Last Wednesday before having to stay in the house for a couple of days due to some icy weather, a friend of mine gave me some almond cookies while we were up at church that morning! Patsy had bought them from a bakery over off 75 and was sharing them with us. I put them in my purse (yes that is why I carry a large purse so I can carry cookies or chocolates if needed) to take them home to have that night! While Randy and I were about to decide on what we wanted for a snack around 8 O Clock, I remembered the cookies! I ran to get them and opened the bag. Patsy had told me about how amazing they were and that I would love them! But I figured, “ how good can a bought cookie really be” but….after one bite I was so sorry I had already told Randy about them instead of making up an excuse to go sit in the car so I could have them both! They were delicious! The almond flavor the white chocolate chips, the soft cake like texture. They tasters like wedding cake which is my favorite cake in the world (if it is almond flavored). Because of the weather I had to wait until Saturday to get to the store and buy white chocolate chips! I had a package of sugar cookie mix and almond flavoring already. And because we were having company for dinner last night I made pies first. After all I had learned my lesson and I wasn’t going to share these little gems with anyone! I just took them out of the oven. They will go beautifully with my Blue Bell Brides Cake flavored ice cream tonight! They aren’t quite the same texture as the ones from the bakery but the flavors is exactly the same. Because I used a cookie mix I followed the directions on the back of the package plus added 2 teas of almond extract and half of the 12 oz package of chips. Next time I will add an extra egg and I think that will be more like the bakery cookie texture. But these are great and so easy! Had to add some bling to them!

A coupe of weeks ago Rita Heisey brought this salad to a ladies dinner/bible study and everyone went crazy over it. In fact, we had several people for SuperBowl game last week and a couple of the ladies decided that we needed Rita to just bring this as her “appetizer”. So bring she did. After everyone left (after Randy switched off the lights around 9 p,m,) Randy even said, “that salad was amazing” if you know Randy very well, he just doesn’t use that word very much. This morning after church we went to have lunch before coming home and as we left the restaurant, we ran into friends from church just going in. One of them ask me who had brought the salad to the ladies dinner a couple weeks ago. Because of so many folks requesting the recipe I thought it best if I just post it. Thanks Rita for showing us just how good a salad can be, with just a few ingredients. The dressing is delicious and you will fall in love with this salad, I promise! If you don’t like cashews, substitute almonds or pecans. I’m not a cashew fan, but in this salad, I ate them all.

10 cups romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped

1 cup (4 oz) shredded swiss cheese

1 medium gala apple, chopped to bite size

1 medium pear, chopped to bite size

3/4 cup dried cranberries (Crazins)

1/2 to 1 cup cashews

Dressing

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 Tables lemon juice

2 Tables chopped red onion

1/2 teas salt

2/3 cup salad oil

1 1/2 teas poppy seeds

Easy to fix salad ahead of time and just have ready to toss with dressing which you have blended well right before serving.

Squeeze a little lemon juice on the chopped pear and apple to prevent from turning brown. Leave skin on apples for color

Serves 8 to 10.

Thanks Rita for sharing this recipe. IT is a WINNER!

A few posts ago I had mentioned these awesome little cookbooks from Laurel Mississippi written with recipes from Ben and Erin from Hometown on HGTV. Made this for our lunch today and it was great. You will love these wonderful little books with stories and family recipes! $15 plus shipping. You will be so glad you did!