made this soup tonight for dinner and i must say, it was delicious!! it is definitely getting added to the rotation around here, so thought you might like to try it too!
*adapted from this recipe
chicken and wild rice soup
1-2 chicken breasts
1 C wild rice
2 tsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 tbsp butter, divided
4 1/2 C water
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1//4 tsp marjoram
1 tbsp dry white wine
1/2 C milk
4 C chicken broth
1 tbsp cornstarch + 1/2 C room temp water
throw those chicken breasts in your crockpot for a few hours until cooked through and easily shredded. (i used two and saved half for tomorrow night's dinner).
cook 2 1/2 C water, 1 tbsp butter, italian seasoning, garlic salt, and wild rice in a saucepan over medium high heat until boiling. reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is cooked through and water is gone. (if you really wanted to you could use boxed wild rice...my fave is uncle ben's original wild rice. i used trader joe's wild rice mix with seeds which is delicious - i highly recommend!)
in large dutch oven, melt remaining butter over medium high heat then add onions, carrots and celery. cook until onions are soft. add flour, thyme, and marjoram and stir continuously until veggies are well coated. add remaining 2 C water, wine, milk, and broth and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. mix cornstarch in room temp water until dissolved then add to soup and stir. add shredded chicken and rice; stir and cook 10 more minutes or until heated through.
while your soup is cooking away, make some biscuits from scratch. pretty sure that's what finished off this meal perfectly!! :)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
palm springs!
we must travel too much because i feel like i'm often posting on post-vacation hangover. not that i'm complaining or anything :)
this was definitely such a great trip, despite a few not-so-great things that threatened to ruin it. kiah LOVES being outdoors. it is so unfortunate we live where we do, because it means the majority of our time is spent inside. yeah, we can go for walks when it's not raining but it isn't the same. being able to spend time outside, just sitting on a blanket in the sun is a luxury people - don't take that for granted!
we arrived late wednesday night after an uneventful flight down; kiah slept the whole time. i was a little miserable because that lovely cold he had the week before we left? yup. i got it. still have it actually (more on that later). when we arrived at my parent's house he was all wound up and crawling all over the place, chasing their cats (he also loves animals, if i haven't mentioned that). we finally all got to bed but it was still way too early the next morning. we loaded up the cars and drove out to the desert where the weather was actually not that nice. windy and cloudy and chilly. ick. i took a nap then we all went grocery shopping for the week.
friday was gorgeous and sunny and warm, so after kiah went down for his morning nap jen and i decided to go for a bike ride. everything was great, until i turned and she didn't...we collided, which resulted in this:
sorry i know it's a bit gross. i blame nyquil for the crash...i was still feeling cloudy and lacked proper awareness for a bike ride with someone who had no idea where we were going :). we spent the rest of friday shopping at cabazon. i scored a $5 t-shirt at pacsun and came home with some goodies from splendid - love that store! the day finished up with sherlock holmes the movie and tom, kiki and reese arriving late from santa barbara!
saturday we awoke to a sunny but windy day and decided to go for a hike. we found a decent trail not too far away, packed up lunch and were off. it was pretty and offered some great views of the valley. we also went right next to bob hope's house! that was pretty cool, although i'd love to go on a tour of the inside sometime. saturday night the whole crew went to las casuelas for dinner (our fave restaurant in p.s.) and enjoyed some really good margaritas and mexican food!
sunday started off with lovely weather so the girls and babies laid around in the sun while the boys took off on some man-adventure hike. we hit up in-n-out for lunch and then came back to kenton and jenni! yay!! they came out for the afternoon & dinner and it was so good to spend some time with them, even if it was a quick visit. monday morning the walters clan packed up, which reesie wasn't too happy about - she was obsessed with kiah! it was pretty funny actually. he only cared about her toys but she kept trying to hold his hand and watched everything he did. it will be fun to watch these two interact in the future!
eric and i did nothing the rest of the day except read, go for a walk, and just generally be lazy. i still wasn't feeling good and had a hard time sleeping at night for multiple reasons. one, kiah was in our room which made him difficult to ignore, and two, i couldn't breathe because the air was so dry and my sinuses congested. sam and jen went to old town palm springs and walked the strip while we laid around :). mom and dad drove out that night and joined us for a viewing of the bachelor. random side rant coming: i hate reality tv, and only watch it when someone else is in charge of the remote. however i had watched an episode before we left with jessica, and then was half-watching the home visit episode and i have two things to say about the bachelor, neither of which are appropriate for me to write on my blog. but let's just say i was not impressed. more like disgusted. okay side rant over.
tuesday dawned beautiful and we spent the day cleaning, going for walks/bike rides/runs, sitting by the pool, and eating. it is supposed to be in the 80's there this weekend and i am pretty bummed that we got less-than nice weather for most of our visit. oh well. i wasn't feeling good enough to totally enjoy it anyway, but i would have loved more time by the pool!
upon returning, one of my ears never "popped" or cleared on the way down on our flight, so the entire left side of my face is aching today. and last night kiah decided to be awake and scream from 1-3am so we didn't exactly get a full night's sleep to improve the situation. here's hoping a few days at home will be enough for everyone to recuperate and get back to 100%!
a few more pics...
this was definitely such a great trip, despite a few not-so-great things that threatened to ruin it. kiah LOVES being outdoors. it is so unfortunate we live where we do, because it means the majority of our time is spent inside. yeah, we can go for walks when it's not raining but it isn't the same. being able to spend time outside, just sitting on a blanket in the sun is a luxury people - don't take that for granted!
we arrived late wednesday night after an uneventful flight down; kiah slept the whole time. i was a little miserable because that lovely cold he had the week before we left? yup. i got it. still have it actually (more on that later). when we arrived at my parent's house he was all wound up and crawling all over the place, chasing their cats (he also loves animals, if i haven't mentioned that). we finally all got to bed but it was still way too early the next morning. we loaded up the cars and drove out to the desert where the weather was actually not that nice. windy and cloudy and chilly. ick. i took a nap then we all went grocery shopping for the week.
 |
| plastic water bottles make the best toys mom! |
sorry i know it's a bit gross. i blame nyquil for the crash...i was still feeling cloudy and lacked proper awareness for a bike ride with someone who had no idea where we were going :). we spent the rest of friday shopping at cabazon. i scored a $5 t-shirt at pacsun and came home with some goodies from splendid - love that store! the day finished up with sherlock holmes the movie and tom, kiki and reese arriving late from santa barbara!
saturday we awoke to a sunny but windy day and decided to go for a hike. we found a decent trail not too far away, packed up lunch and were off. it was pretty and offered some great views of the valley. we also went right next to bob hope's house! that was pretty cool, although i'd love to go on a tour of the inside sometime. saturday night the whole crew went to las casuelas for dinner (our fave restaurant in p.s.) and enjoyed some really good margaritas and mexican food!
 |
| eric's hiking companion |
 |
| bob hope's house |
 |
| fam photo |
 |
| el groupo (tom, kiah, eric, me, kiki, reese, carly, jen, sam & calvin) |
sunday started off with lovely weather so the girls and babies laid around in the sun while the boys took off on some man-adventure hike. we hit up in-n-out for lunch and then came back to kenton and jenni! yay!! they came out for the afternoon & dinner and it was so good to spend some time with them, even if it was a quick visit. monday morning the walters clan packed up, which reesie wasn't too happy about - she was obsessed with kiah! it was pretty funny actually. he only cared about her toys but she kept trying to hold his hand and watched everything he did. it will be fun to watch these two interact in the future!
 |
| oh you two... |
 |
| jen & calvin hanging in by the hot tub |
upon returning, one of my ears never "popped" or cleared on the way down on our flight, so the entire left side of my face is aching today. and last night kiah decided to be awake and scream from 1-3am so we didn't exactly get a full night's sleep to improve the situation. here's hoping a few days at home will be enough for everyone to recuperate and get back to 100%!
a few more pics...
 |
| did i mention how much he loves the pool? |
 |
| trying out his raft in the pool! |
 |
| happy mama, happy boy :) |
 |
| calvin just chilling |
Monday, February 20, 2012
palm desert maxi: giveaway winner!
I apologize for the delay in posting...no internet out here in the desert so I'm pecking this out on my phone! :)
Our winner, chosen by the very good looking and impartial judge Eric, is the lovely Betsy!
Congrats Betsy! Please send an email to marisaloper@gmail.com and your palm desert maxi will be on its way!
Stay tuned for more posts about our trip!
Our winner, chosen by the very good looking and impartial judge Eric, is the lovely Betsy!
Congrats Betsy! Please send an email to marisaloper@gmail.com and your palm desert maxi will be on its way!
Stay tuned for more posts about our trip!
Monday, February 13, 2012
9 months!
and today my sweet boy is 9 months old. it is hard to imagine he has been out almost as long as he was in...pregnancy feels a little like a dream (someone kick me to remind me of how much i disliked it).
in the past month kiah has definitely added some new tricks! the biggest being crawling, he can motor (haha...motor) around quite sufficiently when he wants something. if he is tired, or like the past week, sick, he just lays on the ground and whines. that i could do without.
we've added two new teeth with two more on the way shortly but i don't think i'll be getting a good picture of that anytime soon. poor kid cut the new ones last week at the height of his cold symptoms which made for a pretty miserable end of the week (although he took amazingly long naps two days in a row which allowed me plenty of time for sewing!).
he still claps his hands and will keep clapping if he receives praise. when he does something he thinks is impressive he looks around to make sure you're watching. i'm pretty sure if he knew the little green light in his room was a camera and that we might be watching he would stare at that when he stands up in his crib the little stinker. he has started to sign "more" at meals when he wants more food, and is pretty close to actually pointing at mommy's nose when asked "where is mommy's nose?". he says "ah-da" when eric comes home from work and although i've heard him say "mama" he doesn't actually say that when he sees me. i've only heard him say it when dada is the one getting him out of bed (on the weekends) and i'm not in the room...almost like he's asking where i'm at :).
his favorite games are chase and peek-a-boo, and if you combine the two he is thrilled. he finds other children fascinating, especially the ones that can walk and talk. other babies he tends to bowl over on his way to chewing on their toys.
he still loves his food, and gobbled down both scrambled eggs and chicken pot pie in the past few days. as much as he shoves large amounts of food in his mouth all at once, i think he actually prefers to be fed by spoon or fork because he can eat it faster. my little piggie ;).
he is such a sweet sweet boy, very busy and very interested in whatever we happen to be doing. he still likes people and is pretty friendly, and as of yet we've had no instances of separation anxiety out of the house. now that he can move on his own though that issue is starting to resolve itself. he is most happy when both eric and i are at home and free to pay attention to him. i am amazed at how much i love him, and equally amazed to know God loves him more and loves me just as much. he is such a gift!
in the past month kiah has definitely added some new tricks! the biggest being crawling, he can motor (haha...motor) around quite sufficiently when he wants something. if he is tired, or like the past week, sick, he just lays on the ground and whines. that i could do without.
 |
| look out everyone! i'm on the move! |
he still claps his hands and will keep clapping if he receives praise. when he does something he thinks is impressive he looks around to make sure you're watching. i'm pretty sure if he knew the little green light in his room was a camera and that we might be watching he would stare at that when he stands up in his crib the little stinker. he has started to sign "more" at meals when he wants more food, and is pretty close to actually pointing at mommy's nose when asked "where is mommy's nose?". he says "ah-da" when eric comes home from work and although i've heard him say "mama" he doesn't actually say that when he sees me. i've only heard him say it when dada is the one getting him out of bed (on the weekends) and i'm not in the room...almost like he's asking where i'm at :).
 |
| his cheesy new grin :) |
he still loves his food, and gobbled down both scrambled eggs and chicken pot pie in the past few days. as much as he shoves large amounts of food in his mouth all at once, i think he actually prefers to be fed by spoon or fork because he can eat it faster. my little piggie ;).
 |
| eating black beans for the first time! |
Sunday, February 12, 2012
palm desert maxi
saw this.
wanted it. but not for $130.
saw this.
also wanted it. but for the very lovely price of $7/yd (thank you pinterest) i could have it!
so i made this!
and it was SO SO SO super easy. i actually made one for my mom first, and added pockets to her skirt. then made another for me, sans pockets. seriously people - so easy. i can't wait to wear it. i'll probably wear it every day in palm springs, it's that comfortable :). and how fitting...the splendid skirt i saw in the nordstrom catalog? it's called the palm desert maxi. so i'm calling mine that too.
the original pattern is from elle apparel and it is everything it promises - easy, comfy, totally worth your time and energy. i did the whole thing on my sewing machine, though it made me long for a serger real bad. that is definitely on my list!
i have two+ yards of fabric left in the same color...maybe we'll do a little giveaway? who wants their own palm desert maxi? leave a comment below by friday 2.17 and we'll pick a winner at random!
 |
| splendid maxi skirt, nordstrom |
saw this.
 |
| diy maxi skirt |
so i made this!
and it was SO SO SO super easy. i actually made one for my mom first, and added pockets to her skirt. then made another for me, sans pockets. seriously people - so easy. i can't wait to wear it. i'll probably wear it every day in palm springs, it's that comfortable :). and how fitting...the splendid skirt i saw in the nordstrom catalog? it's called the palm desert maxi. so i'm calling mine that too.
the original pattern is from elle apparel and it is everything it promises - easy, comfy, totally worth your time and energy. i did the whole thing on my sewing machine, though it made me long for a serger real bad. that is definitely on my list!
i have two+ yards of fabric left in the same color...maybe we'll do a little giveaway? who wants their own palm desert maxi? leave a comment below by friday 2.17 and we'll pick a winner at random!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
sick round 2
ugh. i hate winter.
kiah woke up monday morning hacking like a smoker and it made me a bit concerned. we took a trip to the dr monday afternoon, and he was happy to report it was just a common cold. kiah was pretty happy in the office so the dr wasn't too concerned but said it was good we had come in to rule out a repeat performance of RSV. okay great, just a cold.
okay not great, as the poor kid has gotten worse and worse each day since then! he fortunately is still sleeping at night, which somewhat suprises me. yesterday was not a good day. his nose started running AND his top four teeth are coming in so in addition to him not feeling good his mouth hurts too. you could tell he was miserable but there wasn't a lot i could do for him. he took a horrible nap in the morning because he would wake up everytime he coughed, and then cry because it hurt. the afternoon was better but he spent the hour before, during and after dinner yelling/whining/crying. needless to say i needed a glass of wine by the time he went to bed.
this morning he looked waaay worse than yesterday and wouldn't let me put him down. he threw up mucous (i'm not talking spit up people, he threw it up) not once but twice, fell asleep in the ergo and then took a nice long 90 minute nap. he's currently down and out for the count on nap #2, but nap #1 seemed to have left him in much better spirits so i'm hoping for another helping of that post-nap this afternoon.
i feel terrible for him as there isn't much i can do to make him feel better. one bonus? my normally sweet but NOT snuggly little boy has been snuggling up a storm :). here's hoping we kick this cold to the curb as we leave for palm springs in less than a week!
kiah woke up monday morning hacking like a smoker and it made me a bit concerned. we took a trip to the dr monday afternoon, and he was happy to report it was just a common cold. kiah was pretty happy in the office so the dr wasn't too concerned but said it was good we had come in to rule out a repeat performance of RSV. okay great, just a cold.
okay not great, as the poor kid has gotten worse and worse each day since then! he fortunately is still sleeping at night, which somewhat suprises me. yesterday was not a good day. his nose started running AND his top four teeth are coming in so in addition to him not feeling good his mouth hurts too. you could tell he was miserable but there wasn't a lot i could do for him. he took a horrible nap in the morning because he would wake up everytime he coughed, and then cry because it hurt. the afternoon was better but he spent the hour before, during and after dinner yelling/whining/crying. needless to say i needed a glass of wine by the time he went to bed.
this morning he looked waaay worse than yesterday and wouldn't let me put him down. he threw up mucous (i'm not talking spit up people, he threw it up) not once but twice, fell asleep in the ergo and then took a nice long 90 minute nap. he's currently down and out for the count on nap #2, but nap #1 seemed to have left him in much better spirits so i'm hoping for another helping of that post-nap this afternoon.
i feel terrible for him as there isn't much i can do to make him feel better. one bonus? my normally sweet but NOT snuggly little boy has been snuggling up a storm :). here's hoping we kick this cold to the curb as we leave for palm springs in less than a week!
linnie + denim = super weekend
the rest of our weekend included a short but oh so sweet visit from auntie linnie (woohoo!), church, and a super cool denim party :).
what's a denim party, you ask? it is a party to which you are required to wear any and all things denim. circa 198-something and repeated again somewhere in the late 90's/early 00's. eric and i spent our date night last week trolling thrift stores for some sweet duds...i scored, but eric struck out. friday and saturday were spent prepping then throwing the baby shower that we didn't really have time to go looking again. last minute sewing preparations to the rescue!?!
eric cut up a pair of old jeans and fashioned it into this sort of vest thing. i sewed the shoulders closed and away we went, auntie linnie included! here are the pictures to give you an idea...
church on sunday was so so so good; actually church has been amazing the past couple of weeks. we kicked off the real marriage series and Jesus is blowing up marriages all over the place. secrets are being confessed, repentance and forgiveness happening all over the place, men are leading and loving their wives and wives are respectfully submitting and supporting their husbands. seriously some good stuff. and we're not even halfway through!! check it out here - and though i recommend you don't pick and choose what you listen to, if you're going to, i vote for the "friend with benefits" sermon.
we didn't get to do much with auntie linnie while she was here because her visit was so short, but we did watch the super bowl, play with kiah and she managed to kink up her neck pretty bad while we were running. (she's blaming it on my horrible form which she was trying to imitate.) we stopped by my favorite chiropractor's office on the way to the airport and she got all fixed up :). it was so good to see her again but next time it has to be longer linnie pinnie!!
what's a denim party, you ask? it is a party to which you are required to wear any and all things denim. circa 198-something and repeated again somewhere in the late 90's/early 00's. eric and i spent our date night last week trolling thrift stores for some sweet duds...i scored, but eric struck out. friday and saturday were spent prepping then throwing the baby shower that we didn't really have time to go looking again. last minute sewing preparations to the rescue!?!
eric cut up a pair of old jeans and fashioned it into this sort of vest thing. i sewed the shoulders closed and away we went, auntie linnie included! here are the pictures to give you an idea...
 |
| mr & mrs denim |
 |
| even linnie got into the denim! |
 |
| i particularly like the shadow in this picture :) |
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
pretty in pink
pink. lots of it. as in, my house became a pink palace to celebrate the coming of baby girl anniston rose daniels! i do love me some pink so i didn't mind. considering half of the decorations are still up, i obviously don't mind. (hey, it's almost valentine's day).
i had lots of help on this one from jodi, the lovely auntie-to-be, and could-be jessica's twin sister.
i have to say...we did a pretty awesome job decorating. jodi and i could go into business together :)
we did a little brunch, appliqued some onesies, played a fun game, watched a lot of babies in the 8-10 month category play on the floor, and spoiled jessica and annie rotten :). kiah wasn't too excited about having to share his toys with so many other babies (at least i think that was his problem...he whined everytime i tried to put him on the floor to play) so i had to ask eric to come get him halfway through the party. kiah was much happier playing with power tools outside with dada. it was gorgeous outside saturday so the pictures are only so-so. crazy lighting conditions in the house. here are the good ones!
i had lots of help on this one from jodi, the lovely auntie-to-be, and could-be jessica's twin sister.
 |
| am i right? i am right. |
 |
| tissue poms - LOVE THESE!! |
 |
| hanging name with onesies (i knew those nails would be used for something other than christmas!) |
 |
| more poms and flowers in the windows |
 |
| the table (minus most of the food) |
 |
| mom & grandma to be! |
 |
| time for presents! |
 |
| jessica reading a letter from her grandma with advice. included "put down your cell phone and pay attention to your kid" |
 |
| jodi made these super cool custom blocks for annie's room! |
 |
| the boys were obsessed with the tissue poms |
 |
| olivia modeling the super cute owl hat becca gave annie! |
 |
| the adorable onesies! everyone did such a great job! |
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake
i've been spending too much time on pinterest. it's a good/bad thing. but there are just too many fun crafts and yummy recipes to try!! up first...a yummy dessert!
i had buttermilk leftover from the coffeecake and needed a snack for community group. myrecipes.com to the rescue! i found this recipe for buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake and knew it would be a winner :).
i didn't have chocolate syrup so i added a 1/2 tsp of almond extract instead; i think the syrup makes this a little moister than it turned out to be, but it was still delicious!!
buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake
1 8oz pkg semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 C chocolate syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 C buttermilk
powdered sugar to garnish
preheat oven to 325. melt chocolate in microwave for 1 min on high, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth. (i melted mine on the stove because i could multitask better that way.)
beat butter at a medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy (5-7 minutes). add eggs, one at a time, and beat until the yellow disappears before adding the next. stir in melted chocolate, syrup, and vanilla until smooth.
combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, & salt and add alternately to the butter mixture with the buttermilk. begin and end with flour mixture. beat at a low speed until just mixed after each addition. pour into greased 10" tube pan or bundt pan.
bake at 325 for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then on wire rack for at least an hour prior to serving. garnish with powdered sugar. scarf. :)
*grease your pans well; a good chunk of my cake stuck to the pan and made for an ugly presentation!
i had buttermilk leftover from the coffeecake and needed a snack for community group. myrecipes.com to the rescue! i found this recipe for buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake and knew it would be a winner :).
i didn't have chocolate syrup so i added a 1/2 tsp of almond extract instead; i think the syrup makes this a little moister than it turned out to be, but it was still delicious!!
buttermilk mexican chocolate pound cake
1 8oz pkg semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 C chocolate syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 C buttermilk
powdered sugar to garnish
preheat oven to 325. melt chocolate in microwave for 1 min on high, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth. (i melted mine on the stove because i could multitask better that way.)
beat butter at a medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy (5-7 minutes). add eggs, one at a time, and beat until the yellow disappears before adding the next. stir in melted chocolate, syrup, and vanilla until smooth.
combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, & salt and add alternately to the butter mixture with the buttermilk. begin and end with flour mixture. beat at a low speed until just mixed after each addition. pour into greased 10" tube pan or bundt pan.
bake at 325 for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then on wire rack for at least an hour prior to serving. garnish with powdered sugar. scarf. :)
*grease your pans well; a good chunk of my cake stuck to the pan and made for an ugly presentation!
Monday, February 6, 2012
running man
so that little bugger of mine is really moving and does not want to sit still for anything these days! i will post more about that later, including our fun weekend adventures (jessica's baby shower, a denim party, and auntie linnie!) but for now you just have to watch this video. it makes me laugh pretty much every time i see it, so hopefully you'll enjoy it too!
sorry the camera wiggles a bunch. i realized after i started filming the light was terrible.
sorry the camera wiggles a bunch. i realized after i started filming the light was terrible.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
breakfast anyone?
kelly posted this recipe for her favorite scones over the holidays and they sounded pretty yummy. i've never attempted scones before; i usually stick with my favorite coffeecake recipe as my brunch-breakfast-go-to-treat. this weekend i'm hosting a baby shower for one of my very best friends jessica, and it was the perfect excuse to try out this recipe!
i decided to give it a test run, which i rarely do when trying new recipes (to be totally honest, i've never had anything fail so miserably in front of guests that i had to resolve myself to testing things first, even when it was my first attempt). my accountability group meets on wednesday mornings and the hostess usually serves some sort of breakfast treat, so this week i offered to host and use them as guinea pigs for my test run :).
um, kelly...you've found a home run with these scones. yum yum yum they were DELICIOUS!! and i'm not really a scone girl. but these were great - just crumbly enough and perfectly moist and the sugar on top finished it off fantastically. eric, who loves scones, gave them a double thumbs up :). i think he would like them even more if i made a cinnamon version. the best part was mixing the whole thing up in my food processor, which worked wonderfully...and worked even more wonderfully when i realized i had used my regular blade instead of the dough blade and made the switch. oops. won't do that again! anyway, i'm sharing both the scones and my coffeecake recipe here for ya'll to drool over.
kelly's atk cream scones
2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces*
1 C heavy whipping cream
1 egg for an egg wash or use cream for the top of the scone
turbinado sugar to finish
Preheat oven to 425 and position oven rack in the center. Line baking sheet with parchment. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 10 seconds to blend well. Add the cold butter and pulse 5 times at 1 second intervals, or until the butter is cut into medium sized pieces. Add the cream and pulse another 20 times or until the dough hold together in small, thick clumps. Use a spatula to scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently squeeze the clumps together until they form a cohesive dough. (I always skip that part and just squeeze it in my hands.) Pat the dough into a circle 7 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick. Use a chef's knife to cut the dough into 8 equal wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet spacing them 2 inches apart. Brush the top with a thin coating of a lightly beaten egg (or more cream) and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Bake the scones for 14-16 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.
*my butter was actually frozen, because i buy my butter at costco and stick it in the freezer until i need it (and don't judge...yes i do use that much butter) but it seemed to work just fine!
katie's coffeecake
this recipe is from my dear friend katie holsclaw bobman (kho to kabob)...we call it legitimate breakfast cake. it is super duper easy and the whole pan tends to disappear the same day. it's that good people.
1 C butter
2 C sugar
3 C flour
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
2 C fresh berries (i've used peaches, raspberries, blueberries or you can do a cinnamon version. just add 2-3 tsp of cinnamon at the beginning.)
preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9"x13" baking dish. mix butter, sugar, and flour in a large bowl with a pastry cutter. set aside 1 C for the topping. add remaining ingredients, mix until just moist. gently fold in fruit (if using fruit); pour into prepared pan. sprinkle topping on top. bake for 40-50 minutes or until center is done.
*i have had this dish take way longer than that; don't know if it's my oven or what but just keep checking on it. stick a toothpick in it if necessary.
i decided to give it a test run, which i rarely do when trying new recipes (to be totally honest, i've never had anything fail so miserably in front of guests that i had to resolve myself to testing things first, even when it was my first attempt). my accountability group meets on wednesday mornings and the hostess usually serves some sort of breakfast treat, so this week i offered to host and use them as guinea pigs for my test run :).
um, kelly...you've found a home run with these scones. yum yum yum they were DELICIOUS!! and i'm not really a scone girl. but these were great - just crumbly enough and perfectly moist and the sugar on top finished it off fantastically. eric, who loves scones, gave them a double thumbs up :). i think he would like them even more if i made a cinnamon version. the best part was mixing the whole thing up in my food processor, which worked wonderfully...and worked even more wonderfully when i realized i had used my regular blade instead of the dough blade and made the switch. oops. won't do that again! anyway, i'm sharing both the scones and my coffeecake recipe here for ya'll to drool over.
kelly's atk cream scones
2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces*
1 C heavy whipping cream
1 egg for an egg wash or use cream for the top of the scone
turbinado sugar to finish
Preheat oven to 425 and position oven rack in the center. Line baking sheet with parchment. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 10 seconds to blend well. Add the cold butter and pulse 5 times at 1 second intervals, or until the butter is cut into medium sized pieces. Add the cream and pulse another 20 times or until the dough hold together in small, thick clumps. Use a spatula to scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently squeeze the clumps together until they form a cohesive dough. (I always skip that part and just squeeze it in my hands.) Pat the dough into a circle 7 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick. Use a chef's knife to cut the dough into 8 equal wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet spacing them 2 inches apart. Brush the top with a thin coating of a lightly beaten egg (or more cream) and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Bake the scones for 14-16 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.
*my butter was actually frozen, because i buy my butter at costco and stick it in the freezer until i need it (and don't judge...yes i do use that much butter) but it seemed to work just fine!
katie's coffeecake
this recipe is from my dear friend katie holsclaw bobman (kho to kabob)...we call it legitimate breakfast cake. it is super duper easy and the whole pan tends to disappear the same day. it's that good people.
1 C butter
2 C sugar
3 C flour
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
2 C fresh berries (i've used peaches, raspberries, blueberries or you can do a cinnamon version. just add 2-3 tsp of cinnamon at the beginning.)
preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9"x13" baking dish. mix butter, sugar, and flour in a large bowl with a pastry cutter. set aside 1 C for the topping. add remaining ingredients, mix until just moist. gently fold in fruit (if using fruit); pour into prepared pan. sprinkle topping on top. bake for 40-50 minutes or until center is done.
*i have had this dish take way longer than that; don't know if it's my oven or what but just keep checking on it. stick a toothpick in it if necessary.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
on the move!
kiah has finally decided he can crawl. whether or not he actually chooses to do so at any given point in time depends entirely upon when an object he normally can't have finds its way to the floor. like a computer. (although today he did prove me wrong by going after his toys downstairs...)
this is mostly for the grandparents, aunties and uncles, and i apologize because the best example of him actually crawling is at the very end. however i find the entire video quite hilarious, mostly because he is such a goofball! we spent most of the weekend watching him sort of crawl, but not really get into it. he is doing much better now (this was taken saturday) :).
this is mostly for the grandparents, aunties and uncles, and i apologize because the best example of him actually crawling is at the very end. however i find the entire video quite hilarious, mostly because he is such a goofball! we spent most of the weekend watching him sort of crawl, but not really get into it. he is doing much better now (this was taken saturday) :).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)