Peppermint Meltaways Cookie Recipe

The momstown Oakville annual moms night out holiday cookie exchange took place last night and we had an amazing assortment of delicious baked goods.  One of the hits of the night were Peppermint Meltaways (they just melt in your mouth) and I knew the recipe needed to be shared!

Cookie Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosting

2 tablespoons butter, softened
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup crushed candy canes (a blender works very well for this!)

Directions

1.  Cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Shape into one inch balls. Place two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for about 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.


3. For the frosting, start by beating the butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies.  You could add a small piece of candy cane on top of the frosting if you wish. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 3-1/2 dozen.

Oakville Moms Get Their Game On With A Mattel Games Night!

I have lots of fond memories playing board games and card games.  And when we posted a Moms Night Out Game Night on the momstown Oakville calendar, others must have similar memories to me as we had many moms anxious to get playing!

We were lucky to have Mattel Game On send us several games to choose from -  Mad Gab, Apples to Apples, Blockus, Uno Power and Angry Birds as well as some dice games, which would be really great for travel.  Not familiar with these games?  Make sure you check out Mattel's new Gameology App that will help you find the perfect game to fit your gaming style.  Are you an Activus, a Socialies, a Wittian or a Strategicorn, click here to find out!

As we opened the games and started to play, it was fun to hear everyone's stories about family games nights or memories of games they liked to play as kids or up at the cottage.  Playing board games or card games is a really fun way to spend an evening!

My favourite part of this event was how much laughter there was!  Good for the soul for sure.  How can you not laugh playing Mad Gabs and trying to figure out what  'Abe Lackey Leg Tricked Host Her' is supposed to be?  We also had a blast playing Apples to Apples...from Norman Rockwell to Salsa Dancing to Rust...how can all these things be part of the same game??  Well that is just part of what makes it so fun to play!

Starting the love of games early with this little one!

Thanks to all the momstown Oakville moms who came out to play last night.  By the end of the night, we were already picking what games we would play for the next Games Night!  We ended the event by giving away a few games so that the fun can continue at home.  Don't worry, if you didn't join us last night, you still have a chance to win some fabulous games as we're giving away a Mattel Game On prize pack - enter here!

Oakville Moms Book Club - The False Prince

momstown Oakville loves supporting literacy and reading for all ages and so we were thrilled to have Scholastic Canada provide our members with a book to read for our Mama Book Club.  The book was called 'The False Prince' and it got positive reviews from all the Oakville moms that read it.  'The False Prince' is the first book of three by Jennifer A. Nielsen and had our momstown Oakville members intrigued and loving the mystery and deception that flowed through the story.

The Mama Book Club host pulled together some discussion questions and the group had quite a dialogue about the story that started off as a potential rags to riches tale but soon turned into a tale about royal sacrifice and secrets.  There were plenty of twists and surprises that lead to a very edge of your seat ending that we discussed throughout the night. Since this is just the first of the trilogy we all agreed it was a great set up to the next, which we all cannot wait to get our hands on!

Thank you Scholastic Canada for such an action filled adventure that we had a very hard time putting down! momstown Oakville moms love getting together for mom's night out events and in addition to book club we also have craft nights, poker night and nights out in Oakville as well.  Would you like to join us for a night out or for all of our daytime programs for Oakville moms and kids?  Sign up here for your trial membership.

Pampered Chef pampers momstown Oakville moms during our holiday party!

Last night momstown Oakville moms gathered together for our moms night out holiday party.  We enjoyed great company, delicious punch and and were treated to a fabulous presentation by Deb Forster-Yeudall from Pampered Chef.

I had been to a Pampered Chef party probably about 10 years ago and the rest of the group was a mix between not being familiar with the products at all and those that already had some favourites in their kitchen such as the pizza stone or the garlic press.  Deb gave us a quick overview of new products and answered any questions we had and then moved in to making a delicious Pampered Chef recipe that we were all going to get to taste and enjoy.

With the help of some of the party guests, Deb made Hot & Cheesy Bruschetta Dip.  I'm not kidding when I say there was a round of 'wows' when Deb used the Measure All Cup to measure the mayonnaise into the bowl with no mess and no scraping it out of the container!

One of the other products that was used to make the dip was the Manual Food Processor.  This little thing chopped up tomatoes and onions so quickly and easily I started dreaming of home made salsas and chutneys!   I ended up ordering this product and I can't wait to put it to good use!

Everyone loved this recipe and we were surprised and impressed by the intense and fresh flavour.  One of the secret ingredients?  Pampered Chef's Herbs de Provence Seasoning Mix.

Once the dip was ready, we snacked away on it and some other tasty treats and did some shopping!  I know momstown Oakville moms are looking forward to getting their new items and as an added bonus, 20% of the proceeds of the sales from the event are being donated to the Canadian Red Cross.  

Deb was a wonderful hostess and if you are interested in hosting your own Pampered Chef party or ordering some of their fabulous products, I encourage you to contact her.  And be sure to visit her webpage often as they have a great deal every month like 60% off cookware for party hosts in February!  What I love about Pampered Chef products is that they really are designed to make your life easier in the kitchen but also encourages creative flair for those who like entertaining, baking and cooking.

We all had a great time last night learning more about Pampered Chef and raising our glasses to celebrate the holidays.  Do you have a favourite Pampered Chef product?  Leave us a comment and let us know what we should add to our wish list!

How To Do A Favourite Things Exchange

Last night momstown Oakville moms got together for another favourite things exchange.  This is such a fun thing to do!  You can set the limits to whatever you want and the group size can be flexible too.

Here is how we made ours work:

-Each participant was asked to think of a favourite item that cost $6 or less and then bring five of that item
-There were 13 of us in total so we put 13 numbers into a bowl and each pulled out a number.  In numeric order we went around and described/explained the item that we brought
-Then the person who had pulled number one got to pick what they wanted from the table of goodies.  Once everyone had picked one thing, we put the numbers back in the bowl and pulled again so that you weren't always stuck in the same picking order
-At the end of the process, each person got to take home five new favourite things!

A jam packed table with so many awesome things!

So what were some of the favourite things that made it into last night's exchange?  I was thrilled to take home a new placemat for my daughter that was made of chalk fabric!  Ribbon was glued around the edges to finish it off and it came with a sponge and chalk too.  She will love this!

Placemats made from chalk fabric!

A beautifully packaged cookie mix - just add butter and an egg.  Wonderful to give as a gift or to make with your junior chef's at home.

We also got to choose from dark chocolate with sea salt, triple chocolate brownie mix, an adorable first aid kit for kids complete with bandages in the shape of crayons, festive holiday soap, stress relieving body wash, caramel popcorn, eye makeup remover, awesome owl motif mugs packed with sweet treats, comical note pads and pens (no other way to describe those that is blog appropriate I don't think!).  To top it all off, our host made us each these cute bags to take home all of our loot.

Notice the festive water bottles too!

I was so giddy when I got home last night, it was like having a mini Christmas!  Am sure it won't be too long until we have another one of these, it was a huge success and everyone had a really great time.

What would you have brought as one of your favourite things?