Happy New Year!

Hope everyone's New Year was lovely. Ours was - we stayed in on New Year's Eve and had a family game night. We ALL played - even Daddy! We played Uno, Hannah Montana DVD game, Harry Potter Scene It, High School Musical Game, Littlest Pet Shop Game, Candy Land, Dominoes, and more! We had chocolate covered cherry cookies (recipe to follow), which were devoured! SO YUMMY! And then we toasted the new year with special glass-bottled grape sodas. We watched Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers sing just before midnight. Surprisingly, everyone made it to midnight! On New Year's Day, we went ice skating! Will post pictures soon. Hope everyone's having a good year so far on day 2 - we're drinking homemade hot chocolate and playing more games!

Love to all!

CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY COOKIES

* I find that it helps when you dip your thumb into the cherry juice before pressing it into the cookie. That way, not only does the dough not stick to your thumb, you also get a bit of added cherry flavor!

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
* 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Beat butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
3. Roll into 1-inch balls about the size of a walnut (larger if desired). Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Drain cherries and reserve juice. Press center of each ball with thumb. Place a cherry in indentation.
5. In a saucepan, heat condensed milk and chocolate chips until chips are melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of cherry juice. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mixture over each cherry and spread to cover cherry. (More cherry juice may be added to keep frosting of spreading consistency.)
6. Bake for 10 minutes.