Ingredients

• 1 (12-oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
• 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (5-oz) box instant French vanilla pudding mix
• 6 to 8 bananas, sliced
• 2 bags chessmen cookies or vanilla wafers

Directions

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*After years of trying many sugar cookie recipes, we believe these are the best. I get to make them more than once during the holiday season and they’re wonderful to give as gifts.

COOKIES

Cream together: 1 cup butter and 2/3 cup sugar

Beat in: 1 egg

Add: 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2-1/2 cups sifted flour

Mix all ingredients until well blended.

Chill dough 3-4 hours before rolling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Bake 8-10 minutes or until barely colored. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks.

Cookies can be frosted and decorated or just eaten plain.

FROSTING

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar (sifted)

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Melt butter: combine all ingredients and beat till smooth. Add food coloring if desired.

Yield: 1/3 cup frosting

Hope you enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving & Merry Christmas!

The post Kentucky Sugar Cookies appeared first on Laura Frantz.

I finally took the plunge last year and hired a freelancer to teach me how to craft a compelling newsletter (I so hope you think it’s compelling)! I’m all about beauty and edification so it took countless hours to transfer that vision in my head and heart to a delightful e-letter format. Since I love sending snail mail complete with sealing wax and seals (the post office has a love-hate relationship with me as seals don’t get past their machines), an e-letter is right down my writing alley though I’d send it to you snail mail if I could!

I invite you to subscribe. If you do so now you’ll net an extra perk – a graphic and list of ten books that have inspired me personally and professionally. If you’ve ever wondered why my stories are constructed the way they are, take a look at what I sink my reading teeth into! Of course, being a bibliophile, I could easily hand you a top hundred list. Even as I made the list I was dismayed at what was left off. But there you have it, a very hard to narrow down top ten beloved books. My newsletters are sent once a month though I do take summers off. However, mid-summer you’ll be the first to see my new cover via a brief newsletter blast!

SUBSCRIBE LINK HERE

Thank you for joining me! Knowing you’re reading my humble e-letter and might find something bright and newsworthy inside is truly inspiring! If you’d like to see more of something or want to ask a question, please do!

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Well, the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful…

And since we’ve got no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Step inside our Kentucky cabin, and you’ll see Big Blue hydrangeas in honor of Kentucky Wildcat Basketball…

Climb the stenciled stairs to the loft where my office is decorated with tiny white lights…

Everywhere are ornaments we’ve had since our boys were born. They’re no longer shiny but beloved! We have one tiny tree by the stairs, another on the porch, and one near the hearth…

One of my favorite things to decorate is the china cabinet that’s been in our family for several generations…

A bird’s eye view from the loft on a cozy almost Christmas Eve. With a warm fire, a reading chair, a cup of cocoa or tea, I don’t want to come out till spring!

Praying for you and your loved ones this Christmas.

The post Christmas Cabin Open House appeared first on Laura Frantz.

The other day I came across an interesting article that asked people about their dream house. I was surprised to find that a majority of people said they’d like to live in a log cabin. Really? Since we live in one, I had to chuckle. Maybe folks mean a log home that has towering beams, huge windows, multiple porches and decks, gourmet kitchens, hot tubs and the like. Not our humble Kentucky cabin!

Built by a writer as a writing retreat years ago, ours is more a vacation cabin than a home to be lived in year round. But it’s as rustic and cozy as can be. Deep in the heart of Kentucky’s knob region, those gentle mountains my Washington State husband calls hills, and up a gravel road that requires a 4 wheel drive vehicle to climb, it’s a little gem in the Appalachian woods.

Log cabins today are a far cry from those of our forefathers. Many of those early cabins didn’t even have a single window due to the dangers of living on the frontier. Even today, cabins tend to be dark dwellings – all that wood! Bees and ladybugs love to visit them in swarms. Cabin porches are home to raccoons and birds and other woodsy creatures. Cabins creak unmercifully in the wind. They’re often drafty in winter yet cool in summer. A woodstove or a fireplace is a cabin must. Ceiling fans are another keeper. Antiques look beautiful in cabins. So do Christmas trees.

Of all the seasons I’ve experienced in a log cabin, fall is my favorite. There’s something about autumn with its browns and golds and russets that fits so beautifully with log cabin living. Watching those colorful leaves swirl down in a chilly wind soothes my spirit. Fall also carries a sense of expectancy with Thanksgiving and Christmas around that hand hewn corner.

Our humble cabin isn’t perfect but I’m so thankful to call it home!

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