Chocolate Sandwich Cookies and Gooseberry Patch

I wanted to share with you a very special cookie recipe today. If you make these cookies, your family will flip. They'll beg you to make them again, and again, and again. They are the kind of cookie that gets better if made a few days ahead of time. If they sit for a day or two, the cookie gets soft and they become dreamy. I love this recipe so much that I sent it into Gooseberry Patch...and they published it in this cookbook. You can find it on page 148 if you're interested. I love Gooseberry Patch, they have the coziest cookbooks!

They look like little gobs. They taste similar to a brownie...only better. Give them a try, you won't be sorry...unless you're dieting.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

• 2 boxes of devils food cake mix
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup canola oil

Beat together cake mixes, eggs and oil; dough will be very stiff. Roll into one-inch balls; arrange on ungreased baking sheets (i prefer stoneware). Flatten each ball slightly. Bake @ 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Rotate your pans halfway through baking. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for about a minute, move to a cooking rack. Spread icing on the bottom of one cookie; place another cookie on top so icing is sandwiched between the two.

Icing:

• 1 c milk
• 5 T all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c soft butter
• 1/2 cup crisco shortening
• 1 c sugar
• 1 t pure vanilla extract

Combine milk and flour in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until thick. Cover and refrigerate. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add chilled milk/flour mixture; beat for 10 full minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed. Make sure to lick the paddle.

Simple Pleasures of Spring

I'll be the first to admit that I am a winter girl. Unpopular, I know. With that being said, I am sooo blessed to live in an area that has four full seasons. Four distinct changes. Spring is in full swing in my neck of the woods. The birds are chirping, the air feels fresh, the windows are open, lilacs are in full bloom. Everything is waking up after a long and cold winter. I'm loving it!!

I thought I'd share a few of my Simple Pleasures of Spring. I'd love it if you shared some too.

• The laundry line. It's budget friendly and the scented reward from a day of line drying is icing on the cake. Especially crisp, cool, white, smell-good sheets.

• Open windows and breezes. I love to lay in bed and feel the cool morning air wake me up.

• Playing in the dirt. Tidying everything up and getting rid of the last signs of winter (and in some cases autumn). Planting onions and other early crops. Ooh, and strawberries too.

• Capris. It feels so good to shed sweaters and pants and slip into comfy capris (that are a little loose compared to last year...yeah).

• Campfires. I love sitting around a fire with loved ones and making smores or mountain pies. It doesn't get any better than that.

• Spring Cleaning. No, I'm not crazy. I just look forward to cleaning windows until they shine and paying attention to every nook and cranny.

What are your simple pleasures of spring?