Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Time Flies

HUG #1 is peeing on the potty and HUG #2 is about to turn 5 months which means we can start getting ready for eating solids! Time really does fly...it seems like just yesterday I was busting at the seems of my maternity pants.

Leftover from family dinner was a half of a butternut squash, so I decided that this was to be HUG# 2's first vegetable. Enjoy, my little sweet angel. Peas, sweet potatoes, bananas and avocado coming soon--after rice and oatmeal.

Geez, next up? A recipe to slow time down!! Actually, next up was a pork sausage lasagna that is amazing--and lunch for the rest of the week
HUG #1 showing off his undies...again!
HUG #2 drooling over food--already!
Butternut squash puree...to daughter with love.

Homebound Part II

The time has come. Two HUGS in diapers is just too much. It's time to potty train HUG #1. The three day weekend was upon us, so we decided to go for it. Shout out to MLK for making this happen...

Blah blah blah, success, accident, success, work in progress. Basically, we had to stay indoors all weekend, and to me that meant baking with my big boy.

We decided on brownies. And not from the mix either...scratch brownies. They were delicious...so delicious, in fact, that we never took a "final" picture...and the finished product was sent away from our house (and my hips) to work with daddy.
Double fisting the spatulas
Please note the under pants
Do you think he realizes how cute he is?
Brownie batter....yum!

Homebound, Part I

Here she is! What a helper!
HUG #2 got sick for the first time. And by sick, I mean running a 100 degree temperature for about 48 hours. Sooooo, not really sick...playing hookie at the young age of four months.


In honor of such a mother-daughter day, we made cookies together. And not just any cookies, peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip and pretzel cookies. Ummmm...yum. Pretzels in cookies are amazing. They reminded me of when I was little and my parents would take my sister, brother and me  to a cloister dairy that made pretzel ice cream cones--the salty-sweet combo was perfect.

Here is the recipe for these gems:



Mmmmm...cookies!
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar (I used sorghum because I was out of brown sugar)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup crumbled (not too small!) pretzels...I used the checkerboard shaped ones



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips and pretzels.
4. Use a large spoon and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.


I should probably call Ben & Jerry and ask them to make this an ice cream flavor...

Family Dinner

The Hubs made dinner...and I made pie. Our single male friends and my in-laws came over for a Sunday dinner.

My mission was dessert. With roasted veggies, pork chops and salad in the works, I decided to celebrate the warm weather (60 degrees in January!?) with key lime pie with a twist...of lemon. I made lemon and lime pie (lymon, if you remember Sprite commercials of olde). I got entangled in the age old battle all bakers face: when making a line dessert, food coloring or no food coloring? I decided to go for it...and go hard or go home right? Give me a break...I made my own graham cracker crust, AND meringue topper cookies, so I deserve to use as much green food coloring as I want!! The pie was delicious....dessert AND breakfast the next day!
Crust made from graham crackers I crumbled myself!
Lime zest
The green food coloring!!
Let's call it "aggressively green"
Meringue topper cookies...also a commercial for SIL-PAT, which I LOVE.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Brushing the Dust off the Apron!

I'm excited to welcome a new year and get back into the kitchen! I'm hoping that with my HUGS getting older (28 months and 4 months) I'll be able to land myself in the kitchen a little bit more often to do some baking. Looking through old pictures of my COOKIES is getting me excited for the year to come.

Summer Beach Party

Alabama class of 2008

Happy Halloween!

Baby Shower

April Showers...

May Flowers!