Fun Season & Snickerdoodles

 We're decorated, tree's up, greenery in place. We have a variegated holly bush that's loaded with berries. We bring a few branches in the house to decorate. But, something's different here.

Hubby played football for our alma mater, University of Oregon. He's followed their football program for years. He got so excited when Oregon won the Pac 12 title and is off to the Rose Bowl, he ordered tickets for the game and airfare, hotel, car rental. This is normally a very frugal man. That's how excited he is! And, the icing on the cake.......the quarterback, Marcus Mariota, won the Heisman trophy, gave a speech that set many eyes to tear up. I know that fireworks were set off tonight in my hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii. First person from Hawaii to garnish that trophy and the first winner from UO. We're mighty proud. Our Ducks are off and running. My whole family loves football so this is truly a fun time.

This Christmas we vowed to make our gifts. I love the direction everyone is going in. I knew it would be a challenge. Everyone is rising up to it. Our Farm Girl chapter made mason jar bags. Most of us canned goodies to share as gifts. These turned out adorable.

Back to reality: most of us will be running crazy trying to get all our baking, sewing, quilting, cooking, etc. done this season. I'm going to share a short cut for at least one favorite cookie often baked at Christmastime--Snickerdoodles!
  Ingredients 3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 box of white cake mix (we used Betty Crocker) yellow cake mix works OK*
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set mixture aside.
3. Thoroughly combine cake mix, butter, egg, cream of tartar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
4. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Then, place dough balls one by one into cinnamon sugar mixture and roll them around until they’re covered. Place dough balls about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until set. The cookies will be softer the less you bake them. Once fully baked, remove them from the cookie sheet and transfer them to a cooling rack.

*There are organic cake mixes. I often find them at Trader Joe's.