What a Weekend!

I spent most of this weekend making messes in the kitchen, and then cleaning them up. *sigh*

On Saturday afternoon, hubby and I ventured out to the commissary to get the rest of the ingredients for my new-found sugar cookie recipe. 2 hrs later, we were home. I fixed dinner, we watched a short movie, and it dawned on me that I should make cookies! So, off I went to the kitchen to get started. Little did I know I was taking on such a daunting task. My goal was to make cookies for the Superbowl, since Joe had invited friends over. So, I had the bright idea to make football and helmet cookies and then decorate them.

My very long night began at about 7. I starting mixing the dough, adding flour...and then the very thick dough began sticking to the beaters and clogging it up. I tried several times to get it off, but to no avail. After adding 3 out of 5 cups of sugar, I was ready to give up. But, I called my bestie (and wayy more experienced baker) for some help. She suggested that I mix it by hand. Joy. So, I did. It worked! So, I finished mixing, and chilled it in the fridge for an hour. After an hour, we (I had to enlist Joe's help. Hehehe!) rolled out the dough and cut the cookies. First batch went in the oven, and 10 mins later came out smoking, charred, and bleh. =( Joe thinks that the parchment paper caught fire/burnt and I blame the oven. 2nd batch went in (at a lower temperature and less time), and came out looking good! So, they went on the cookie rack to cool. After I'd sat down for a while (this was around 10:30), I asked Joe to taste them. He came back with a very, uh, disgusted look on his face. Oh.my.word. They were disgusting! They were hard...like seriously hard. I would liken them to something sailors would have eaten on board a ship in the mid 18th century. They were that bad. =(

I was so upset! We finished watching Smallville season 5 (I think) on DVD, and Joe convinced me to go to bed. I obsessed over my epic FAIL in the kitchen, and got on the BigOven app to see if I could find a different recipe. Joe took my phone away from me, though. No more recipe surfing for Sarah. So, I sent a text to Melissa hoping she'd see it when she got up. =) This afternoon, she went a-Googling and found a much better recipe! I only made half the recipe, and the dough turned out just fine. The first batch went in and came out looking delish! The second batch, however, did not make it. I think it's something to do with my oven...I seriously don't get it. I think I'm going to have to invest in an in-oven thermometer for the next 2 months we're here. So, I made icing but I only had enough time to partially decorate the football cookies. Oh well. Maybe I'll have better luck this week with my V-Day cookies for the fam.

I'm also extremely upset with the way the Colts played tonight! It's like they just stopped playing after the 2nd quarter! I'm a huge football fan, and I love the Colts. And Peyton Manning. But, not tonight. I "fell" for the Colts when I realized what a huge, awesome Christian Tony Dungy (their previous coach) was. Then he left, but my allegiance still stands. =) My college team is the Oklahoma Sooners, because a country girl's gotta stick to her roots! And I heart Bob Stoops (head coach). =D Anyway, I was seriously upset and I think that if the Colts had really brought their best game, the Saints couldn't have touched them. Sadly, though, the Colts sucked it up tonight. I'm seriously disappointed, and I'm wondering who's taking a pay cut...

All in all, it was a very interesting weekend for me...full of cleaning, shopping, blog-hopping (which was awesome!), way too much baking and failing, a rough night of football, and an interesting meeting with hubby's Army buddies. Next week is looking good so far though! On Friday, we're heading up to NC to see the fam...and most importantly, my niece! ♥ She's getting big way too quickly for my liking! Speaking of...I need to finish the last page of her scrapbook....hmmm. Add it to the list!

Have a good week, everyone!