Manic Monday and some snowballs

What gives you hope? I hate to sound cliche. But, the kids do.

How often do you get your haircut? I am growing out the Victoria Beckham swisshy haircut....so about every 6-8 weeks.

Describe your worst haircut. Describe? How about some visuals? (This was 1990. ) First, to get my hair that curly, it would take twice the amount of normal perming solution. Then what is up with that spaceship shape of my hair. Friends don't let friend perm!

What's your most treasured piece of jewelry? My wedding ring. Why? It is a symbol of a relationship I have with Husband, the commitment we have to each other.

Fleur-de-Lisa hosts the original Manic Monday here

For muffin Monday, we are almost finished with the cookie recipes we wanted to try. This one is called Pecan Snowballs. (Kind of appropriate, since we are supposed to be slammed with a snowstorm tonight.) Can you see the Littlest Pet Shop animals amongst the silly faced kids? They had to have them in the picture!

1 cup pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

*Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop.

*With an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until fluffy.

*Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and salt.

*Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.

*Mix in the pecans.

*Shape the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

*Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

*Transfer half the balls to a second parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart.

*Bake until lightly golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.

*Place 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Toss the warm cookies in the sugar and return to the baking sheet. Sift the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over the cookies before serving.

*Plate and share with friends!

*To Freeze: Instead of refrigerating the balls of dough, freeze them on the baking sheet before storing them in bags for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, baking from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range. Yield:

Makes 34 cookies
writeNutrient();
NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 120; FAT 8g (sat 4g); CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12g; CALORIES FROM FAT 57%; SODIUM 15mg; PROTEIN 1g; FIBER 1g; SUGAR 6g