And the winners .......and their favorite cookies.....are..........

Gramma Sheri is the winner of Jacquelynne's new book..........

She left this sweet comment...........

"Peanut Butter Cookies! Made with chunky peanut butter, of course! When I was a kid (oldest of 6) I did most of the dessert-baking for the family. I loved to make cakes. And I loved to make peanut butter icing. So...my siblings remember most of my cakes (spice, carrot, chocolate, cherry, white, yellow, whatever) slathered with peanut butter!"

She was very excited to win. I sent e-mails to all the winners and most have replied.

"Ms. Snoodles" left this comment that won her the tablerunner kit in Jacquelynne's fabrics, a charm pack and other goodies...........

"First and foremost, I hope that your mom recovers quickly and easily, and thank you for hosting this stop on the tour! You have such a generous giveaway planned! I love, love cookies with macadamia nuts and white chocolate - I don't know their name, unless it is just "White Chocolate Chip with Macadamia Nuts" but that is so unimaginative! LOL
Thanks for the chance to win!"

There were three winners of Jacquelynne's patterns...........

Laurie left this comment.........

"Hope your Mom's surgery goes well and she recuperates quickly. My fav cookie - gotta be an Oreo or two with a cold glass of milk :)"

Kocanquilt left this comment.......

"My favorite cookie is from a family recipe. We call them spice cookies because they have Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmeg in them. Nummy! Thank you for the chance to win."

The final pattern winner is Debra from Maryland who wrote..........

"My favorites are my homemade oatmeal cookies. My husband would prefer chocolate chip so I make a lot of those too."

And the winner of the Christmas sampler of Jacquelynne's  "Joy, Peace, Love, and Noel" fabric is Cheryl of Cheryl'sTeapotsQuilting. She left this comment .........

"Cream Cheese cookies are my favorite. Really easy, too."

And when Cheryl replied to my e-mail, she added the easy recipe.........

Cream Cheese Cookies

1 box of cake mix (I've tried butter yellow, devils food,

red velvet, lemon, strawberry and spice so far)
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Mix, spoon up ( I use a cookie scoop) then bake

at 350 degrees for approx. 14 minutes.  Enjoy!

Congratulations to all of you that won. I enjoyed being part of Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour. Interestingly, it kept me connected to my blog last week when I was feeling a bit "disconnected" because I was with my mom at the hospital in Iowa City. Her stay wasn't very long as surgery for kidney stones is no longer as invasive as it was years ago. But after her stay at the hospital, I spent a few more days staying with her at her apartment while she recovered. And one of the things we did was to go through old photos and such. I have a few I'll share in the coming weeks, just because they make me smile.

Once I returned home, I needed to catch up on e-mails and blogging and laundry and sleep. :-)  The laundry is done, I'm getting there on the e-mails and blogposts, and by Wednesday morning, I should be caught up on sleep. While I've been away, my husband has been "holding down the fort" and also taking orders from Kaiser the Wonder Beagle (who missed me a lot as I am the purveyor of biscuits). He's also been watching the crew that is building the deck off our kitchen. It is coming along very, very nicely and I am already planning my first dinner on the deck. But I am straying from what I wanted to share...........As I read the comments that were left on my day in Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour, there was one that almost made me cry.  Having spent the weekend looking at old family photos and talking about my dad alot with my mom, the comment by Ms. MartinMosaics really captured my dad. Here's her comment...........

"My favorite cookies are Buckeye's, but they are homemade. You mentioned Oreos, so I would say that my favorite store bought cookie would be Softbatch Chocolate Chip cookies or Nutter Butters.
I must tell you, Sandi, that I have been touched by the quote you have at the top of your blog. It really struck me how blessed you were to have a dad like you did. He apparently cherished you girls! He seemed to delight in providing the material for your mother to sew the matching dresses. I'm sure that you girls wearing the dresses together was a beautiful picture of the strong sense of family you all held. A man who "embraces" having girls is a gift few understand unless that have witnessed or experienced a father that loses interest in parenting because he has girls. Blessings!"

My dad really was a wonderful father and he cherished not just my sister and me, but my mother and my brother, Doug. We were definitely blessed with a great dad! I thought of him this afternoon as I baked some chocolate chip cookies for the guys who were working on our deck. He loved chocolate chip cookies and I would bake them and take a batch to him almost everytime I went home for a visit. I took a big plate of the cookies, warm from the oven, out to my husband to share with the deck-building guys. Later he told me that they disappeared in seconds. What is it about a homemade cookie, or even a store-bought cookie that you loved as a kid, that can make you feel good and smile? Wouldn't it be great if all the woes of the world could be solved with milk and cookies?!! I would bake every day if that were the case. :-) 

Thanks everyone for all your comments. I will be replying to each one. Right now, though, this post is making me hungry and ........I think I need to go get a cookie and a glass of milk!

Sandi  :-)