What to do when your friend gets dumped

You know those awkward social situations where you just really have no idea what to do? I run into these all the time. But, I figured I'd share the knowledge I've acquired about what to do when things like this happen.

The first instance is when a really good friend of yours gets dumped. Now, for guys, I don't really know what to tell you. Basically, I've heard that you listen to them, try to comfort them and then take them out for drinks. You can probably give them things too. I'd say a bottle of whisky or a 6 pack of beer. This is more of a solution for when a good girl friend gets dumped. Or I mean, if she does the dumping and is really sad, that would be an occasion to try and help too.

1. Be careful not to give too much advice or to be too judgmental. Let's say they get back together and you spent hours bashing the guy or girl. That'd be awkward right? Just listen and then be positive in a general sort of way.
2. Try to go and do things that will take their mind off of it. That could mean going to a bar, a movie, the mall or just to lunch. It doesn't have to be fancy or anything.
3. I recently had a friend that this happened to and she doesn't live anywhere near me so I sent her a little "feel better" package. This included cookies, some tinted chap stick, nail polish, a nail file, foot soak and a little note. Simple, and it totally made her day even though I am no where near her.
4. Come to think of it, even if you are in the same vicinity, making a little care package is a nice little idea. It shows that you are thinking of them and that you care. It'll make them still feel cared about and taken care of.

I really hope this helps, because I know situations like this can be really awkward to try and handle. You want to be there for your friend but you don't know what to do exactly. Well, maybe now you know a little better.

Slainte!

It's the week of St. Patrick's Day, and I have decided to theme all of my posts from today until the 17th about St. Paddy's. If you were unaware, "slainte" is said in Ireland as we say cheers. It literally means health. I love it, my boyfriend is very, very Irish, and is the first person to make me aware of this word and its usage and everything, so I decided to try and be authentic this year. The first recipe I made wasn't authentic but I used authentic phrases! Well....mostly authentic phrases. I made some sugar cookies with the words "slainte," "Graim Thu" (I love you), "Kiss me I'm Irish," "Erin Go Bragh," and "Happy St. Patrick's Day."

I made these sugar cookies earlier this week with the help of my brand new, super cute cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. They are called Message-in-a-cookie Cutters and although they are kind of difficult to use, I think they are totally worth it. They allow you to make your own phrases to put into the cookies, and they turn out really well. The hard part is getting the little tiles into the cookie cutters provided. I ended up just using the cookie cutters and then pressing the little tiles in by hand because it took so long to slide them in. It didn't actually take long though, so I am still a happy camper.

Here's the sugar cookie recipe I used. The blog Fictional Foods is so fun, and since I'm a complete dork I am totally going to try basically all of them. I am going to make these cookies again for the Hunger Games since that's what she made them for, but I decided, since St. Patrick's Day is sooner than the HG premier, I'd try them out for this first.

Sweethearts

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
2. Add vanilla extract and egg and mix thoroughly.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to butter mixture slowly.
4. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and roll the dough out. Dip the cookie cutter in flour to keep it from sticking and cut your cookies, using the leftover dough to roll again.
5. Press names or messages into cookies.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until done.
7. Cool on rack and enjoy!

Mizzou Game Day Cookies

In honor of our last game against kU in Mizzou Arena, I made some cookies to bring to a little watch gathering down here in Alabama. I really didn't have much time to prepare anything and I didn't want to spend any money (I was planning on using the money to buy Jason Wu clothes...that turned out to be a bust. Target apologized to me online though.) So, I remembered that I had yellow cake mix in the pantry, and I made those red velvet cookies from cake mix once, so I figured the yellow color would be good for Mizzou. As we're black and gold and all. I mean, you could make these if you're an Iowa fan, Steelers fan, Alabama State University fan and so on.

Here's the recipe, it's the easiest thing ever.

Yellow Cake Cookies

1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/4 c. Crisco oil
1/2 c. sugar

Mix all ingredients. Roll out small amounts on pastry sheets. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, 5-10 minutes.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter, but I think round would've been cute, too. Maybe pennant shaped if you're going to a tailgate. Basically you could shape them like anything. I had some bitter sweet chocolate chips hanging around so I melted those in the microwave, put the melted chocolate into a little plastic sandwich bag and snipped a hole in the corner. I used this to decorate the cookies with different phrases. See? they kind of turned out black and gold! Essentially, they were the cutest things I've ever made and apparently delicious. I ended up giving them all away at the end of the party because the dough made quite a few.

Cookie Dough Bites

Made these little little guys last night. They are very delicious except that I'm pretty sure you can feel your thighs expanding every time you pop one in your mouth. I'm planning on bringing some to the Christmas Tea tomorrow held by the alumnae association of my sorority. Actually, I'm really supposed to make brownies, so guess I'll be bringing two things. Whatever, who doesn't like cookie dough? The answer is, unless it will kill you, everyone likes it. And this recipe won't make you sick because no raw eggs. I guess it could make you sick because of the amount of butter and sugar but if we try not to OD then I think it'll be OK.

Cookies Dough Bites

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour
Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, softened
1½ cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
6 ounces miniature chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well -- use your hands to get it together the best.
3. Roll into 1-inch balls.
4. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Dip in chocolate, drizzle with chocolate or eat as is -- equally delicious no matter what!
5. Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
6. Store in the refrigerator.

Red Velvet Cookies

For this recipe I kind of cheated a little by using a box of cake mix. I found a recipe from scratch on a blog, but all of the reviews said it was lacking, and since I had a box of red velvet cake mix in my cabinet already, I figured I'd try to use it.

They really are delicious and a pretty dark red color, observe.

I obviously put Christmas colored sprinkles on the white half of the cookies so they look pretty festive. The one thing I would say about them, is that I waited the hour after I rolled the dough into a log and put it into the refrigerator. It didn't set as well as I think it should have. I'm sure it would've been fine if I had left it in over night, but I'm impatient. So, I ended up just cutting the log and then rolling it "slice" into a ball and pressing it down into a round shape. So the edges were a little ragged and some of the cookies are different sizes, but that doesn't really bother me.

Red and White Velvet Cookies from Duncanhines.com

Cake:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 box Duncan Hines® Red Velvet Cake Mix
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Dip:

• 2 bars (6 oz. each) white chocolate premium baking bars, broken into pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

1. Melt butter; set aside to cool. Place cake mix, egg, cooled butter and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Mix by hand until well blended and dough is formed.
2. Form dough into a smooth 12-inch log on wax paper or parchment making sure it is even in thickness end to end. Wrap in wax paper; seal in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets. Unwrap dough log and set on wax paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into 48 slices about 1/4-inch thick. Place on cool baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
4. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in center of oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
5. Make dip by placing pieces of baking bar in small, DRY, microwave-safe bowl along with shortening. Microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir to blend. If needed, continue to microwave in 30-second intervals. Blend each time. Avoid overheating.
6. Dip each cookie into chocolate to coat half of cookie. Place on wax paper or parchment-lined sheets and refrigerate about 15 minutes or until dip is set. Store in airtight container with wax paper or parchment separating layers.

7. Tips:

1. For best results, bake only one sheet of cookies at a time. If two are baked at time, rotate sheets midway through baking.
2. For variation, top white chocolate with chopped pistachios or pecans, crushed peppermint candies, crushed pretzels, praline crunch, colored sugar or other cookie decorations before it is set.
3. Do NOT thin white chocolate with butter, margarine or water. Moisture will cause the chocolate to seize or tighten.
4. Place melted white chocolate in a freezer-weight zippered plastic bag. Snip a very small hole from bottom corner and drizzle white chocolate over top of cookie in place of dipping half of cookie.