on friday

i am so glad that we've finally reached the end of the week. the days were really dragging. i have been trying to cook more in general decided to jump into making some chicken. i am usually too lazy to cook meat but this looked pretty easy.



here are the results. i took the recipe from the new real simple cookbook dinner tonight! i quite like this cookbook. everything is really simple and unfussy, just how i like it. i don't have the recipe on hand to give you but it was really easy. throw some cut potatoes and carrots (or whatever veggies you have on hand) into a baking pan with some olive oil and salt and pepper. stick a lemon and thyme in the bird (i didn't have lemons so i threw in some garlic). rub the chicken with butter, salt and pepper. throw everything in the oven for 65-75 min. and then you get a lovely chicken dinner that looks like you spent a lot of time on it but didn't. i will definitely be doing this again with different veggies and seasonings.

i also made a batch of cookies last night. i saw them on the hostess with the mostess blog and couldn't resist. those colors were just too awesome not to try. link to recipe here though i've copied it below for you. check out the blog - it's full of fun stuff.



THE BEST FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES* (from hostess with mostess)
{*in my own humble opinion}
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 400º.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl & set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until mixed well. Add the dry ingredients in slowly & mix well. Chill for at least an hour to stiffen the dough. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin & cut shapes with cookie cutters OR form dough balls and flatten into thick circles with your hands.
Bake 8-10 mins or until just the edges of cookies start to turn a very, very light golden brown. Don’t over-bake. For an extra-doughy consistency, remove the cookies before the edges start to brown.
*****
FROSTING:
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 Tbsp milk
1 egg yolk (optional)
5-6 cups powdered sugar (thicken to desired consistency)
food coloring
Whisk butter, vanilla, milk and egg yolk together. Slowly mix in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. If it gets too thick, add more milk in very small amounts, about 1 tsp at a time.