Tails of an Apronista

100th Post!! And the Most Amazingly Simple Bread Recipe you'll Ever Find!

2012-02-09T12:20:00.000-06:00

A very merry 100th post to me! & a very merry 100th post to you!

To those of you who read this regularly (well, ok as regularly as I seem to be able to write in it) thanks for sticking with me and reading all my tidbits! For those new or just stopping by, welcome and thanks so much for the visit! I hope y'all come back again soon!!

I just wanted to take a minute and share with you a bread recipe I found about a week ago that I am just so darn excited about I can't even explain. See, I am a great baker if I do say so myself, however I can't bake yeast bread to save my life! I have tried so many times it's not even funny any more. I have ruined so many seemingly simple recipes and thrown out so many loaves of bread I can't even count them...

Until Now!!

Yes, I am serious! It is so exciting and I can't keep it to myself. I hope you love, love, love it and I hope you make it soon and often! The 2nd best part, aside from how stinkin' easy it is, is the fact that it is vegan(!) which is a total bonus for my sis! Yay!

Please tell me what you think and I'd love ideas on add ins too. My first batch was just as written, the next one will be rosemary infused and I can't wait!

I came across the recipe through my Facebook page at Money Saving Mom who challenged the DIY experiment for the 5 Minute bread. She wrote that she had purchased the book months before but found the video log that Mandy from Biblical Homemaking did to be the most helpful to get her started and so did I. I have linked both of these for you so that you have all the tools to make this the easiest, best bread making experience ever!

The Recipe can be found here at Artisan Bread in 5 and of course here ;)

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes

3 C luke warm water - not hot, it will kill the yeast -
1 1/2 T yeast
1 to 1 1/2 T Kosher Salt
6 1/2 C unbleached all purpose flour

Prep:
In a 5+ quart lidded (but not air tight) food safe container pour in water, sprinkle over the yeast. Then measure out flour onto the top of the water in the container, sprinkle with salt and mix until all the flour is wet. No need to over mix and do not knead or remove from the 5+ quart container. Place the lid on and set aside on the counter for 2 hours for it to rise. You can now bake it if you're ready or place it in the refrigerator. It will be much easier to work with if properly chilled.

Baking:
Pull the dough container out of the fridge 1 hour before ready to bake. Dust the top of the dough (in container) with a little flour, pull up a chunk of dough approximately the size of a grapefruit and cut it off with a bread knife or kitchen sheers. Set on a pizza paddle or flimsy cutting board dusted with cornmeal. I use the flimsy board and its great! Let stand on counter for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450. F (at the 45 minute mark) with a pizza stone or cast iron pan in the oven on the top shelf. Also place a metal pan on the bottom shelf with sides at least 1" high (trust me on this one...do not use a glass or ceramic dish...it will explode in the water step. yes, I did this on the first loaf, don't laugh! Ok, I laughed, so go ahead) Dust bread with flour and score the top with a bread knife about 1/4" deep across the top in lines or a cross hatch pattern.

When oven is heated, get 1 C of hot tap water ready in a pitcher. Quickly open the oven, slide in the bread onto the hot pizza stone, pull out the bottom shelf using hot pads and pour the hot water into the edged metal pan, push shelf back in carefully but quickly and immediately close the door. This will create steam within the oven to make an amazing crispy crust. Do not skip this step! Bake for @30 minutes until golden brown and crispy!

Enjoy and be prepared to be impressed and to impress!! It is so great and lasts well, if there's any left that is ;)

Have a fantastic day & Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

A Day at the Zoo!

2012-02-07T12:07:00.000-06:00

Well hello there and happy Tuesday!

Over the weekend we took Logan to the Zoo for the first time. It was really fun, and he loved getting to see all the animals. The place we went was the Austin Zoo and animal sanctuary which is more of an educational facility that rescues all sorts of animals both domestic and exotic from unhappy situations. It is so nice to see these animals being cared for in a place that can teach us about who they are and what happened to them. One, the large pig that you will see below, was a 4H project that the young girl could not stand to send to the slaughter house, so she donated him to the zoo and continues to make yearly donations for his care. What a great story! It was a cold day so we didn't get to see all the animals, but it got us out and about as a family and was a great way to spend the day! We are really loving the chance to get to see more of Austin and introduce Logan to new adventures!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend and I hope you enjoy the pictures from our day.

Logan's Favorite! Monkeys!!

wolves in the background
Cute boy up front ;)

former 4H pig

Lunch Time!

Kitty!

Dada and the Peacock

Just finished feeding the goats

Recipe of the Day:

Homemade Play Dough

This is a great, easy recipe that you can color any way you like, you can add scents to it with spices or extracts and you don't have to worry about your little one putting a little in their mouth as it is all basic cooking ingredients and nothing that could hurt them. It makes a nice big batch, big enough to share or to portion out to make different colors.

2 C Flour
1 C Salt
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
2 T oil
1 tsp food coloring (or divided out if you want to make a few colors)
2 C water

Mix in saucepan and cook over medium heat until dough leaves sides of pan. If making separate colors, leave the food coloring out, then during the next step (the kneading) separate into desired amount of colors, add color to each and knead color in while kneading dough.
Remove and knead for a few minutes.
Store in Air tight container (zip lock baggie works fine)

Have a great day & Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Bowling Fun!

2012-02-04T08:30:00.000-06:00

Tonight Jamie took Logan and I bowling! It was fantastic! We had so much fun! Logan looked so cute and was so excited he would grab his ball with both hands and teeter over to the slide thing and push with all his little might down the ramp and then clap his hands and jump up and down.

Once he got the hang of it, he wanted to do every turn, mine, Jamie's and the people in the next lane. We had fun bowling lane snacks, and it was during black light bowling so he loved dancing to the music and chasing the disco lights around while waiting for his next turn.

What a great way to end a long week and the perfect start to a weekend with Daddy home. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Logan is 2!!

2012-02-03T08:00:00.009-06:00

What a fun week we had last week! Logan turned 2 years old and had such a great time doing it!

Thursday we baked cupcakes and cookies for his party!

Logan Baking Cookies! Roll, roll, roll... he loves to say this now ;) Oh, wait we had to take a break to watch Lightning!!

On Friday we went to breffie and Story Time at the library with lots of our friends, then we went and played at the park and played lots and lots. That night we went to dinner at one of Logan's favorite spots, Salt Grass Steakhouse. Yes, this is Texas ;) We had dinner with his Grandparents and Great Grandma and he opened lots and lots of prezzies! Grandma even got him a Train cake.

Upside down glasses! gift from Nani, he put them on this way :)

Logan's new kitchen!!!

Construction Mat and trucks from Mema and Pappy

Cutest Boy EVER!!

Oh, you know, just spreading jeljel (jelly) on toast

Someone is super excited about his cake!

On Saturday we had a big birthday party with a Tractor theme and he absolutely loved it! He looked so cute in his overalls and kerchief. I think everyone had a great time, take a look at all the fun photos!

Our Spread

Hay Rolls - Turkey and Veggie Roll Ups

The most amazing fruit dip ever, 2 ingredients: cream cheese and marshmallow cream

Tractor Wheels aka pineapple upside down cupcakes

Cowboy and Boots cookies

Our Favors

Inside: Tractor and Cookies

Logan Taking a little Pre-Party nap in the car with Dada ;)

Carter Rides the Tractor!

Madeleine in her super cute boots

& Travis on the Trike!

Henry checking things out :)

Dada takes Logan, Aimee and Travis for a tractor ride

Logan takes Carter for a tractor ride!

Miss Kaia, cute as can be!

Miss Carolynn showing off her Tractor!

Blowing out a '2' candle, and opening prezzies!

This one kind of sums it up... a boy and his tractor, a perfect match.

Have an amazing Friday y'all!

Happy Baking

~ Alicia

Blog Changes

2012-02-02T20:02:00.001-06:00

I made some changes today to my blog! I think its kind of fun. Thoughts?!
I decided that 4 blogs is just too much along with taking care of a family, toddler, house, life. So, I have eliminated a few, made a few decorative changes to this one and will hopefully be able to keep up a little better on everything ;) right?!

As for today here is my menu plan for the week. Haven't posted one of these in a while and I hope you like it.

Menu Plan:

Monday: Salmon with Home Made Mac & Cheese & Peas

Tuesday: Burritos at Freebirds ;)

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Pasta with Great Northern Beans & Spinach

Thursday: Lemon Garlic Chicken Over Green Beans and Red Potatoes

Friday: Crab Melt Panini's

Saturday: Cheese Sausages with Mixed Greens Salad and Home Made Artisan Bread

Sunday: Family Dinner

Recipe of the Day:

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes
(aka Tractor Wheels at Logan's Birthday Party!)

OK, so you ready for this one? Its a biggie. Duncan Hines Yellow cake mix... that's all I need to say ;)
I used Duncan Hines for two reasons; 1 it's good, 2 it's dairy free (vegan applicable)!! I'll give you the traditional version, as well as the modifications I used to make it dairy free for those at the party who needed it. Adapted from the Duncan Hines website

1 Box Duncan Hines Yellow cake mix (if not needing a dairy free option, use any yellow cake you like)

2 cans pineapple slices (rings) in its own juice

Ingredients as needed on the box (eggs and oil)
- to make this part dairy free use any combination of the following per item 1/4 C of: veg oil, applesauce, pureed bananas, pureed pumpkin, pureed squash preferably butternut or acorn, pureed sweet potato, pureed prunes. In this particular instance I used the oil called for and substituted1/4 C applesauce for each of the 2 eggs.

1 C Pineapple Juice from cans. Drain pineapple into a measuring cup and use for this, if it is shy of the amount called for, add water until it reaches 1 C

Light brown Sugar 1T per cupcake section

Melted butter 1 tsp per cupcake section (here in place of the butter use earth balance original as a substitute part for part)

Maraschino cherries 1/2 cherry per cupcake section

Butter sides of 24 muffin cups 2 pans worth of regular sized muffins
Melt butter and spoon 1 tsp into each cup (2 sticks were used here)
Spoon 1 T brown sugar into each cup
Slice @1/4 of the pineapple ring out to tighten the circle and place in the cup
Place 1/2 cherry in the center
Mix batter as desired and pour evenly over each cup (I use a serving spoon to do this more evenly)
Bake as directed on box. @ 18-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool slightly in the pan,then loosen edges with a rubber spatula. Place a wire cooling rack (upside down) on top of the muffin pan, then holding tightly to the pan using both hands, flip both over so that the rack ends up right side up. Holding them firmly together still shake slightly from side to side to loosen up that little bit more, then pray ;) Lift muffin tin slowly and let them slide out onto rack. If a little of the pineapple stays behind, scoop it out and replace onto cupcake.
Let cool completely to set and Enjoy!

Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

Nap Monster One ... Naps Done

2012-01-23T15:45:00.000-06:00

Well, It looks like that pesky little Nap Monster won out after all! The nap has officially left our house. I was so hoping for another year at least, but it would appear that I am doomed to none. 1 week before Logan's 2nd birthday and no naps for 3 weeks yet.

As much as I'd love to keep fighting it, I decided that enough is enough!

Im stressed to high heavens, Logan is needing my love and attention when he isn't getting it and I'm done feeling sorry for myself.

We still have quiet time every afternoon. We play soft lullabies on the radio, go through our old routine, read stories and sit in a dimly lit room just winding down from a busy morning. I get some time to get a few things done that I can't get done with toddler in tow(scouring the bathroom toilets, etc) and he gets time to read books and talk to his lovies. In general it has gone well. The plan is to give him the opportunity to have a nap, if he is ever able to, but not to get upset myself for how hard I am trying to get him to sleep then getting frustrated at him for not doing so.

Im sure you're thinking you're crazy, letting him not nap at such an early age, but believe me, this was not an easy decision. I read countless books and articles searching for clues, tried all the things I have already mentioned and then some and then we decided that it may just be time to let go of some of the rules, follow along with what Logan needs and let things turn out as they must.

As for the Nap Monster, he seems to have absconded entirely now with nap. We will let him stay if he must and know that he is already one foot out the door.

Oh well.

I will take this as a part of this wonderful adventure; experiencing life through this amazing little boy.

On to the next challenge!!

I'm sure I don't have long to wait ;)

Have a lovely Monday

~ Alicia

The Nap Monster!

2012-01-12T16:05:00.000-06:00

So at our house, we have met the Nap Monster. A sneaky little stealer of lovely, happy nap times!!

I don't know when he showed up, or how long he will stay, but I can say this... he is not very nice.

My sweet boy, who is a champ sleeper, with a usual 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap mid day and 11 hour over night sleep has been robbed of his mid day napping and we are all standing around wondering where it went ;)

Some tell me, it is time to change the time, some say tire him out more, some say that the Nap Monster is stealing it for good (oh, no!!!) and I wish I knew what end was up. I've tried lots of different things to convince this little monster to hit the road, like long quiet nap routines, crazy play sessions, big lunches, warm milk, later naps, earlier naps, naps right in the middle, naps in the car, naps in the dark, naps with music, naps without, naps with laundry running... Well, you get the picture. This sneaky guy insists on sticking around!

Worse, he decides for a few days in a row to hide out, and let the lovely naps come back. Just long enough for us to feel like we have finally figured it out, then BAM!!!! Peek-a-boo! Back he comes, and just like that, our world once again turns topsy turvy.

I think I may have to give this little guy a name or a pillow to sit on and say 'welcome, come right in, you're here anyways, you might as well get comfy' :}

Whatever happens, and I hope it happens soon, I hope to be able to send the Nap Monster off on his way with a nice little care package and say 'good riddance and don't come back now, ya' hear'?!

Wish me luck!
Have a great day!
~ Alicia

First few weeks on the 11 month Project - progress report

2012-01-11T12:33:00.000-06:00

Hi there,
hope y'all are well and if you are participating in the 11 month project, I hope these first few weeks have been as successful for you as they have been for me!!

I know its only been a few weeks but its been great. I have floors people, actual, empty, walkable (and cleanable) floors!! I haven't seen some of this floor since we moved in this past August. I am thrilled. We have done some downsizing and organizing and then posting several items for sale on craigslist. Having been quite successful this time around, and seeing such great results has made all the difference in the world. I haven't even wanted to go out and buy anything. We went to Costco a few days ago and bought stuff for Jamie's work and I didn't even think about buying anything for us! I was in the kids department at Target and with the exception of a 3 pack of socks which we actually do need, I didn't buy anything that wasn't needed on the grocery list! I am loving this!

The best part of all of this is the organized space in the apartment and the ease of daily cleaning that it has led to. I don't feel like Im spending all day just picking things up before I can actually clean. Now before you say "yeah but it won't last!" I know it probably won't stay this great for long, but I am hoping that it will lead to more downsizing, more organizing and then finding all the goodies lurking in the boxes that we can actually bring out and have some fun with. All those arts and crafts I've been collecting, all the fabric, all the baking pans and fun kitchen tools I promise myself I'll make fun things with... they all will have their day and so will we.

So keep in touch, help me stay on track and let me know if you are doing anything to help get your family organized and simplified this year.

Happy Baking, have a great week
~ Alicia

11 Month Project

2011-12-06T17:08:00.000-06:00

Hi there and happy holidays!

I hope you are all enjoying time with family and friends and experiencing every moment the holidays have to offer.

I have just today run across a few things that have really struck a cord with me. First a blog post regarding the true feelings and teachings of Christmas. I will not dive in too deep here, because I am still processing it and deciding how I feel about it's ideas and message in the greater picture. I will come back to this another day when I have made a stand on it one way or another.

The 2nd, an adventure of sorts, that I think might be exactly what our family needs and has been trying to figure out how to make work for some time now. It is called the 11 Month Project and is hosted by a blogger I have just today found, Kathleen and she and this wonderful project can be found here: The 11 Month Project . I hope you will find this project meaningful and useful in your life and perhaps you will join us. I know I have been terrible about keeping a consistent post schedule on this blog. I hope to get much better at this next year and perhaps with this help, I will be able to tell you all about how I am doing with this project. Maybe it will keep me on track for both goals ;)

The reasons for which I wish to join this project are a few, but simple.

1. We have too much stuff already and every day it stress' me out to no end that I can't even walk around this tiny apartment without tripping over things!!! URGH! There are a lot of things we like and want, but I really want to get down to figuring out what we need.

2. I want to remember how to use the things we have. I can't even tell you how many things I have bought to use for fun projects and games, events, whatever only to have misplaced them until after the event, or kept putting it off and then it was too late. I want to find these things and do them, make them use them and enjoying doing these things instead of going out to the store every few days or worse, daily just to get out of the house!

3. We are saving for a move again next year and we would like to be moving with a great big savings instead of a great big moving van. I like that idea. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but it makes so much sense! There are things we plan to do at the next place that will need those funds, not a bunch of stuff in boxes that inevitably will get given, donated, sold or tossed again anyways.

4. I want to set a good example for our son. He is still really little, but so very impressionable and I want him to see that we don't just collect stuff, we live life! I think this might have to be my new motto ;)

I have a few weeks left this year to really go through the things in the house. I would like to be done by years end, but that may be too much to set on us all during the holidays. So I will say this, the goal is to be purging, organizing, writing down needs vs. wants and taking stock of what we have and what we don't by the end of the year. Then as things come up, we will better be able to reference what we have, and our lists and make a better call on the dilemma we are faced with.

So, for now. I plan to stress a little less, enjoy the holidays with my family and prepare myself, both mentally and physically for this project/ adventure/ challenge for the new year.

Until next time.
Have a lovely day!
Alicia

A New Look at Organizing This Space

2011-11-21T20:51:00.000-06:00

Ok, so a while back I promised you a tour of the new apartment... this isn't going to be that day unfortunately :(

Instead I am going to tell you all about what we are doing to try to fix some of the organizational issues we'v been kind of overlooking or trying to deal with instead of figuring out how to fix. We finally can't stand it any longer, so here we go.

We bought a new battery for our hand vacuum and just attached the wall hanger to the wall so we can find it, and are not tripping over it. Fixed!

Next we picked up some more storage shelves for the garage for our large items, paper towels, toilet paper, tissue etc that we buy in bulk. This way they are out of the house and they are not all over the garage. I love shelves! Fixed!

Then we ordered a pot rack that hangs from the ceiling to store all my pots and pans instead of them being stacked on top of the washer and dryer. HUGE to-be fix!

Finally we are going to be building some shelves inside of our entry closet so that I can actually see all my sewing/crafting materials. Currently they are stored in a huge cedar chest and each time I want to find something I have to move all the stuff off the top, flip it open, then pull out nearly everything to find 1 silly box. Not working at all. Favorite to-be fix ;) !

Once these last things get put together and everything else gets put into its new place, then I will actually take those pictures and give you a tour of our lovely little space.

Until then have a lovely night!

Happy Baking,
~ Alicia

Yummy Ways to Add Veggies to Toddler Foods

2011-11-18T14:49:00.000-06:00

Some mom friends and I have been talking recently about good, yummy, healthy ways to ensure veggie consumption by the toddlers that we love so much. I have a few tips that I love, and a few great recipes so I thought I'd share them here with y'all as well!

My first, biggest tip is smoothies. The little ones LOVE them and they can be full of great, assorted fruits, veggies, milks, juices and even nuts! We regularly add spinach, peas, carrots, bananas, berries, mango, peaches, pears. Anything really, especially when combined, they create amazing flavor combos, using just a few or a whole bunch. We always add nuts to ours, walnuts, pecans, almonds but if you can't or don't do nuts, then it is just as easy to leave it out. Experiment with different flavors and mix it up often to keep it exciting.

Then to keep it even more exciting, pour extra smoothie into popsicle molds and freeze for a healthy popsicle that you feel great about serving and they get so excited to eat! If you don't have a popsicle mold, use paper dixie cups and popsicle sticks, then just peel off the paper and serve. Easy peasy!

Another simple favorite is serving frozen veggies, right out of the bag, peas and tiny cubed carrots work perfectly! Try any, just cut them small enough and off you go. Great for teethers too!

Here are a few bread recipes that would be a great way to add veggies too. The Zucchini Pineapple is a favorite in our home. Pumpkin is a sure crowd pleaser with an added bonus, trade pumpkin for sweet potato or smashed squash or a mixture of all or any of these. The Avocado is new to us, but I found it in several books, so I figure its got to have a good following and we will try it next time we shop. Any of these can be done as muffins and are great! Just adjust the time for cooking, usually around 22 minutes, but check for doneness to be sure.

Zucchini Pineapple Bread/Tea Cake
an adaptation from The Texas Experience

2 C all purpose flou
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts
3 eggs
2 scant cups sugar
1 C applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
2 C coarsely shred zucchini
1 8 oz can pineapple, drained

Optional: top with a mixture of chopped nuts, sugar and melted butter for a rich crumbly crunch.

Combine flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nuts.
Set aside
Beat eggs lightly in large mixing bowl.
Add sugar, applesauce and vanilla. beat till creamy
Stir in zucchini and pineapple.
Add dry ingredients, stirring until just moist.
Spoon into 2 well greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pans (top if desired) and bake at 350 for @ 1 hour. Test for doneness with toothpick. Cool 10 minutes then remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. Slice and store in fridge or freeze.

Pumpkin (squash/ sweet potato) Loaf
From the Joy of Cooking, Rombauer, Becker, 1997
Have all ingredients at room temp (pre- cooked if using fresh)
Position rack in lower 3rd of oven. preheat to 350. F Grease a 9x5" loaf pan

Whisk Together thoroughly:
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour (or 1 1/4 C A.P. flou and 1/4 C whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp baking powder

Combine in another bowl:
1/3 C water or milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

In large bowl, beat until creamy, about 30 seconds:
6 T unsalted butter
Gradually add and beat on high until lightened in color and texture, 3-4 minutes:
1 1/3 C sugar (or 1 C sugar & 1/3 C packed light brown sugar)

Beat in 1 at a time:
2 large Eggs

Add and beat on low speed until just blended:
1 C pumpkin or other puree

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk(water) mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping sides of bowl as needed.

Fold in:
1/2 C Coarse Chopped Nuts
1/3 C raisins or chopped dates

Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. About 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes before removing it to cool completely on the rack.

Avocado Bread
from The Texas Experience

3 Eggs
1 C Veg. Oil
1 3/4 C Sugar
2 C Mashed Avocado
3 tsp Vanilla
3 C + 2 T Flour (or 2 C +2 T A.P. flour and 1 C whole wheat flour)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
3 tsp Cinnamon
1 C chopped nuts

Beat eggs until light and creamy. Add oil, sugar, avocado and vanilla. Mix lightly. Add flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Blend. Add nuts. Grease two 7x3x2 loaf pans. Bake at 350.F for 55-60 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and tips. I'd love to hear ideas you may have to add to our adventures in cooking for little ones.

Have a lovely weekend!
Happy Baking,
~Alicia

Back From Vacation!

2011-10-03T16:55:00.000-05:00

Oh wow. Ok, so apparently when I went on vacation, I really went on vacation! I mean I have not posted on my blog for what 3 weeks?! Crazy!! It has been a bit crazy getting back to real life, lots to catch up on, lots of events, and my calendar for October is already almost full.

We had a great time on our cruise. The weather was beautiful, no rain at all. Of course, having come from drought we were honestly looking forward to a bit of drizzle ;) We got it when we got back, but only in Galveston and only while we drove out of town. Oh well. I wont bore you with all the crazy details of the cruise, given that we had our share of mis-steps, but we will just say, I have never come across so many delays in all my life! The islands were all beautiful and we had some great excursions. Swimming with dolphins, Huge Hit!! Scooter driving and sailing all over Cozumel, so much fun! Meeting amazing new friends, absolutely priceless!

walking the Dunns River Falls in Jamaica

Getting ready to swim with the Dolphins!

Here they are! Ready to swim with us!

Yes that is me with an iguana,
a live one ;)

Beautiful water in Grand Cayman

Standing in front of our cruise ship

First Fancy dinner night
aren't we cute :)

Oysters! Yum!

Sailing in Cozumel!

Driving around on our scooter

Our fantastic new friends!

More fun with friends!

Towel puppy and my fabulous window seat!

last night on board,
me eating frogs legs!

the lovely wine we brought all the way from
Wimberley with us, shared with great friends

So much fun!

We are happy to be home though especially with the holiday season in full swing. We are having lots of fun getting together with friends, planning fun activities as the weather finally cools down, and making our Halloween costumes!

Here's hoping y'all are well and getting excited about the fabulousness of fall!

Happy Baking

~ Alica

Our Move In Pictures

2011-09-02T15:14:00.000-05:00

Howdy,
Happy Friday!

I don't know about y'all but I am super excited about this weekend in particular. There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest is that for the first time in a long time, my fabulous husband actually has a full 3 day weekend! All three days, no half day of work on a Saturday, no back to the grind first thing Monday, but 3, three blissful days of family time! I am more than a little excited!

I am also super happy because my honey's grandma is coming to town for a nice long visit from across the pond and we have absolutely the best time together!! Sewing, drinking tea, visiting, playing with Logan, shopping, more tea! It is great!

And finally, tomorrow marks the 1 week countdown to our cruise!!! YAY! oh, yes, I am excited!

Well, back to y'all ;)

I promised pics of the move and I have them ready to share. It is of course not all inclusive because it just went so fast, but I have some great ones of lots of packing and clutter and mess and cute boy face, so I think it does us good! I hope you like!

my monkey, "helping" pack the boxes!

keep? Give? Pack? who knows!

what's that? Empty drawers!
No way!

I don't ever remember my cabinets looking that lonely!

I was so proud of myself for packing the full boxes
back into the cabinets so we weren't tripping over that many more!

packing paper

filling up the empty rooms, trying to empty the closets
~ little helper again!

Sorting Mama's keys

I have no where to walk :(

another helper ;)

stacking the furniture

getting more bare

Logan's new room
a work in progress

Monkey helping Dada set up the TV

hmm, did I do that?

look at my magnets, Mama!

here I come!

Time for a break! Little Shoes so cute!

Enjoy!

I am in the process of updating my menu planning techniques so I dont have anything to share with you today as far as a recipe of the day goes, but I strongly suggest you go take a look at this series of menu planning ideas. If you already menu plan, this is a great new technique to simplify your week of planning. If you dont already menu plan... Why not?? It is a huge help, time saver, money saver, sanity saver! I promise, go do it! You will thank me! More importantly you will thank Steph of Somewhat Simple for her fantabulous ideas! Steph writes a fantastic blog about all the wonderful things us mamas need. I hope you fall in love with this blog as I did!

Ok, here's the series. It is a 4 parter, but it's really simple.

Step 1: Intro... What & Why

Step 2: Menu Boards

Step 3: Theme of the Day

Step 4: Organizing the Recipes

Be sure to let her know you stopped by. We all love to hear from new friends!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Baking & Menu Planning!
~ Alicia

I Have Pictures!! Gnocchi!

2011-09-01T14:53:00.000-05:00

Finally, I got out the camera and downloaded the photos that have been stored there over the past 4 weeks. The move, some great pics of Logan, and the adventure of making sweet potato gnocchi for the first time. Now I did not get a pic of the mushrooms over the top, well, because we just ate it up too quick, but I did get the process and a finished pasta pic!

I hope you enjoyed the recipe and I hope you like the pics!

Stay tuned this week. I have more pics to share! Tomorrow... The Move! Yay! Then first thing next week (well, probably Tuesday as it is a holiday on Monday and we will be spending the day out and about) come take a Tour of Our New Place: Alicia's Bake-ette! It will be great! I can't wait to share it with you. It's little (hence the -ette) but cozy! Let me know what y'all think of things. So great to be back to a bit more normal!

prep work

showing off my new island ;)

mashing the sweet potatoes with the spices
& my adorable little helper!

sweet potatoes sprinkled with the ww flour
ready to mix and roll out

dough divided into pieces
& 1 rolled out into a rope

cut the rope into rectangles with fork

rolling rectangles into little pillows

close up on the yummyness - pre baking

finished gnocchi covered in freshly grated parmesan
mmmmmmm!

Have a fantastic day

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Settling in

2011-08-31T15:52:00.000-05:00

So I know I have been terribly remise with the pictures of the move, so I might have to have a wordless day just posting all the pics, but until I get my behind in gear and download them, I will just have to write to y'all instead :) I hope you dont mind!

I just dropped my sis off at the airport after a whirlwind, but fabulous visit! I miss her already ;)

We went out dancing one night, to a winery and walking through a small country town the next day. Did some great shopping and had some yummy dinners! Wish it could be longer as always, but it is just so great to get to see her, we will take and cherish the time we have!

We are getting so close to our cruise and getting super excited, just 10 days away!!

As for the house, we are finally getting settled in. It has been such a rushed few weeks, but just before my sister got here, I unpacked the last inside boxes. (I mean really just before, 5pm finish before a 6:30 arrival!) It made me so happy though to feel like I had a home to bring her to and a place that though small and filled in every nook and cranny, was warm, welcoming and cute. I think I have it down now to needing 4 or so decorative/storage boxes to finish the last few items and we will be set for now.

There are a few things we would still like to do later, like put doors on the bottom half of the living room bookshelf to help keep little hands from pulling all the games off the shelf! We would also like to add a few small shelves to some awkward spaces that are just too big for their own good, but have no way to be divided up. Those though are more 'we would like to' than 'we really need to', so for now, we will be happy and comfortable and as organized as physically possible.

Spending some time today looking back at the posts on my fave blogs to catch up from a busy weekend and as always loving what I find!

Recipe of the Day:

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

3 large sweet potatoes, cooked till soft in the microwave
2+ Cups whole wheat flour, as needed to form a soft dough consistency
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp crushed (ground) rosemary
1/4 C baking replacement (prune and apple puree) (I used this on this particular occasion as my sister is Vegan and unable to eat eggs, otherwise 1 egg would be the typical binder for the dough)
pinch of salt

Mash softened potatoes with the seasonings
Pile onto a clean work surface
Create well in center, sprinkle with flour (all) scoop replacement or egg into well and mix in with a fork until incorporated
Kneed together fully with hands until a proper dough feel is reached, together but not dry or sticky
Cut ball of dough into equal sections, I did 8, because it made a large amount.
Lightly flour hands and board
Roll each piece into a long rope about 1/2" around one piece at a time
Then slice rope into 1" wide rectangles
Roll each rectangle from top to bottom with a fork to form pretty pillows
Drop into large pot of boiling salted water, cook until pillows float to top

Enjoy with butter and freshly grated parmesan cheese or favorite sauce.

We also sautéed up portobello mushrooms with butter, sage, garlic and rosemary and spooned that over the top. Amazing!!

Excess gnocchi can be frozen before cooking (flat on a covered cookie sheet) them placed into baggies or freezer container until ready to cook next time.

Great to visit with y'all again! Have a great midweek!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Fantastic Weekend!

2011-08-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

It was a hit! A totally fantastic date weekend!! We had such a great time together! Here's what we did...

Friday night we did end up going to that movie theatre I talked about, the Flix BrewHouse. It in itself was so much fun. The seats were nice stadium style seats and they were quite comfy. Instead of a thousand infomercials before the previews and main movie, they showed old black and white film previews and full length old cartoons, like the adventures of superman! It was so neat! The food was good. I think they could expand their selection slightly, but the quality was good. We decided that next time we would just do drinks and desserts as the desserts looked very yummy :)

The movie however was a total bust! Horrible! (we saw 'One Day') I don't say that about many movies and I don't want to give it away in case anyone else goes to see it, but I will say this... be prepared for a very abrupt change!!! We were so bothered by this that at the end of the movie we immediately decided that we needed to go see a different movie (our original first choice, but due to the lateness of the show time, figured it would be too late). Let me tell you, it wasn't too late to see this movie to redeem the awfulness of the last movie, even if it meant being up till 1:30 in the morning!!! So at a totally different theatre a few miles down the road, we watched 'Transformers'!!!! It was fantastic!! So exciting and fun! Loved it and it totally made up for the other show! We were really tired at the end, but it was so worth it!

Saturday was another amazing day! I got up and took Jamie breakfast at work since unfortunately he has to work saturdays until 2:30. After visiting with him for a few minutes, I decided to head over to a local outdoor mall and walk around for a while, just browsing and enjoying every moment of the pretty morning! I went to Williams Sonoma, one of my favorite places and looked at every single item, all at my pace and without worrying about tiny hands breaking anything ;) Then Pottery Barn, same story. Then I stumbled upon this nice intimates store called Soma and really liked some of the items there too. purchase #1 :D After there, off to GAP and finally to Francescas, this darling boutique style clothing shop... Purchase #2 and a fabulous LBD on hold!! After this I knew I still had some time before Jamie got off work so I went and got a smoothie and went to wander around the fabric store (yay!) I literally can spend hours here! I also got a phone call from my sister who is visiting soon and we got to chat for a whole hour while I wandered the aisles. A perfect morning!!

Once Jamie was done at work, we met back at home and did a few tidbits on the house to tackle some of the things I couldn't really do myself during the week like moving big furniture and hanging really heavy clocks. After the heavy lifting we watched a show of Tudors and then got ready to go out for the night. We had dinner at this cute little country hole in the wall and loved it. Then we went ice skating!! Yep, we did! It was so nice. After a full day of 105+ temps and weeks and weeks of the same, it was so nice to be in a sweater and still cold!! We had so much fun skating all around. Jamie even taught me to skate backwards! I am very slow and look really goofy, but thats half the fun, right?! I only fell once and had I not left my cell phone in my back pocket, it wouldn't have even hurt :) oops, now I have a big ol' bruise, but hey! It was so much fun! Once we finished there, we headed out for dessert and coffee at a favorite date night spot, Jaspers and it was so good! We got a chance to really talk and catch up. It was wonderful!

Sunday morning I made a nice big cooked breakfast and then we waited excitedly for Logan to come home! We sure did miss him, even during all the fun! He had such a good time too and was so excited to see us!! All around a wonderful, wonderful weekend and we feel so refreshed for the busy week ahead!

Well, I better get back to it, just finished my lunch while writing this out.

Have a great day!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Date Night or 2!!

2011-08-19T15:29:00.000-05:00

Hi there!
Well, its finally here! A date night and I can't even tell you how excited I am! We have been so stressed and crazy with this move that we are just so looking forward to a night out on the town. We might even see a movie, something we have done 1 time in the past 18 1/2 months! I know, right?! Worst part is I know that when I go to bed tonight I will still reach for the monitor waiting to hear anything and wonder at 7am tomorrow why I am still sleeping, oh, right, Monkey's not here :)

We will be going on our vacation in a few weeks now and want to be sure that Logan is super comfy staying with Nanny and Grandpa for more than one night. I am sure it's silly, but I just want to be sure that he has just as much fun as we do and not get worried about our absence too much. Wait a minute... who am I kidding...?? He will have way more fun! He will be at the Spoilin' Spot and I didnt call it that for nothing! There is more love and fun times there than you can shake a stick at!! It really just must be to make mama feel better while she is gone ;)

That said, we are super grateful to have a few nights to ourselves and to be able to get out and about, recharge the batteries and look at our move with a little bit of perspective. It really has gone as well as could be expected, it was just so fast, it seems much harder.

As I sit here writing I am still deciding what we should do tonight. We have so many options open to us, its hard to pick 1 or even 2. I think I have decided to do the movie option. There is a fun looking new brewhouse/movie theatre nearby and they are touted to be quite yummy. I think tomorrow we might go ice skating! Fun right?! We havent done it in years and Im sure i'll end up all battered and sore, but I still enjoy it and you know what? It's cold in there!!! after 64 days of over 100 degrees Im ready for a little bit of cold ;)

I will report back on what we end up doing and how it all goes! Hope y'all have a great weekend as well!

Happy Baking!
Oh and Happy Aviation day too! This one's for you dad!
And if you havent yet, go hug your boss ;)

~ Alicia

P.S. Sorry I havent added a recipe in a few posts, I will just as soon as I actually start cooking again!
I did make dinner last night for the first time in 2 weeks. It was great! honey smoked ribs, sweet potato fries and a fresh greens salad with candied pears and almonds. The yumminess will return soon!

Attempted jump into the loop

2011-08-18T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hi there, well, here I come. I hope I land back in feet first, but I tell you, this moving business is difficult when it is so rushed!! Can't things ever go as hoped?! I mean really. It seems like we have been stuck in a tornado these past 3 or so weeks and just been spat out on our back sides and are attempting to stand up and dust off. Most of the time, I couldn't even tell you what day it is ;)

That aside, we are finally getting settled in and things are coming together. I am slowly getting organized and everything is starting to have a place. That being said however, my sewing/crafting stuff, still has no home and no hope :( One day, I hope soon I will get that figured out too. For now, it takes up a few corners of the apartment in nifty bins and there it will sit until everything else is done.

Ikea has been like a 2nd home and their boxes are a life saver. I love that the colors that I am decorating with have coordinating boxes from Ikea, it makes my life so much simpler and so much prettier!! There are still a few more that I need and a small rolling kitchen island, but they can wait until I get a little bit further into emptying the boxes that seemed to have swallowed the 2nd half of the garage, along with a spare mattress.

I love the fact that all the rooms are on the same level and that Logan's room is huge including a huge walk in closet and large enough to keep all his toys until they are ready to come out and play and after they are ready to go back for a rest. We made him a reading nook in the corner of his closet with his book shelf and toy bins and a few super comfy pillows and he snuggles right up with books and monkey and flips through the pages. It is the cutest thing!! I often find him in there after noticing how quiet it is and going on a mischief maker hunt. He is babbling away at the book and pointing at the pictures. Melt.

We also have a cute little patio, which will be so nice to sit and visit with a great glass of wine and friends, just as soon as it stops being over 100 degrees at 10pm! Bonus, all our fave patio furniture fit on it perfectly! I also have my plants out there and they seem to be doing well. I am hoping to plant some lettuce in some small planters along the wall as well. We are having fun overcoming the challenges of space, like hanging the clothes to dry on the 4 poster bed frames and ironing in the middle of the kitchen.

I, just a few hours ago, got a working stove top, which has been one of our largest challenges. We are sooooo tired of eating out! We hardly ever do and these past weeks it has been daily! Yuck! I am making some amazing ribs, sweet potato fries and salad tonight for dinner and have had a fun time at the grocery store picking out some other dishes for the next few days! I know, it's the small pleasures in life right?!

I should have some fun pics to post here over the next few days, now that I finally unpacked the charger for the computer and can actually download the photos to it. It has been a crazy time, but I think once we get all unpacked, it will be a great change! I cant wait to start spending some real time out and about with Logan. We are excited to spend some more time in too doing art projects, adventures, and baking up fun things for daddy!

I hope y'all are doing great and I hope to catch up with y'all soon!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Popping in to say HI!

2011-07-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

Hi there!

I am taking a quick moments break from packing, I just couldn't stay away!!
I hope y'all are doing great and I hope I leave myself a few minutes to catch up on all my favorite blog reads!

Here's what's going on with us and our move...

Our tenant came through with great references and docs for all the necessary checkings and has requested a move in date of the 1st... we countered with the 6th due to the fact that this weekend must be the busiest move weekend of the year as not a single move-it-yourself truck rental place has any available trucks! Not a one!! So Saturday of next week was the soonest we could get one and get moved out! They were very understanding, which I must say is a great start!

I am frantically packing up all that we own and gifting away any items we no longer need. I have most rooms done as much as I can and am holding off on packing up the last few boxes as it is our clothes, daily dishes and pots and pans. Those will be packed up at the last second. I have been so lucky to have the help of my lovely neighbor who has been watching Logan for a few hours each morning so that I can get the boxes packed without turning around to find my handsome little helper pulling everything back out ;)
I am pretty happy with the progress thus far, though I will admit, I managed to lose a weekend without knowing it. I swear this weekend was supposed to be the 23rd, not the 30th! How did that happen?!?!

Well, anyways, just wanted to send out that update. I have packed up all my cookbooks so sadly have no recipe of the day today :(

For your reading pleasure however, I would like to share this with you. I found a lovely blogger last week through SITS, Brandy from Confessions of a Crafty Housewife! She has a great blog I highly encourage you to go visit! She happily shared with me the Housewife Rules a print from a 1950's hom-ec book and I will be proudly adding it to my blog so I can see it and look back over it any time I am having a frantic mama moment. I love the sentiment in it and the beauty of being a loving, happy housewife and mother. I hope y'all enjoy it too!!

Housewife Rules

From a 1950's high school home economics textbook, teaching girls how to prepare for married life.

1950 housewife
1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal on time.

This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him, and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking.
He has just been with a lot of work- weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables.
Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes.
They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

6. Things to avoid: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner.
Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes.
Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

8. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

9. Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

10. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

Until next time!

Happy Baking

~ Alicia

We are moving!

2011-07-22T15:14:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon!

Well, it's official. Our house is up for lease, anyone want to live here let me know ;)

We have decided after a lot of thought and looking, that we are going to downsize a bit (ok quite a bit) because the time Logan and I spend on a daily basis is going to be so much better when we can really spend our days out and about, and at home playing and crafting and baking and not cleaning!!!

Obviously there will still be cleaning, but when it is 2 bedrooms instead of 4 and 1 or 2 baths instead of 3, and only 1/3 the size, it will go a whole lot faster and then we can get down to the really important and, lets be honest, fun stuff!!

We have been looking at some apartments in the area and after seeing a lot on line and visiting several, we decided that it would be so neat if we were within a few minutes of Jamie's work so he can come home for lunch with us!! We will expand our search a little bit to make this happen. I think it will be so great!!

besides all this, we will have access to a pool without driving to it!!! In this texas heat, believe me, it will be so worth it!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes. For now, keep your fingers crossed that we get a renter in here right away so that I dont have to have the house ready to show at the drop of a hat every day!!

Recipe of the Day

So a few days ago I found this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything blog and it looked too good to pass up. I had the opportunity to make if for Jamie's work today and it was a huge hit! I didn't get a pic from when it came out of the oven but as you can see this is the outcome ;) as Jamie said in the text: "well honey it was a bit destroyed!"

Bloomin' Onion Bread

Source: The Changing Table

1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread

12-16 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup finely diced green onion

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.

Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Insert cheese slices between cuts. Combine butter, onion, and poppy seeds. Drizzle over bread. Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Happy Baking

~ Alicia

Nothing to post about gives thought to post

2011-07-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been sitting here for the last two days, ok so you know full well I've been chasing around a silly toddler, walking the dog, grocery shopping, buying a new stroller, bringing my husband lunch, etc, but you get the idea. Back to what I was saying... sitting here, trying desperately to come up with something great to say to y'all out there in blog land and nothing, just nothing!

What is that about anyways? I mean, I am an interesting, fun person. I have things to say, but do I have things to say that anyone cares to read. Of course! I just cant seem to get my mind wrapped around a single thought to share.

I could bore you to tears with the errands I have been running or the millionth cute thing Logan did today, but I know you've heard it all before. So instead I am just going to write. At least I have words on er, paper.

I decided late, late last night while attempting to sleep, that the reason I have nothing to write about, is that for the last two days I have been catching up on all y'alls lovely blogs and finding amazing things to pin, but havent done anything that warrants sharing. There I said it. I figured it out. So this morning I got up bright and early, after not really sleeping much anyways and I started.

I tore apart my craft room and started the very long and daunting task of de-cluttering, organizing and cleaning up! I must say, so far I have been pleased with the progress, and bonus, I know have a juicy little morsel to share!! Yay!

I have emptied the closet and started sorting my fabrics. They were neatly in their bins, but I have changed my storage style a little recently and some bins were thusly nearly empty. I didn't need 20 bins with 1 piece of fabric each so I condensed them a bit and hope that this gives me some extra bins as well as fits everything into the closet as it should be.

I promise I have before pics to share, but I want to wait until I have some good after pics to post them. Trust me it will be worth the wait!

Well, thats all for tonight. And yes, sadly I am going to skip out on the recipe of the day, because I think I am just a bit to tired and will end up transposing the measurements and you could end up with ground beef tripple berry layer cake if Im not careful ;)

Have a lovely night and until tomorrow

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

An exciting few days!

2011-07-19T14:58:00.000-05:00

First things first, I hope y'all had a lovely weekend! Mine was great and I thought you might like to take part!

Jamie and I were treated to a lovely date night opportunity thanks to Nanny and Grandpa and we were very happy to accept! Once the munchkin was tucked snuggly into bed at the spoilin' spot, we headed out for a super yummy dinner at Cheesecake Factory of course finishing with amazing cheesecake! I had their new pina colada cheesecake, I know, it's been on the brain lately, since finding out about pina colada day! After dinner we met up with our lovely neighbors for drinks at Sherlocks, a local pub, and had tons of laughs and great stories to share!

Sunday morning saw Jamie at a volunteer event for work. As for me, I saw the inside of my eyelids for a few extra hours of beautiful sleep!! I had a leisurely coffee, caught up on some emails and then got to dive into my scrap book bins that I have been trying to organize for weeks, ok years, but hey. I didn't get to do any actual scrap booking, but I did get all the memorabilia sorted into bins and threw out a bunch of things that were irrelevant as well as sort out all the magazine clippings, which I sorted into several binders and will place in plastic sleeves so they stay protected and I can find anything at the drop of a hat. A lot of work to do still, but at least its not just one big jumble any more!!

Jamie came home just before lunch time and took me out to a nice relaxing brunch at Z- Tejas. We just love going there! Leaving there we went to walk around the shops at Domain, a lovely outdoor shopping center. I got treated, again I know, to some new intimates, which always makes me feel so girly!

Then for the best part of the weekend!! Jamie gave me a wonderful surprise! An hour long aromatherapy massage!!! Sigh! It was wonderful, sooooo relaxing! We got there early so I had a chance to take a shower first, then wrap up in those lovely spa robes and sit in the lounge for half an hour sipping citrus infused water and listening to soft music. Then the perfect massage, melting away stress' and most thought for that matter :) He is so sweet to me, it was such a great surprise!

Then, after all this fabulousness, we finally booked our cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a little excited! Ok, more than a little, completely!

We are finally, after 2 years of planning, waiting, and changing plans, going on our 5th anniversary cruise, during our 7th year! You know what, its better late than never, and I am not one bit disappointed in the timing because I know that in just 7 short weeks we will be cruising along in the Caribbean, sitting poolside, sipping tropical drinks and just being together, no phones, no computers, nothing but us!

We have been looking into excursions too and we are getting pretty excited about those as well. I think we have decided to do a swim with dolphins and climb up the Dunn's river falls while in Jamaica, then do a powerboat ride in Cozumel! Sounds great to me!

In other exciting weekend news, I have just joined The Daring Kitchen and been accepted as a member of daring cooks and daring bakers! I am so over the moon thrilled I just had to share it with everyone! It is a group of cooks that face a monthly challenge in either baking or cooking depending on the group you are in, or both if you join both like I did!! If you have never heard of this, go check out their site, it is an addictive idea! See my darling kitchen helper on the side, Miss Measure, just click on her to see their site! I really liked the idea of not only joining in on fun challenges and sharing with other members, but in challenging myself in foods I have never cooked before. I love experimenting in the kitchen and I cant wait to see what challenges I get to be involved in.

I have just gotten the first challenge I will be competing in and let me tell you... I am terrified! I can't go in to the details, that is part of the challenge. All I can say is, this will be a first for me. Wish me luck, I will need it! Stay tuned for the challenge fun and sharing on the 14th of next month, I know its a while out, but it will be worth the wait!

Recipe of the Day

Sharing a link for a 'made in the pan' pie crust for only $0.58 each. I just had to share this recipe today as I L.O.V.E. pie and any time I get info, tips, tricks, tidbits or otherwise on pie that looks like its gonna be great, I have to share. I have found lots of lovely things over at Kojo Designs and I absolutely think you should stop over and take a little look-see!

58 Cent Pie Crust by Kojo Designs

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups flour
2 T sugar
2 T milk
1 t salt
1/2 cup oil (any except olive oil)

Some of the illustrated steps that you will see when you stop on over to Kojo Designs including the steps for completing the recipe:

Well, lots of great stuff here! Thanks for stopping by and having a little read with me!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Mama's Night(s) Out!

2011-07-14T14:43:00.000-05:00

What a fun week so far!

I have just had 2, count them, 2 mama's nights out in a row this week! Woo Hoo!

On Tuesday night, my moms group got together for Mexican food, 'Ritas and Bunco! There were 13 of us, great turn out and we had an absolutely amazing time! Kristen, our hostess, made some amazing tacos and 'ritas(!) and we chatted and laughed and caught up! It was so nice to take a few hours and just let our hair down. Half way through the night we broke out the bunco set and set up into 3 tables of 4 with one rotating in each round. After a quick review of the play, and explanation to those who had never played before, we were off and rollin'! Lots of excited shrieks and giggles on the bunco rolls and just a good time all around. We even did a $5 buy in and handed out 3 winning pots! A truly great way to spend the evening with an amazing group of women!

After I left there I got a text from a friend inviting me to ladies night the following night. It was too much fun to pass up and since Jamie was willing and able to watch Logan, it worked out perfectly! They had some fun dada time and I got another night with the girls!!

Last night, ladies night was held at a local restaurant called Vivo, and lets just say, I was not quite expecting what I got when we walked through the door. I'll start with this, there were some more than slightly risque paintings on the wall, but almost done in a diva-ish sort of way, if that makes any sense at all?. There was a room set up in the restaurant with several different vendors including; jewelry, facial care pdcts, henna tattoos, chair massages, manicures and um... a table that sold various wares for the more intimate moments... catch my drift?! Then of course there was a cocktail lounge where we mingled and had some yummy 'ritas (again, i know;) and queso, and later on yummy cupcakes to celebrate one of the ladies in our group of 18's birthday. Sorry that was a bit of a mouthful :} We had a wonderful time with this group of ladies as well, so many laughs to last the whole night long!

Needless to say I am much more refreshed from the breaks, but a bit over-tired from the lack of sleep over the last 2 nights. I am super thankful that my sweet honey could spend time with the monkey! It is so great to have such great support!

I hope y'all have had a lovely couple of days! Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and help in my bread making endeavor these past days! It has really made my week!

Recipe of the Day

Sopapilla Cheesecake

I pinned this recipe from My Yellow Umbrella

This is one of the amazing dishes that a mama brought to bunco night. It was a favorite that she had brought to another night and we all cheered when she arrived, yes folks, it is that good! She also serves it with a honey jar next to it so that people can drizzle honey over the top! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter (melted)
Cinnamon & sugar

Instructions:
Unrolled and spread 1 & 1/2 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Follow up to Attempt at Home Made Bread

2011-07-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

For those of you lovely people out there who have been waiting with baited breath... the taste testing results are in!!

It worked!

I am going to call this a success!!

I need to make some minor adjustments and I definitely needed to leave it to rise that last 30 optional minutes, as it was a short loaf, but all in all, super yummy flavor and soft moist texture!

I am super excited about this!! Though, slightly hesitant as well given my inability to produce greatness twice in the bread domain. I love the addition of the VWG (vital wheat gluten for any who missed yesterdays info about that), it really made a huge difference in the texture, not at all crumbly, or gritty, but nice and almost fluffy! A great big Thank You to Sara for helping me discover this 'vital' ingredient ;)

I am looking forward to trying the recipe Sara offers in the link above as it looks nice and tall and perfect sized for sandwiches. I love the whole wheat and the flavors it brings to baked goods.

I have my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed on this one that I can do it again and again with consistant results and finally stop buying store bought bread! With the exception of sourdough of course, 'cuz a San Francisco girl just cant get enough sourdough!!

Thanks to all those who sent me well wishes yesterday, I am convinced that is what made it turn out so well! My little one has gone through 3 pieces today! I would say that is a keeper!!

If anyone else would like to give this one a try, here is the adapted recipe I used.

I would love more suggestions for recipes that y'all find to be easy and great!

Recipe of the Day

Sweet Oat Wheat Bread
adapted from the joy of cooking

Combine in medium sauce pot:
1 1/2 C water
1 C oats (I used old fashioned)
1 T butter
3/4 tsp salt
cook stirring occasionally over medium-low heat until soft think and lump free. about 20 minutes. let cool slightly to 115. F

Combine in large bowl of stand mixer and let stand 5 minutes:
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 warm water (105-115.F)

Add to the yeast mixture the oatmeal along with:
1/2 C room temp water
1/3 C molasses( I used light karo syrup as it was all I had)

Stir until well blended. gradually add in until moist but not sticky
1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 1/4 T VWG
2 1/2-3 C all purpose flour

Knead for 10 to 15 minutes by hand or on low-med speed in stand mixer with dough hook.
Transfer to well oiled large bowl, roll in oil to coat. cover with clean light weight dish towel and let rise 1-1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
Punch down and knead briefly
Grease 2 - 8" loaf pans
divide dough in half. On un-floured board roll each half into a ball and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
Let rest 30 minutes
Form 2 loaf shapes and place seam side down in loaf pans.
Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise till doubled 1-1 1/2 hours
Preheat Oven to 375.F slash loaves before baking.
Bake 40-45 minutes
Remove from pans to a rack and cool at least 30 minutes before slicing

Have an amazingly yummy day!

Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

Attempting Home Made Bread, Again

2011-07-12T16:59:00.000-05:00

When I was little, I used to love watching my grandma or my aunt bake bread. I loved helping to knead the dough and watch it rise and smell the amazing scent of freshly baked bread. Since then I have spent my life attempting to reproduce the results, without much luck! What happened here people?! I mean, how hard is it to make a loaf of bread, I mean really???!!!!

Well, for me at least, it must be harder than it looked. Or I am doing something really wrong. I have gotten bread that crumbles to bits, bread that wont rise, bread that even after a beautiful rise cooks up like lead bricks and even bread that no matter how long I put it in the oven seemed to be raw in the middle.

I give up!!

No I dont, not really. Actually quite the opposite, I keep trying again and again, sometimes I do get good results, but I cant seem to do so more than once. I have come to the conclusion that in the world of bread, as in the past world of potatoes, which I am slowly working on, I am cursed. Yes, cursed!

Today I am trying yet again. I ran across a post from a fellow blogger, Sara of Cupcake Muffin and she suggested using Vital Wheat Gluten when adding Whole Wheat Flour to bread dough. Once I asked her what on earth vital wheat gluten(vwg) was, (see this post and comments if you have the same question I did) I was on my way to a better loaf of bread! At least I certainly hope so!!

This morning I went to the grocery store, list in hand and searched the baking isle for VWG, and searched and searched and finally found it! YAY! I came home so excited to bake up my loaf of bread. Of course the recipe I chose had like 30 minutes of prep work before I could get to the 20 minutes of kneading and the hour of rising.

And now, here I am, timer beeping right at this moment in fact to let me know the first rise should be complete. Off I go to check on the doubling factor. Hang on one sec. It rose beautifully! Ok, Im not going to get my hopes up, because last time it rose just right on the first rise then brick-ed on me in the end. I'll just keep baking on and see what happens.

Now for 30 minutes of dough rest, another hour of rising and then finally, at least I think, baking the loaves of bread! I just hope now that I can get it baked before I have to leave for the night, yikes!

Stay tuned for the results in tomorrow's post! Here is the current stage of rest, then shaping and into the prepped pans!

Recipe of the Day

This one comes directly from Karo Syrup's website. It is the recipe I have been using to make my family's favorite Pie since I was a little girl helping my mom. It is a simple recipe but could not taste any better if you tried, and believe me I have ;) This one's for you dad. Sorry I can't be home to make one fresh for you!

I hope you all enjoy!

Classic Pecan Pie

Prep Time:  5 minutes
Cook Time:  60 to 70 minutes
Chill Time:  2 hours
Yield:  8 servings

1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans

1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen** deep-dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into pie crust.

Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes (see tips for doneness, below). Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

**To use prepared frozen pie crust: Place cookie sheet in oven and preheat oven as directed. Pour filling into frozen crust and bake on preheated cookie sheet.

RECIPE TIPS: Pie is done when center reaches 200°F. Tap center surface of pie lightly - it should spring back when done. For easy clean up, spray pie pan with cooking spray before placing pie crust in pan. If pie crust is overbrowning, cover edges with foil.

NUTRITION TIP: To reduce calories, substitute new Karo® Lite Syrup for the Karo® Light or Dark Corn Syrup.

High Altitude Adjustments: Reduce sugar to 2/3 cup and increase butter to 3 tablespoons. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

VARIATION: coarsely chopped walnuts may be substituted for pecans to make a walnut pie.

Preserving Baby Memories

2011-07-11T14:58:00.000-05:00

First things first...

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY TO SITS!!!
If you have not ever heard of SITS please stop by and take a look and join the fun! They are a fantastic group, community really, gathered for the purpose of creating lasting connections between bloggers! They are celebrating their birthday this week and are bringing out a lot of wonderful features to share in the celebrations! I am so happy to have found them, and through them, all the great blogs I read each day, y'all are truly inspirational!! Have an amazing day!

Today I wanted to share the beginnings of my project idea for preserving some of our first year memories with Logan. There are so many wonderful ideas out there it was hard to decide on what to do, but when this idea hit me, I knew it was exactly the right thing for me. Now, I have over 8,000 pictures of Logan from the 1st year alone, and that will eventually be going into books, I have 2 already printed, but I was looking for something wonderful to do with my very favorite baby clothes. So here's what I ended up with!

For the whole first year, as he grew out of his clothes, I would take my absolute favorites and put them in a box in his closet, for me to keep, and then the rest I donated, handed down or consigned depending on the condition and needs of those around me with littler ones. At the end of the year, I had a diaper box overflowing with cuteness and a lot of ideas. I had seen in a magazine article an idea of framing the first outfit or the little white onesies, which was super cute, but lets be completely honest here, did anyone else's white onesies come out pretty and white? Or in fact yellow and dingy? That's what I thought. Well this lead me to another thought. How much more fun would it be to chose a favorite day or event outfit. I had gotten him the cutest dark blue onesie for Valentine's day with a lighter blue edging and a darling little bear on it. I thought, that would be perfect and held it aside.

Then I was thinking, what about Logan? Wouldn't it be cute to frame one for the nursery, then one step better, to have an outfit that matched the theme, and was an equal favorite! Perfect! Once I get a bit further in the project, these will be framed to make the perfect addition to our family wall and the nursery!

On to the big project!!! So for my favorite part, I had decided to use all the rest of the outfits to make a blanket for the park/ playtime, where ever we went. I really wanted it to be something we used and loved and got to see all the time. I didn't want it to just be a bunch of clothes that sat in a box in the attic for years untouched and unseen. For the past few months I have been cutting squares and rectangles out of the fabric. I found some picnic table cloths in the fabric store, the kind with the wipe off material so I could use those for the backing to help make it easy to clean up the dirt and leaves. They are a traditional picnic look, being red and white squares. I bought 2, one each for mama and dada's cars.

Cut squares for the blanket

It is a work in progress, but I am humming right along with it and it shouldnt be too much longer now before I can sew all the blocks together! I cant wait to share the finished product!!

clothes ready to be cut into squares

Until then, here's one last pic!! I would love to hear your thoughts, and hear what you have done with baby clothes and other baby momentos!

table cloth backers

Recipe of the Day

In honor of blueberry muffin day!
This sounds soooo good! Can't wait to try it!

Blueberry Muffin with Streusel Topping
found at http://www.blueberry-recipe.com/Blueberry-streusel-muffin.html

1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh blueberries or 3/4 cup frozen (thawed and drained)

Heat oven to 400°. Prepare struesel topping (listed below). Grease the bottoms of 12 medium muffin cups or insert paper muffin cups. Beat milk, oil, vanilla, and egg. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix just until flour is moist. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in blueberries. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the streusel topping and bake 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons firm butter or margarine1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients until crumbly.

Have a wonderful day and a brilliant week!

Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

Happy Pina Colada Day!

2011-07-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday y'all and Happy Pina Colada Day!

I love love love Pina Coladas (and gettin' caught in the rain ;) and had I known they had a special day all their own I would totally have planned a Pina Party! Well, perhaps next year!

The one thing that I truly craved during my pregnancy?! Yep, you guessed it. Of course, as luck would have it, I still have not had an excellent one, since I got pregnant, but the search is still on!

Well, I'll sign off now, just wanted to pop round and say hi and wish y'all well!

Hope your weekend is fantastic!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Oh the life of a nap

2011-07-08T14:19:00.000-05:00

One never knew how important a nap was for a person, and for that matter, how important the consistency of said nap is.

Well, I am here to tell you that it in fact is crucial!!

For mama at least!!!

This has been one roller coaster of a week in the nap department. We have seen all ends of the spectrum, and I just wont count on it evening out, or I know I will only set myself up for upset. Here's just a little look-see:

Monday: Great nap, like 3 1/4 hours great!
Tuesday: NO NAP. need I say more?
Wednesday: Unbelievable nap... 4 hours!
Thursday: down for nap at 12:30 (regular time) still awake 30 min later, check in, dirty nappy, change, put back down, still awake 30 minutes later, after 3 check ins, get up, eat, play, more milk, put down at 2:30 (2 hours late) asleep as head hits the mattress, had to wake at 4:30 so as not to sleep over to bedtime.
Today: play at neighbors house to attempt more sanity, put down at 1pm, sleep, sweet sleep!!!

Let's hope he stays asleep for a full great nap. Ok Im not asking for another 4 hour miracle, but anything longer than 2 1/2 hours would be greatly appreciated.

Lets be realistic here, naps are a critical part of a mama's sanity. It throws off my whole day when he doesn't nap on schedule. I know there are a ton of moms out there that cant get their kids to nap to save their lives, but for those who have a schedule and get used to it, it is like living in a tornado. You never know which end is up!

Here's to all you mama's out there that can't get a consistant nap time, I solute you and my heart goes out to you. As for those in the tornado, here's praying that you dont pull all your hair out by the time you get to the end of a week like this one!

Recipe of the Day

May I just say that by the time I get to this part of my post, and I have either decided on a truly mouthwatering recipe to share, or am perusing so many yummy recipes my head spins, I am STARVING!!! I have decided that I cannot write this part until I eat lunch, thats just all there is to it, so please excuse me for just a moment (not that you have a choice) while I reheat some super yummy deliciousness, and then I can share this recipe with you too, as it will now be the recipe of the day since I cant seem to stop thinking about it!!

Creamy Proscuitto and Veggie Pasta
adapted from Wholesome Meals for Babies and Toddlers

10 oz dried pasta
2 T EVOO
4 green onions chopped finely (no white part used)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic crushed
generous 1 C veggie broth
1 1/2 C frozen peas
1 1/2 C fresh spinach leaves
10 oz cubed proscuitto
6 T sour cream
freshly grated parmesan to garnish

Cook pasta according to package directions, reserving 2 T cooking water
Heat oil in a saute pan, cook onion till soft, add garlic and seasonings for about 1 minute
Add stock and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes.
Stir in all remaining ingredients except for parmesan, including reserved cooking water. Heat through. Serve with a topping of parmesan to taste

Just for a tasty visual snack, here is the fresh, homegrown peach, ice cream I made this morning! It sure is a perfectly summery treat!

Mama's little helper!
He loves peaches!

still needs a bit of setting time, but who can resist fresh ice cream
even at 9 in the morning? ;)

I hope you all have a lovely and productive day and a very happy weekend. I most likely wont be posting tomorrow as my honey got the day off! Yay!!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Happy Chocolate Day

2011-07-07T13:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Chocolate Day!!

Who doesn’t love chocolate, and who for that matter doesn’t love s’mores?! So after finding an amazing looking recipe on Betty Crocker’s website, I decided today was the perfect day to give it a try! Warm gooey chocolate, scrumptious sugary graham crackers and toasted marshmallows create the perfect treat and take me right back to days of camping and girl-scouts!

I took a plate full t Jamie’s work along with his lunch and a kiss and he was very excited… I am anxiously awaiting feedback from him and his team. I also dropped off a plate to my lovely next-door neighbors, which turned out to be perfect timing as miss K. just had a not so fun trip to the dentist and it was the perfect cheering up giftie to bring!! I love it when life works out that way!

As for the rest of them, well, they sit at the moment on the counter, shouting at me! EAT ME!!!!

Maybe I’ll have just one more after lunch. And maybe one for dessert too ;)

I hope you enjoy a lovely chocolate day and give this yummy treat a try!!

Recipe of the Day

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars

by Betty Crocker.com

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1	cup graham cracker crumbs
1	cup butter or margarine, melted
3	cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2	cups miniature marshmallows

1Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
3Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5 to 6 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.

Here's how they turned out!!!

mmmm toasty!

Menu Plan Monday. What? The week started late ;)

2011-07-06T15:33:00.001-05:00

Happy Wednesday, Hope y'all are well.

I had a great morning! I got my hair did! Yep that's right! I love going to the salon and taking a few hours to sit and chat and catch up with my lovely friend and stylist. Logan went to the Spoilin' Spot, my newly coined name for Nanny and Grandpa's house ;) and had a lovely time running errands and playing at the park with Nanny! I am still blonde, which my husband is super excited about, and finally got to get the cut touched up as our last visit was a 'fit in' and there was only time for roots or ends and roots won out!!

Wanted to share our menu for the week as, since we had dinner with friends last night, it is only just starting today.

Menu Plan Monday

Wednesday: Creamy Proscuitto and Veggie Pasta

Thursday: Salmon Cakes and Roasted Butternut Squash

Friday: Chicken Apple Meatballs and Strawberry Mozzarella Salad with Mint Drizzle

Saturday: Cilantro Garlic Ribs and Spring Veggie Risotto

Sunday: BBQ with family and friends Im bringing Cinnamon Sugar Fillo Twists

Monday: Potato & Asparagus Frittata

Dont forget to head over to the menu planning mecca and visit all the great menus posted there!! Or see my side bar for the button!

Recipe of the Day

Today I will include a recipe on my menu plan. This come from a great little find Wholesome Meals for Babies and Toddlers. I have tried several recipes from this book that is conveniently divided by age group to make homemade foods for baby so much easier. They have all been great and I'm sure this will be too!

Chicken Apple Bites

1 apple peeled cored and grated
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into pieces (I will use thigh meat, as I prefer the moist flavor it provides)
1/2 onion chopped (I will sauté prior to use as I prefer them soft and more flavorful)
1 T chopped fr. parsley
scant 1 C fresh whole wheat bread crumbs (I love that this is what this recipe actually calls for and I dont have to decide to sub this in!)
1 T concentrated chicken stock
Whole Wheat flour for coating
oil for pan frying (corn or sunflower is listed, but I will be using coconut oil for a healthy choice)

Spread apple out on clean dish towel and press out excess moisture
Put chicken, apple, onion, parsley, bread crumbs and stock into food processor and pulse briefly to combine
Sprinkle flour on a plate or work surface. divide mixture into 20 or more meatballs, shape into balls and roll in flour
Heat oil in nonstick pan over medium and cook 5-8 minutes until golden all over and cooked through. remove and drain on paper towels.
Serve hot or cold

Until next time,
Happy Baking
~ Alicia

HouseKeeping and the void

2011-07-05T14:18:00.000-05:00

Hi there! We are back from our vacation, a little more rested but unfortunately Jamie got sick, Im sure from the flight :( ugghh. I have been missing posting, but we have just been up to our eyeballs in house stuff. We had our garage sale over the weekend, finally! It went well enough and we were blessed to have an overcast morning so it wasn't so blisteringly hot out there! Now there just seems to be so much catch up work to do, I dont even know where to begin.

Does anyone else have this problem?? Go on vacation, get back, and have more work to do than when you left?? I guess, really, it is that life doesn't stop just because you're not home. There are animals to care for, food to buy, meals to plan and make, the endless laundry from the trip plus any from before you left, not to mention the regular every day things that take place. All adding up to no rest for the weary!

Well, we are no exception here. I feel like a headless chicken and I am hoping that by the end of the week, we are all back to normal...well, whatever that means ;)

Now for the Void...

So the above post was written last week I think on Monday or Tuesday and was simply awaiting the parting recipe so that I could post it.

Then POW!!

BAM!

SMACK!!

Food poisoning strikes! Yikes!
So here I am trying to care for a sick husband, clean the house, run errands, get Logans hair cut and then boom, right in the middle I get sick! This is not OK! Seriously. It should be a rule that SAHM's should never be allowed to be sick until their children move away from home. I mean it. How is one supposed to love on their little ones, care for their every need and show them all there is to see of the world when they are flat on their back sides, out of commission?

Needless to say, no post was finished, and here we are a whole week later and finally a successful note and blog update. Well, better late than never I guess, I just wish we could have skipped that whole not feeling well part. I mean if I was going to be gone for a 2nd week, I would much rather have been sipping Pina Coladas on a beach!

Im just sayin' ;)

Parting Recipe:

Zucchini Pineapple Bread/Tea Cake
an adaptation from The Texas Experience

Here it finally is.

I found this recipe about a year ago in an old cookbook my aunt found in a thrift shop for me in honor of our move to Texas. This recipe looked so yummy and I changed it a bunch to suite my needs and I have been making it almost weekly since then. I even used this for Logan's 1 year birthday cake, as we didnt want to go with a ton of sugar for him, like a traditional cake with frosting would have done. It was a huge hit! I hope you enjoy it!

2 C all purpose flou
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts
3 eggs
2 scant cups sugar
1 C applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
2 C coarsely shred zucchini
1 8 oz can pineapple, drained

Optional: top with a mixture of chopped nuts, sugar and melted butter for a rich crumbly crunch.

Combine flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nuts.
Set aside
Beat eggs lightly in large mixing bowl.
Add sugar, applesauce and vanilla. beat till creamy
Stir in zucchini and pineapple.
Add dry ingredients, stirring until just moist.
Spoon into 2 well greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pans (top if desired) and bake at 350 for @ 1 hour. Test for doneness with toothpick. Cool 10 minutes then remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. Slice and store in fridge or freeze.

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Happy Flip Flop Day!

2011-06-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

Just stopping in to say a big HELLO!! & Happy Flip Flop Day!

I find myself living in these lately, they are so darned comfy and of course it is hot all the time here ;)
106 today!
oh, yes, it was.

We head out for our lovely Florida vacation tomorrow, so I wont be posting for the week, but feel free to stop by and send some love.

Have a fantastic week. See you soon

Happy Baking
~Alicia

Introducing ~ Lime Zest Angel Cupcakes!

2011-06-15T22:37:00.000-05:00

Lime Zest Angel Cupcakes!

Ok, here I go! I just found out about the Ice Cream Cupcake Contest 2011 hosted by miss Stef over at Cupcake Project and a lovely new-to-me blog Scoopalicious . The kicker?? The deadline for entry is today!

So I am over there, reading over the info and looking at past entries and getting hungrier and hungrier and then thinking, I could do this, I want to do this... I have to do this!

What on earth am I going to make? Well instantly I thought of my beloved (by my darling, doting husband) key lime ice cream and knew instantly that this had to be included. Then what to make for the cake?? Well, I certainly dont have months to test out cake combos or extracts etc, so my brain goes spinning off in several different directions and finally it hits me! Yes! Lime zested angel cupcakes... do one even better... toasted! Right?! Ok, then top that with key lime ice cream. Add a lovely dollop of fresh whipped cream a pretty lime slice and sprinkle lovingly with toasted, crushed macadamia nuts. What do you think?

Genius, right?!

I thought so too.

So, I'm off and running at 3:42 pm... T minus 6 hours and 45 minutes... max!!! Well, really I am waiting for Logan to wake up from his nap because I can't go anywhere until he does and I only have 2 little limes, not enough for ice cream and cake or decorative slices and I'm in need of more cream for the topping. So really I'm in a stall pattern because I dont know if I have 20 minutes before I have to wake him (leaving enough waking time before bed) or if he will wake in the next few minutes and we can run out the door. At the very least I have a plan in action and I am pretty sure I can do this.

I can totally do this!

I hope!

Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed!!

Oh, and did I mention I have a friend coming over for dinner? double edged sword... he gets to be a guinea pig(yay!) but I have to make dinner and be a lovely little hostess smack in the middle of go time!

4:45pm just returned from grocery store! Lets get bakin'!

Zesting Limes

creating the ice cream -adding lime zest

Juicing the limes

creating the cupcakes ~ prepping lime juice and zest

ready to head into the oven
& bake to golden deliciousness!

5:56pm MAJOR disappointment... the cream that I used to make first batch of ice cream, yes finished batch was just a little off in the scent department, tho well, within the expiry date and I just couldn't serve it. Freezer canister is cleaned and back in the freezer getting ready for try #2. let's hope its frozen completely in time to make a 2nd batch otherwise it will be really cold soft serve ;) Thank goodness I bought extra cream!!

8:07pm ok, here I am again... 2nd ice cream, causing more problems. The bowl did not refreeze in time so I made the ice cream but it's a bit soupy. It is currently freezing in the freezer and should be good to go in a few hours, just hopefully before the deadline.

On the bright side, the cupcakes are done and they are amazing!!!! I love the lime in the angel food it is such a neat added flavor!

getting yummy in the oven!

cupcakes cooling on their sides to stay light and fluffy!

Here they are in their lime infused glory!

The fresh whipped cream is perfect, not too sweet, but just right. I am going to toast up the macadamia nuts just before I assemble the finished dessert.

Here's hoping it all comes together in the end!

Lime Zest Ice Cream ~ Phili Style
2 C heavy whipping cream
1 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1/2 lime juice
2 heaping Tablespoons lime zest

Whisk together and follow ice cream maker directions.

Lime Infused Angel Cupcakes
Betty Crocker Anglefood cake mix
mixed with 1/2 C Lime juice
2 heaping Tablespoons Lime zest
3/4 C water

mix and bake according to package directions

Fresh Wipping Cream
1 C heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4- 1/3 C powdered sugar

Beat at medium/high speed until soft peaks form
Chill until ready to use

Create Lime Zest Angel Cupcakes!

Remove and save paper wrappers
Slice cupcake across middle horizontally
Lay cut sides up on oven proof tray
Toast under a low broiler just until lightly golden
Set aside until cooled to a warm touch
Meanwhile toast chopped macadamia nuts

On a pretty dessert plate place bottom half of cupcake into flared wrapper
Top with a scoop of Lime Zest Ice Cream
Top with top of cupcake with rounded side up
Dollop with fresh whipped cream
Lay over a slice of lime
Sprinkle toasted macadamia nuts over and serve
Enjoy!

sliced cupcake ready to assemble

from the top:
lime wedge
fresh whipped cream
Cupcake topper
lime zest ice cream
cupcake bottom

topped with toasted macadamia nuts

the finished pretty little cupcake

Here we are!
Me, my lime hair clip
& my lovely little Lime Zest Angel Cupcake!

Hope you enjoy!
Wish me luck!

Happy Baking
~Alicia

Monday ... and we're better today!

2011-06-13T13:55:00.000-05:00

So this weekend was a weekend of just not feeling good at all!

Poor little Logan had a high fever all day Friday, then woke up saturday being sick in the tummy region. After a good long 4 hour nap and lots of pushed fluids (and I do mean forced) He was nearly back to his old self! He even brought us all our shoes and asked to go outside with Dodge for a walk!

Then yesterday, after a fun and relaxing afternoon at the Brandon Rhyder: Taste of Texas Music Festival in the 100+ degree heat, I got a migraine and ended up nauseous all night... joy :{

Come to find out, after getting a call from my mom today, she and my dad had walking pneumonia for the past 2 weeks (having thought it was severe allergies) and are still recovering, but finally feeling better today! No fun! Feel better!

I guess it was just not a weekend to get anything done, which is ok sometimes, and you know, I'm so happy we did not get this next weekend when we are in Florida!! Fingers crossed for no more sickies ;)

Menu Plan Monday:

So I finally did it this week!! It's actually Monday! I made a menu for the whole week, and went to the grocery store, now I am in the process of prepping what I can between loads of laundry and dishwasher to make things a bit smoother while I get us cleaned up and packed for our trip.

Monday: Chicken & Mozzarella packets with Zucchini, Mushrooms and Carrots in parchment

Tuesday: Tuna, Zucchini & Béchamel Lasagna

Wednesday: Burgers on Whole Wheat Buns & Pasta Salad with Broccoli, Carrots & Olives

Thursday: Crab Quiche with Broccoli and Cheddar

Friday: Rosemary Balsamic Pork Roast with Bacon and Grapes & Summer Squash Fritters

Saturday: Brunch at 620 cafe before heading to the airport
Sushi for dinner!!

Sunday: Father's Day BBQ!

Dont forget to stop on over at Menu Plan Monday for more great Menu Plans!!

Parting Recipe:

Today's recipe is courtesy of Cooks.com and is a recipe I have been promising a friend for a few weeks now, so here it is, and once I finish my lunch, I am going to make it for him and his wife as a little thank you for baby sitting! I love this recipe, and it is even better the next day, cold out of the fridge, for breakfast... ok, so thats probably just me, but hey, trust me and give it a shot ;)

PUMPKIN PIE BARS

1 (18 1/2 oz.) box yellow cake mix
1/2 c. butter, melted
4 eggs
1 (30 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin (3 cups)
1 c. sugar, divided
1/2 c. light brown sugar (firmly packed)
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Remove 1 cup of the cake mix; reserve. In a small bowl, lightly beat 1 egg. In a large bowl, stir together remaining cake mix, melted butter and beaten egg. Press into prepared pan.In a large bowl, lightly beat remaining 3 eggs. Stir in pumpkin, 1/2 cup of the sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk and cinnamon. Pour over cake mixture in pan. To the 1 cup cake mix, add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, walnuts and softened butter; mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Well I hope you enjoy our menu for the week and the parting recipe today, it's an easy one, give it a whirl and let me know what you think!!

Happy Baking
~Alicia

Book Series

2011-06-09T21:01:00.000-05:00

Hi Y'all,
Just sitting at my desk with a few minutes before my husband gets home and my sweet little boy sound asleep in his bed and I was thinking about yall, so here I am.

I know, right, so sweet :)

I just wanted to let you know about this amazing book series I am in the middle of reading. It is incredible and I think some of you ladies out there might just love it as much as I do, but if my aunt hadn't shared it with me, I'd have never known about this author. So, I am returning the favor!

The Author: Brenda Joyce

The Series: the de Warenne Dynasty

It is a historical romance series of 13 books taking place in England and Ireland from the 1050's through about the 1850's. It is captivating, focusing on alpha male roles and their captivating loves and daring, adventurous lives. A must read for any romance novel reader. I just finished book 6 and was in tears at the end, of course! I am currently reading A Lady At Last and so far, its great!

Each will wrap you up, as all good books should and you wont want to put them down!

I hope you take the opportunity to read these! Let me know what you think.

Parting Recipe:

Four Grain FlapJacks

Logan and I had these for breakfast this morning, so thought it would be perfect to share with y'all!

In a large bowl whisk together:
1 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/3 C cornmeal
1/4 C old fashioned or quick cooling rolled oats
2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Whisk together in another bowl:
1 3/4 C milk
4 Tbs. butter melted
1/4 C honey
3 large eggs

Pour wet ingredients over dry and gently whisk together. spoon 1/4 C batter onto greased griddle for each and gently nudge into rounds. cook until golden on each side. keep warm in 200 F oven whikle preparing all.

makes approx. 18 4 1/2 inch. pancakes.
Recipe courtesy of Joy of Cooking 1997's newly revised cookbook.

Until next time,
Happy Baking!

Happy Upsy Daisy Day!

2011-06-08T13:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, so according to multiple websites this is the meaning of Upsy Daisy Day:

Upsy Daisy Day encourages you to face the day positively, and to get up ‘gloriously, gratefully and gleefully’ each morning.

I did not exactly wake up to an upsy daisy kind of day. I was exhausted this morning. I mean totally and completely! I am usually an 'up and at 'em' kind of gal, and we all know that the little munchkin insists upon it with a 6:30 am wake up routine, but today I was just dragging... hmmm does this mean something?

Am I cursed to have an upside down-ey kind of day? I hope not!!!

So far other than being tired, the day has gone well. I have actually gotten a ton of things done this morning! Really, no joke! 2 loads of laundry done, 1 more in and spinnin', bathrooms half way finished, dishes done, counter tops cleared, clutter removed from living room floor and bed made with fresh new sheets! For us, thats a pretty big morning. Right now I am chatting with you lovely folks and finally fixing up my twitter and FB pages for my little business. I think so far so good. Though, let's not jinx ourselves!

We plan to go to a moms group meet up this afternoon and then who knows maybe the park or maybe a special mama and Logan dinner as daddy will be home late tonight. So, here's hoping you are having a fabulous Upsy Daisy kind of day and that our day continues on a happy note!

Parting Recipe:
yes it is back!! I sincerely hope to continue this on a regular basis, please be patient with me as I get back into this, but here is today's. I think it is quite appropriate for the day ;)

Recipe For A Happy Life

One cup of Confidence

One cup of Love

In a pan of Happiness

Mix the above.

Add a pinch of Tenderness

A tablespoon of Truth

Stir well in the Sunshine

Roll out a loving Trust

Flour well with Contentment

Keep all free from Strife

Fill with Understanding

And bake well all your Life

Courtesy of Welcome to My Scotland blog

Happy Baking!

~ Alicia

More Hair Pretties! Fun with Felt

2011-06-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hi there, hope your Monday was good!

First a side note: we attended a 1st birthday party to a great little man, Carter, yesterday in the park and had so much fun! I made him a little tool belt and filled it with tools to play with! Just a few shots to show what I'm a bit excited over ;) and some of the party too!

empty tool belt showing pockets and name!

tool belt filled up!! so fun!

logan driving the playscape and having a blast!

birthday boy Carter!

Over the weekend I made a bunch of new Hair Pretties and am so excited to share these too! I hope you like them as much as I do!!!

Slight Change of Plans ;)

2011-06-03T13:06:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe more than slight ;)

We changed our plans entirely for our family vacation that is now just 2 short weeks away! We are going to Florida!! Sunny, beachy, sandy Florida!

I think I'm a little excited!

Just a little!!!!

So here's the why for on the plan changing...

I started picking up all the supplies and looking into the price for the camp site and thinking about the fact that we still had not even begun to price out the food or rent the tent, mattress, stove, etc and thought to myself... self... this is starting to get very pricey and we will only be going for 3 1/2 days. Hmmmm??

What to do?

Well Jamie and I started talking it over and really thinking about what our trip would look like. I began to think about what we had hoped to do and about how feasible that would be with a 16 month old and really began to get a clear picture of delusion!! Floating the river for half the day with Logan sitting in a tube even with a sun shade was probably not going to hold his attention or keep him from sunburn. Then we had the dog to think about too, again floating the river with a dog (?) he loves water, but do we keep him leashed in the water? Do we put him in a tube? Which, the logistics of this, causes fits of laughter every time I think about it!!

A few too many things to ponder. So we decided to look at other options for a similar cost. This leads us to the Florida choice. After looking into a few places within a days drive and deciding that we really wanted to do this one anyways, Florida won out!

Friends of ours live in Boca and we will be able to stay with them, be gone for 5 1/2 days instead of 3 1/2 and get to go to the beach!!! Plus... BONUS!!!!... We get a comfy bed and hot shower at the end of the day! WOOHOO! Ok that isn't a huge deal. I really was excited about camping, but have rationally decided to wait until Logan is a little older when he can really be a part of the adventure instead of being hauled around in a buckled up state at all times ;)

So Florida, here we come!! Cant wait to spend some time in that clear water and introduce logan to the beach for the very first time! This will be a great thing as Jamie and I were both raised around the beach! Cant wait to gather up the pics!

Wish us luck! Happy Travels to you if you travel soon!

Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

Camping Prep

2011-05-31T16:13:00.000-05:00

Today I am immersed in camping prep! To do's, to brings, games, activities, plans, gear, camp sites and the list continues. We are gearing up for our first family vacation! Camping at the South Llano river st. park out in Junction, TX. We are so excited and really looking forward to unplugging for 4 days and we leave in 3 weeks!!! There really is a lot to do and make sure you have, especially with a 16 month old ;)

So far I have a list about 10 miles long with all the little items that we will likely forget otherwise; toilet paper, foil, tongs, grill spray, sand, firewood, marshmallows, tent stakes, tarp...

It goes on and on and on!

Then of course there's the fun stuff like bocci and horseshoes, frisbee and rafts for the river. Can't forget this stuff! I am getting really excited! I cant wait to share this with Logan. I used to love doing this as a kid and I hope he will too!

Bring on the S'more's!!

So now, here's the really important question...

What to we make to grill while on our trip? I will be making breakfast tacos at least once, 'cuz if you live in TX and don't eat breakfast tacos, there's something wrong with you ;) and of course S'more's!! But other than that I don't think I just want plain old hot dogs and buns the entire 4 days, so what do I make? I'd love to hear your ideas if you have some great standby's or new things to try.

The prep work continues this week with the purchase of new coolers, bike trailer, and tubes for the river.

Should be a fun trip! Finger's crossed!

Send me your great ideas for food! Of course, ideas for games, activities and camping tips would also be greatly appreciated!

Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

Locking pantry door

2011-05-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so some may think I'm crazy, but with a toddler running around, we decided that along with the cabinets, the pantry door needed a baby lock too. Mostly due to the fact that any time I was in the kitchen my little helper would enter the pantry, and pull down everything from the bottom shelf and spread it all over the floor! This typically included his cheerios, yes the entire box in which he would roll around in them, like a little snow angel and then proceed to feed them to the dog, who was also rolling around in them! FUN! Oh yes! Well, this obviously led to more cleanup work for me, hence the lock.

It is very effective, that is when it's not 6am and mama is still half (ok more than half) asleep and forgets to lock the lock! While innocently drinking my coffee, trying to open my eyes, he sneaks in there and goes exploring (which I love btw!!!) and ends up bringing all sorts of goodies to me. Of course, because it comes out from behind those nifty doors which he usually cant get to, he assumes that everything in there is to eat. First, out come the spare baby locks (ironic? I think not) and he signs for food. I respond, "oh, sweet boy those are not food" and off he goes. Out comes a bag of pretzel pieces, then the jar of peanut butter, then granola, then the fabled cheerios... that's when mama realizes, that she better wake up the rest of the way and close and LOCK that pantry door ;)

Don't fret however, as he has his very own cabinet, full of tupperware that is all his to play with any time we spend time in the kitchen. I love that he loves to help out and each time, that cabinet seems to get more and more full. At the moment it has wooden spoons, measuring cups, a spoon, a snack cup full of snacks (dont worry he wont starve due to the pantry lock ;) an empty box from dog treats, a plastic easter egg and his special gift from daddy; a 'kitchen helper crinkly sided pasta pot' complete with felt noodles a tomato, carrot and radish so that he can cook right along with mama!!!

He lacks for nothing in there and loves to store goodies in his secret hidey hole! I love having this for him just as we all did as kids! He thinks it's tons of fun and means that the pantry stays relatively un-messed-around with... well, at least when mama remembers to shut the door ;)

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy some family time!

Happy Baking Y'all!
~Alicia

Discovering Pinterest!

2011-05-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

Ok, are you ready for this? I mean really ready? Because you will get sucked in. I promise you. It will be like candy to a sweet tooth. I was warned, but I thought they were exaggerating, oh ho, not even a little!

Well, if you promise you're really ready and you have taken my warning to heart. I will tell you.
Because after all, it is really, really fabulous!

PINTEREST!!!!

There, I said it, its out there and its so much fun!

For those who have never been there, Pinterest is a site that I will equate to a virtual cork board, but a totally organized one without any expired coupons or ouchy pins lurking about. You can create several cork boards of the things you love. For example, I have Recipes, Logan, Event Ideas, Dream Home and even one more short term for Father's Day. You then, while browsing the web, pin items that you love so that you can have them all in one place! That simple!

Let's take the Father's Day one for example, I am putting ideas in there from Etsy, Target, Home Depot, where ever and when I get a little closer to being ready to pick something(s) then I just go to my cork board and browse all the items. I can leave notes, jot down prices and even find items that other people have tagged for Father's Day and add them to my board.

I am such a huge fan I just had to write a post and tell you all about it. A mom friend of mine introduced me to it and I have been non stop ever since. She is using hers to plan her sons first birthday! From gifts to favors to food, she can pin it all in one nifty spot and have a perfectly planned party when she is all done!

Neat huh!?!

Well hurry on over and check it out! You wont be sorry you did!

Happy Pinning
& as always Happy Baking
~ Alicia

counting down the hours...

2011-05-18T20:12:00.000-05:00

So here we are on the eve of the birthday, enjoying the last few hours of being 27 and joyously looking forward to the coming year! It has been such a wonderful year, spending every possible moment with my sweet little boy and watching him experience all his first moments. I am so excited to see what the coming year will bring, new friends, new places to see, new experiences and the love and support of a loving husband, family and friends. I am so thankful for the people in my life and I want you all to know how much I appreciate you! THANKS!!!

So here's to a relaxing night with my wonderful husband, an episode of the Tudors on Netflix and a lovely sleep! See you all a year older!

have a lovely evening,
~ Alicia

Birthday Cake Making Fun Kind of Day!

2011-05-16T13:04:00.000-05:00

Hello Y'all
Hope you had a great weekend! It's Monday and I know a few of my friends have the 'Mondays' but hopefully what I have been doing in the kitchen this morning will help clear up a case or 2 at least ;)

It is Birthday celebration day at my husbands work for 2 of his employees that just happen to share a birthday week, and what a better way to start the week than with cake? & ice cream? Bonus!!

I really like to make goodies for the team and so far all the things I've made have been a hit! Hoping that today is the same.

So here it is...

Lime infused Tres Leches Cake served with Key Lime Ice Cream!!

mmmmmmm cake!

Does that sound amazing and summery or what?!?!

pretty detail shot ;)

I thought so too!

lime, sweet cream, cake... mmhmm!

I hope they like it.

since this is one of my faves,
and I didnt really want to present them with a dish with a huge chunk of cake taken out of it,
I made myself a tiny bowl full!!

This is a super easy recipe that I thought y'all might like to have in your arsenal as it can be whipped up in a matter of minutes and can be made ahead of time. The most desired aspect of any take along dish or even for a home party when you want to actually enjoy the day! The lime can be omitted or substituted for other items if desired. I have not tried any others yet, though orange, lemon, vanilla, lavender, cinnamon, etc would all be amazing substitutes in this dish.

Tres Leches Cake
with Lime

a collaboration of Food Network.com and me!

1 1/2 packages of family size Sara Lee frozen pound cake cut into 1" cubes
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 C milk
2 C heavy cream
zest of 1 lime (or any similar amount of substitute - approx. 1 heaping teaspoon)

Pile cake cubes into a 13x9 baking pan or similar. does not need to be bake-able as there is no baking involved.

Heat all remaining items in a medium saucepan until boiling. stirring often.

Pour by the ladle full over cubes, being sure to cover all pieces as much as possible to avoid any dry spots on top. push down very gently on cake to help pull some of the liquid up from the bottom.

Cover and chill until ready to serve. Cake will absorb most, if not all the liquid.

Enjoy!!

I hope you have a lovely summery day!

Happy Baking
~ Alicia

Hair Pretties! Come see!!

2011-05-15T13:59:00.000-05:00

So apparently I am just averaging a month between blog entries... oh joy. Have been missing the blog world, but have felt like I've been running myself ragged lately! I am excited to jot down some thoughts today on this lovely Sunday afternoon! My little one is napping, Dodge the puppy is napping and my husband is reading the news. A few cherished moments of down time before we start out again running like crazy ;)

I have recently cut my hair shorter again and when I did this time I went blonde and decided on a 40's style cut! I love it btw! So with that I have decided that I have fallen in love with wearing a pretty little something in my hair along side my fabulous pin waves! I went and bought a few fun things from crystal combs to big silky flowers but of course my crafters mind got the best of me and I began to question what on earth I was doing... Why am I spending $5 - $10 each on these things when I could make them for so much cheaper and they would be original and could go with everything I own?? Well, I went right home and went on amazon and found a bag of 100 aligator clips for $10 and clicked ship! 3 days later and I am having a ball!! I have made at least a dozen and am just thrilled with the end results.

I gifted one to a friend who recently put bright pink highlights in her hair. I just happened to have the prettiest bright pink and black feathers and some retro black buttons in my stash and check out the giftie I made for her!!!

I of course had other colors of the feathers and so I made a few more!! One in Emerald, 'cuz thats my birth stone and its almost my birthday so, why not! One in gold and one in red! I tried to make them each a little different and I am pretty happy that they came out so well. Clammy hands and feathers dont mix at all, just a note ;)

I absolutely adore gingham so I had to make a few of in that print too!

Then I was trying to think a bit more outside the box and came up with this! A definite favorite!! What do you think?!?!

A few more fun ones to vary the wardrobe.

And then these... My absolute favorites so far! Who could not love these, especially a baker!!! I just could not stop with 1!!!

And here's a look at the new 'do! With a cupcake of course!!

So now I just have to decide what to make next! ah, decisions, decisions! I cant stop thinking... Pie!

Well, I hope to be back again soon! I hope y'all have a lovely weekend!

Happy Baking

~ Alicia

P.C. Day 4 - favorite social networking

2011-04-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

Today we are faced with the following challenge:

Your Challenge!

Do you have a favorite photo sharing site like Instagram, Twitpic or Daily Booth? How does using it help you promote your blog, connect with your followers and improve your photography? What social networking tips can you share about these sites?

Today’s challenge is to write a blog post discussing YOUR favorite social networking tips answering these questions.

Thus far I have not really stepped into the world of Flickr or any of the above. I have kept pretty low key and only shared via the blog itself or Facebook, not typically overlapping these either as I am trying not to overwhelm friends and family (blog readers or not) with too much of the same content. I only just started using twitter about a month ago and am a bit overwhelmed by the entire process. I didnt even know that hash tags meant anything or could potentially drive traffic to my blog. Well, boy oh boy, do I have a lot to learn about social media!

Facebook has proved to be great in picture sharing though, especially photos of Logan. I tend to find that I take mostly pictures of him, of course, and it never occurred to me that other pictures, when properly tagged, would possibly help people find me or have an interest in my blog. How does this stuff even get started??

I am reluctant to get started on too many as I feel like I am sucked into the black hole a lot already and often fear that starting this will mean more time sitting behind this lovely little screen instead of getting the ironing done or playing with the munchkin. I will look into one of these or Flickr to begin with, but it will probably, in all reality, take me a while to get the hang of things. I wouldn't even know where to begin. I would welcome any help or suggestions from the group on this. Advice needed for a very novice and timid social media user.

I hope to learn a bit in looking at others' posts today, and I hope to get some advice from the crowd too. Wish me luck, Im off to get sucked in ;)

Have a lovely day!

P.C. Day 2 - Photo Editing

2011-04-05T20:44:00.001-05:00

For today's challenge. I edited 3 of the photos I took yesterday, cropping out some of the extra space, changing the layout in one and adding a bit more shadow or light to enhance the overall look.

Here are the photos I took of Dodge while we were out in the yard playing fetch. He loves to play and was being very patient while we did our photo shoot, mid play time. He bounded all over the yard and wanted to give slobbery puppy kisses, especially during the one I took while looking up at him from the ground! We have lots of fun and he and Logan love to play together and chase one another all over! I hope you like the changes!

Picture 1
Rule of Thirds

Before:

After:

I cropped out a lot of negative space. It brought the image in and gave more focus to the ball and Dodge. I also gave a bit more shadow to the fence which got a little faded out.

Photo 2
Looking Down

Before:

After:

Here I changed the layout of the picture and really moved in on the subject. I felt that the way he had made an arc shape brought a good direction to the photo and brought more excitement to the image given that he is playing and being a goofball, which tells much more in this shot. I also saturated the color just a hint to bring out the green against his fur.

Photo 3
Looking Up

Before:

After:

I did not do a lot here, but I did lengthen the rays of light from the sun and made the image overall a bit more crisp, then just saturated the blue a little and voila!

Finally, here is the collage I made using Mosaic Maker from Big Huge Labs I think it turned out pretty great. What a fun thing to do with a collection of pictures for a blog. I make these all the time using Snapfish for prints, but never thought to use it for blogging!

Another great exercise today!
Looking forward to tomorrow!

SITS Photo Challenge Day 1 - composition, perspective

2011-04-04T15:12:00.001-05:00

Today's Challenge is 20 shots (or 26 but who's counting?) focusing on Composition and Perspective. I have done a selection of shots inside and outside to get some different looks. I think some have turned out really interestingly and Dodge (our puppy) was a very good model, he got several cookies for good behavior during our photo shoot ;)

Here is a compilation of the tips I learned (am learning) today:

Perspective:

Tip #1 Get Down Low

Tip #2 Look Up

from the ground up into the pear tree

Dodge basking in the sunshine

Tip #3 From the Side

Tip #4 Look Down

high above Logan eating lunch

Dodge waiting patiently

time for play!

Alternate Tip Following Lines throughout photo

Composition:

Using the Rule of Thirds

focusing on the foreground tree along the left third
the shadows and lines bring eye around photo

getting down on his level
see the ball hiding in the grass

I love the shadow on this
it really brings the eye around

is not exactly in the sweet spots, but creates an interesting composition with the bands of images:
the grass, the fence, the house behind, all cut by the dog on a diagonal across the front

Inside photos:

looking down

get down low

following lines in photo

rule of thirds

get down low

Sweetest Honey

2011-04-01T13:14:00.000-05:00

So I must say that I love my husband like crazy! He is so sweet to me always, but there are times when he is even sweeter and I just get all tingly inside.

Wednesday morning, I woke up to the very nice surprise that he had taken the day off to spend with us and recharge his batteries! He works 6 day weeks most weeks so this is huge for us!! We laid in the hammock in the yard, played with Logan, went for a run together and generally had a great day!

Then after he had some car time getting a new intake installed, he comes home with a giftie for me, totally out of the blue! I have been wanting a pastry cutter for some time now and we have looked at many, but they can get quite expensive so we have put it on the back burner as a want but certainly not need.

Well imagine my shock when this lovely little brown bag appeared on my counter and inside, in the dark purple tissue that only comes from my fave cooking store, Sur La Table, was my brand new pastry cutter!!! I was so excited! Now I just can't wait to bake something so I can use it!!! Chicken Pot Pie immediately comes to mind, though it is a bit warm for that so perhaps something sweet. Hmmm the possibilities are endless! I will update when I make my first something with it!

Happy Baking to all!
~Alicia

Photo challenge at SITS coming up next week!

2011-03-31T13:53:00.000-05:00

I will be joining in the SITS Spring Into Action Photo Challenge April 4-15th. We will be learning about light and composition and other nifty things to better the pictures on our blogs. I am adding the challenge button to the side bar for anyone who might be interested to learn more about it. I hope you will enjoy following along with me for 10 days of better photos!
Have a lovely day and very, very happy Friday Eve!!
I truly need it!

a pic when Logan was only 6 months!
One of my faves, just to leave you with a bit of cuteness today!

Happy Baking!
~ Alicia

Pretty Gifties!

2011-03-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

My husbands best friend had twins, a boy and girl, and they just happened to be born on my husbands birthday! Isn't that so exciting! He was thrilled! Well in honor of such an occasion, I made some gifts for them, as I love to do, and I wanted to share the completed project with you here!

In all I made for each one 1 ruffled crib blanket, 3 swaddling blankets, and 3 burp cloths. Both sets were done in a green and brown color scheme to coordinate with the nursery and to keep a chic baby look. I added some pops of pink for the girl set and I am so pleased with how they came out. My husband said they were more than he could have ever hoped for in a gift. I was over the moon!! What a wonderful thing to say!

Without further ado, here they are...

burp cloths

swaddlers

ruffled blanket

name on blanket

complete set for Sophia Rae

burp cloths

swaddlers

ruffled blanket

name on blanket

complete set for Andrew Arthur Penn

Garden Goodies

2011-03-29T11:33:00.000-05:00

Over the past few weeks I have been taking some time to get back in the garden and grow some real veggies and fruits and spend some quality time with nature. I have had peach, pear, lime and mandarine orange trees growing in the yard for the past few years and the peach tree was a true joy last year when for the first time I got over 75 beautiful and oh so yummy peaches off it. I am hoping for such a crop again this summer!

to be peaches??!?!?

The pear is taking its journey by a little longer route, but perhaps this year will bear a fruit or two for me.

pears are starting!!

The lime gave me a handfull of fruit last year, but never really got going. I think due to heavy winds which took all the blossoms. I hope we can get past the harsh weather and get a great tree full this year.

are those little limes I see starting?

The mandarine, well, it is a story all on it's own... it was a rescue tree. What on earth does that mean, you ask?? well it had been through a terrible hail storm. The garden center was going to toss it, but we thought we would try to save it and see if it could come back. So far it has gotten huge! Grown 2 more feet and all the leaves recovered and branches rebuilt. The fruit however still has not come. It has been 3 years now and we are still working on its wellbeing. I decided it needed a drastic pruning this winter as the tall branches were spindly and sparse, and now it is full of new leaves and looking better than ever. Who knows, perhaps this will be our year! wish us luck!

so many new leaves, so much new life!

This time however I decided it was time for some container gardening. I planted Spinach, broccoli, tomatoes and strawberries. So far I have gotten 5 sweet little strawberries and as the plants grow hopefully there will be more.

ready for picking!

One of the two tomato plants already has several large fruits on it and I cant wait for them to plump up.

mmmm, 4 so far!

The broccoli has surprised me greatly by how thick the stocks have grown in such a short time, I think they will do really well with the veggie production over the next few months.

I am also in the process of learning a bit more about the spinach. I am not sure which cutting style I should be using on this type of spinach and need to spend some time researching it, but it looks so yummy so far!

I hope you have enjoyed a little tour through my garden today. If you have any tips of the trade advice for me on any of these, I would welcome it greatly. Have a lovely day. Eat your fruits & veggies! Hope to see you again.

Happy Baking,
~ Alicia

Hello again!

2011-03-28T12:37:00.000-05:00

Hi there, goodness it has been far too long! How I have missed my blog and bloggy friends!! I hope you are all well and fabulous and having a lovely spring so far!

I took a little break while my sister was in town and took a chance to re-charge my batteries and attempt to get a handle on the craziness that is day to day life ;) fat chance!! ... but at least I am a bit more rested this week!

My little boy, Logan is walking... finally! it has been such an exciting week seeing him explore this new adventure! He is walking all by himself and goes all over the house and around the yard! There is still a lot of crawling, but he is trying out his "new" legs more and more often! He turned 14 months yesterday and is such a joy every day!!

My husband and I went to a car show yesterday with the mini club of Austin, now that we are the proud owners of a 'new-to-us' Mini cooper S! We had such a great time visiting with friends and helping out a great cause! We are looking forward to many more such events and some fun new gadgets for the mini! I must say also, that I am now in love with the newest addition to the mini family, the Countryman! it is so cute and almost a crossover size so our crazy rambunctious dog could actually go with us sometimes! hmmm perhaps in my future??? Not sure, only time will tell! Now, just for a name for our mini??? hmmm I'd love your thoughts on this one. Jamie doesn't really name his cars and I have never done so, but think it would be fun. Plus all the other mini owners have mini names and are trying to help us come up with one. Here is a pic of ours (so not the best pic of me, but we are looking at the car here folks)... hit me with the names!!

I have taken many photos while I have been away of fun spring things to share with you so I will have lots of fun to share over the next few posts. I look forward to talking with y'all again. Have a very happy Monday and I'll be back again soon.

Happy Baking

~ Alicia

We made it through!!

2011-02-07T09:08:00.000-06:00

The birthday craziness is finally done! Dont get me wrong, we had a great time, but the lead up was kind of madness! As you remember my lists from last week, well they all got done and then some. Sunday morning, before the party, was a whirlwind and I am sure I didn't sit down once until about 5pm when the whole house had been re-cleaned after everyone left :)

Logan had a blast, played with the neighborhood girls and our friends. He ate a piece of his cake and some other fun goodies, and played with all his new, very noisy toys, thanks guys for that one ;)

There were so many cookies, even after everyone took home a full goodie bag, and I kept a small baggie full of each of our favorites, I still had enough to send Jamie to work with a grocery bag full and I still have the left over cake to send later in the week. I figure I can extend their sugar coma for a while instead of my own! We had 8 different kinds of biscotti as well as peach thumb prints and hello dolly's.

The flavors of biscotti I ended up going with were:

Orange chocolate, chocolate chip with orange glaze and chocolate drizzle
Cinnamon Chip with cinnamon glaze (also made a second batch of gluten free)
Cranberry Orange with orange glaze
Lemon Blueberry with lemon glaze
Toffee crunch with chocolate and caramel drizzle
lemon poppyseed with sugar sprinkle (also made a second batch of gluten free)
Traditional recipe with dragees
Orange and Almond with sprinkled almonds and orange glaze

They were all a huge hit, most couldn't pick just one favorite but many. Which, in my book, spells success!!

Thanks for all the support last week in my endeavors. I very much needed those words of encouragement when it got to those last few hours and I felt like a walking zombie. Here's hoping for a relatively quiet week!!!!

Hope yours is great!

Happy Baking (or in my case, not baking this week)
~Alicia

Keeping the progress going

2011-02-03T08:36:00.000-06:00

That list really did help. I guess I need to do that more often ;)
I switched to sweeping and mopping the floors in the whole downstairs instead of the bathrooms on tuesday so I still need to do that. I will put it on today's list along with some other things. Today will mostly be errands though as we have a dr visit to go to and need to pick up some groceries for the yummies for the party so I can get baking!

Yesterday was not as productive, but I have to take into account a few factors there, first being... you guessed it, I didnt get on here and post a list of to-do's! I blame myself entirely there. On the other hand, with the below freezing temperatures and rolling blackouts and then having a sore shoulder, I was not able to control how the day went. I did get to make some adorable chocolate monkeys yesterday though. I think they will go great with the monkey theme for Logan's party. Here are a few pics to share!

So here's the list for today!!
I am really hoping it goes well...

clean the bathroom fixtures (floors done on tuesday)
unload/re-load dishwasher
make grocery list
grocery shop
Dr. appointment (try not to freeze)
pick up my sewing room after hurricane Logan breezed through it yesterday afternoon/ hopefully finish the project I started in there yesterday ;)
make apt/send picture to finish bottling our wine. (ok, this one is a little unexpected, I know. We received a great gift for making your own wine and it is at the moment turning from water 2 wine also the name of the place, and we need to send in a pic for the label, and go put it into bottles to take home)

I think/ hope this is all I need to do today.
yikes, I guess I better get started!

Have a great day! Hope your week is progressing well.
Happy Baking

~Alicia

Crazed week, yet again

2011-02-01T08:31:00.000-06:00

Today is the start of another crazy week, though, which ones aren't these days?! We had to reschedule Logan's birthday for this weekend since he was sick when his party was originally planned for. So this means cleaning the house top to bottom, baking up yummy desserts making a yummy monkey cake, finishing the favors, and decorating. All this on top of laundry, grocery shopping, ironing, baking, prepping food for the week, play time, dog walks, working on my blogs and my business' and maybe a shower or two. At least I hope ;)

I seriously don't know how some moms do it all? I mean, I feel some days, when the evening rolls around, where on earth has this day gone? Did I actually get anything done today? It is usually the day that looks like I have everything mapped out and have a plan and know that I will get things done that, in fact, nothing gets accomplished! Funny enough, or really not, it usually happens on the days when the naps dont happen. Huh?! Amazing isn't it!

Well, this week, like it or not, I have no choice. Unless, of course, I am willing to invite guests into my home with it looking like it just withstood a hurricane! Which as a perfect little hostess, I am absolutely not going to do!!!

Maybe if I write down some things that need to get done and when, I might be held a little more accountable and get these things done.

So here goes.

This morning first thing, Laundry. I need to wash the whites as I am completely out of warm socks and it is supposed to be 17 degrees tonight! Yikes!

Then I think I need to attack my kitchen counters again, I think I figured this one out though, it gets cluttered every time we display cards on. I am guessing the thought process goes something like this... there are things on the counter now, so if I just add this stack of mail, it wont make that much difference. The rest is down hill.

Once the kitchen is at least clutter free, then its on to the bathrooms and the dust bunnies on the floor. I think that might be all I end up getting to today and then I will work on some favors tonight.

I really hope I can get this house in shape by Saturday. ughhhh! sigh.

Wish me luck :)

Have a great day

Happy Baking (when you can ;)
~Alicia

Logan, day 364!!

2011-01-26T09:36:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is my sweet baby boy's very first birthday!

We are beyond excited and just can't believe how quickly this year has seemed to go. I was at Target yesterday, picking up some last minute gifties, I know, way to wait till the last second, but hey, and I came across the most adorable newborn romper and I about melted. It was sooooo tiny and of course I held it up to Logan and said, you used to be this small, almost 1 year ago and I thought, wow, how much he has changed in such a short time!

We have 5 teeth now, 2 bottom, 3 top, and working on more every day. He is so close to waking it's scary! He is now standing without help for several long seconds before leaning too far one way or another. He crawls like a little speed demon, climbs a 2 story staircase in under a minute and would love to climb every piece of furniture he can get to. He babbles all day and is always looking at everything. So curious! He says mama and means it, finally(!!!!). He almost means dada too, though he still uses it for most men and sometimes to show me things. He is beginning to understand so much, he can show me different things when I ask him where they are, he happily gives it to mama, he loves to kick the ball and can turn on and off every light in the house, this is a new favorite past time ;) He is a great snuggler and has just started giving the best 'on purpose' hugs ever!

I cant wait to see all the new things to come. It just blows my mind each time he discovers something new. I am so proud to be his mama and love him to pieces, just in case you couldn't already tell ;)

I hope if you have a little one that you love, that you take a moment today and give him or her a great big snuggle! Have an absolutely beautiful day. Please excuse me for not posting tomorrow as it will be a day just for Logan, we will go to the park, swing on the swing, play kick with the ball, make a huge mess eating all sorts of fun finger foods and any other trouble we can get ourselves into. Then we will sit down with daddy when he gets home and have a wonderful first birthday dinner and open a prezzie or two!

Until next time,
All the best from our little family!

baking up new flavors

2011-01-24T13:52:00.000-06:00

Hi There,
I hope all is going great out there in blog land!

I have been busy in the kitchen this morning baking up a few new flavors for my biscotti.
I have a basic recipe that is great, but I wanted to try a new spin and see how they turned out. Besides having such a willing test panel, my honey, the neighbors, honey's employees, I am hoping to package and sell them on my new Etsy site if I can find some fun yummy flavors.

This morning I made 2 kinds, the first is a vanilla blueberry with turbinado sugar sprinkled on top. The second is an almond orange with fresh orange rind and juice, almond extract and almonds sprinkled on top. Since none of my taste testers are home from work yet, the task fell to me to try them out. Ok so I didn't even wait for them to cool, since they smelled sooooo good, and almost burned my fingers. I must say.... yum! I think they are both great options and I hope they are liked all around.

I am now searching my pantry for some other fun things to include. I am thinking lemon poppy seed with a lemon & powdered sugar drizzle, toffee crunch with a caramel and chocolate drizzle, maybe a more traditional chocolate chip and then, hah I just found cinnamon chips, ohh I have to try something with that! Ok, im about to go crazy, I have to write all this down, then get back in the kitchen!

Well, I'd love to hear your suggestions/ cravings on the matter and maybe I could try some out on you??? You'll have to let me know if anyone is interested and we will see what we can work out.

Well sorry to cut this post short, but those cinnamon chips are calling my name and I just cant resist.

Until next time,

Happy baking
~Alicia