Practical Magic Blog Party 2011 - Welcome!

Oh Practical Magic….how I love thee!  Whether book or movie, one of the best stories that I have ever had the pleasure of encountering! I saw the movie first and was completely and totally moved by it. 

I felt the love Sally and Gillian had for each other, and wished I had more of it with my sister….my heart soared when Sally and Michael were brought together and I grieved with her when she lost him. I knew how Gillian felt when she found herself in love with a bad man and understood Sally’s confusion when she met the man her own magic had called to her. I still want a greenhouse like the aunts had and a little room to keep my magical supplies and goodies in, though sadly I will never have either on such a grand scale, nor will my gardens be so productive and pretty.

At my wedding, my bridesmaids and flower girl walked down the aisle to Alan Silvestri’s “Practical Magic” and the last dance at the end of the night was to Stevie Nick’s “Crystal”. After 9 years of marriage, I sometimes still hear in the back of my head Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” when my husband kisses me.

Although there were numerous memorable lines in the movie, one that always stuck out to me is Sally’s memory of Michael and the mint oatmeal shaving cream…”We were going to open a botanical shop. Where Mike would get all the ingredients and I'd make the stuff. He really loved my mint-oatmeal shaving cream. He couldn't stop eating it”.

It’s a good memory…some people think that “making memories” is about going places and doing things, and taking pictures so you can look back and say “look at all we did”…but my idea of a good memory is just something that happens every day. Maybe because it’s something that happens over and over or maybe it’s just something that happened in the midst of regular old good day that made it special.  Either way, it’s special…and these are the moments that I look out for the most in my own life.

In honor of the movie and in the hopes that we can understand why Michael kept eating the shaving cream….I give you….mint oatmeal cookies! This recipe is adapted from an uncredited recipe at  the http://www.cooks.com/ website.

INGREDIENTS: ½ cup of butter, softened, 1 cup granulated white sugar, 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 cups old fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, i pkg of Andes chocolate mints.

Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then blend in eggs and vanilla.  Add in remaining ingredients except the mints and mix well. Shape the dough into two 12 inch logs and wrap in wax paper.  Freeze for several hours or overnight.

For an extra bit of *practical magic*, remember to focus your energy and intent for love, luck and prosperity into these goodies as you mix them together

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut each roll into ¼ inch slices and bake on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper (I recommend the paper) for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.  Immediately place ½ of an Andes mint on each cookie and spread to cover the whole cookie as it melts. Cool on wire racks. The number of cookies you yield varies on now thick you cut them. 

Feel free to give the cookies a little extra enchantment before serving them as well….I know in my house, a little extra anything is always welcome! Here’s what I came up with…

Oats, mint and chocolate, together in this tasty treat

Bring to my family vibrations of love, luck and prosperity.

Make us happy and make us complete

As we spend time together in our family retreat.

With cookies in hand, it’s time for fun

With harm to none, this spell is done.

Well…I’m off with my plateful of cookies to the family room to watch the movie, have a glass of wine and do a little blog-hopping!  Thanks for stopping by!  Bright blessings to all!