HoneyBears & SydneyBeans: I like to call in sick to work at places where I’ve never held a job. Then when the manager tells me I don’t work there, I tell them I’d like to. But not today, as I’m sick. ― Jarod Kintz

Sick day = Bake day

SBean was up all night and HBear coughed all night L and Ninja is just pathetic. I love you Babe but he just sounds TERRIBLE! He went to the walk in when it opened this morning. Living in a retirement city always makes us laugh… by 9am there were 10 O.P’s (Old People) waiting in line LOL.

So he has infected vocal cords and the start of an ear infection. He got home and I slathered him in Vicks, turned both the humidifiers on doused with Eucalyptus oil and he steamed with vicks and a towel over his head.

I set up the IKEA tent in the livingroom and the girls are PJ’ed, vicksed, slippered and tented. LOL Right now we have The Wizard of Oz on in the background as they play away! Seriously the indoor tent was $10 and we use it whenever HBear isn’t feeling well or we are just having a indoor day. It is so easy to set up and gives her hours of play, reading, rest and a place to watch a movie. We have made forts too but this is easy especially with sicky whiners J

So I have turkey noodle soup and fall soup on the stove for lunch and the scent of Eucalyptus is wafting through the air. No dance today. I’m sure she is well enough to go but with so many activities, she never has a day of nothing. So today we are going to just relax.

Ninja is in the crawl space bringing up winter jackets and Dad is finishing the yard. Last week I cut down all the garden and moved everything to the shed now he is putting it all away and draining the hottub and stuff. I went through the hallway closet and took all Mom’s stuff out, her jackets, shoes, and accessories. I seriously hate doing that kind of stuff. Especially on dreary days like this. I really just want a her hug.

Anyways, enough of that.

So we are baking Halloween sugar cookies and chocolate puff wheat squares. HBear loves puffed wheat. As a toddler I gave her handfuls for a snack, she loved it. Now, she buys 1 at the Farmer’s Market every week. They charge $1.25!!!! So I went on a hunt for puffed wheat. I used to get it in a huge bag for like $1 but now I can only find it at Whole Foods. A small bag for like $3!!

When I was in Edmonton I saw a big bag for cheap and I bought it! Everyone laughed at me but I am happy. So today we are opening it up!

Chocolatey Puffed Wheat Squares

Adapted from Baking Made Simple

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 heaping cups puffed wheat cereal

Scoop 8 heaping cups of puffed wheat cereal into a large bowl; set aside.

Place margarine, cocoa, brown sugar, syrup, vanilla into a pot and stir over med/high heat until combined.

Let mixture boil for 1-2 minutes... ONLY, you don’t want them hard

Remove the pot and pour the hot mixture over the cereal. Toss cereal until combined and press into a greased dish.

Let cool and cut into squares.

Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 cup sugar

1 cup unsalted butter

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Royal Icing

4 cups confectioners' sugar

8 teaspoon milk

8 teaspoon light corn syrup

Food coloring

Use your electric mixer bowl and cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, milk and vanilla.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking powder.

With the mixer running on medium speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet in portions.

Once you have a soft dough, shape it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.

not really a disc lol

Take your dough out, and roll it out on a floured surface to about an 1/8 inch thickness. I take out a bit at a time and keep the rest in the fridge as I roll. Chilled dough is WAY easier to roll!

Preheat your oven to 350

Cut out your shapes, and place them on your baking sheets.

Bake for about 11 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown very slightly.

Cool completely before decorating.

waiting...

Once the cookies have cooled completely, prepare your royal icing.

Whisk all the ingredients except for the food coloring together (make sure it's completely smooth and there are no lumps). You may need to add more milk or corn syrup, depending on the consistency you want.

Separate the icing into small bowls and add your food coloring in to get your desired color and decorate your cookies!