first hill is not too high, and the journey is long.














Friday, August 19, 2011

Books With Cookies And Milk (29)

JACKSON JONES, BOOK 2
Written by:  Jenn Kelly
Illustrated by:  Ariane Elsammak

     To cool off after his brother colored all over his writing notebook, Jackson is left with the task of cleaning out the pool. It would have been a simple job to do if a freak storm had not come along and carried Jackson and the patio umbrella away. Jackson lands in the branches of a very large tree and can’t seem to find his way out. Here he meets a social misfit troll named, Stimple. Stimple has nose hair all the way down to THERE! There are other quirky characters, such as a squawky chicken named Miss Flaversham , a red-eyed rat and a thousand squirrels.


     The story introduces new words with the explanations, for the reader to learn, right there in parenthesis. One of the ones that I liked was Dèjá Vu (explanation: Which Means You’ve Totally Been There Before).

     Before Jackson can go home, he must discover what it really means to put down roots. This story has been imaginatively written and played out.

     In her acknowledgements, Jenn Kelly wishes someone peppermint mochas so, here is a recipe for Peppermint Mocha Cookies:

Peppermint Mocha Cookies
Ingredients:

2 sticks real butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 ¾ cups brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons peppermint extract OR 10 drops peppermint oil
3 eggs
½ cup instant coffee crystals
3 ¾ cups plain flour
1 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package Nestle chocolate chip mint pieces
1 package Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips (for garnish)
½ pound White Chocolate Almond Bark (for garnish)

Directions:

     In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, cocoa, soda, and salt. Whisk to blend, then set aside.

     In another large mixing bowl, cream together butter and shortening. And the sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Next add the vanilla, peppermint extract or oil, and the eggs. Mix well. Then add the flour/cocoa mixture a cup at a time and mix well. Fold in the Nestle chocolate mint chips. Use a 2 oz cookie dough scoop to place cookie dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool before garnishing. I like to slightly flatten cookies with a spatula while they are warm to remove some of the air, which makes them a little moister, in my opinion.

     To decorate cookies, heat the white chocolate almond bark according to package directions. Spoon melted bark into a disposable cake decorating bag and slightly snip off the tip. Pipe the melted almond bark over each cookie. Sprinkle the Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips over melted white almond bark before it hardens. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container until ready to serve. YUM!

Don't Forget The Milk!
Enjoy!

2 comments:

Talli Roland said...

Aw, the book sounds super cute. And the biscuits... yummy!

Maeve Frazier said...

Talli - They are!