Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 33

When justice isn’t about choosing sides

I’ve spent the past month reading everything I could about race relations in the United States—and specifically within our legal system—as well as the opinions of people on both “sides” of the current conversation about black men and the actions of law enforcement officers. I’ve shared some of my thoughts on Facebook but found, more often than not, that my posts were opening the door to comments that I knew were hurting my black friends. And so I stopped posting.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been working on this post, trying to clarify my thoughts to be able to share them but not really sure that I want to wade back into the conversation. In light of the horrific murder of two New York City police officers this weekend—Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu—I feel like it’s time to hit publish.

If I could, I would sit down with each of you individually, over a cup of coffee—or tea if you prefer—to have these conversations. That’s really the best place for them to be taking place, as written words can be interpreted in so many different ways and communicating with a computer between us can make the whole thing feel rather impersonal, to the point that it’s easy to forget that the person on the other end of these invisible waves is actually a real live human being with thoughts and feelings and experiences and beliefs of their own.

I can’t do that, but I’ve been mulling over the things I wish I could share in that type of setting and trying to figure out how to do that here.

We’re not in a coffee shop together, but I hope you’ll consider grabbing a hot cup of something and reading my words as if we were.

Imagine us sitting across the table from each other, looking one another in the eye and sharing our hearts.

***

There are a few things you should know about me to start.

The first is that my children are taught respect and love for law enforcement from the time they are tiny, not just because I believe it is a position that inherently deserves respect and honor but also because I am the proud granddaughter of the very first police chief in Morningside, MD, the proud daughter of a retired captain with the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office, and the proud future sister-in-law of an amazing, award winning police officer.

In general, I believe that law enforcement officers—like pastors and teachers—should be held to a higher standard based on the responsibilities of their positions. But I also believe that when an officer has to make a decision to shoot or use lethal force, he should be given the benefit of the doubt unless there is evidence suggesting otherwise (like in this case, or this one).

And most importantly, I believe that the men and women who put on the uniform each day deserve our respect, just by the virtue of that uniform. Our law enforcement officers regularly walk into situations you can’t even imagine, and while it’s a career, there’s no doubt that the officers—and their families—are also making sacrifices every day as they serve our communities.

***

You should also know that my best friend growing up was black, and I fondly remember days of hanging out with his family, walking to school with him and his brother, and spending the better part of 12 years together at a small, close knit private school. One of my closest friends today is biracial, the daughter of a black man and the mother of the sweetest boy I know. And my daughter’s best friend is also black.

I say this not to toot my own horn (because, honestly, I’ve been the lucky one in those relationships), but because it’s become obvious over the last few weeks that the closeness of these relationships has played a huge role in my willingness and ability to empathize with not only those I love but with the black community as a whole.

It’s harder to have empathy for something you don’t experience or understand when it doesn’t even affect the people you love, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying.

***

I’m sure it’s obvious by now where I want to take this conversation, but it’s not Michael Brown or Eric Garner I want to talk about. While the deaths of those men have sparked this conversation and ignited the hurt and anger that’s been lurking beneath the surface, the conversation we need to be having is not about the specific events in these cases. Oh, I know that’s where the media wants us to focus, and I know it seems like arguing the merits of each case will somehow provide all the answers.

But it won’t. The conversation we need to have is much bigger.

It’s about a shared narrative across the black community. One that affects rich and poor families, two parent and single parent families, black men young and old.

It’s the story of how a black man can anticipate being pulled over just based on the neighborhood he’s in, even when he’s obeying all laws. It’s the story of black women being stopped while jogging through the “wrong” neighborhood. It’s one where families teach their black children a long list of rules, not based on honor or respect—which many of them are doing separately—but based on experience and fear. Where white women are asked if they’re okay when they’re seen with a black man. Where black men are more likely than their white neighbors to serve jail time for the same crime.

And this is different than the racism a white person might experience from black people in their neighborhood or school because it’s coming from the top, through the justice and legal system, from people in authority.

***

The conversation over the past month seems to have taken on an “us versus them” tone. If you support the black community and think these conversations are important, you don’t support law enforcement. If you think #blacklivesmatter, you’re somehow minimizing the worth of other lives. And it goes both ways: if you support law enforcement, you must not care about your black brothers and sisters.

I need you to know that supporting our law enforcement officers and empathizing with the black community are not mutually exclusive. Whenever we feel like we have to dismiss an entire group of people in order to support another, we’re contributing to the injustice rather than helping overcome it.

Are police shootings of black men racially motivated? I am not sure that’s a question anyone other than the officers involved in each shooting can answer (and even then, there may be subconscious bias at play). But as long as you are more likely to be stopped or charged with a crime based on the color of your skin, there is a problem.

Are all police officers corrupt, dishonest or racist? No, not by a long shot. Making assumptions about law enforcement officers as a whole based on the actions of a few is as much of an injustice. Perpetuating violence against those officers doesn’t achieve justice or further the conversation; it just widens the divide. Murdering them is an act of cowardice.

But injustice doesn’t end when we turn a blind eye, and while it’s uncomfortable to address it and demand change, that is the only way that change actually happens.

That’s why I have shared the words of those who are more eloquent than I am and who have experienced these things first hand. It’s also why I’m participating with the Cookies for a Cop campaign to let our local officers know that they are respected and appreciated.

I don’t know what the solution or answer is moving forward, but I do know it starts with dialogue and respect.

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


When justice isn’t about choosing sides

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Easy pompom ornament craft {101 Days of Christmas}

After the success of our pony bead candy canes, I’ve been reminding myself that simple crafts really are the most fun for my girls, and these pompom ornaments definitely fit the bill.

Use cardboard from cereal boxes or other food packages as the base for these, add a little glue and some fuzzy pompom balls, and you’re set! Older kids can cut their own shapes, while little ones might need a little help with the glue, but either way it’s a simple but fun project that results in a cute ornament to hang on the tree or give to the grandparents!

Supplies:

thin cardboard white school glue pompoms ribbon

Directions:

Cut out the shape of your choice from cardboard. You could do a triangle tree, a star, a circle (like a ball ornament), a candy cane or a gingerbread man. Trace a cookie cutter for some of the harder designs!

Loop the ribbon and glue it in place at the top. Glue a pompom on top of the ribbon and continue adding them until the whole shape is covered.

Set flat to dry completely before hanging on the tree.

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today




© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

   

Placing a World Vision Gift Catalog order {101 Days of Christmas}

The girls raised an even $120 from their hot cocoa stand (thanks to many generous donations!), and I have to say that this whole experience has been really amazing.

It was really important to me that the girls—who came up with this idea on their own—be part of this process. They helped brainstorm toppings, spread the word, collect money and hand out cups of hot cocoa. We also sold instant hot cocoa packets, and we spent one evening assembling those together.

After the World Vision Gift Catalog came in October, we decided that it made the most sense to hold the hot cocoa stand at my mom’s house, since she has an actual neighborhood. The girls excitedly prepped their friends all week so that by the time we were actually ready, we had a caravan of almost 10 kids following our little green wagon, which was loaded with hot cocoa, cups, straws and various toppings. One of the little boys across the street was so sweet, buying candy canes and hot cocoa for everyone in the neighborhood and happily plinking all of his coins into our donation jar.

If we had simply sold cups of hot cocoa, chances are we would have only raised $20 or so, but the neighbors and our visiting family were exceptionally generous, giving extra dollars and, in one case, even writing us a check. The next morning I was excited to tell the girls that two of my fellow bloggers and friends had also made donations via Paypal while they slept!

Altogether, we ended up raising $120, exceeding our goal by $20. Our 8-year-old sat down and paged through the gift catalog for the umpteenth time, making a list of all of the things we could potentially buy. As an avid cyclist herself, she really wanted to buy a bicycle to help a girl get to and from school safely, but her sisters wanted to stick with the original plan of farm animals.

They settled on this set of 13 farm animals, including 10 ducks, 2 chickens and a rabbit for $114. (We dropped the remaining $6 in a Salvation Army red kettle!)

After we got back from North Carolina, we headed to the bank to deposit our jar of money, and then we pulled up WorldVisionGifts.org on the computer to order the animals together.

I really wasn’t sure how to make this process meaningful for them since they wouldn’t be able to actually touch or donate the animals, but the World Vision site has videos to go with each donation, and the girls excitedly clicked through to find the set they were ordering and watched the video to learn how it would make a difference for families around the world.

This may be my new favorite Christmas tradition. Logging on to order the animals as a family (which I know many families do) is really special by itself—and I’d love to set aside a portion of our budget each year at Christmas (or even each month!) to do this—but raising the money themselves made even more of an impact on them.

P.S. We’re still raising money for farm animals here at Life Your Way. Thanks to the generosity of ePantry, we’ve raised $435 so far. I don’t think we’re going to hit our goal of $2,362, but I’d love your help in getting closer. You can head here to join our team and donate any amount today!

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Placing a World Vision Gift Catalog order {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Handmade Christmas bows {101 Days of Christmas}

My mom has been making handmade bows for as long as I can remember—bows for the tree and banister, bows for packages, bows for wreaths. When we were at her house at Thanksgiving, I decided to snap some pictures of the process so I could share them with you as well!

Supplies:

wired ribbon in 2-4 different colors/patterns* floral wire

*The width of your ribbon will help determine the size of your bow. This ribbon was 2″ wide and made fairly big bows, but you could do the same thing with thin ribbon to make small bows for gifts or ornaments.

Directions:

Layer the ends of your ribbon together, making sure they’re all facing the same direction (especially important for ribbon with a “right” and “wrong” side).

Leaving 3-4″ extra ribbon at the beginning, begin folding the ribbon back and forth. Note: In the second image we wrapped wire around the first couple of loops just to be able to show you how they were layered; you don’t need to do that just yet.

Continue folding the ribbon back and forth until you’ve used the whole spool or you’re satisfied with the number of loops (at least 5-6 on each side).

Tightly twist floral wire around the middle of the loops to hold them in place.

Take the top ribbon from the end you left as extra in the beginning and it loop it over the wires. Thread the wire back through again, twisting it tightly to hold the loop in place.

Begin separating and fluffing all of the individual ribbon loops, spreading them out as you go.

Once you’re happy with the shape of the bow, attach it to your tree, banister or gift!

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Handmade Christmas bows {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Weekend reading: December 20, 2014

From Instagram: Making madeleines all by herself for her AHG “Christmas Around the World” party. {Yes, with stacks of laundry to keep her company. #keepingitreal}

Let the Christmas celebration officially begin!

This weekend we’re heading to Sean’s aunt’s house (as we do every year) to celebrate with his mom’s side of the family. Then we’ll continue bake-bake-baking as we prepare for our Cookies for a Cop drop off on Monday. We’re excited to add that stop to our annual sibling gift exchange-Christmas light drive-cookie delivery day (probably my most favorite day of the Christmas season!). This year we’ll also be stopping at our local Sonic because  Sonic shakes are a rare treat for our family of 7, and it’s hard to turn down half-price shakes!

Having a 10 year old this Christmas has been amazing. It has been an overly busy, sick, stressful couple of weeks, but being able to turn her loose in the kitchen (which she very much enjoys!) has made for some sweet moments together. It’s also made it easier to let her sisters help with things like scooping cookies or pressing Hershey kisses on top of the peanut blossoms since she’s getting the dough ready for us, so everybody is happy.

What I’m reading: Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty and The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

What I’m cooking {for Christmas day}: maple biscuits, breakfast casserole, wassail, savory cheese ball, easy Maryland crab dip

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

The perfect holiday

It’s December, What Can You Stop Doing This Christmas? | Shalom Mama


Rethinking the Perfect Holiday | Momastery


Good Enough | Andrea Dekker

Plans for 2015

Inviting our children to live with intention in 2015 | The Art of Simple


2014 Annual Review: This Updated Free Tool Will Help You Plan Your Whole Life (Seriously) | Chris Guillebeau

Taking care of yourself

I Came Undone: One Woman’s Horrifyingly Real Experience with Burnout | Elle


5 Ways to Find More Energy When You’ve Hit the Wall | Nurtured Mama


Fighting Holiday Food Temptation? Try These 13 Tips. | Gretchen Rubin

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Make 2015 your best year yet!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Weekend reading: December 20, 2014

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Bacon & egg breakfast casserole {101 Days of Christmas}

I’ve shared this recipe before, but it’s worth sharing again!

We’ve tried many different Christmas morning breakfast options over the years, never really finding one we loved…until this one. Now it has been a staple for the past few years (and this year we’re adding maple chip biscuits, yum!). It’s easy enough that my girls can throw it together, and it can even be put together several days in advance and frozen. Just move it to the fridge the day before you’re planning to serve it.

We like this recipe just as it’s written, but you could also substitute ham or ground sausage or even add veggies to the mix if you wanted.

Ingredients:

1 pound bacon
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
6 slices white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook bacon and drain well.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in milk, salt and mustard. Add bread cubes, cheese and bacon.

Pour in a 9″x13″ baking dish and cover.

Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, pull the casserole out of the refrigerator and let stand for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

Click here to add this recipe to your Plan to Eat account.

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Bacon & egg breakfast casserole {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Mexican wedding cookies {101 Days of Christmas}

These little cookies go by many names—Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, walnut snowballs, etc. The Mexican version, also called polvoróns, are made with finely chopped pecans, and the result is a soft, crumbly cookie.

My grandmother always made walnut snowballs when I was little, but the girls and I decided to try this version to take as a Mexican dessert for their “Christmas Around the World” party with their American Heritage Girls troop.

The list of ingredients for these cookies is small (one of the hallmarks of a great Christmas cookie, in my opinion!), making it a perfect recipe to make with kids. My 5-year-old helped prepare the dough, while the 7- and 8-year-olds shaped the cookies with a melon baller.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Add flour and nuts and stir until combined.

Form 1″ balls of dough (a melon baller works perfectly!) and place on a cookie sheet 1″ apart.

Bake for 14-15 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned.

Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Roll the cookies in remaining confectioner’s sugar until coated and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Mexican wedding cookies {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Live :: Creating a life you love. {Monthly payment options now available!}

Last month I announced the upcoming launch of LIVE, a brand new 12-month course here at Life Your Way.

Each month in 2015, we’ll explore one theme relating to a fulfilling life. There are a lot of exciting features of this course: things like ad-free content available online and offline, a private Facebook group, videos, podcasts and printables. Plus wisdom and encouragement from 12 amazing writers—bloggers and authors like Tsh Oxenreider, Crystal Paine, Meagan Francis…and on and on and on!

For this course, we’re offering two payment options: an discounted payment for the full year upfront or 12 monthly payments.

But it gets better! Through the end of 2014, you can register at our special price of $17 per month AND your first payment won’t come out of your account until January 1st when the course launches!

Click here to learn more, or register today using the buttons below. You are worth investing in!

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Live :: Creating a life you love. {Monthly payment options now available!}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Felt pennant banner {101 Days of Christmas}

I have a thing for banners. They’re such a happy, easy way to dress up a window, mantle, shelf or…piano, and there are so many easy options.

I especially like this felt banner because it’s extremely forgiving. I didn’t use a template for my pieces and they are definitely not perfect, but it still looks festive and fun!

Supplies:

felt in various colors
ribbon, twine or string
hot glue

Directions:

Cut diamonds from your felt. The easiest way I found to do this was to fold over 2-3″ of the felt on the widest side and cut triangles through both layers. This ensures that both halves of the diamond are (roughly) the same size, and the fold also helps keep the lengths of each piece (somewhat) uniform.

Lay a diamond under the ribbon, twine or string. Add hot glue to one half of the diamond and fold the other half over the string, lining up the edges of both halves before pressing them together. Repeat until you run out of felt pieces or string!

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Felt pennant banner {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Tips & tricks for perfect candy cane cookies {101 Days of Christmas}

These candy cane cookies are a staple of our Christmas celebration (although, if I’m honest, I end up eating most of them myself!).

Every time I share a picture of them on social media, though, people ask questions or share their stories of failed cookies. Since this is the one “impressive” thing I can do in the kitchen pretty much without fail, this year I’m sharing my best tips and tricks for perfect candy cane cookies.

First, the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup confectioners sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract red liquid food coloring

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk flour and salt together.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla extract and almond extract. Slowly add flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Divide the dough in half and add the food coloring to half, mixing well.

Pinch off a small ball of dough from each color and roll them each out into a 4-5″ long rope. Set the ropes side by side and carefully twist them together, bending one end to form the hook of the candy cane.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until they are just starting to brown. Let cool on cookie sheet and then store in an airtight container.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Click here to add this recipe to your Plan to Eat account.

If I was a good blogger, I would have waited until morning and taken this picture in better light, but I wanted to eat the cookies, so this will have to do!

Tips & Tricks

Butter: I rarely use softened butter for ANY recipe because I’m just not that prepared. Instead, I toss the cold sticks of butter right in the mixer bowl with the other ingredients, turn it on high and let the mixer soften it for me.

Refrigerating: It’s very important that you refrigerate this dough before forming the candy canes. Starting with cold dough helps it keep its shape even as you’re rolling it out. If your kitchen is warm (ours is definitely not!), you may need to pull just a little from the fridge at a time. I tested two batches to see if putting the formed cookies back in the fridge before baking made a difference, and it really didn’t. However, if your kitchen is warm, you may want to make only a few at a time and refrigerate the tray of cookies while you’re preparing the rest.

Spreading: These cookies should not spread, as evidenced by how closely I packed them on my baking stone in the top picture. If yours are spreading, chances are the dough is not staying cold enough, which allows the butter to melt before they bake.

Adding liquid food coloring: My homemade food coloring is not as vibrant as red 40, which means I had to use more than a teaspoon. To compensate, I added an extra tablespoon of flour to the red dough.

Crumbly dough: If your dough seems crumbly after you add the flour, just keep on mixing until it all comes together in a smooth dough.

Sticky dough: I’ve never had this happen when following this recipe exactly, but if you end up with sticky dough, try adding a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s smooth. Keep in mind that it will get less sticky once refrigerated, but you still want it to be pliable rather than sticky before you wrap it up.

To form the cookies: Pinch off a teaspoon-sized ball of dough from each color. (Note: the exact amount of dough isn’t as important as using the same size for each piece!) Roll it under your hand on a piece of parchment paper or cutting board to form a long robe. Twist two robes together gently. I like to make smaller cookies because they’re less likely to break, but I have to fight the temptation to make longer ropes each and every time. I always twist the ropes together a couple of extra times to give them a nice shape. Your dough should be pliable enough to twist them together really well!

Baking: Bake for 8-10 minutes. I like to pull mine out when they look dry but have not yet started to brown.

Have you made these cookies? Do you have any other questions about how they’re made?

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Tips & tricks for perfect candy cane cookies {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

      CommentsI always fail horribly at these cookies! They end up like giant ... by Krissy @ Mommymisc.com