Happy Friday! We had a superb Christmas filled with friends and family. K raked in some squeal-inducing gifts (the expression when she saw the gigantic Yamaha keyboard box with her name spelled out with red camo duct tape was pure gold: "Mommy! There's a present for me that's bigger than our couch!!"). One of the things I really enjoyed on Christmas Eve was making miniature gingerbread houses that perch on the edge of mugs. I used Not Martha's template and recipe recommendations, and …
cooking
Happy Friday + Randomness (+ Peppermint Cocoa Blocks)
Happy, happy Friday! How are you all faring in all the holiday madness? Perhaps you'd like to sit back and relax with some peppermint cocoa? We made a boatload of these to give out to classmates, teachers and friends. They are easy to whip up, but require some waiting time (12 hours for the cocoa blocks to set) so you do need to do some planning, but there's still time before Christmas! I used this ubiquitous recipe from King Arthur Flours, and these cocoa blocks are amazing. AMAZING. …
Pumpkin Banana Bread with Vanilla Bean Glaze
I keep forgetting that this is Thanksgiving week. Maybe it's because I lost a week due to the flu, but I feel like my holiday circadian rhythm is all off. To rectify this, I figured baking with pumpkin puree would get me back on track. But plain old pumpkin bread struck me as a little mundane, and pumpkin pie was more commitment than I was willing to pony up. Then I spotted the over-ripe bananas on the counter and immediately Googled "pumpkin banana bread". This recipe sounded promising, …
Tea Party Treats (Two Very Good Recipes)
If I had a Native American name, it would be She-Who-Does-Not-Cease-To-Cough. No miracle bounce-back for me yet, but I am straining against my nature and resting a lot. The good news is that my appetite is back and I'm chowing down all the food groups and so far, they're staying where they should. Now that I can look at food again without gagging, I remembered that last week, K hosted a mini tea party for her best friend at our house. American Girl dolls included, naturally. I was their …
Her Own Recipe
There's only so much couch-sitting and reading a seven-year-old can handle, and during the many days K stayed home from her illness last week, she kept trying to come up with ways to entertain herself. Of course, I didn't want to make staying home from school too fun for her, or I knew I would suffer the consequences. One day she asked if we could bake something. "Sure," I said, getting ready to look up recipes. "No, I want to make up my own recipe," she stated firmly. And so she did. …