hello again!

Well hello family and friends!

This blog has been on hiatus for a while now, but now I hope to be posting a little more regularly...sharing our adventures with 3 kiddos, fun recipes and craft ideas, cool pictures, and whatever else strikes my fancy!

Just a short little post for now, but I also wanted to give a plug for Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs...the source of these gorgeous pictures I just added to the blog. We visited with Nana and cousins, Bailey & Shelby, this last week. The camellias are still out (my fav-or-ite!). The tulips and daffodils are gorgeous! The Evans Children's Garden is just perfect for a little adventure for the older kids. It was a little big for Little T and Big L. Hope you can make it out for a visit.

A New Favorite Muffin

I make a lot of muffins around here. They are quick and easy and they boys love them. Particularly anything with chocolate chips in them. They are a nice change from our usual oatmeal or eggos.
I was a little over zealous in purchasing canned pumpkin during the holidays and was searching for a way to use it up. I came across the original recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a little according to our tastes and the reviews. They were really yummy and not too bad for you. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
adapted from allrecipes (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Muffins/Detail.aspx)

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 and spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix sugar, oil, and eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. Add wet ingredients and stir in chocolate chips.
Divide evenly into muffin cups (about 2/3 full). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

Some Random Pictures from January

Grandmom and Granddad gave the boys this artist's easel for Christmas. They love to scribble on the chalkboard. Ty has only tried to draw on the wall once...so far!
Landon's recent quirk is smelling everything. I caught him sniffing my boot. If something smells floral or sweet, he says "it smells like a strawberry." I don't think he made that comment about my boot.
Ty and his favorite book. He loves the Polar Bear, Brown Bear, and Panda Bear books from Eric Carle.
Ty sneaking a lick of icing at Grandmom's house. Landon would always be a little sneaky about getting licks or he would ask. Not Ty...he just goes for it.

An Outside Day

A few weeks ago, we had one of those 65 degree January days. A perfect opportunity to let the boys outside to play. They raced dump trucks and drug out every ball we have.
When they play outside, it's really easy to see their personality differences. Landon is plays hard, but is cautious and doesn't like to get dirty. Ty just goes for it...crawling in the grass, muddy pants, dirty face.
Our future soccer star. If you ask Landon what sport he wants to play, the answer is soccer. If you ask him why, he just says "I love it".
Ty's favorite game is to throw or hit any ball down the driveway (which is a pretty good hill) and run to get it. He'll do it over and over again.
What does Mommy do? Kick back, watch, and enjoy...wishing I had that much energy!

Beary Good Snack

Here are the pictures of the "bear" tuiles that I attempted to make. They're a little abstract and could be interpreted as a turtle too :) A nicer way to say that I'm not much of a pastry artist.
The boys are much more into bears so that's what they were!

January Daring Bakers Challenge: Tuiles

Oops...I'm just a tad late on posting this challenge. Due to last minute change of plans, I didn't get to finish my tuiles until this morning.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I chose to make the plain Tuiles from Angelique's recipe. I did make the batter a day ahead of time and it worked just fine. The cookies tasted great...just like a fresh fortune cookie (which would be a fun idea to do in the future with this recipe). I made a couple of simple bowls by forming them over the bottom of a muffin tin. I also played around and made a couple of snakes and bears for the boys (I'll post these a little later after snack time). I can see this simple cookie being a future favorite for baking with the boys. There are a lot of creative options you can explore.

We were also asked to accompany our tuiles with something light and fruity. I found a recipe for Simple Strawberry Mousse from Cooking Light (see below for link) and actually had all of the ingredients on hand. I did use frozen sliced strawberries in place of fresh. This time of year a much better option the the "fresh" ones available at our stores. The recipe calls for freezing the mousse. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I just scooped some of the soft mousse in the cup for the picture, but froze the rest. It does taste pretty yummy. A little taste of spring on this wintry Arkansas day.

Link for Strawberry Mousse: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=223590

Opening Gifts...

Landon helped pick out the goodies in Ty's stocking. It was a little hard to get him to understand the "giving is better than receiving" concept this year, but he did enjoy seeing that Ty liked his gifts.

Ty had to help Landon out too.

Landon has this gift unwrapping thing down.

Finally, Christmas at our house

We had decided that we would wait to open gifts with the boys at home on the Saturday following Christmas. We had a wonderful day just enjoying each other. It started with cinnamon rolls (see below for link to recipe...they are yummy) and fruit salad.
What's funny is that Ty eats his fruit first...
and Landon goes for the cinnamon roll.
After breakfast, Eric went through the "What God Wants for Christmas" book with the boys. Landon found the boxes, Ty opened them and Landon placed the figures. Mostly Ty just wandered around, but I think Landon is really learning the story of Christ's birth.

Cinnamon rolls...I made them the night before and took them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before baking them. I used King Arthur's Baker's Cinnamon Filling, but otherwise followed the recipe.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cinnamon-Rolls-II/Detail.aspx

Easy Dinner...soup and bread.

Here's an easy, quick, and super yummy dinner for you. Most of these ingredients I keep in the pantry. If you want to make a heartier soup, you could add chopped cooked chicken or turkey. I adapted these recipes from originals on allrecipes.com





Black Bean and Salsa Soup

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup salsa (spiciness of your choice)
1 can vegetable broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup frozen or canned corn corn
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream

If desired, set aside 1/2 cup of beans.
Place remaining beans, salsa, broth and cumin in a food processor or blender and puree til smooth.
Pour the puree into a saucepan, add reserved beans and corn. Heat through.
Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Whole Wheat Beer Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 (12oz.) bottle or can of beer (use a light lager or cider beer)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350.
Lightly spray a 12-muffin pan.
Combine flours, sugar, and baking powder. Stir in beer and cheese. Batter will be lumpy. Divide evenly between muffin cups and drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon butter over each muffin.
Bake for about 18 to 21 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and remove to a wire rack to cool.

Christmas Lunch with the Comer's

At Granny Dorothy and Papa Jess's house, we usually enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner with all the fixin's...turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, and lots of pies. Don't let me leave out Aunt Karen's rolls. Back in my younger days, I could eat a plate full! Well, I still could, but I'm maybe a little wiser now.
Ty's "one finger touch".
Landon says thanks for the cool block set and Ty loves his pj's and dump truck!
Papa Jess had just gotten out the hospital the day before from having a stent put in. You can't keep him still for very long!

Christmas Morning at Mom and Lee's

For as long as I can remember, we've had monkey bread on Christmas morning. At least I think so...I guess that's where the remembering part comes in! Heath, Whitney, and Cedric came over. Anthony was there, but Bailey and Shelby were with their mom this year.
Christmas pj's. Too cute.
This was Landon's favorite gift...he loves race cars and says he wants to drive one someday. His loot also included a Radio Flyer scooter, some pj's, books, and other fun goodies. Bob the Builder underwear were another big hit.
Ty received a really cool eco-friendly jeep push toy. He wanders around the house with it all the time. He also came home with lots of other neat toys and books. Another favorite is a John Deere tractor and trailer.
Thanks Nana and Papa!

Christmas Eve with the Giffin's

After a nap for the boys at Nana's, we were off to Stop 2, my Granny Gertrude's house. There's not many of us left on my real dad's side. It is always good to see Uncle Gary, Aunt Sharon, Kody, Kentrina, and Chris. Granny Gertrude was especially excited about Anthony being back from Iraq.

My Granny Gertrude.
All of us. Thanks, Eric, for taking this picture. It's a special one for me.

Christmas Eve with Papa Jim, Granny Faye, and the family

Our first stop on the whirlwind Christmas tour was the the Clifty Firestation...it actually serves as more of a community center. We enjoyed lunch and catching up with all of my mom's side of the family. It's quite a crowd...lots of cousins. The boys enjoyed the attention from their older second cousins.
All of the kids draw names and exchange gifts.
Ty was really enjoying the treats being snuck to him by a certain Papa.
My Papa Jim and Granny Faye. Love ya!

Sorry, no Daring Bakers Challenge for me this month.

Due to the craziness of sick kids, holiday travelling, and the general madness of December, I'll not be trying the French Yule Log this month. It does look yummy, and since it's a frozen dessert...I may have to make it a July French Yule Log.
Til next month...

The Parade of Christmas Goodies begins here...

There's still a couple of weeks til Christmas, but it's time for me to start making some yummy treats for our coworkers and friends.

There's a big goodie making extravaganza day planned for next week, but I needed to make a couple of treats for work tomorrow. I won't be back to my home store before Christmas, so here we go.

These are a favorite at my Grandma Faye's dinner. My Aunt Stevie usually brings them and I have to stay far far away!

Horney Toads (aka Cornflake Cookies)
from "Recipe Hall of Fame Quick & Easy Cookbook"

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
3 to 4 cups cornflakes (I used 4 cups)

Blend sugars, syrup, and salt in a saucepan. Let come to a boil. Reduce heat to warm and add peanut butter, stirring til smooth. Blend in cornflakes and drip by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.