How we love.

So I'm not sure how things work in your "neck of the woods" but here (in the sometimes the South) we love people with food. We celebrate births, heal the sick and broken, grieve for losses and all around "care" for the people we love with food. It is so common in our house to get a phone call in the evening asking me which day I'd like to provide dinner for a family, that I keep some things in the house just for such occasion.

This morning I found myself in my kitchen feeling overwhelmed by all the pain felt by so many people. Not just the pain in my world, where the current task was cooking for a family who suffered a great loss and an amazaing lady who had a bad fall, but all over. Now I'm sure many would say that muffins and cookies are not going to help a thing, but its what I know. It's what I can do, it's how I can help, it's how I love.

As I mixed a batch of Martha Stewart's Oatmeal cookies and then made muffins from her banana nut recipe I couldn't help but think about the people they would feed. I am a true believer that if you make food with love, the folks who eat it will feel that love. And I hope they feel some comfort from it. So as I mixed and measured, chopped and diced, I loved and prayed (and cried a little). Because this is how we love.
Later I will make a huge pot of Chicken soup and I will be given the chance to slow down and appreciate what I have. I will chop more veggies and tend to a pot of simmering soup while my healthy, happy (most of the time), warm, clothed, loved littles run around my house and through my kitchen. They will surely be loud and messy. Big sister will probably make baby sister cry.  I will stir, and chop, and pray, and love. How truely blessed am I?

Salt

So I recently discovered that I love cookies that have coarse salt in them. I made Martha's Banana Walnut Oatmeal Cookies for a bake sale last week and the recipe called for coarse salt. While I do have coarse sea salt in the cupboard, I reached for the regular stuff out of habit. However, after I double checked the recipe, I stopped and got the coarse off the top shelf. Boy oh boy am I glad. It really made a difference in the cookie. Every bite I found this little pocket of salt flavor that made the cookie taste soooo yummy. It's not overwhelming salty, but just right salty.
Skip forward to yesterday.... My husband, brother in law and dad were out and about in the woods in the morning and ended up at my house at lunch time. I threw together some open face sandwiches on bread I had left over from dinner on Friday night and they were happy little campers. But what kind of housewife would I be if I just stopped there? A terrible one right? (I'm kidding, don't get your bloomers in a bunch).
So, while they were eating I found a recipe for Martha's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (while the name is helpfully descriptive, it's a little long, no?). I pulled out the mixer and got to quick work. They threw together in just a few minutes. After 13 minutes in the oven, Voila! Super yummy! So why the preface about salt? This recipe called for coarse salt too!! OH yeah! I think I may only make cookies that use coarse salt for the rest of my life.... ok, maybe not, but I do get excited!.....about salt.
In my opinion anything that has peanut butter and chocolate and cookie in the title can't be bad, but these were awesome. I got a little nervous when after sitting on the cooling rack they deflated to sad looking little pancakes (well, flatter than a pancake. Really) After checking the recipe (and the picture on the recipe) I realized they were indeed right. So while I may not take these to an event where people will be judging me solely based on the appearance of my cookies, I will feed them to my favorite people and watch their faces as they are very plesantly surprised.

Is it just me....

Or is making a pie for someone you love just a little more fun? Something about the motion of mixing and rolling out the dough lets your mind wander a bit. Today I was lucky enough to have the task of making a pie for an amazing friend. I was tempted to get started while the girls were napping but this friend is important to my girls and the oldest especially, loves him! I knew she'd want to help and that he'd love knowing that she did.

 So as I sat there rolling dough and peeling apples (and watching my oldest babe rolling out "her pie") I couldn't help but smile thinking about some of the fun had and the happy (and less than happy at the time) times spent with my dear friend. There have been a few tears of sadness and LOTS of tears from laughing, long talks on porches and riding in cars. There have been breakups, breakdowns, break-ins, weddings, vacations, pregnancies (complete with VERY big ankles and equally big attitude.... both from me). There have been nights with no heat in the house because we had to throw the burning logs from the fireplace out the window into the yard because the house was filling up with smoke. You know, average, everyday, good times!

And then I looked up at my beautiful little girl, and I couldn't help but smile again because I know she too will know what it's like to be loved by this amazing friend of mine. She's growing up so fast! The baby joined in the fun too. She sat in her high chair and yelled what I'm sure were instructions at us as we worked.

Today, I took a minute to realize that I am very, very blessed! All the while making a lovely pie!

So, my advice to you today, if you are feeling down, or would just like to feel a little bit more joy.... make a pie for someone you love!

Leave a comment with your favorite "feel good pie" and you could win a little prize from me!

Pumpkin Spice Birthday Cake

Today I am taking the girls for a playdate. It's pure coincidence that it happens to be with one of my girl friends. What? Our kids play while we eat, and talk, and drink coffee, and talk.

 Making this "mommy playdate" even better is the need for cake. My friend had a BIG birthday this week. The same BIG Birthday that I had this year. The one that makes you say, "oh crap!". She turned 30!!

What's better than cake, to make yourself feel ok with the fact that you are no longer 20-something? We met when we were in our early teens and stayed in and out of touch through our late teens and early 20s. She went to college and away to boot camp and I moved to Chicago and back, twice. One Halloween a few years ago (6 years ago, I think) I was out at a bar with my best friend when I bumped into her again. I made an introduction that night that turned into a marriage. My best friend married my long ago friend. YAY for me!! (and them too)
Now we find ourselves no longer teenage girls but wives, moms, homemakers and 30!! When did all that happen?!
So cake it is!!!

So we never made it to our "playdate". I made this cake on Thursday and scheduled it to post on friday, a first for me. But the cake was yummy, never the less.

A Cold and Rainy Soup and Bread Day

So it's pretty stinkin' cold here today. Making it even more of a "let's cozy up on the couch under a quilt with a big bowl of soup and slab of homemade bread" day, it's raining too!! Very first thing this morning I decided today called for soup. That was the easy part, the kind of soup is stumping me.
I did however, manage to start the bread. I knew I wanted to try out a tweaked version of my french bread recipe. I made it following the same recipe but I added 2 Tablespoons of pesto with the warm water and then I smeared 1 Tablespoon of pesto on the dough after I rolled it out before I rolled it up.

Dumplings and disappointment....

I got to dumpling making this evening after I put the girls to bed. I used Martha's recipe and I have to say it's the very first thing I've made of hers that I am not loving. I had to do some tweaking to the syrup. Actually I followed the directions to the letter and then tried one at the end of the directed cooking time. The syrup was, um, not great and the apple was still hard and the dough wasn't done.
So..... I got rid of the syrup. Made a basic simple syrup with 1 1/2 cups sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a teaspoon of cinnamon in about 2 cups of water. I reduced that at a simmer for about 10 minutes and then poured it over the dumplings.
Then, I put them back in the 350 degree oven for an additional 30 minutes. Much better. Actually quite yummy.
Mission accomplished.

All packed up and ready to head to their new homes. I have recently discovered that packaging is my new nightmare!! Who knew you needed to be a graphic designer to print out a quicky label?! ugh! Oh well, they taste yummy and that's what counts right? 

Mama Bake It!!

So there has been an enormous amount of baking happening in this little house over the last 4 days. We've already talked about the "bake sale" and all the baked yumminess that happened for that. I have been very excited, but a little scared to talk about (and potentially jinx) the other cause of baking from this weekend. I got my first paying gig! I was hired (by my mom) to make 3 apple pies and one enormous cheesecake for a function that she was organizing for work. I do recognize that it's my mom, but I'll take it!
It's funny to me that when I started this blog in May, I had just baked my very first cake. Here we are 5 months later and I think I'd like to bake yummy goodness when I grow up. This was my second cheesecake (they are entirely to expensive to just make for fun) and my first attempt at apple pie. Well, my second. I made one earlier in the week for practice.
I used Marthas Cheesecake recipe (this recipe is pretty close but the one in her book is for a 10" pan and doesn't use any lemon) again but used a graham cracker crust instead of the chocolate crust she uses in her book/my baking bible. I also used Martha's recipe for the apple pie but I substituted her Pate Brisee for the crust. Instead of a traditional top crust, I did one with a crumb topping, one with a crisp topping and one lattice top.
I am hopeful that there will be more baking to order in my future. I need some way to support my crafting habit. The money I made from this order combined with some savings I had been stashing away I was able to order my new sewing machine. So look out, more sewing to come.