Cookies

Put on a show with a display of these patriotic cookies.

Ingredients

• 
  
  
  

  FOR THE COOKIES

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
  
  
  
  
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
  
  
  
  • Coarse salt
  
  
  
  
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  
  
  
  
  • 2 cups sugar
  
  
  
  
  • 2 large eggs
  
  
  
  
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract




• 
  
  
  

  FOR DECORATING THE COOKIES

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  • Red, White, and Blue Royal Icing

Directions

1. 
   
   
   

   Make the cookies: Sift flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a large bowl.





2. 
   
   
   

   Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, then vanilla. Refrigerate dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour.





3. 
   
   
   

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut out cookies using a 1 3/4-, 2 1/4-, 2 3/4-, or 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, rerolling scraps once. Transfer to a baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.





4. 
   
   
   

   Bake until edges just start to brown, 17 to 19 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.





5. 
   
   
   

   Decorate the cookies: Pipe an outline of white icing around edge of 1 cookie, leaving a 1/4-inch border, then "flood" with more white icing to cover.





6. 
   
   
   

   Immediately pipe a red or blue dot in the center of cookie. Then pipe concentric rings of colors around the center dot (using the same color as the dot, or alternating colors).





7. 
   
   
   

   Immediately drag a toothpick through the colors to create bursts, starting from the center dot and working toward the edge, then alternate dragging inward and outward as you work around the cookie. (Or drag around the cookie in 1 direction or curve the lines for a pinwheel effect.) Let dry. Repeat with remaining cookies and icings.

Testimony

^ This is one of my favorite wedding pictures

I taught the lesson in Sunday School today. Gah. I survived, but wish I would've done better. I was pinched on time, and got through the lesson on time, but then I wonder if I rushed through it too fast. And I'm always worried that I didn't help people feel the Spirit or didn't make an important point that someone needed to hear. It was on the Atonement, which is obviously a very deep topic that I don't feel qualified to teach, especially to adults. Because I don't really feel like an adult yet. But I secretly like teaching or speaking at church, because at least it's a learning experience for me. That sounds really selfish now that I've said it. But there you have it. Bear had some suggestions for me of course :)

Today was also testimony meeting and me and Bear started to realize most of the people weren't really bearing their testimony. I didn't want to be judgmental at all, but in my old ward in Nauvoo, a member of the Bishopric read this quote every month before the testimonies from Dallin H. Oaks:

"A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true. Such facts include the nature of the Godhead and our relationship to its three members, the effectiveness of the Atonement, and the reality of the Restoration.

A testimony of the gospel is not a travelogue, a health log, or an expression of love for family members. It is not a sermon. President Kimball taught that the moment we begin preaching to others, our testimony is ended."

You can read the rest of the talk by clicking HERE.

It didn't make our testimony meetings perfect of course, but it taught me a good lesson. Before I always felt like I needed a story or flowery wording to bear my testimony. I couldn't think of one, so I wouldn't go up to the pulpit. Now, I know that I just have to state simple principles and truths that I know to be true. No fluff added. It makes me happy. A new member of the church bore his simple testimony today. And that made me happy too. I hope it grows.

*******************************

On a funnier note, me and Bear are starting to realize the different families we were raised in. We have very different views on discipline. He was basically raised in a boy family, #3 of 5 boys. I was raised in a girl family. I've heard so many people say that they'd rather take raising a rambunctious boy over an emotional girl any day. I'm the opposite. I am one, and know how to handle one. I feel like I was made to be the mother of a bunch of daughters. But just watch and see. I'll end up with a bunch of boys as a learning experience.

And my new debit card is a MasterCard. I didn't realize it would automatically go to that. I just assumed that our account was Visa. When I talked to Bear about it, we kind of got in an argument about which was better: Visa or MasterCard. But when we tried to prove our arguments, we realized that the only reason was those were the ones our families had. We both remember seeing our dads pay with a Visa (in my case) or MasterCard (in his case). I even looked it up just now...there really is no difference between the two. Ah, marriage and realizing the silly things we hold on to.

Los Angeles Temple

I went to the Los Angeles Temple with the Relief Society sisters in my new ward on Thursday morning. It was the first time I'd been to this temple and it was a wonderful experience. It's huge and gorgeous! Definitely before "mini temples". It was kind of weird not having Bear there but it was a great opportunity to go. I want to make a goal of going to the temple once a month, which will be tricky because Bear works so much and then we're pretty far from the Washington D.C. Temple at school too. But I'm determined. I miss my teenage days of hopping on the train on a random night to go to the Tokyo Temple, or walking down the street to the Nauvoo Temple. The temple is a lovely grand place. We should all go. Because it makes people happy. I'm happy that I'm sealed to my family forever. It's a good feeling, especially now as my grandpa passed away recently. It's a learning experience every time I go. Why is that we take them for granted when they're right next to us? Temples. Temples. Temples. I love them.

The paragraph above has no structure because the temple makes a million emotions and thoughts run through my head. To sum it up, it was worth getting married in the temple. In my grandma's dress. (We've almost been married for a month! Gah)

Jane Eyre

I just finished reading Jane Eyre for the second time. The first time I read it was when I was 15. Even though it was after I watched the movie, I still had a really hard time understanding it. This time was much easier and I fell in love with it all over again. I wasn't able to watch the new movie when it came out in theaters, so I'm anxiously awaiting August. I couldn't stand the 1930's version and I couldn't even finish it, but I've seen two other versions. The problem is the movie is never good enough because the plot isn't the best part, it's the writing and dialogue. The ending gets me every time. The whole book is so beautiful and simply enchanting.

You may like this book if…you crave a strong female literary lead, you enjoy against-all-odds love stories, you like unexpected plot points, you enjoy the classic governess novel, you are familiar with competing models of Christianity, you like contemplating nature versus nurture, you are intrigued by mystic story elements, you enjoy witnessing a plain Jane’s romance

You may not like this book if… you had a horrible childhood and do not care to rehash these memories, you do not appreciate the author’s portrayal of the mentally ill as a shameful burden, you have a hard time falling head-over-heels for the arrogant and strange Rochester, you are deathly afraid of ghosts or fire Haha

It's a classic. You just have to read it. And it's not like Jane Austen or as dark and depressing as Wuthering Heights.

Anybody else got book recommendations for me?