The Spice Rack

New venture

2014-05-07T22:03:00.000-04:00

Lots of things in life change, but if motherhood has taught me one thing, it's that it is just fine if what works now won't work for the long haul. As my kids are no longer wee babes, I started to think more about me. What fuels me. How I want to spend my working life. What will take me beyond the years in which I have kids in the house. One day, during an email exchange with a wonderful friend, we mused about how we could work with each other since we come from very different backgrounds without a lot of crossover skills. We discovered we both shared the same dream to own a fabric shop and right then my friend said, "we are doing this!" and Spool was born. We just didn't know what it was called or how we would do it, we just knew it was going to happen.

I am happy to report that phase one, the online fabric shop is live! We will be working hard to achieve the next phase which is a brick and mortar storefront. It still feels weird to say that this is part mine, but I really love it.

If you want to follow the creative part of me, let me direct your attention to Spool!

That's where I'll be for hopefully, a long, long time.

and then she was 60.

2012-09-23T12:18:00.001-04:00

My mom, that is.

I don't think the lady had a party thrown for her since her wedding reception.

She deserved it. She has worked hard for many, many years. My mom is seriously the nicest person on the planet. If you think I am nice or thoughtful, it is because I learned from her example. My mom was not only celebrating her 60th birthday, but five years cancer-free! She should be celebrated. So my brothers and I set out to do so. She wanted a picnic and we tried to give her the best one we could. That pin she is wearing on sweater? A nurse pinned to that to her tiny clothing after birth as she was a preemie and they feared she wouldn't make it through her first night of life. My mom has been kicking butt since day 1.

It couldn't have been more perfect. Except for her friends that showed up too early or the one that showed up four days late!

No birthday is complete these days in this family without this cake. Henry sported chocolate cake face for much of the evening. I've linked this recipe before, but I'll do it again because it always get rave reviews. If you think you are a slave to boxed cake mix and canned icing, this will totally change your mind.

Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water--your batter will be very thin. Pour batter into prepared pans.

ONE PAN 9X13: Bake 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

CUPCAKES: Fill 2/3 full. Bake 22-25 minutes (Makes 30)

Chocolate Frosting

1 stick butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk if needed. Stir in vanilla.

For a two layer cake, I typically double the frosting so that I have generous amounts for the cake. I live with frosting people, what can I say?

Oh and the band? The Armadillos. They were kind of fantastic and added so much to the party. They are good friends of my brother and happen to be my mom's neighbors. Their performance was their present to her.

Girl Power

2012-08-13T14:52:00.003-04:00

I'm on vacation--our longest one ever as family (17 days!) and this morning, it was just me and The Boss at the beach. She's always been inquisitive, but age five seems to have brought along a more mature line of questioning. I like it. We have real conversations now and she tests my knowledge of life and nature constantly.

This particular morning, while jumping some waves and combing the shore for shells worth keeping, it was as if something clicked in her brain and made her realize that my friends and I are something other that just mommies. It's been nearly two years since I left my job so it is easy for her to forget that I ever worked outside of our home. She asked about when I was little what I wanted to be when I grew up and then asked all about what I did for a job. And then we talked about what the mothers of her friends do. These are,of course, my friends. Never have I been more proud and impressed with my friends than when I can spout off: pediatrician, lawyer, photographer, architect, software specialist, art curator, clinical therapist, and teacher to just name a few of the impressive things they do. What role models we have in our lives!

As we are just weeks away from kindergarten, she has chosen artist/art teacher, paleontologist, and "kid doctor" as her future professions and will tell you what time of the day she will perform each of these duties as she realizes this is a tall order. I hope it is all true.

Is this thing on?

2012-04-24T22:54:00.000-04:00

I know, it's been a long, long time. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Things that consume my life right now:

Kicking around the soccer ball with my big girl. She loves being on a team for the first time. This is my happy and excited Green Hornet. Soccer mom status realized.

Enjoying the green everywhere, even in my knitting.

Playing trains, planes, and automobiles with my not so little boy.

Baking. Always baking! This time, soft pretzels, Auntie Anne's style. My boy looked at the mixer and said "Dough". My job here is done! These are slightly sweet, buttery, and tasted just like the mall staple.

Auntie Anne's Copycat Pretzels

2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
6 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons fine salt

1/3 cup baking soda
3 cups warm water
Coarse salt
8 tablespoons butter, melted in a shallow dish

Warm up the milk in the microwave or on the stove for just about one and a half minutes. It should be about 110º. Stir in the yeast and let it sit for about 3 minutes. Add the butter and sugar. Add the flour about 1 cup at a time and the add the fine salt. Knead for about 10 minutes with a stand mixer, or by hand. Put it in a greased bowl and cover with greased cling wrap. Let rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450º. Divide dough into 12 pieces. Roll them all out as thin as you can. Combine the warm water and baking soda in a wide bowl. Form the dough into pretzel shapes, then dip in the baking soda water. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for about 7-11 minutes or until browned. Brush melted butter over top of each pretzel. I actually just run a stick of butter over top of each butter and let a bit melt on contact.

Enjoy one and then hand out to neighborhood kids so you don't eat them all. At least that's what I had to do!

Forgetta bout it.

2011-07-25T14:40:00.008-04:00

I am a woman of my word and let's just say, we've been having some ice cream 'round here. Big thanks to my babe Henry for healing his gut in time for me to partake in the seasonal dairy deliciousness.

While I've taken the easy way out and just scooped the ice cream out of store-bought containers, the other night when we had friends over for dinner, I decided to try a homemade topping to make it a little more fancy. First, I chose to make a salted butter caramel sauce which looked and smelled so amazing that we were hovering around the pot with spoons. Then we tried it and I'm just going to assume I took the caramel too far because it was incredibly bitter tasting and disgusting. We were in such denial that we thought it would get better as it cooled or better with ice cream. Nope, it didn't. Burnt sugar is burnt sugar, people. I felt defeated. Actually, I was just plain pissed at myself for wasting the cream and butter! I don't take kindly to kitchen failures.

Thankfully, friend time cures all. After a lovely afternoon noshing and chatting, I was up for another try. I changed gears though and went for a butterscotch sauce.

I have to ask you to do something first.

I want you to forget about everything you think you know about butterscotch sauce.

I want you to forget that it is usually an odd brown with a sometimes hint of nuclear yellow.

I want you to forget it usually comes out of a pump or a squeeze tube.

I want you to forget that it's usually so sweet you could go into sugar shock after a bite.

I want you to forget that you don't like butterscotch.

I want you to forget that you ever bought an ice cream topping in a store.

I want you to forget that you think you can't make ice cream sauce at home because it might be 'tricky' or take a long time.

I want you to forget all those things and remember to add dark brown sugar and heavy cream to your grocery list this week. I'm going to assume you already have the salt, butter, and vanilla, ok? If you don't have those things in stock, why are we friends? I kid!

Because here's the deal. Even though 'they' say it's cooling down this week, it's still going to be hot and it's your right to eat a whole lotta ice cream in the summer. And you need to promise me you are going to try this at least once. It's going to take you maybe 10-15 minutes total. Really. That includes fumbling around for the right pot in your 'very organized' cabinet and gathering your ingredients Rachel Ray style.

Seriously. You are going to want to top it on everything, but I highly recommend at least starting with vanilla bean ice cream and topping it when the sauce is still a touch warm. You will thank me and remember how right I was about that whole butterscotch thing.

You're welcome in advance. Now go win friends and influence people with an ice cream topping.

As usual, this is from Smitten Kitchen. You can go there for prettier pictures for sure.

Ridiculously Easy Butterscotch Sauce

I usually hate when recipes are titled with 'ridiculously easy', but this time, it's really, really true.

Smitten Kitchen (She writes that it was adapted from The Washington Post who adapted it from The Perfect Cake)

1/4 cup (or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed dark or light brown sugar (I used dark)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt or 1/4 tsp regular table salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, cream, and salt and whisk until well blended. Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.

Remove from heat and add the vanilla and stir to combine. You can add more vanilla and salt at this point, but I really liked the flavor of the above proportions. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Make it right after dinner and it will be perfect consistency by the time you've digested enough to have room for dessert.

This can be served cold or warm (please, go for warm) and easily stores in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Can be reheated in the microwave or small saucepan.

The end.

Travel quirk.

2011-06-30T10:17:00.008-04:00

Hey Y'all! Tell me, why is the southern accent so infectious? After two weeks in the south, The Boss and I were getting pretty impressionable as far as the language goes;)

We were beaching it as well as visiting family and friends over the past few weeks and I just had to laugh at myself after some gentle ribbing by family members regarding one of my apparent travel quirks.

I seem to bring an apron and microplane grater along more often than not.

What? Is that weird?

Such is my life! Well, I don't hear anyone complaining about the cooking that results from this type of travel packing!

And it's no crazier than say, my four year old who refuses to take off swim goggles during dinner!

Beach life was good. Now off to figure out what day it is before I sink any further into this post-vacation brain mush.

Ahh...summer.

I pledge.

2011-06-04T11:29:00.008-04:00

My college roommate recently wrote a blog post about her summer pledge and it mostly involved icy summer treats (she already does triathlons and such so she doesn't need to put things like exercise on her list). It got me thinking about my summer pledges, which coincidentally, also involves a lot of icy summer treats! Especially since I'm leaning back into the world of dairy (woo).

It's going to be an interesting summer. For the first time in our years together, Hank and I will both be home and free of that whole day job thing for the entire summer. In theory, this means a lot of stuff can be accomplished. It also means we can do a whole lot of goofing off if we play it right.

In addition, I plan to say, "Go ask your father." a lot! Bwahahahahahaha.

I've vowed to stop being what I call an "idea gatherer" and will work on putting plans into motion. I've already started on that. Lots of work to happen after vacation. The words Summer Pledge seem so much more motivating than something like New Years Resolutions. I'll be anxious to see my progress come August when I'm shipping Hank off to work and The Boss off to school. The nice thing is that even if we shirk some jobs along the way, it was in the name of good fun with our kids.

We haven't started making popsicles, ice cream, or sorbet yet, because we're still all about crunch. Sweet potato chips to be exact. Yeah, we're still making everything into chips. To go with one of our favorite dips which I just so happened to whip up for Father's Day. It's from one of our favorite restaurants of all time, Kaya. The dip is spicy and so good with the slight sweet and salty flavors of the homemade chips. The restaurant serves this with sweet potato and other root vegetable chips that are fried, but we're all crazy for the baked sweet potato chips around here. The in-laws are crazy about them, too when they were here for Father's Day. Everyone devoured the dip and chips before I could even get outside to take photos. Ahh well, it won't be the last time these make an appearance. The only downside is that these recipes call for turning on your oven which is I think against the law in the summer. Save these in your back pocket if you'd like.

The vacation countdown begins today and somehow I think giving Hank a hammock for Father's Day really wasn't the way to go if I wanted anything to be accomplished this week or during the summer for that matter. Certainly I have no designs on that hammock. Nope, not me. Relax? What? Never! I only bought the hammock for him.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Using a mandoline or if you have mad knife skills, thinly slice sweet potatoes (we keep the skin on) and lightly toss with olive or canola oil. Place on baking sheet making sure the potatoes do not touch or overlap each other. Bake at 400 degrees anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on how big your pieces are. The edges will start to curl up and turn slightly brown. Remove potato pieces and place on a cookie rack to cool and sprinkle with sea salt.

Kaya's Yucatan Black Bean Dip

I snagged this recipe off of their website years ago before they probably realized they shouldn't put their recipes on their site;)

3 cups cooked black beans

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I typically only use 3 peppers and it's spicy enough)

chihuaha or monterey jack cheese, about a half cup

green onions for garnish

In a food processor, add half of the black beans, mayo, parmesan, chili powder, cayenne, and chipotles. Process until well mixed and smooth. Add in remainder of black beans and pulse a few times. You want some of the black beans to have some texture. Place mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and dip is bubbling around the edges. Sprinkle with green onions if you wish. Serve with chips of any kind. If you aren't into making your own chips, a bag of Terra chips works really well!

Late to the party.

2011-05-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you read any kind of food blog whatsoever in the past year or more, you've probably seen someone rave about kale chips.

Kale? Turned into a crispy chip? Granted, I'm one of those weird people who actually likes her greens, but I can't deny that I got pretty excited that I could possibly make something so incredibly super food healthy and have it taste like junk food.

And one day my husband knocked me over by bringing home kale. It was fate. So we gave it a whirl. I'm going to be honest here. I think my expectations were too high. Just so you know, kale chips will not taste like Doritos. They will not taste like Cheetos. Are you getting a sense of my forbidden snack foods? They will not taste like potato chips either. Shocking, I know.

They were incredibly crunchy and nicely salted. They were fine for a healthy snack, although I thought they were a tad bitter. That could be a result of the type of kale though. They reminded me why I like roasted cauliflower--the browned crispy bits. I think adding some other flavors would help it out for me. The reason I will continue to make them is that The Boss thought they were awesome.

That is a kid eating kale. Willingly.

While we ate our dinner, she asked to crumble the chips into her pasta.

So there ya go.

You can find a bunch of kale chips right here. Crunch.

photo of the day-music lover.

2011-05-24T10:35:00.003-04:00

My girl, lost in her music. The tunes of the day are from the movie Tangled soundtrack.

Reminds me of me and my dual cassette boombox (awww yeah, mixed tapes!).

She listens on her Sweet Pea MP3 player. While it's a little pricey for the storage capacity, this thing is rugged. And since she's my kid, she is just hard on stuff in general. Clothes, shoes or gear of any type. We can ruin things pretty quickly without even trying.

There is a parental lock for volume which is nice so we can set it for bedtime or daytime listening levels. We've loaded audio books and have multiple folders of her favorite music. What I'm trying to say is Santa really knew what he was doing with this music player for kids. Trust me, I'm not even paid to say so!

Believe it or not, I'm even digging some songs from the Tangled soundtrack. Thank you, Grace Potter!

I'm a believer.

2011-05-12T09:40:00.000-04:00

While there are so many stark contrasts between the babe and The Boss, everything from their entry into the world to sleep habits, I have to say as a mom the second time around, one of the biggest differences for me is that I read nothing about babies. It's awesome. I go purely by gut or gather opinions from my pool of trusted moms. Granted, when I suspected something was wrong, I may have sought after Dr. Google's advice, but then quickly closed my screen and asked a pediatrician friend instead. Armed with a trusted mom pool and my own experience, I'm comfortable leaving the books behind and just living life with this baby.

So when unbelievably, we reached that six month mark and everyone started talking about what food he was eating, I think I let out a small groan. Oh yeah, we're supposed to do food! The first time around I was all gung-ho to make my own purees and spoon feed. It was something new to do! This time I need some reminding why other food is important:) I've had a few friends subscribe to the baby led weaning process in which you forego the purees and let the babes have chunks of food that they can control. They'll bite off what they can, chew what they can handle, and spit out the rest. As a first time mom this method would strike fear. "But the baby will CHOKE!"

Since Henry has a milk protein allergy (yeah, that means due to breastfeeding I am off all things cheese and butter and then some! Shocker that I am still alive, I know!) so we were encouraged to go pretty slowly with the food anyway. So far I've done a mix of mashes and large chunks of soft food for him. He wants nothing to do with being spoon fed. It has to be under his control. Will he take a spoon in his hand and try to get the contents off it? Yes. Will he open his mouth like a little bird when I try to feed him. Nope. Will he eat a banana or sweet potato if I give him a large piece of it? Yes he will!

Amazing. I'm a believer. Yes, yes I am. Buh-bye baby books. More fun books for me.

Five years ago if you told me that I'd be a cloth-diapering, non-cheese eating, don't-worry-about-the-baby-food kind of mama, I'd be giggling quite a bit.

Change is good.

photo of the day-sometimes Mother Nature gets it all wrong.

2011-04-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Really glad we spent all that time/money putting down weed preventing landscaping fabric with a 20 year guarantee! Hello my green little nemesis.

Seriously, I think scientists should look into properties of the thistle for the fountain of youth or something.

Photo of the day-sometimes Mother Nature gets it right.

2011-04-19T10:48:00.002-04:00

Enjoying our own little cherry blossom festival.

Anticipation.

2011-04-15T08:47:00.003-04:00

Things I am currently anticipating:

1) full bloom of my weeping cherry tree. Maybe this weekend.

2) Girls Weekend #1. This year I have to forego the awesomeness of spending the whole weekend away with my local girls because I'm just not ready to leave the lil' guy for three days, but getting to spend a day with all my girls in this now grand tradition will be wonderful and much needed. Operation All Children Left Behind is a go.

3) Girls Weekend #2 (with families). Can't wait to see my other set of girls, the way-too-far- away ones, for a long Easter weekend. The packing list is staggering. It kind of looks like this: See all things in house. Pack it all in car. Don't forget children and food. The end.

4) Teeth: the lil' man is amazingly days away from six months old and two teeth are close to popping through. Can't believe we're already there and food, crawling, and college is not far behind for him! Gah! I think second babies grow faster in a separate space/time continuum.

5) my camera battery charging. Hence, no photo today!

Hope you have something fun to anticipate!

Photo of the day-the first of many.

2011-04-13T12:15:00.002-04:00

Boo-boos that is. Nice weather+lots of running+pavement=inevitable splat+blood.

I hate the injury part of parenthood. This is just the beginning, isn't it?

Boo-boo Bunny to the rescue.

Photo of the day-goodnight story.

2011-04-08T19:53:00.002-04:00

If you know me at all, you know how much I value the act of reading to kids. In fact, this love spilled over into volunteer work I used to do with and early literacy program called Beginning with Books. Due to financial insolvency, the program came to an end last year. A huge loss to low-income children in the Pittsburgh area. Since my stint with Beginning with Books ended, I've spent countless hours reading to that big girl in the picture. Oh did my heart swell when I saw the above take place. She still "reads" by memorization, but she's on the cusp of learning the right way. The babe doesn't care, he's entranced either way. It's all about passing the baton.

Photo of the day-naked guy in charcoal

2011-04-07T11:00:00.003-04:00

Ugly naked guy. That's what I titled this charcoal drawing of mine from 1999. I took a drawing class for fun when I worked at the university and had an education benefit to use. While charcoal is so very messy, I really loved that medium. This was also the first time I ever tried to draw people, let alone naked people.

I would love to do portraits of my children. I'd have to do it by night light when they are sleeping I suppose. No one sits still in this house.

And this drawing has a funny story to it. I had it hanging in my "bachelorette pad" and a friend of mine came over for drinks one day after work. She was the kind of person that seemed to know everyone. She asked "Is that Joey?" I said I didn't know they guy's name as it was just a male model from my art class. I said that the guy really smelled and wore jeans that were held together with safety pins in a purposeful sort of way. She said yeah, that's him. It was official. She really did know everyone.

As I sit in our home office which is slowly becoming my creative space (since really, when do we ever use it as an office?) and where this drawing currently resides, I'm reminded how much more balanced my life is these days. Perhaps it's because the babe is so chill is his temperament and sleep habits are great or maybe it's because I realized my mistake the last time around when I gave up too much all at once. Regardless, I feel like I'm reclaiming parts of myself that were on hold for a while. All of my former extracurriculars are back in full swing. It feels really, really good. And a happy Mama makes for a happy family.

Photo of day-itsy bitsy

2011-04-06T10:00:00.002-04:00

This is today's definition of cute: itty bitty jeans and nifty little socks.

Of course I think baby socks rank up there with Christmas tree pine needles, beach or sandbox sand, and Easter grass. Once these things are in your house you will find them in random places until the end of time.

Photo of the day-the beginning.

2011-04-05T10:44:00.004-04:00

Very rarely a day goes by that I don't take a photo of something. Usually kiddos, but other things do catch my eye. Why not start sharing them with you?

I received this orchid for my birthday a few years ago. It took two years for it to bloom again, but it was worth the wait. It's been in full bloom for nearly a month with no signs of withering. It's a nice contrast to the gray outside.

Sibling love.

2011-03-03T21:16:00.006-05:00

Reasons I love this photo:

1) She is consoling her brother

2) Both my kids love to be naked and that they are

3) Her hands are covered in marker, just like they are every. single. day.

Why I hate the rest of these photos:

1) It makes me want to have 18 more children.

Ok, not really (both on the hating of the photos and having 18 more children). I love these photos immensely.

Very soon, her biggest fear will be realized: there will be slobber on her Legos.

Just call me Cookie Monster.

2011-01-13T21:07:00.006-05:00

I did so little baking for the holiday that I think I am making up for lost cookies lately. Sure, we did our sugar cookie cutouts which may have included a witch and a ghost. I picked up a little trick along with that recipe which calls for you to roll out the cookies with powdered sugar instead of flour!

Anyway, cookies just seem like the winter thing to do. You know, the oven will help heat the house! The Boss is always eager to help! We get cookies at the end! There are cookies waiting for me after the kiddos are in bed! There are just a lot of positives that go along with cookies. Lately, I've been craving those with warm spices and such. Cinnamon. Ginger. Nutmeg. Cloves. These have it all. And if you are in that camp that believe chocolate chips help everything, it has those, too.

The only downside is that you have to chill the dough. Which means waiting. My almost four year old exclaimed "We have to wait TWO HOURS?!" Anything longer than immediately was going to be a long time for her. So we shoveled some snow. 'Cause that's also the winter thing to do.

Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

7 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups plus 1 TBSP flour

1 1/4 TSP ground ginger

1 TSP cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 TBSP cocoa powder

1 stick unsalted butter

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger (I omitted this)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 TSP baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar and beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 TSP of boiling water. Beat half of the flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Santa will like these.

2010-12-19T12:32:00.010-05:00

These aren't a special holiday cookie, but one I spied on the back of a flour bag when making pizza dough one Friday afternoon. Peanut butter. Oats. Chocolate. It had to be a winner.

It was! Definitely eat one warm and then the rest are great dunkers.

And I promise, Henry's double chin is not a product of eating the cookies. Now back to my regularly scheduled program of kissing a chin dimple.

Robin Hood Flour's Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup quick cooking or old fashioned oats

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Beat butter, sugars, peanut butter, vanilla and eggs until creamy and well blended. Stir in flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (I made mine big and they took about 14 minutes). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Otherwise known as.

2010-11-04T11:45:00.005-04:00

Introducing Henry Ellis--

but he is more likely to answer to:

Buddy

Handsome

Big Guy

Lil' Man

Mr. Man

Pooper Pooper

Mister

Honeypie

No matter what he's called, all I know is that we're all madly in love with him, including The Boss, in case you were worried.

Naturally, by the time he hit 7 days of life The Boss noted we had yet to make a birthday cake...a most fabulous idea if you have a baby that sleeps (and this one does! so far anyway). The cake part was this and the icing, one of our absolute faves, was this (see bottom of the page for icing recipe).

Of course, I find myself nibbling on baby cheeks more than anything.

You know you're ready...

2010-10-08T09:49:00.005-04:00

to have a baby when you start considering gluing candy corn to a wreath.I'm not a fan of this candy, so it's not an abomination to "waste" it on such a thing. I think this is adorable as a Halloween decoration though. My other family members and some friends would probably be found nibbling near the front door if such a thing hung in our house. Instructions can be found here and tips on preserving it found here.

If I run out of things to organize in the next week, this might make it to the To Do list. You don't suppose The Boss is capable of helping me with this one, do you? One for the wreath, six for me. That's how I think that one would go.

Excuse me while I go organize the silverware.

What it really means.

2010-09-14T09:26:00.006-04:00

I know this much to be true.

When your 3.5 year old asks "Want to see my super cool new trick?" this inevitably means your husband will get clocked in the nuts some how every.single.time.

When your 3.5 year old asks "how do you spell YOUR name" while coloring nicely in the playroom while you prep dinner, it means she actually endorsed every single check with crayon in the checkbook she found.And when your 3.5 year old asks "what is your account number?" then you run for the hills, or at least ship them off to preschool.
Good luck, preschool teachers! Good luck, indeed.

Before he gets here.

2010-09-08T23:33:00.011-04:00

Before this blog makes room for one more babe....A little ode to The Boss at a most awesome age.
And just because Jen did an awesome job of capturing the spirit of my big (baby) girl and I wanted to share.Pinch me.