Jerusalem Jackson Greer's Blog, page 25

tribal

(picture by Jemimah)

These are my siblings.They are my original tribe.I adore them individually and together.Together has been hard at times, as, despite our nerd glasses, we are all very, very different.For instance, both my sisters made their "wacky faces" attractive. Mine is just wacky.So there is that.But I love them all the same. Or more for it.For the first time in a decade we all live in relatively close proximity to each other.I don't know how long it will last, but for now I am soaking it up.
++++++

The past few days I have been in Denver at the Christianity 21 Conference, with another branch of my tribe. I know posting has been a little hit or miss around here lately, but I have designs on fixing that after this weekend.
This trip was a big leap for me in quite a few ways, and I hope to be able to unpack what I have learned and gained and left here in the next week or so.

For now please know that I am grateful for each of you.
Thank you for showing up, over and over.

Much love,
J

Sunday's Song - for Epiphany

Glourisous now behold Him ariseKing and God and SacrificeAlleluia. AlleluiaEarth to heav'n replies
O Star of wonder, star of nightStar with royal beauty brightWestward leading, still proceedingGuide us to Thy perfect light.
(from We Three Kings)

Five on Friday -Links I love

One of my little goals for 2014 is to see if this blog can be viable. This goal was not born out of dissatisfaction for how things are - and this is important, because for me NOTHING goes right when I am motivated by jealousy or greed or self-pity or even competition - but out of excitement about how things seem to be going, and could go, if I was slightly more intentional about how things run around here. There seem to be some doors cracking open, and instead of sitting on my hands, safe and timid, I am going to be brave and take some risk. This may be a big ole flop, and in a year I may be back to the way the things were. But some things you just have to try, and building this little platform up a bit is something I need to try.

So to that end I am going to start some regular features and I am going to begin offering sponsorship ads later this month (yikes!) 
The first new regular feature is going to be Five on Fridays - Links I love and will highlight 5 favorite links from the previous week. Links that highlight my favorite finds of the good, the beautiful, the messy, the redemptive. Sometimes there will be a unifying thread between the links, and sometimes it will just be whatever strikes my fancy.
This week I am linking to things All About New Beginnings for a New Year
Alison's story about a long time goal is so good, and such a good reminder to those parts of my heart that can feel a little weary of holding out hope."But sometimes a dream has to take a backseat to other parts of our lives. We have children to raise or a loved one to care for. We have debts to pay off or a new roof to buy. But if we keep writing them down, saying them out loud and asking if this is the year, then one day, like beauty from ashes, a buried dream can rise."
Laura's story about the walls coming down"I know all too well that circumstances and soul are not often in sync. Leaving my heart on the table has made me feel more balanced, whoever would have thought that? My insides more closely resemble my outsides and I’ve tried extra hard to make myself feel everything."
Megan's story about frustration and growth"I spent most of the end of 2013 in a state of constant, frustrated disappointment with myself. No amount of grace-giving and gentle encouragement from family and friends could ease the frustrations that kept surfacing. In many ways, it was in those closing months of that difficult, painful year that I began to long and ache and dream to be fully out of survival mode, but no matter what, I couldn't seem to translate that longing into action."

This. What a great set of goals for the new year in regards to our eating habits.Not crazy over the top, nothing knee jerk here. Just simple, sustainable habits.Love this article on the history of these posters.
The Episcopal Church on Twitter is one of the most comforting and uplifting things to be found on Social Media, and following them -regardless of whether you are Episcopal or Baptist or Pentecostal or whatever- could be a wonderful start to your new year. Miles and I particularly love their evening prayers and often he will not go to sleep till I have shared the latest one with him. Here is recent favorite:  Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer/The Episcopal Church)

Just for kicks-Most Popular Post Around Here this week: Dyson Hand-held vacuum giveaway!!
Cheers and blessings for the New Year!J

Here's to a Tidy New Year {and a GIVEAWAY!}

*This is a featured post in association with Argos.co.uk. All opinions are my own.*


A new year is upon us, and with it comes all sorts of plans and promises. All sorts of renewed dedication and inspiration.In general I don't make New Year's Resolutions.Instead I look for a word, a word that will be my touchstone for the year. My mantra when I lose my way, as I will inevitably do.But in addition to this wordy tradition, this year I am going to make some resolutions. (I know, I know. What am I getting myself into? Don't I know better?) Coming out of thick, murky, sometimes delightful, fog that was 2013, I feel a strong need to start this year off with some intentionality. With some - wait for it - goals. Oh dear.
But this post isn't about my goals. It's about the opposite.One of my not-goals. Or rather things that will probably remain pretty much the same.For instance, in 2014 it is NOT a goal of mine to have a cleaner house.Aren't you relieved? The truth is this - I don't love to clean. I like to straighten and I like for things to be clean, but in no way does cleaning -shallow or deep- do It for me. 
But yet, we can't just live in filth.Things must be cleaned. Remember, I do like a clean house, I am just not moved by any sort of deep moral or clinical inertia to bring it to fruition. For me, cleaning is simply a chore. Like taking out the trash, paying the mortgage, going to the dentist. It's just part of life. Which is why when I am always excited to find something that makes the cleaning the least bit easier, or more enjoyable (Mrs. Meyer's cleaning spray in Orange Clove is enough to make want to clean the kitchen counters every five minutes,) or less odious.


Which is where the Dyson DC34 Hand-held Vacuum comes into the picture ( you can learn more about it's features

As a person old enough to remember the invention of the Dust Buster, I am also old enough to remember the destruction that a busy, creative family could do to a poor unsuspecting Dust Buster in it's prime. For instance, not knowing when the bag was full, or when too much dog hair and glitter was clogging up the works, or when perhaps a Lego head had been accidentally sucked up in a cleaning rampage, could cause much trauma and drama, not to mention killing the poor little appliance.But the Dyson's handy little see-through trash bin with the clearly labeled MAX marks is very helpful - both for knowing when to dump the bin, and when to rescue a lost Lego.

Another great feature of this hand-held vacuum is the "cool feature." As in "hey momma that looks cool! Can I use it?"To which my answer is ALWAYS yes!Yes, you can clean up the dog food all over the kitchen floor!Yes, you can clean up the sand you spilled out of your lizards cage!Yes, you can clean up the broken candy cane pieces from the coffee table! Yes, yes, yes!


So far we have not found any substance that has stumped this badboy, and it has come in handy when doing a quick pre-party guest clean-up, hitting weird corners behind the couch, and cleaning up-post craft explosion.
The only drawback has been that I haven't found the perfect place to store it  yet- I do wish it came with a wall holster -  so that it can remain charging when not in use, and still be easily accessible to all of us, but other than that  we have been exceedingly pleased with our little Dyson.
But this isn't just good news for me.
This is good news for you too!
One lucky reader is going to get to win their very own Dyson Hand-held vacuum!
To enter the giveaway, just follow all the links in the rafflecopter below and make sure to notice the terms and conditions.



If you want to learn more about Dyson products like this one, you can visit  

a Rafflecopter giveawayTerms and conditions:
By participating in this prize draw you are deemed to accept these terms and conditions.
Prize draw open to customers and non-customers aged 18 or over who are US residents. Draw is not open to employees of Argos, their families or anyone associated with this draw. Proof of eligibility must be provided on request.
The prize is Dyson Root Cyclone™ includes postage to winners’ US addresses. Promotion runs from 1/2/2013 and all entries must be received by 11.59pm on  1/12/13 latest.
Winners will be drawn at random at the end of the promotion.
The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative. The promoter’s decision is final in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into. The promoter reserves the right (a) to add to or waive any rules on reasonable notice (b) cancel or postpone the promotion at any stage in the event of circumstances beyond its reasonable control; or (c) in its reasonable discretion to substitute a prize of equal or greater value.
If a prize remains unclaimed after reasonable efforts have been made to contact the winner the promoter will be entitled to dispose of the prize as it sees fit without any liability to the winner for having done so.
The promoter reserves the right to alter, amend or foreclose the promotion without prior notice.  

putting it to bed

This past year was filled with beauty.And each bit of that beauty was hard fought for. It was a year of dreams fulfilled and hearts broken and messes made and faith chosen.
Looking through my blog post for the past 12 months, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all the people who love me well, for all the experiences I have been blessed to have, and for all the memories that I have had the chance to make. But it was still a hard year. There is no glossing that over.
In many ways 2013 was a year spent recovering from 2012. 2012  was a dozy. Reading the blog post from that year is a little bit like riding a roller coaster (- take my advice, grab the Dramamine before revisiting.)I walked into 2013 barely on two feet, still a little shell shocked from all that 2012 had unleashed.There was much celebration and laughter this year - and many tears, and questions, and road blocks.From the Book to all the speaking and promoting, to my Grandaddy's passing, to the addition of a part-time child - it has been a year of taking things as they come, with very little preparation. There were warnings and pep talks, and those who have traveled these roads before me did what they could to help, but some things just have to be experienced first-hand in order to be known.
I  feel as if I experienced most of 2013 in a  survival-esque trance.I worked hard at being present to the moment at hand as much as possible- stolen time-outs with Sweet Man,  gatherings of friends and family, baking or creating or reading with the kids- soaking up joy and laughter and lightness of heart whenever and wherever I found it. I tried to do my best to take care of my family and help with my extended family- doing what needed to be done at each turn, helping to relieve what burdens I could of my Grandaddy's passing and my Nana's transition into widowhood.I did what I could to promote my little book, launching it out into the world, praying it would find it's way into the hands and hearts of anyone who might need a little inspiration, a morsel of encouragement, a bit of hope. I said yes to each offer to promote the book, learning the hard way what works for me and what doesn't.And through it all, I constantly fought to get myself back into some semblance of an Right-Side-Up position.
Now that Christmas has passed, and the pains of labor have done their job and brought us the gift of new life,  I am being swept up once again in that blessed promise that joy comes in the morning. I am reveling in the quiet that fills my house on the cold winter mornings in this week before school starts, storing up the silence and peace like a squirrel hoarding nuts before a blizzard. And I am saying my goodbyes to things done and things left undone this year, and I am leaving them where they lie. I am laying down all that 2013 was and wasn't. I am putting it to bed. 
And I am welcoming the brave new year, with my arms spread open, my hands held high, feet dancing on the kitchen floor, with faith, and hope, and love, buried deep within.
God bless the broken boat that brings us back.(Jason Isbell)Happy New Year friends.J

A different kind of Christmas Eve, and all the same

Christmas Eve was my Grandaddy's day. He did Christmas Eve up big. From his red cardigan, to the mountain of gifts under the tree, to his reciting of a favorite childhood poem, Jest 'Fore Christmas, and leading us all in a round or two of Christmas hymns, he loved it all, and his love and joy for this holy night was infectious.But of all the traditions, the one I will miss most, is hearing him recite Luke 2 from memory, his voice carrying us all away with it's mixture of belief and awe, as he told us the most wonderful, beautiful story of all.
Merry Christmas friends.I pray that comfort and joy find you right where you are - in whatever is different and in whatever is the same - this Christmas. May you be filled with belief and awe and wrapped in love.J

It's a Very Merry Homemade Year Christmas!

Jessica over at The Mac's is giving away a copy A Homemade Year! Go check out her adorable Advent Calendar, felt Nativity scene and tree and learn more about the giveaway - it's a wonderful little Christmas treat for you or someone you love.




Also guess what is $2.99? The Kindle version of A Homemade Year! Go order a few copies for those last few people on your shopping list, especially those far away. Easy peasy.


Writing about True Gifts and Christmas Morning Treats over at Arkansas Women Bloggers...When I was less than a year old, my father left the U.S. Air Force in order to finish his college education and then to attend seminary. As far back as I can remember, my father has been a Southern Baptist pastor in some capacity, and during my middle childhood years, it was his only vocation; but at heart he is an introverted poet, scholar, and musician, and he never sought the role of senior pastor of a mega-church, never climbed the church leadership ladder. This also meant that our bank account did not climb any ladders, either. For herself, my mother chose to be a stay-at-home mother as her vocation, homeschooling all four of us for a large chunk of our education and creating an amazing environment for creativity. But even though this was what she wanted, what she chose—it was still work, and even though she wasn’t bringing in a paycheck, she still had financial responsibilities. So, the task to find ways to stretch one paycheck as far and as wide as the Atlantic Ocean fell to her...
Read more 

We have hit the road for our great Holiday Grand Tour. First to Louisiana to see the in-laws and then on to Arkadelphia (yes that is a real place) to see my family. This holiday has been the strangest thus far, and I am grateful now more than ever for the steadfast love of our families, and the traditions we have all created together. I will probably be a little scare around the interwebs for the next week as I soak up all the love and peace that surrounds me, fold into the rest that is offered, and breathe deeply the hope that is coming.
Wishing you tidings of great comfort and joy this week my friends.Blessings and love to you and yours,J

in the dark street shines: a holiday weekend recap

*the Zens 20th Year Reunion*
Y'all last week was a booger. It was hard, and stressful, and there were a few times when I thought I might just lose IT at long last.  That I might just finally come completely undone once and for all.More than once I played Sara Groves song, Peace, Peace , singing along with these lyrics, tears in my eyes. 
Peace, peace, it's hard to find
Doubt comes like a tiny voice that's so unkind
And all your fears
They conspire to unwind you

My fears, my doubt, my insecurities, they were doing a bang up job of unwinding me. All the questions that I cannot see the answers to, all the problem that I want solutions for NOW. They were an avalanche that would not stop crashing in on me.
And in your dark street shines
An everlasting light
And all your hopes and fears
Are met in Him tonight
But then the weekend came and I went away with some very old and dear friends, and that little light in the dark street begin to shine a little brighter, hope at not abandoned me after all. I basked in the laughter, and ease of 20 years of friendship, and in freedom of just being myself of 24 hours and not fulfilling any roles of duty. 20 years since our first Christmas gathering (which you can read about in AHY), and here we all were (one via Skype from overseas) together again. In their presence I felt as carefree as I did all those years ago as a college freshman, I saw a bit of the girl I was, the girl who is still inside, who occasional gets buried deep beneath To-Do List and Raising Kids and Doing Laundry. It was so good to hang out with her again.

*St. Nicholas visiting our church potluck.*
Sunday was our big Alternative Gift Fair and Potluck Brunch at church.
I love our church. It is nothing like what I would have thought I wanted a decade ago, but God works in mysterious ways, and for this gift of a church I am so very grateful.

Sunday was also our St. Nicholas celebration (a week later than planned due to our winter weather last weekend,) and it was big fun for all of us to visit with St. Nick.
 I wish we had started the St. Nicholas tradition instead of Santa Claus when the kids were little. I think it is the perfect answer to the Santa/No Santa debate.
The more I have studied liturgical traditions, the sadder I am for how much heritage and wisdom has been lost to Christians in Evangelical churches. All too often the baby was thrown out with the bath water, resulting in great divisions and misunderstandings over things that could have aided families in incorporating faith in their homes so easily.
Like the whole Santa debate. Here is the perfect solution - one rooted in faith- that could be enjoyed by all Christians. Santa doesn't have to compete with Christ, but yet there is still a way to enjoy the tradition during the season.
(Sigh. I think we have hit upon my soap box.)



*feliz navidad banner in progress"
I also did a little banner making Sunday night for a friend with Love Actually playing in the background. Some people craft to music. I craft to movies.  I don't remember the last banner I made, which is so odd because it used to be ALL I DID. BANNERS and more BANNERS.I have to say it was fun and highly therapeutic. Special K stays in my craft room now so I don't get very much alone time to craft, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until last night. Crafting with the kids is fun, but it isn't the same. I can't get lost in thought the same way I can when it is just me and the paper and the glue. When I am able to play with all the pieces, change my mind, and try new ideas, I am able to leave all the other stresses of my life behind and just have fun. I think 2014 is going to involve resolving this issue. Momma needs to get her craft on.
*this years make-shift advent wreath*
Last night we ate amazing BLT sandwiches ala Sweet Man, and celebrated the third week in Advent. We used the readings in   A Homemade Year as our guide (okay, I know I wrote the book, but dang it comes in handy,) and everyone participated by reading, lighting or praying. We focused on John the Baptist preparing the way,and how we can spread joy, being Christ hands and feet on earth, through prayer, strength, and love. We prayed and gave thanks for all those who go into the places and love on the people that no one else will. We prayed that we would have that same tenderness and humility.
Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. Mother Teresa

The light is shining a bit brighter, and we are getting closer.Christmas is coming.Wishing you all much love this week.J

Making-Do Christmas

It occurs to me now, sitting here, that the lyrics "tidings of comfort and joy" - the very lyric I have honed in on like a heat seeking missile this season- tells me two things.
First it tells me that we need comfort, which must mean that something is wrong. Something is broken, hurt, wounded, sad. Otherwise, why would we need comfort?
And secondly, that after comfort is joy.
Which seems like a funny thing to offer to someone who is suffering and in need of comfort.
But there they are, together like peas in a pod:
Comfort and Joy.
And I cannot get away from them.

If you have ever visited this little online space of mine at Christmastime before,  you may notice that few things are different around here this year. That there doesn't seem to be the usual flocking of the blog and tinseling of the post.
And yes, you would be right.
There is a lot that is different this year.

I do believe that 2013 will go down in history as the Advent, the Christmas, of Making-Do.
Things have not gone as exactly as planned the past few weeks.
Starting with our wonderful - but long and tiring- vacation cutting into the first weekend of Advent, followed by a crazy work week, followed by a four day weekend being snowed/iced in, followed by an almost week long bed ridden Sweet Man do to an injury.
An injury that has prevented him from getting all of our Christmas down from the attic and putting all the non-Christmas back up.
Now usually under these circumstances I would have called in the troops - the brothers and brother-in-law- to come and help me make merry, hauling my dozen or so bins from the attic.
But here is the other side of the coin.
We are leaving for Louisiana - where my in-laws now live -in 8 days. Which is where we will stay until Christmas, which will be followed by the boys and I going on a visit to my parents for 5 days.
And the more I thought about it, the more it all started to seem like a lot of work for very little enjoyment.
It started to feel forced.
And it was then that I had to choose.
I had to choose crazy or I had to choose Christmas.
Friends, I am doing my very best to choose Christmas.

And this year that means that I am making-do.
I am making do with too little time, and not enough rest, and broken plans, and unmet expectations.
I am making do with an injured husband, and a tighter budget, and lots of questions.
I am making do with what I have, where I have, how I have it.
I am making do in a new world. One where my Grandaddy doesn't live anymore. Where my grandparents home for 39 years -every year of my life - will be someone else's soon.
Where the same traditions that have gone on in that home for those 39 years have suddenly ceased, without any care for what has always been.

This holiday season has been weird and different from the word go. Nothing is as it usually is or how I would choose for it to be, and yet Christmas is still coming, the same as always.

So I am choosing - daily, moment by moment, (because thinking of it as a whole would send me to bed for a month) to live out what I say I believe.
To open my hands to what is.
To go slower.
To make do with what I have.

This year, instead of hauling out the buckets of my beloved decorations, I decided to use what I had on hand. I have used items leftover from Advent Events for the book, the ornaments I rescued from my grandparents house before the estate sale, a few ornaments I had already purchased, a small fledgling cedar tree growing in our driveway, and anything red or plaid or gingham that I could scrounge up from my closets, the boys rooms, and the bottom of the china hutch. As The Nester would say, I "shopped my own house."

I threw mini-pompom fringe on everything, broke out tons of candles, sprung for 3 new strands of twinkle lights (which immediately make it feel like Christmas) and a fresh wreath from the grocery store for the door, and called it good.

This year we have a chalkboard Christmas tree, a granny square mobile, and a chalkboard Advent Calendar where we are filling in the dates instead of marking them out. We have an Advent wreath made of votive candle holders on a cake pedestal, yarn pom-poms everywhere and our Nativity set, (which somehow never makes it to the attic thankfully) sitting and waiting. I keep a steady rotation of Christmas tunes and Christmas movies flowing, and we have had more than our fill of eggnog.
We are making do - and making lovely - right where we are.

But still, I cannot pretend that this has all been easy. While there has been some relief it taking this slower approach,  while there has been excitement in stretching my creative muscle in taking what we have and turning it into Christmas, and while I have found unexpected beauty in keeping things simple, I would be lying if I said that this making-do has made everything better.
Loss and grief  pay their visits to me more now than ever, reminding me of what was and what will no longer be.
I feel as if by losing my grandfather, and by proxy some family traditions, another layer of my childhood has been stripped away.
I have entered a new phase of my adultness, and I am not quite comfortable in this new skin.
But Christmas is still coming.
Advent is still moving along, day by day, traveling towards Noel, just as Mary and Joseph moved step by step to Bethlehem.
And I remember that the first Christmas wasn't really Christmas at all.
It was birth. It was mess, and pain, and inescapable and inconvenient.
And it was miraculous.

And so I will continue to choose to settle into this season,  smack dab at the crossroads of both the beauty and mess - even when it often seems as is the mess is winning hands down- and live in the midst of the heartache, and disappointments, and the bittersweet, and the making-do and accept with open hands, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

Because Christmas is coming.
And I don't want to miss it.

peace, peace-
J

Snow Day Cookies

For the past four days we have all been home together weathering a snow/ice storm.  Blessedly it was not a bad storm and no one we know lost power (which is a huge problem in our area during any sort of severe weather. We live in the land of Many Trees.) Even though we had barely returned to school from Thanksgiving break, this unexpected break saved my sanity on so many levels. Primarily it gave me the chance to get the house back into a manageable condition post-vacation, and it gave us the chance to enter into Advent with some baking and decorating.



This year we are not getting down our usual decorations for several reasons (more on that to come) and we are instead we are learning how to make-do and make lovely using what we have on hand. One of the very first areas I decorated was our Baking Center. I have done this for several years and it really makes all the holiday making and baking so much easier in our little cottage kitchen. 

To do this, I turned our breakfast table longways and pushed it up against the window. Then I got out all sorts of baking goodies- peppermints, chocolate chips, cookie cutters etc, and put them in cute jars with cute lids, and arranged them just so on the table. 
(I might be a tad obsessed with vintage Tupperware measuring cups.)

I also added our Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, some flannel gingham fabric for "curtains," and a few other baking items to the table. AND there is also still there is enough room, if needed to pull up a couple of stools and eat a bowl of cereal here. 



Family Favorite Chocolate Chip CookiesThe first batch of cookies I made are based on Smitten Kitchens Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies.  This is my version of the recipe.1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) (115 grams) salted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch (1cm) pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose King Arthur brand flour
1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) mini-semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (130 grams) walnuts or pecans, finally chopped until they are almost powderPreheat to 300F (150C). Line baking 2 large sheets with parchment paper.Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.Scoop the cookie dough in tablespoon sizes onto your lined cookie sheet.Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.For a crunchier cookie leave in the oven but turn heat off. Wait about 20 minutes before pulling cookies out.
These are slightly salty, very crunchy, with a lovely nutty flavor. 

                        Chewy Everything BarsThis is a recipe I found on Saturday based on searching "cake mix bar cookies." Of course I amended the recipe so this is my version -the original can be found here. The cookies are more like very rich brownies with a rich topping. They would be great for a crowd or a party.
Makes 24 bars
Ingredients:1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)8 TBSP softened butter1 egg1 ½ cups mini- chocolate chips14 oz can sweetened condensed milk20 Oreo cookies, broken into pieces (I used the paddle attachment on my Kitchen Aid to break and crumble the cookies and it worked brilliantly!)1 cup mini-marshmallow's10 Soft Peppermints crushed (I put the peppermints into a sandwich bag and hand K beat the bag with a rolling pin.)
Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line  a 13x9” pan with foil and spray generously with bakers spray.Using a mixer,  mix together the cake mix, softened butter, and egg.  The resulting batter will be a very thick dough.Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan- I used a small pastry roller to roll out the dough evenly.Sprinkle the broken cookies, peppermints and marshmallows over the batter, pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over the whole pan, and top with chocolate chips.  Bake the bars for 23-25 minutes.You will want the bars to cool completely before cutting and serving - you will know they are ready by the chocolate on top hardening- I covered my pan and placed it in the refrigerator while we watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol in order to speed up the process.Once the bars are cooled, left the whole thing out of the pan using the foil, place on a cutting board and cut into 24-30 bars. Serve with cold milk or hot coffee.

So that is some of what I did on my Snow Days. What about you? Did you have a snow day? Do you have a favorite cookie recipe? Leave me a link!
******* wishing you all tidings of Comfort and Joy my friends, J