Foodie Pen Pal

This month I was excited to participate in my very first Foodie Pen Pal.

What is a Foodie Pen Pal you ask?

Well... it's a pen pal but not in the traditional sense... instead of sending letters... you send your pen pal a package of food related items!

There are I think like 500 or 600 participants all over the country... even in the UK and Canada! Each month you get a name of a blogger (or non blogger) to send your package to. Then in turn you will receive a package from someone else!

It's loads of F. U. N.

This month I was assigned to send a package to Krystal, if you want to see what I sent go ahead and check out her blog! (I am a terrible pen pal...)

It's true I am. I felt like my package was skimpy... though I used the spending guidelines..... I just felt like the items were not enough.... THEN to top it off... I was supposed to send something written... could be anything a letter, note, recipe.... SO I did a little note about the products I chose (all locally made NH items) and a recipe card that I had written...

Yeah forgot my note and recipe card when I loaded all 3 kids up in the rain mind you to head to the post office... so I scrounged through my car for any piece of paper and pen and seriously wrote her like a 3 word note.

I SUCK AT THIS.

But enough about that.... lets get to the good stuff...

What I got!

Sherina from Zumba Girl was awesome... She lives in outside of Seattle, so she sent me a ton of Seattle items... Starbucks of course, some of the best toffee I have ever consumed.... THEN she sent me some other great goodies... this chocolate covered fruit, butter crunch toffee for baking, big gold fish cookies crackers (kiddos were happy with those!), the best candy.... EVER White Chocolate Toblerone. OMG. It was gone with in seconds of opening the box! I love that stuff, the bits of chewy honey are the best!

Then for the best part....

Tons of Biscoff cookies.

Yep, my girl did good. You all know how crazy I go for Biscoff!

For more info please check out The Lean Green Bean on how to sign up!

Coffee Cupcakes (Guest Post)

We took a little break from my weekly guest posts  but this week  I'm bringing it back with Roxana from A Little Bit Of Everything/ Roxanna's Home Baking.

Not only is Roxana, a super sweetie, but she is a super talented baker/photographer. Just one step on her blog and you'll be hooked.... I envy her bread baking... as you all know this bakeaholic isn't to keen on bread baking... I'm getting there, slowly!

Just check out this Mango Chocolate Bread, holy cow! Or this stunning Challah. Not only are her breads amazing.... look at this No-Bake Raspberry Cheesecake I have been drooling over that cake since she posted it a while back! Gorgeous!!

So let me introduce you all to Roxana..............


Hello, I'm Roxana, the baker, writer and photographer behind A little bit of everything / Roxana's Home Baking. I have a passion for baking, especially bread and chocolate goodies. I have a two-year old who keeps me going all day long, and to everyone's surprise she doesn't eat chocolate.

Almost all the recipes on my blog require a preheated oven and lately I've been experimenting with vegan and gluten-free baking. So far I can't complain, but from time to time you'll see me whipping up pounds of butter and dozen of eggs in my baked goodies.

I'm happy to be guest posting on Carrie's beautiful blog.

I had a hard time deciding what to make today, but in the end I decided to whip some cupcakes. I love these individual cakes. No fuss, no mess. Just pure deliciousness.

If any of you have been reading my blog, than, you probably know, I don't drink much coffee, more of a tea person, but I love making coffee cakes or using coffee in my cakes.

I love its strong aroma in the morning when I serve breakfast to my wonderful husband. He loves his black coffee.

Few weeks ago, while I was cleaning my pantry I found a jar of instant coffee. I love when I found things I forgot I had them.

Lots of ideas were racing in my mind. Cakes. Cookies. Cupcakes. Coffee frosting. Oh. My. Goodness.

So many choices, so little time.

After making hubby's favorite chocolate coffee cake, which, as hard as I try, never lasts around long enough to be photographed I decided to bake some cupcakes.

The idea of these cupcakes came from one of my favorite cookbooks "Chocolate and Coffee Bible" While thumbing it, looking for new chocolate-y goodness I stumbled upon a recipe for chocolate cupcakes. Now chocolate vanilla cupcakes are always welcome in my kitchen, but the thought of coffee chocolate cupcakes was haunting me.

Coffee cupcakes had to be!

For these cupcakes I advice you to use the best dark chocolate you have. I've used Green and Black's organic dark 85% chocolate. It had a subtle bitterness which paired beautifully with the instant coffee in the cake. I also added some instant coffee to the frosting. Addictive!

 

Chocolate coffee cupcakes with coffee buttercream

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 12 cupcakes

A moist cupcake with hints of chocolate and coffee topped with a smooth creamy coffee buttercream. 

Ingredients:

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes (adapted from Chocolate and Coffee Bible)

• 2 oz dark chocolate (Green and Black’s organic dark 85% chocolate)
• 1 1/4 cup (150 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup (125 grams) raw sugar
• 6 tbsp (85 grams) room temperature butter
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) fat free milk
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp instant coffee (powder) (espresso powder works just as well)
• 1 tbsp hot water

Coffee Buttercream (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker )

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) room temperature butter
• 2 1/4 cup (270 grams) confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp instant coffee (powder) (espresso powder works just as well)
• 1 tsp (or more if needed) cold coffee (liquid)

Instructions:

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 12 cupcake cups with paper liners.
2. Chop the chocolate and melt it in a heatproof bowl set over a pot with simmering water. Make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. When melted set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In another bowl mix the coffee powder with the hot water.
5. Add the butter and melted chocolate to the flour mixture and, with the paddle attachment on, start mixing, slowly adding the milk and the eggs. In the end add the coffee.
6. Divide the batter between the 12 prepared cups and bake in preheated oven for about 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool completely before frosting them.

Coffee Buttercream

8. Add the butter to a mixing bowl. With the whisk attachment on, whip the butter on medium to high speed for about 5 minutes, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl.
9. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add instant coffee and the sugar little by little waiting until it is mostly incorporated before adding more.
10. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl, add the cold coffee and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy for about 2 minutes. If needed add more cold coffee.
11. Frost the cupcakes and enjoy!

Thank you Carrie for allowing me to share these Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes with your wonderful readers.

I hope I'll see soon again.

Roxana, thank you so much for sharing your amazing cupcake with us today! I bet it tastes just as good as it looks. I can't wait to try that frosting!!!

If you would like to like Roxana on Faceook click HERE or follow her on Twitter click HERE.

Avocado Bacon Ranch Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are always a hit at every party right?

In our group of family/friends they are always a must at every event.

They are just so damn good!

I can eat a platter all on my lonesome without blinking an eye.

Over the weekend we had a family BBQ for Memorial Day/Nephew's 3rd bday... I was in charge of bringing bean dip... I did THIS Hub's Dip.

Because I felt like that wasn't enough I decided to whip up some deviled eggs as well.... but then I hit a road block...

I had not mayo.

What to do?

Well check out this awesome recipe and you'll see....

Avocado Bacon Ranch Deviled Eggs
Recipe yields 1 1/2 dozen deviled eggs

Ingredients:

9 hard boiled eggs
1 1/2 avocados peeled and pitted
2 tbs of ranch dressing (homemade or store bought)
1 tbs of sour cream (I used light)
2-3 scallions chopped
The juice of one lime 
Pinch of salt
4 slices of cooked extra crispy bacon

Directions:

Peal and slice eggs length wise.

Remove yolks and place in them in the bowl of your food processor.

Set egg whites aside.

Add your remaining ingredients except the bacon... set that aside.


Pulse the filling until it is smooth add more ranch dressing or sour cream if it is too dry.


Pipe filling into egg whites and top with bacon crumbles.
   

Coconut Berry Popsicles

In the summer we make a batch of homemade Popsicles several times a week... always using the healthiest ingredients I can find in the house...

Some days we do different variations of yogurt and fruit, fresh juices... the possibility are endless!

A couple weeks ago I had the idea to somehow make a healthy rocket pop... but I needed rocket pop molds!

A twitter friend suggested I check out BB&B.... so I did and I found some wicked cute rocket molds!

Now... I needed red white and blue!

So here is what I used...

Coconut Berry Popsicles

Ingredients:
1 12 oz can of coconut milk
1/3 cup a sugar
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup of diced strawberries

Popsicle mold that holds 6 pops

Directions: 

Whisk coconut milk and sugar together.

Drop berries into Popsicle molds about 1/2-2/3 of the way up. Pour milk/sugar mixture over berries. Top and freeze for about 4-6 hours or until solid.

  

Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream ~The Secret Recipe Club~

The Secret Recipe is always fun... But I find it especially fun when your assignment is someone you adore!

Last month Casey from Beautiful Disasters was assigned my blog. She made my Extra Cinnamon Pull Apart Bubble Bread... Her post was so flattering and sweet.

The more I looked around on her blog the more I grew to like her. She's in teenager... and she is amazing! OH and she says she likes bologna... she and I are friends already! Seriously every time I see a new blog run by a teen I'm blown away. I didn't cook for fun at her age... my idea of fun was getting into trouble with my friends... I definitely wasn't baking cakes.

I was so pleased to get the chance to go through her recipes and pick something fun to make this month as my assignment.

I new when I started looking at her blog that I had to choose a cupcake... because of this weeks cupcake madness.... if you recall from yesterday's post I was in charge of baking 96 cupcakes for Owen's preschool graduation.

When I saw Funfetti Cupcakes.... I didn't feel the need to look any further. Funfetti is always a hit with kiddos!

For the Funfetti Cupcake Recipe Click HERE.  The only changes I made... I doubled it! Casey adapted her recipe from Smockity Frocks click here for the recipe (ingredients are doubled Casey's)

Two Tone Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 cup of room temperature unsalted butter
2 tbs of cream
1 tbs of vanilla extract
4-5 cups of powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
3-4 drops blue food coloring
2-3 drops red food coloring


Directions:


In you electric mixer cream butter, cream, vanilla and salt together. On medium speed mix in sugar 1 cup at a time until it is at your desired consistency.
 

I wanted a stiff pipeable frosting so I used 4 1/2 cups. To make it look extra fun.... I decided to do a two tone frosting... I split the batch in half and colored one blue and one pink... Fill half of your pastry bag with one color and the other half with the next. The colors should be side by side... not on top of each other.



Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

The second I did this.... I was wishing I had cotton candy flavoring instead of vanilla.... Don't they remind you of cotton candy???

Oh well next time!

As you can see.... they were a hit with the little girls in my son's class!

This was the closest pic I got to the inside of the cake LOL... it was full of pretty colorful spots! I wish I had a chance to photograph before the preschoolers wreaked havoc on my cakes!

 The cupcakes were perfectly moist, fun, and colorful. I will be sure to use Casey's cake recipe again in the future... because we all need a little funfetti in our lives!

The Perfect Vegan Cupcake ~Sundays With Joy~

First off I want to start off by apologizing and explaining something....

I had reader get a little upset because she wanted a recipe that I had yet to post on the blog...I understand if you see something and want to make it for your BBQ or what not this weekend. I'm sure that can be frustrating.

Please understand I won't email you a recipe that has not been published on my blog yet. Reason being.... If I do this... anyone and their sister could take credit for it. If it's not published here first I can't prove it's mine.

Not to sound all possessive and stuff... but I work hard on these recipes especially the ones that are Carrie originals.

I stink at being consistent... I will post a new recipe 6 times a week most weeks then I slack off and only post 1 or 2 in a week. I am sorry to those who like to read posts on a regular bases.

This week I had cupcake madness prep where I made 96 cupcakes for my son's Preschool Graduation.The cakes alone took 2 days to bake and decorate, not to mention I had rehearsal stuff to bring my son to as well as the actual graduation... so graduation and cupcake madness ate up 4 of my days this week

 

How cute is the little graduate?!?!?!!?!?!

I think the cupcakes were a hit with the kids!!


I also had a party to to attend in MA with family this took up one day...

 Mads and I chilling out outside at our family party... on a 90 day in Mass! YIKES.

These things left  me with 2 free days to blog... in which I posted recipes to share.

The thing is.... I do have a life... this is not my job. Though many people do blog as their "job" but for now... My blog isn't to that point.... yet.  I do make a very very very very small income from it... and occasionally get a free product here and there. What I made doesn't even begin to cover the costs of ingredients I use to bake and cook, the cost of my dslr (which I use almost solely for blogging!) not to mention the time I put into it.

But rest assured when I am not posting.... I am still baking and cooking up yummy things.... and sometimes I'll even take a pretty photo of it. When I do I'll share the photo with my facebook/twitter followers.

It's a sneak peek.... a teaser... for recipes to come in the following weeks and days.

As much as I do love to share the recipes with everyone... there are just times that I don't feel like blogging. Or I'm to busy to blog.

For those of you who don't write a blog... this takes allot of time. On an average day I probably put 4-5 hrs into my blog. That includes.... developing/writing a recipe, baking, taking photos, writing the blog post, editing photos, responding to emails and comments, and self promotion through social media sites such as... facebook, twitter, google +, Tasty Kitchen, FoodGawker, Pinterest.... and I'm sure a missed a few other ones! For a hobby.... it's very time consuming.

How many of you have hobbies that you put 5 hrs a day into 6 days a week?

But please know that I really really do love doing it, sharing with everyone, the friends I've made along the way, not to mention eating the lovely food I just made!

One of the other pet projects I started with my blog a month ago was Sundays With Joy... as most of you know... Sundays with Joy is a group of bloggers and non bloggers who love Joy the Baker and her new book, Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes.

Our group headed up by me and my new co-admin Ellen from Indigo Scones, bakes it's way through the cookbook. This week we all did Joy's Avocado Chocolate Cupcakes with Vegan Chocolate Frosting.

These cupcakes will blow your mind. Don't be scared.... the Avocado in the cake is not strange or gross. You would never know it was there in fact...

I made 2 dozen of them as part of the Graduation Cupcake Madness... one mom asked.... What did you use to make them vegan? Answer... Avocado.

Avocado is a great way to replace fat in baking. It's creamy and has lots of healthy fat. Much better for you compared to butter or oil.

This week I stuck right to the recipe.... with 3 small minor changes....In the cake I used olive oil in place of the vegetable oil.... that was all I had on hand!

Then in the frosting, I didn't want to purchase soy milk just for a couple tablespoons of milk... so I used canned coconut milk that I had in the cupboards. I also used a bit more powdered sugar because I wanted a frosting that would hold up to piping.

The cake was chocolatey, so moist and the chocolate frosting was perfect!

To try this recipe...

Your going to need to get your own copy of the book! ;)

Hub's Beer Battered Fried Pickles

Another lovely recipe inspired by my sweet Husband!

As I have mentioned before... he isn't much of a cook. He makes bean dip, he can do bacon and eggs... on occasion you'll even see him whip up some pancakes or waffles.... but when it comes to frying foods.... He is my Fry Daddy!

He really knows his stuff about deep fat frying. His fried foods are do die for! And they will kill you... eventually.

If he cooked we would be living off panko crusted chicken tenders (fried) and beer battered everything!

Luckily... I do the majority of the cooking so no heart attacks for us... knock on wood!

Now... if you have never had fried pickles... crawl out from under your rock and fry those babies up.

You really don't know what you have been missing!

I've been quite obsessed with them since my pregnancy with Madelyn last summer. A friend of ours owns a bar/club in Manchester. We went to visit him shortly after they opened and his head cook was experimenting with different fried pickle recipes... guess who got to be his taste tester! ME. Oh man I've never eaten so many pickles or fried things in one sitting.... it was every pregnant girls dream!

After that visit to Jokers (that's the name of the bar) I had fried pickles on the brain and set Hubs to work frying whatever kinds we had in the fridge up.

We have done bread crumb coatings, batters, we have tried using sandwich slices, hamburger slices, spears, gherkins, dill, sweet, spicy... any type you can think of.

After so many experimental batches (tough life eating so many yummy fried pickles!) I've come up with what I think is the perfect way to make them....

One is... the bread and butter hamburger sliced pickle. These are those thin quarter sized pickles that are super sweet and awesome... then the 2nd... Kosher Dill Gherkins. Both dipped into a spiced up beer batter.

Beer Battered Fried Pickles

Ingredients:

1 16 oz jar of your favorite pickle (I used 8 oz bread and butter 8 oz kosher dill)
1 cup of your favorite beer (I used Corona Light because that's what I had on hand)
1 egg
1/2 tbs of baking powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour

48 oz of hot oil heated to 375 degrees either in a fryer or in a large dutch oven/pot.


Directions:

Pat all of your pickles dry with paper towels. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk all of your dry ingredients together. Whisk in  egg and beer.
Dip pickles (about 5 at a time) in batter and then drop into your heated oil and fry for about 1-2 minutes and then flip so they brown on all sides. Total cooking time shouldn't be more than 3 minutes.

Transfer pickles to a paper towel to soak up some of the grease.

Dip your pickles in THIS dip... you can thank me later!

*Best if eaten right away.... other wise they will get soggy.

Slow Cooker Woodchuck Hard Cider Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Roasted Balsamic Onions and Peppers

What a busy few days it's been around here.The weather has been great (with the exception of today... rain!) So I finally finished getting the garden in. Looking forward to fresh tomatoes, cukes, peas, jalapenos.... and a ton of various other things.

I'm also looking forward to our wild berries! We have raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries all growing in the wild here and I am usually able to pick enough to sustain our fruit in our daily diets, make cakes, pies, and even freeze some for later in the season! Saves me a penny or two during the summer. Fruit is one of our biggest expenses on our food bill each week. The kids eat tons and tons of berries!

With summer right around the corner BBQ is definitely something we have been craving and eating allot of lately. Though with the weather not always cooperating I am not always able to grill. So hello crock pot and broiler recipes!


Hubs loves a messy sweet and spicy pulled pork sandwich... but this girl isn't exactly doing back flips over them. I really do not like pork unless it is cured or whatever it is that they do to ham and bacon. My pork consumption stops there.

As a compromise I did pulled chicken sandwiches.... funny part is Hubs thought it was pork when he stuffed his face!

Slow Cooker Woodchuck Hard Cider Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Roasted Balsamic Onions and Peppers

Ingredients: 

1-1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle of Woodchuck Hard Cider   (You can use beer as well)
1 16 oz bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
2 large red onions sliced thin
2 green bell peppers sliced thin
1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
3 tbs of olive oil
2 tbs of honey
2 cloves of minced garlic
4 scallions sliced thin
 8 bulky rolls

Directions:
In your slow cooker add chicken, cider, and BBQ sauce. Set on low for 6 hours or high for 4. 

When the chicken is done you should be able to shred it with a fork easily.

Stir sliced scallions into your cooked chicken. 

For the balsamic onions and peppers:

Whisk balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey and garlic together. 

Place sliced onions and peppers in the bottom of a large baking dish. Drizzle your  dressing over the top and roast at 350 for 20 minutes, stir and toss. Return to the oven for about another 15 minutes or until they are caramelized and browning a bit on the edges.

Place a manly heaping portion of pulled chicken on top of your rolls and top with a good size scoop of you onions and peppers. Eat it and get messy while doing so!

 

Avocado Fries with Southwestern Ranch Dip ~Sundays With Joy~

Oh how I love ripe seasonal avocado!

When I saw this recipe in Joy The Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes I knew I needed to try it soon!

I would have never in a million years ever thought to deep fat fry avocado. Yet again Joy amazes me! Seriously FRIED avocado. Where have you been all my life?

The best part about this recipe.... I can manipulate hubs into cooking with me!

I hate frying foods. Hot oil scares the bajeezus out of me. So Hubs is my Fry Master ;)

Normally when we get the pot of oil going we go a little crazy on frying things. Pickles, Fish, Chicken, Fries, Veggies.... everything gets rolled in bread crumbs or dunked in batter!

With the avocado... we did an awesome southwestern ranch dip..... I'm dreaming of what I can dip in it next!!


For the Avocado fries I stuck to Joys recipe with one little change... I double dipped them so they had an extra thick crunchy coating!  They had a slight kick to them thanks to some cayenne pepper, a little tang thanks to the lime I drizzled over the top... and the inside was perfectly creamy! Dipped in my Southwestern Ranch Dip. They were AMAZING!

To find the recipe for Joy's Avocado Fries... you can buy a copy of the book!! Click HERE to buy your own!


Southwestern Ranch Dip for Avocado Fries


Ingredients:

1 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
1 tbs diced chives
1/2 tbs diced parsley
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 clove of minced garlic
1 tsp hot sauce
pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve!

I hope this recipe brings a little "Joy" into you kitchen this Sunday! To join Sundays With Joy... Click HERE! 

Hot Mess Brownies (S'more Ridiculousness!) and My week in 10

S'more of what?

So I'm going to go down that Sand Lot quote road again, just as I did in this post.....

"You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Ok, pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good! Try some!" ~~ Ham Porter (The Sand Lot 1993)

       - The most EPIC movie of my childhood.

So yes I made you Brownies filled with S'more Stuff.

Two words... Hot.Mess.

You truly do not know what true love is until you've scarfed down one of these brownies.

I hold s'mores right up there on my list of things I love... next in line after Hubs, the kids, and champagne. 

Oh my freaking goodness were these gooey, and ooey (new word!) sticky, and chocolaty heaven! 

Hot Mess Brownies (brownies filled with s'more stuff)

Ingredients:
1 cup of butter
3 oz semi sweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsweetened coco powder
1 1/4 cup of sugar
3 eggs
2 tbs vanilla extract
1/4 a cup of sour cream
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt


S'mores stuff:
8 honey graham crackers
2 Hershey milk chocolate bars
2 cups of mini marshmallows


Directions:


In a sauce pan on medium low heat melt butter and semi-sweet chocolate together. Set aside and cool slightly.

In the bowl of your electric mixer mix sugar vanilla, and eggs together.  Slowly pour in your melted chocolate/butter. Mix in flour , coco powder., salt and sour  cream. 


In the bottom of a parchment paper lined 8x8 or 9x9 square pan place 4 graham crackers. Spread 1/2 your brownie batter over the cookies. Top with half of your marshmallows and one of your Hershey bars broken into pieces. Top with 4 more graham crackers. Spread remaining browning batter over the top. Sprinkle remaining mallows over the top with pieces of your 2nd Hershey bar.


Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.


Remove and let cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.


They will be messy, oooeey and gooey I promise!


And if you want to make them extra good...

Take 1 cup of marshmallows with 1 tbs of butter and 2 tbs of milk. Melt on medium low heat. Drizzle over brownies before serving. AAHH-MAZING!!!

 Now that I have you drooling for s'more s'mores...

My week in 10... random thoughts and things which is basically a rambling about my kids....

1) Mothers Day weekend. It was awesome! I brought the kids to the fish hatchery....

Hubs is so funny... he gave me  a can of corned beef hash as  a gift. This may seem strange to you. But I LOVE corned  beef hash. He made me breakfast on Sunday... this is something that probably won't happen again till next year on Mothers Day.

2) Had some family fun at the park! I love those kind of days...

~~Nothing Hotter Than a man wearing an ERGO baby carrier~~

3) Mads wants to walk holding our hands everywhere we go! She LOVES it!

 

4) My Nana's Birthday was this weekend. I Love my Nana so much... I may have talked about her from time to time on here. She is a HUGE influence on me, my baking, and my cooking.  I keep a picture of her when she was a little girl wearing her dads WW2 Army uniform it's quite cute above my stove, so I get to bake with her everyday! I'm so lucky she is still around and my kids get to grow up to know their great grandmother. They call her "Big Nana" Because... Nana is TALL. I think when she was younger she was like 5'10 ish? Here's a pic of her with Mads when she was about 6 weeks old.

The boys on a nature walk... Chase doesn't like pictures

5) Found a TON of Lady Slippers growing around our property. This is special because they are an endangered flower in New Hampshire

6) Planted most of our veggies this week... Broccoli, tomatoes and peppers are all I have left to do!

7) Mowed the yard... exciting huh? Probably not to some of you. But for those who live in areas that are covered in snow and ice a good chunk of the year the first few mow jobs is fun.... oh how you miss that smell of freshly cut grass in the middle of winter! The only thing I have to say that was not so exciting... I slid in dog shit. Yes you read correctly. I'm still not happy.

8) Fifty Shades of Grey... yes I read it. I also finished the 2nd book out of the trilogy. Book 3... here I come. Has anyone read it?? Don't be embarrassed admit it!!

9) Joy the Baker is THE sweetest person on the planet. Just thought I'd throw that out there... do you know she takes the time EVERY week to comment and have conversations with all of us in the Sundays with Joy group. She actually emailed me personally to thank me for starting the group. She is so humble! I am so excited about this group... When I started it a few weeks ago I figured I'd get like 5-10 people to bake along with me through the book.... Well week 4 we have over 60 members! We have all become friends, chat through out the week on what we are baking, the book, how much we love brown butter, how great bacon is in everything. If you haven't checked it out yet... you can join HERE.

10) Mads has started this scream.... that makes your brain want to shatter. It's not a scream of pain or crying... It's just  a screech/ear piercing scream! She does it constantly when she gets excited or is happy... which is often!!  8 months old old and she is already such a girl!


This is it for me this week my friends! 

How was YOUR week?? 

Now go have some S'mores!