fresh baked

 Kit as been baking bread again and we are all SO happy about it! I even helped which is why our pre loaves weren’t that pretty…

Our house always smells so good!

Kit, you’re the absolute best!

her baking era

 Eden has been having so much fun with baking. She’s been experimenting with cookie and brownie recipes. Recently she decided to make cinnamon rolls from scratch They were SO good! She is spoiling us!

homemade pop tarts…

 I wanted to find another recipe to use my fig jam with and we decided to made pop tarts with puff pastry!

They were a HUGE hit!!!

sweet treat

 We wanted to try a sugar cookie recipe for the upcoming holiday seasons where being able to bring themed cookies would come in handy. Eden and I had some fun:

We looked on Allrecipes.com and found this one…

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Prep Time:

 

20 mins

Cook Time:

 

10 mins

Additional Time:

 

1 hr

Total Time:

 

1 hr 30 mins

Servings:

 

60 

Yield:

 

60 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar

• 1 ½ cups butter, softened

• 4 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 5 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients.

2. Beat sugar and softened butter together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.

3. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least 1 hour (or overnight).

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Roll out dough to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness.

5. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

6. Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely before decorating.

7. Enjoy!

fresh…

 Kit has been making bread. We usually make two loaves, we eat one and give one to a friend. Our house smells amazing!

kit’s baking!

 Kit is making bread and we are SO happy about it! 

A new favorite!!!

 Trader Joe’s did it again! Their cinnamon roll blondie mix was so good and is a new favorite for our family… An added benefit is that the house smells amazing!

Pumpkin pancakes are here!

 When Trader Joe’s comes out with their pumpkin pancake mix, we load up because it’s a favorite! We got to make our first batch this last weekend:

Here’s to many more slow mornings of a house that smells like this!

banana, peanut butter, and chocolate, oh my!

I found a new snack/dessert that has become a favorite in our family.  I will tell you that it tastes WAY better than it looks... 

After the peanut butter layer, put it in the freezer until it hardens.  After that, combine chocolate chips with a dollop of coconut oil and pour over the peanut butter and banana layers.  Then out in the freezer until it hardens. 

You can cut it into squares or just break off a piece.

It is so good and is such a fun treat!

He's my favorite baker...

Every weekend, he makes two sourdough loaves, one for us and one to give to friends.  It's our favorite! 

Pumpkin Bread recipe form Half Baked Harvest...

 We recently came across this recipe from Half Baked Harvest for Cream Cheese Swirled Pumpkin Bread with Salted Maple Butter.

The whole family loved it and the home made maple butter pushed it right over the edge.  Serve it warm.  Note, we didn't use bananas, just the pumpkin puree.

a first for me…

 I made biscuits from scratch for the first time! It only took me 43 years…❤️

I got the recipe from Magnolia Table and the family LOVED them!

(Butter and honey was the favorite topping...❤︎)

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

 I found a recipe for pumpkin coffee cake and I made it the other day for an after school treat and the kids LOVED it!

Here is the recipe:

mini baking

 Eden has become interested in mini baking.  Have you seen this?  There was a show on Food Network as well as kids that do miniature baking in You Tube.  She is fascinated with it!  Here are some photos that she has shown me:

She was really wanting to make a cake.  As a person who struggles to make an actual cake in real life size, I told her I would cheer her on.  It was the cutest thing ever!

Her batter was SO LITTLE:

She tried to figure out icing but it was tricky... I was so happy for her to have it turn out and to taste good!

This little girl is pure magic...

Apple Crisp for the Win

 Our family loves apple crisp and I have been playing around with a couple of recipes and I think I found my family's favorite.

The crumble is double layered so I think that is was clenched it for the family favorite.

Also, our house smells so good when we make it!

Taking it up a notch...

Over the last several months, Kit has learned to make sourdough bread.  We have all been benefiting from this new found hobby.

Well just when I didn't think it could get any better, a few weeks ago he added roasted garlic...

Our house has been smelling so good and I am falling more and more in love with this baker of mine...

Memorial Day Weekend 2020

These holiday weekends are so interesting while you are in quarantine.  As we remember the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for our country and our freedom, we usually get to to that with people that we love, sharing meals together and just enjoying our friends and family.  It is different, but we are determined onjj making memories regardless...

On Saturday, we took a bike ride around the Back Bay...

 Taking a snack break at the Newport Dunes!

 Afterward, we had a treat of fun drinks at Sonic...

 Strawberry limeade for the win!

That night, we had some fun baking pretzels for the first time...

 They might not have looked like the prettiest pretzels:

 We did salt, everything bagel seasoning, and cinnamon and sugar...

 And kit made a cheese dipping sauce...

 They tasted SO good!

 Also, Kit replenished our bread supply.  

They are just amazing!

On Sunday after live streaming church, we went to have some social distancing with family in Redlands:
Swimming and pizza were the chosen activities...

On Monday, we got up early and headed out to the beach to explore...

But first doughnuts...

Then we headed down to Crystal Cove:

 We love this tunnel...

We went tide pooling and had THE BEST TIME!

The tide was so low and we saw so many creatures... 

Then we headed to Castaways Park to see the memorial flags:

Our hearts are incredibly grateful that we had these moments to remember and honor those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for this life that my family and I get to live...

It was such a great day together as we look forward to summer and head into our last official week of school!