Happy New Year's Eve!

Forgot to go to the store to get a few bottles of sparkling cider? Not want to buy a huge bottle when you just want a single glass?  Not a problem.  All you need is apple juice and seltzer. You can taste the difference with better quality juice, but whatever you have handy is fine.

This is such a simple drink (thanks for thinking of it Tova!)

Sparkling Apple Cider
Ingredients:

• apple juice
• seltzer (from a soda stream or bottle)

Directions:

1. Pour equal parts juice and seltzer into a glass or pitcher.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a great 2015.  I know I did.  This was one of the first years I had New Year's resolutions and stuck to them.  I don't know if it's because I picked more than one resolution, or if it's because I didn't pick an open-ended, generic one (like" lose some weight").  My resolutions this year were to sew an Amy Butler Weekender bag, the most behemoth of bags , and to finish this reading list.



I haven't quite finished this list yet, but I'm on the last book I need and it's an audio book, so it takes FOREVER.  This list is so long, I'm just going to count it as finished.  As someone who had never done it before, completing New Year's resolutions feels great.

Here's the finished Weekender bag by the way:

I have my New Year's resolutions all figured out for 2016 too.  I liked this book list so much I'm planning on following the next one.  Here's a copy:




A whole new set of books.  Yay!  I also plan on figuring out how to do a headstand.  Maybe I'll even post a ridiculous looking selfie of my headstand this coming year.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  

So the tally is in.  I lost count of some things, it's really been a crazy week, but for the month of December I've made 

• 46 dozen cookies
• 14 pounds of caramels
• 8 batches of marshmallows
• 4 dozen truffles
• 4 dozen chocolate covered chocolate marshmallows

and some other random goodies I totally forgot to tally.  Like doggy treats.

Part of me wants to take a break from baking. ...But I just got a bunch of really awesome kitchen things for Christmas that I'm separate to try.  So I'm back in tomorrow.  Yay!

Sorry about the late post but I haven't had a moment to myself for a while.  The kids have been adorable all day, both really GET Christmas this year so it's been a blast.  

Liam got a bunch of kitchen things too so hopefully we'll bake together tomorrow.  New recipes coming soon, promise.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

cinnamon roll cookies

I have about a million cookies at my house already.  Between my love of baking, cookies the kids made, cookies exchanges, you name it...

So of course I decided to make some more cookies yesterday.  By the way, if you remember that I'm (trying to) keep track of how much I've baked just this December the numbers are as follows:

• about 25 dozen cookies
• 10 pounds of caramels
• 4 batches of marshmallows

and I'm seriously just getting warmed up!  I'm curious what the final count will be now.  

Anyway, I felt like experimenting yesterday and I think I found a winner.  In fact, I can't stop eating these, and I'm usually pretty good at only eating one or two.  I really like this recipe.  It makes soft chewy cookies that taste EXACTLY like a cinnamon roll.  

Start out by making a standard sugar cookie dough.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Take 2/3 of the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured counter.  Leave it and return to the bowl.  Add the cinnamon, brown sugar, and dash of vanilla to the remaining 1/3 dough in the bowl.  Mix well and upturn onto the lightly floured counter next to the other dough.  

Roll both sets of dough out into rectangles of the same size.  I'm TERRIBLE at this.  You can see that from the photos.  I'm just telling you this so you know that it really doesn't matter if your rectangles are perfect.  The cookies will still look good once they're rolled out even if you rectangles are ugly.  I promise.

Gently pick up the cinnamon dough and lay it on top of the original dough.  The dough should both be pretty pliable if you need to shape them a little into matching sizes.

Roll the dough into a log.  If you didn't use enough flour on the counter and the dough sticks a little, you can use a scraper to help un-stick the dough and move it along.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.  If you make this dough up to a few days ahead of time (I love options!) just set the dough on the counter for 5-10 minutes to soften.  If you try to cut the dough straight from the fridge it will be too stiff and the two dough sections might separate.

Slice the cookies and place them on parchment covered cookies sheets.  Bake for 7-8 minutes.

Once the cookies come out of the oven you can start making the icing.  When the cookies have cooled drizzle the icing over top, then allow about an hour to dry fully.

The icing takes a while to dry, but once it has you can stack the cookies without smudging the icing.  Yay!

I don't usually frost or ice cookies, they generally don't need it, but please don't forgo the icing here.  First of all, cinnamon roll cookies just aren't the same without it, and I tried a cookie before I iced them (always a must with new recipes) and the crazy amount of cinnamon without the added sweetness of the icing made for a very spicy cookie!  The icing just helps balance the flavors so much.  A necessity.

I like the random icing drizzle, but if you want to get fancy you could drizzle the icing in a spiral or go crazy and cover the entire cookie lightly.

I'm going to have to give these away, because otherwise I'm going to eat them all.  I LOVE cinnamon rolls, and having smaller (and less guilty) versions available anytime I want is very dangerous.

AND, some gratuitous cookie shots...

Cinnamon Roll Cookies
make about 18

Ingredients:

Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 1/2 tsp
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups AP flour
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Icing

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tbsp milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Cream the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat in 1 tsp vanilla and the egg.
2. Slowly mix in the baking powder and flour.
3. Remove 2/3 of the dough and place on a lightly floured counter.
4. Add the 1/2 tsp vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon to the remaining dough in the bowl.  Mix well.  Remove the remaining dough onto a lightly floured counter near the first dough.
5. Roll both doughs out into rectangles of matching sizes.  Gently pick up the cinnamon dough and set it on top of the other dough.  Roll up dough and wrap in cellophane.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Slice dough into medallions and place on parchment lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 7-8 minutes.  
7. Make the icing and drizzle over the cookies once they've cooled.

prepping for Christmas

No recipe today.  Sorry.  This is just me writing a bit during nap time because I'm too exhausted to do anything active, like moving at all.

If you're one of the like 2 people who read this blog (hi!), AND you're in the Sacramento area this weekend, come join me here.

I've been prepping like mad this week.  Jeff has jokingly suggested that I make a running tally of how many cookies I make in the month of December, and I think I just may do that.  Because it's going to be a totally insane number.  I cant wait.

Today I'm already at 6 batches of sugar cookies and 6 batches of caramels.  And I'm just getting started...

Note: I bought so much sugar and butter at the store yesterday that cashier either knows I'm baking up a storm, or thinks I'm going to get massive diabetes.

Check back later for an update on the crazy cookie tally.  Happy Holidays!

now on etsy

Notice anything new in my link header?  I now have an Etsy store!  It's BRAND spanking new (as of about an hour ago), so there's not much there.  Don't worry, more to come soon.

If there's anything I make that you just love, or think someone else would love, kindly let me know and I'll add it to my store.

Thank you!

reusable advent calendar

I LOVE looking at cute new Christmas ideas on Pinterest every year.  It's so addicting.  I'd seen a really cute reusable advent calendar for the last year or two, but didn't have time and figured it'd be expensive and time consuming to make.  I was wrong.  Between a few supplies I already had and the few I bought, plus the time to make this... would you believe I spent $12 and easily made it in an afternoon?  And everything I needed to buy for this I was about to find easily at Joann and Home Depot.

For all those interested, the original blog I got the idea off of can be found here.

Did you notice Luna?  She blends in a bit, but the only reason she seems to be in EVERY photo is because I told her to go away so I could take photos, and this was her way of demanding to be pet.  She eventually won.

Sorry about the glare.  It's really dark today, so it was either freakishly dark photo, or flash glare.

Here's what you'll need to make this calendar:

• a 12x12 or 13x13 inch frame (this is a 13x13 shadow box frame with the glass removed)
• 25 2" metal tins (Wilton's set of 25 can be found at craft stores in the wedding section)
• cute paper (enough to back the frame, and cut out 50 circles, 2 per tin)
• stickers, die cuts, or a pen for the numbers
• metal sheets (I used two 7"x12" metal sheets with a bit of overlap, easy to find near lumber at home depot, cheap too!)
• magnets
• mod podge and small paint bush
• glue gun
• candy (I am using Hershey Kisses)

Start off by placing your metal sheet(s) and cute paper in your frame and get rid of the glass that came with the frame.  Hot glue the magnets to the back of each tin, making sure the magnet is strong enough first.  Cut out 50 circles to just fit inside your tins (I have an awesome hole punch that was the perfect size for this).  Split the circles in half.  Put the numbers 1-25 on half using stickers, die cuts, a pen, etc. Paint the mod podge over the numbered circles and put them into the lids.  They'll look ugly at first, but the mod podge dries clear, so no worries.  This next part is optional.  The Wilton tins set comes with 25 small round sticker labels.  Stick on in the center of each remaining circle and write an activity on it.  Place candy in each tin, put the lids on, and attach all the tins to the frame.  Done!

Two tips:

1. an easy way to make sure your papers are festival and match is to use a stack of scrapbook paper.  I used a Christmas stack of 6"x6" paper and was able to cut 4 circles out of each page.  
2. Make sure whatever activities you plan will work for each day.  For instance, I checked which days in December were weekends and put the significantly more involved things there.

I like that every year I can mix and match what things go on each day.  Over the years my kids will know what fun things are coming up in December, but never which day they'll be on.

I understand if you want all the numbers to match.  I didn't want to use a pen and my mom had the cricut at her house, so I used stickers.  I figured since the paper was all different the numbers should be as well.  I like the crazy hodge podge look I ended up with.

Some magnets list their strength or the amount of weight they can handle.  Aim for at least "medium", and make sure when you test your magnets (I taped mine onto a tin and stuck in on the frame) you do so with the candy you plan on using to make sure it's as strong as you need it!

That's it.  It's really easy to make and I love the end result!  It's exactly what I was hoping for.  If you want to include activities for each day but have NO idea what to put, here are some suggestions:

• write letter to Santa
• make Christmas cookies
• look at Christmas lights
• watch a Christmas movie
• make fancy hot chocolate
• make a gingerbread house
• read The Night Before Christmas
• make Christmas decorations
• donate gifts
• take a family Christmas photo
• leave milk and cookies for Santa
• discover new Christmas music
• make paper snowflakes
• sing carols
• shop for sibling gifts
• have a fireside picnic
• build a massive fort
• see a Christmas parade
• read a new holiday story
• game night
• make peppermint playdough
• make a red and green meal
• family walk
• make homemade hot apple cider
• decorate the house
• bring cookies to Shriner's hospital
• make flavored caramel corn

I've seen other awesome ideas, but alas, most others need snow.  No such luck in California.

Let me know if you require help making your own, I hope you have lots of fun with this calendar!

cooking with kids

Anything whose met Liam should know how hard it is to get a picture of him standing still and smiling.  This is literally as good as I could get.

I love cooking with Liam.  I love being able to teach him something useful and yummy, while spending time with him.  I know he loves it because I let him pick what we make... we make lots of cookies  :)

Honestly, it only takes a little bit more time to cook with you kids than it does to cook by yourself, unless you kid is in a crazy distructo mode (like flinging flour ALL OVER THE COUNTER).

Don't believe me?  Here are a few pros to teaching your kids to cook:

• kids are more likely to eat food they helped make
• teaches them confidence
• helps math skills
• inspire creativity with new flavor combinations
• learn kitchen safety young
• more exposure to new foods
• don't allow your kid to go off to college only knowing how to make toast
• fun bonding time

I love Wednesdays.  That's the day that my Mom takes Jack for a while and I get some one on one time with Liam.  We can do whatever, but he likes to cook with me.  Mostly because he wants cookies, and he thrives on routine.

This week was chicken for lunch, plus funfetti sugar cookies.

Liam loves chicken, especially breaded baked nugget style.  If he's really hungry though he'll make a seasoned baked breast.  It's faster to make, and if I let him season it himself he eats more of it.  Liam LOVES seasoning his own food.  It means he gets to open all the spice jars and sniff them before picking out which ones he wants.  His favorites are always basil and lavender (luckily not together).  He's really good at picking combos.  Yesterday's chicken was salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic, oregano, basil, paprika, and olive oil.  Just a pinch of each, then baked at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes.  Served with a side of baked potato pieces and garbanzo beans.  Liam's favorite.

decorated by Liam

After lunch it was time for cookies!  I have a HUGE bag full of super fun shaped cookie cutters, which I let Liam go through to pick out a few for the cookies.  He picked a circle.  Seriously.  He did cave and decide to use the fluted circle edge instead of the smooth edge though.  Sometimes I can't decide if Liam is horribly unimaginative with desserts, or just enjoys the fancy classic styles.  Once the cookies baked and cooled Liam decided the frosting should be "the color of Fluttershy's skin".  Okay, light yellow is it.  Yeah, you know you're a parent when you know the colors of all the My Little Ponies.  We jazzed them up with rainbow sprinkles, and Liam's cookie even got sugar eyeballs. 

 

Cooking with kids can be a bit messy, but so rewarding, and I can't recommend it enough.  Even if you are only making peanut butter sandwiches together, try cooking with your kids today.  :)

caramel apple tart

Doesn't this tart look yummy?  Is it.  So simple, yet amazing good.  Want to know a secret?  It was made entirely by a 4 year old.  MY four year old, Liam.  Not bad, huh?

I've gotta say, it made me get all warm and fuzzy inside yesterday when he told me he wanted a tart pan for Christmas for himself so we could make more tarts together.

Confused by the round caramel balls as opposed to a pretty drizzle?  I saw the bag of Kraft caramel balls at the store and just HAD to try them, I would have melted them down and drizzled the caramel over the tart, but since Liam made this himself I thought it would be simpler (and not quite so hot) for him to just dump them over top of the apple slices.

I still have lots of caramel left in the bag, and I can't wait to use them, so sorry in advance if I have a plethora of caramel related recipes soon!

I love baking with Liam.  We don't get to do it all the time, mostly because Jack wants to help too and 2 isn't quite old enough to be of much help.  When Jack is out of the house I take full advantage of my cute kiddo baking time!  As soon as I asked Liam if he wanted to bake a tart he ran over and immediately grabbed his apron, which made me so happy, because he hadn't used it in a while and he could have legitimately forgotten about it.

I'm trying something new starting with this post.  I have a you tube channel that I'm going to put the occasional post on.  I figure some people might prefer video over reading or whatever, and when I do post a video I'll make sure to link it up with the corresponding recipe.  I'm still very new at making cooking videos, and the video for this recipe is just awful, but cute.  It's my first cooking video, starring a 4 year old, with me helping a bit plus filming, with bad lighting, a messy kitchen, etc.  If you do watch the video make sure your sound is up because Liam is much quieter than me, but he says some cute funny things.

Okay, I really don't have much else to say other than list the recipe, but this photos look so pretty, I just had to post them.  :)

This tart really makes 6 servings, I just started cutting too big and ended up with 5 huge slices instead.  Aim for 6 slices.

As you can see, we left the apple peels on.  I wanted Liam to make as much of the tart as possible by himself, and I thought peeling might be a bit above him.  Also, I like the added color and look of a tart with the peels.  You can peel the apples first if you like.

Slicing the apples and helping Liam spread the dough into the tart pan are really the only things I helped with.  Liam seriously did the rest by himself.  Liam wasn't quite up to cutting the apples.  He either tried to hack them into weird huge chunks, of he keep trying to put his fingers too close to the blade.  Don't worry, I paid VERY close attention when he handled a knife.  I even tried to have him use a curved mincing knife for a while because I thought it might be easier for him to hold that handle, but no.

watch Liam bakes a caramel apple tart on my new you tube channel.

• 
  
• Caramel Apple Tart

makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cold water

2 fuji apples, sliced thinly (peels optional)
2 tbsp caramel balls


Directions:

1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor until the butter is in tiny crumbles.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until absorbed.  Slowly pour in the water through the processor lid while mixing.  The dough should be soft but not sticky.  Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly spray the tart pan with cooking spray.  Gently push the dough into place in the pan.  Spread it out evenly.  Cover the dough evenly and thoroughly with the apple slices.  You will probably not need all the slices.  
3. Either dump the caramel balls over top the apples and bake for 45 minutes, let cool, and eat.  OR  bake the tart without the caramel.  While the baked tart cools heat the caramel balls evenly in a microwave, then drizzle the caramel sauce over the tart.  Enjoy!

Note: Makes enough dough for one 9 1/2-inch tart, six 4-inch tartlets, twelve 2-inch miniature tartlets or one 13 3/4-by-4 1/4-inch rectangular tart.

crazy little monkeys

Hey look!  It's my kids!  My kids are finally crazy enough to be included in Average Parent Problems.  They're crazy, but at least they're pretty darn cute too.

pumpkin black bottomed muffins

These muffins make me so happy.   Fudgy chocolate muffins topped with pumpkin goodness just can't be beat.

One of my favorite fall recipes is a cream cheese based dip (perfect for ginger snaps or apple slices).  I love it sooo much, and I wanted to find other uses for it to spread the joy when I remembered how awesome classic black bottomed muffins are.  I switched out the plain cream cheese for my dip and I really love the result.  The orange color is such a cheerful addition to the muffins, but the real treat is the pumpkin and orange flavors added.  Seriously, I want to eat the whole batch.  Luckily I've got three built in taste testers at home to eat them all for me.

I even have a clean up crew for the kitchen (in the fall at least).  It's amazing how quickly you can get a kid to help you sweep the kitchen when they realize they have a perfect witch broom to ride on already in their hands.  I kid you not.  My kitchen floors have never been cleaned than they are today.

I could have eaten this entire batch of muffin batter raw.  It looked and tasted just like fudge.  *Insert drool here*.  If you already have a well-loved chocolate muffin recipe, feel free to use it.  Just swirl a spoonful of pumpkin dip on top and bake according to your regular directions.

Seriously though, doesn't this just look like truffle filling or fudge?

I used a small spoonful over each muffin because I didn't want the entire top covered in orange, but how much you use is really up to you, as long as you don't overfill your cups.

Note: the chocolate will bake quicker than the pumpkin dip, so if the pumpkin topping still looks a bit undercooked when the muffins have finished baking, don't fret.  They firm up nicely once they've set.

 I like they messy, natural style of the orange tops, but after I made these Jeff had a great idea if you crave more structure and theme.  Pipe a large circle of pumpkin topping onto the center of the muffins and bake.  Once they've baked and set, use black frosting with a small piping tip to draw a Jack o' lantern face into the center of the orange.  Cute!

Okay, these are just gratuitous muffin shots.  I just couldn't decide which ones to post, so I posted most of them...  :)

I've had this pumpkin dip recipe for ages, and I can't for the life of me remember where I found it.  Let me know if you know who created it so I can give credit.  I love it, but it's not mine.

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 14 oz. marshmallow creme
• 15 oz. pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp orange zest

Directions:

1. Whip the cream cheese using a stand or hand mixer for about 3 minutes, or until fluffy.
2. Add in the pumpkin puree and blend thoroughly.
3. Add in the marshmallow creme and blend thoroughly.
4. Add in the cinnamon and orange zest and mix until just combined.
5. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve.  

uses: 

• dip for ginger snaps or apples
• top chocolate muffins just before baking
• spread between cake layers
• etc.

note: I LOVE orange, so sometimes I like to add an extra teaspoon of orange zest.

Chocolate Muffins

makes about 12

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups AP flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line a muffin tin with wrappers.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa and baking powder.
3. Whisk in the boiling water.  Once smooth whisk in butter and vanilla.
4. Whisk in sugar, then whisk in the eggs one at a time
5. Whisk in the salt and flour and stir until smooth.  The batter should look like thin fudge.
6. Use a scoop to evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups.
7. Spoon a small spoon of pumpkin dip over the tops of the muffins.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Note: make sure the toothpick is inserted into the chocolate and not the pumpkin, as the chocolate part cooks faster and is more accurate.