This is just to give you a taste of life around here with a very pregnant wife. Ignore gender-specifics and apply to a female. Additionally, replace “Dante” with your name of choice.
I like to think that my sweet husband makes the best cup of hot cocoa in the world. He’s always the kind-hearted servant at night, making me a cup and delivering it with a smile and a kiss. It doesn’t get any better than that!
I tell him his hot cocoa tastes the best because he makes it with love. Well somehow lately the word “love” is synonymous with real whipping cream and sprinkles. Mark will ask if I want a cup of cocoa and I’ll say, “Yes please, and put a lot of love in it!” Well tonight he’s delivered, folks. Things got a mite crazy in the kitchen. As you can see from this picture, my cup overflows. I love you, honey! You bless me.
I came across this quote on the internet today (I wish I knew who said it)…
Being that I’m working on two more vintage-style aprons, it just made me smile. I wear my aprons all the time. I have one for bread making day, which is thick and sturdy since I get super messy, and the others are just the thin cotton type. They sure keep my clothes from getting oil and butter stains on them (I was having some major splatter issues for a while there), and Mark tells me I look super cute wearing them over my dresses. (She shoots, she scores)! Here’s the quote:
“As the search for domestic bliss continues, a search that includes cleaning and decluttering, cooking tasty nutritious meals, educating children, and the care and feeding of husbands, women will celebrate the difference they make in the lives of their families. They know an apron is like a uniform that conveys authority, unconditional regard, and motherly wisdom all at once. Apron Moms know aprons are about cooking and cleaning but they are also about emotional availability, hospitality, and femininity.”
Well it happened again. I had a total urge this afternoon for a certain treat and simply had to run to the store and get the ingredients. Two things were at the top of my baking list: ginger snaps and snickerdoodles. Tonight I tried a new recipe for the ginger snaps. They came out so beautiful and delicious I just had to share the recipe here. I like them slightly on the chewy side and these were perfect. Even better, I didn’t have to alter the recipe at all! This is one recipe I’ll keep forever. You have to roll the dough into little balls and then roll them in sugar- so fun that I think Samuel will really enjoy baking these with me! I had to eat several as soon as they came out of the oven (served with a steaming hot cup of tea of course)! A wonderful fall treat. Now all I need are some girlfriends to come by and chat with me over these cookies!
My friend Sarah shared this recipe with me (she found it online). She altered it a tad, and it is delicious! Mothers beware - your children will want to eat these up every day, so you’ll always need to keep these ingredients on hand! It’s a nutritious treat that’s great for breakfast or road trips, too!
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup raisins (or craisins, or whatever dried fruit)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce as a healthier alternative)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be to hard to cut.
(I also like to add a 1/4 cup of finely chopped almonds or sunflower seeds, too). I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as we do!
My friend gave me a recipe for homemade hamburger buns and boy are they good! I’ve decided not to buy packaged ones anymore. Not only are these more flavorful, but they are made with fresh ground wheat and are better for us, too. They take a little time to make but it’s worth it. I try to make them on warmer days since the rolls rise better then. I usually roll the balls of dough into onion flakes and other seasoning, but forgot with this batch and had to sprinkle it on - which of course it didn’t stick great, but oh well.
I make them in my Bosch machine, which is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. The giver wanted to invest in our family, and to this day we are so blessed by that thing. I’m not sure how you would make the buns without it, otherwise I’d put the recipe up. But anyway, I included a couple pics of the feast. Just remember, true perfection around these parts happens when you smother your burger in green chile peppers, ha! I’m addicted.
and cookie is for me! My husband is an awesome cookie maker. Yes, he is the cookie man of the household. I can make just about any dessert (just this past Friday I whipped up a brownie mousse trifle for his coworkers). But cookies? I mess them up every time. Oh, the shame! So I leave that business to my darling baker boy. He just tried a new recipe that came out marvelous! Here it is if you’d like to taste-test them yourself:
Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups bittersweet or dark chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Heat oven to 400˚F. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and salt with mixer on medium 2 minutes until creamy. Beat in eggs until fluffy. On low speed, beat in flour until blended. Stir in chocolate and nuts. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake 8 minutes or until golden. Cool 2 minutes; remove cookies to a rack to cool further. Store airtight up to one week. Makes 46 cookies.
***We’re nutty, but we don’t like nuts… so Mark substituted oats instead. He also used a little less sugar.
As a side note, my latest sewing project is a vintage-style apron. I chose a dark brown polka-dotted fabric and am accenting it with white bias tape. Should be fun to cook in! Here’s what it looks like so far:
We’ve been making Saturdays our Sabbath day for the last several months (I should post more about that later). So after a restful Saturday, we were geared up for the work to be done around the house Sunday! Mark hung a new clothes line in the back yard, so I hung the towels in the sunshine. It was such a beautiful day. While I did that, Samuel helped Daddy water the irises.
Then I headed to the kitchen to make homemade bread. I ground a combination of red and golden wheat in my handy dandy Nutrimill and used Vermont maple syrup to sweeten it a tad. Boy, did the house smell good! I made four loaves, and then cut each one in half. Mark takes a half loaf to work each week, and Sammy and I split the other half. This way, I make bread about every 4-6 weeks, depending on how much Sam and I want to eat sandwiches. Quite nice!
A couple other items I made this weekend: First, homemade wheat hamburger buns (I got this recipe from Kirsten). I seasoned the tops and added onion flakes, and when done baking, I brushed them with butter. Mark thought they might be too big at first, but then we decided 8 inch diameter buns are YUMMY!! Thanks Kirsten! Second, I made a strawberry dish. At first I thought the recipe sounded completely bizarre. But they were delicious and I will definitely make them again. I cut the sugar in half and it was wonderful.
Last but not least, I picked up a couple of new items to do all this housework in. Some new red canvas flats, and a retro style dress from Target. I think I’ll be wearing them all summer! Lovely and feminine… kid tested, husband approved.
