odds and ends

There was a fire in my sister's apartment this past Thursday.

She came home from work to a missed call from her manager and a friend from the YSA branch who heard about it on the news and had also called her.
She came and asked Jesse and I to go over with her and when we got there her manager was standing outside waiting for her.

All her belongings were covered in soot (the apartment was black) and smelled like smoke.
The apartment is unlivable now thanks to the damage from the smoke/soot and the front windows being knocked down by the firemen.
Thankfully she wasn't home when it happened.
It could have been way worse.

She has been staying with Jesse and I while things calm down
and she can decide what she wants to do.
I'm glad we live in the same town so she can stay with us during this time.
If you have a moment, include her in your prayers. They would be much appreciated.

***
On our second month anniversary we bought a kitchen-aid! An industrial size one! We received some money as a wedding gift, two gift cards, and had a coupon for the store.

We opened it this weekend! (I wanted to open it earlier, but our apartment is so little).

On Thursday we made chocolate sour cream bundt cake. It was so moist thanks to the sour cream.
(Doesn't saying it remind you of this? Bad quality, but you get the idea)

Then on Friday we made peach and raspberry crumble. Delicious as always!

And then last night we made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

We all thoroughly enjoyed them.

***

Over the holidays my mom and I went to the thrift store and she bought us some
adorable, adorable baby clothes. This was our first gift.
We received our second baby gift this weekend.
A friend of mine is due with her baby (girl) around the beginning of February and she had an extra baby thermometer which she gifted to us.

***

I have another doctor's appointment at the end of next week. We can find out the sex of our baby in about 5 weeks!

My mom sent me this video which might be helpful for my friends who are having babies.



So interesting. After watching it I could definitely remember babies crying like that. I'm excited to put this to use once our little one comes.

Links to Love- December

I decided to post the links early this month since some of them are related to Christmas.

Enjoy!

Artsy:

A book Christmas tree

Hanging chair pendant

Modern paper ornament for your Christmas tree

DIY Advent calendars

Printable owl gift wrap. Too cute!

Let it dough, let it dough. A sneak peek:

Beautiful (free!) downloadable gift tags. Too fun.

Dress boys. I had never heard of these before, but a great idea.

The Whole Story

Singing his own songs, at last: Bruno Mars

TV Worth Watching

Random:

2010 Darwin Awards

Pine cone fire starters

SantaCon. Santa sightings!

Let's go ride a bike

Basketball playing nuns

White ghosts (deer) of the forest (embeding is disabled)

Running away:


Smart (and very well trained) dog!

Light up the world

Hilarious animal voice-overs

No Christmas tree? Try this

Genius staircase

Beekeeping:


Mormon life:

The word that Elizabeth Smart wanted to hear.

Provo Tabernacle fire, but picture of Christ was saved.

I love technology:

Need help finding your lost/misplaced phone? Try this!

Interesting Google Street View images.

2010 in review:



Can you escape technology?

Neil Pasricha on TEDxToronto- The creator of 1000 Awesome Things:



Facebook...love it or hate it? 100 people I hate on facebook

10 most watched youtube videos of 2010:

(Watch all 10 videos here)

Literary:

The Day John Lennon Died

What made you happy today? A scrapbook of people and what makes them happy.

Best books of 2010

Saying Images

Recipes:

Peanut butter and jelly cookies

Mashed potato puffs. Delicious!

Cookie + cupcake

Cranberry pie. You'll be surprised, it's very tasty!

Pumpkin Pie Making or Pumpkin of Your Eye*

Over Thanksgiving my mom and I wanted to have an adventure.

So, we decided to...MAKE A PUMPKIN PIE FROM SCRATCH USING A PUMPKIN WE COOKED OURSELVES!! (I'm not shouting, just excited!) Yes we did!

Well, things started out wonderfully.

They really did.

How can they not with a beautiful pumpkin like this?

The pumpkin just knows it's about to become something very special...it can feel it in its bones, er, mushy insides.


First, we cut out a little square shaped piece from the top, like thus:

Then the pumpkin was cut in half and I took a picture of the gross looking insides. But, have no fear, things will get better...at least for a little bit.

It was so fun, even the dogs wanted in on the action!

In order to make the pumpkin useful those gross looking insides depicted two pictures up have to be, um, taken care of...ahem... like so...

(Btw, if you try this at home try to get as many of the strings "taken care of" as you can, otherwise you might have a little trouble down the road...learn from our mistake). But, definitely scrape all the seeds out.

Once all the seeds and strings were out, we put the pumpkin in the oven at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes or until fork tender (it might take longer, just check on it).

While the pumpkin was cooking, I took pictures of myself to pass the time:


After the pumpkin was cooked the useful part of the pumpkin was scraped out. Be sure to get every last piece that you can...your eyes need it. They really do! Doesn't that look like pumpkin ice cream? So beautiful!

If you're not planning on using the cooked pumpkin right away, be sure to put it in a festive snowman container and store it in the fridge for later.

The above steps were easy enough, they sure were. Right?

Are you still with me?

This is where the fun part began...

See, Black Friday is a wonderful thing. Here is why...

To turn the scraped pumpkin into something that is useful for pie or cooking, the pumpkin needs to be pureed. Well, we tried using a blender (it turned the pumpkin all black), we tried using a potato masher (it didn't get the pumpkin soft enough) and well, we didn't have a food processor.

Here is where the lovely thing thing known as *crazypeoplewhogetupat4amtogetgooddeals comes in (*more commonly known as Black Friday).

At Wal-Mart (Nast) there was a super crazy deal (or so we thought) of a little 1.5 cup mini chopper for $1.97. Well the problem is I am not on of those crazypeoplewhogetupat4am on the Friday after Thanksgiving and neither is my mom.

So, we didn't get the super crazy deal on the little 1.5 cup mini chopper because when we went they were all sold out.

But, all was not lost. We found another little food processor that could hold three cups and was a little more than $1.97, but we thought it would work so we bought it!

And then we took it home and tried to use it...and...it didn't work! (Partly because it didn't have instructions and partly I think because it was defective).

Yay! So, we went back to Wal-Mart and exchanged it for another one exactly like it (instructions included), only hoping that it would work this time...

It worked alright, but not to puree pumpkin.

We had to mash the pumpkin with a fork before we put it in the food processor...what is the purpose of that?

Isn't a food processor supposed to eliminate that step?

Anyway, it was mashed with a fork and then put in the processor. But since it was not very expensive there were two buttons: "HI" and "LOW" and we had to stand there and push them down while the food was being processed. We couldn't go and do something else...

Which, when I say processed, really means not very processed. We had to add a bunch of water and after about 20 minutes we got not quite 1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin.

I just thought it would be faster than that is all I'm saying. And more processed.


(I hid the brand name so as to not cause any panic, but it ends in an r).

Two hours later we had finally finished processing all the pumpkin. Whew!

That part definitely made for good memories. My mom and I started laughing about half way through!

On to the baking part...

The Crust:

Instead of making regular pie crust, we used phyllo dough, you know, to cut calories and all. It turned out pretty well, if we do say so ourselves.

(Word to the wise...if you've never worked with phyllo before, be sure to read all the instructions on the box before beginning. Phyllo is pretty temperamental).

The Filling:

See the little chunks in there? Those are from the food processor that doesn't really work to make pumpkin puree.

The two were combined: The Crust + The Filling = Homemade Pumpkin Pie!


We made two pies. See the different milk designs? They both kind of resemble horses...or maybe a galloping horse and a unicorn (if you turn your head to the side)? What do you see?


With the pies in the oven we waited with anticipation...

Done!

How did it taste, you ask?

Well, despite two trips to Wal-Mart, one defective food processor, two hours of processing pumpkin, and the broken phyllo...they turned out pretty darn well!

Thanks for asking.

And that, my friends, is our adventure in home made pumpkin pie making!

And just to avoid any confusion, we have made home made pumpkin pie before but this was the first time making it using our own pumpkin and phyllo dough- usually it's just the canned pumpkin and regular crust.

*Why is it always apple of your eye? Why don't people ever say pumpkin of your eye?

Autumn Bread

Autumn is my favorite weather.

Autumn means falling leaves

and
sweaters
and
pumpkin pie (my most favorite pie in the world!)
and
delicious squash
and
new pencils
and
soup
and
homemade crusty artisan bread.

It is super easy. Once you mix everything up you can have delicious tasting bread very easily in just minutes a day (well, besides baking and rising time).

In a large bowl or non-airtight (very important!) container, mix without kneading (yes, you read that right- just stir it with a spoon):

3 c. lukewarm water (just a little warmer than body temperature)
1 1/2 tblsp. dry yeast
1 1/2 tblsp. kosher salt- if you don't use kosher salt, please don't use 1 1/2 tblsp, it will be much, much too salty
6 1/2 c. unbleached white flour (measured with the scoop and sweep method)

Cover and let rise at room temperature 2-5 hours.

Refrigerate with lid on at least 3 hours or longer before shaping. (Cold dough is easier to shape.)

When ready to bake:
1. Sprinkle pizza peel (click for image) very LIBERALLY with corn meal (or it won't slide off later)
2. Sprinkle surface of refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up a 1 pound (grapefruit size) piece of dough and cut off with a serrated knife.
3. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom of all four sides. (Put the rest of the dough back in the refrigerator and use within 14 days.)
4. Place the shaped ball (or whatever shape you choose) of dough on the cornmeal covered pizza peel.
5. Let rise for 40 minutes and enjoy the smell of rising bread!
6. After about 25 minutes of rising, set the oven to 450 with a baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for water on the shelf below or beside the baking stone.
7. Let rise for the rest of the time.
8. When rising time has elapsed, dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour. With serrated knife, slash 1/4 inch deep pattern into the dough.
9. Prepare a cup of warm tap water and have ready before putting the dough in the oven.
10. With a quick jerking motion, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone.
11. Quickly pour the prepared water into the broiler pan and close the oven door.
12. Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Let cool before cutting.

If you want your bread to keep a crisp crust, store it in a paper bag after it has cooled (not plastic).

This recipe is super easy because the dough stores in your refrigerator for up to 14 days. Any time you want fresh bread you can just pull it right out and bake it.

Okay, now that I've shared the bread recipe will you share your soup recipes with me? Pretty please?

This way we can both have delicious soup and bread for chilly autumn nights.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake and Other Matters

I'm 28 years old. I pay my bills. I'm an adult. Why is it that every time my sister and I come home we bake and bake and bake? And I have the weight gain to prove it. I need help.

Anyway...If somebody were to sniff me out, I am almost positive I would smell like these two recipes I am about to post.

Chocolate. Cheesecake. Butter. You can't go wrong.

But your diet can. It goes right out the window. You don't need it anyway. You look great!

This was my before dinner snack. And my after dinner snack. Welcome to my world.


Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies- about 15 (graham crackers work too)

2 tblsp butter or margarine, melted

2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

Filling:

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tblsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 tblsp flour

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine cookie crumbs with butter in medium bowl until moistened; press onto bottom of un-greased 9-inch spring-form pan. Sprinkle with 1 cup chocolate chips.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in eggs and flour. Gradually beat in evaporated milk and sour cream. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.

Cover loosely with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Bake for an additional 30-40 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly. Place in refrigerator immediately; refrigerate for 2 hours (if you can wait that long) or until firm. Remove out of spring-form pan.

(To give you an estimate ours ended up baking for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, but your oven might vary).

Eat!




Ok, this next recipe will win you instant friends. I promise.


If it doesn't, well, you can come back and complain to me. I can take it.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Melt in saucepan over medium heat:

1/2 cup butter

4 - 1 oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate

Stir in:

3 cups sugar

1 - 12 oz. can of evaporated milk

dash of salt

Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Let cool slightly. Pour into blender and blend for 5 minutes.

Pour over ice cream or brownies or cheesecake. Or heck, just grab a spoon and eat it out of the jar. You only live once!

This keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.



See what I mean? I need help.

Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Basil Pasta

Do you like pasta? Yes?

Do you like shrimp? Yes?

Do you like cream and butter? Just nod your head and say yes, because you know butter and cream make everything better. (Try saying that 10 times fast).



If you like all these things, then you will really like this recipe.

I found this recipe and this recipe and combined them into...this recipe: a creamy, wonderful, combination of lemon, cream, pasta, and shrimp.

You begin by boiling the pasta. I used penne pasta, because that is what Pioneer Woman used. And I want to be like her, especially the part about marrying a cowboy. But, that's another story.

I know you've all seen a picture of boiling pasta, but I'm including it for good measure:



Then you saute the shrimp:



Don't you love how shrimp starts out all gray and blah looking, but turns into a nice pink color? Yeah, me too.

After the shrimp was cooked I transferred it to a plate and put it in the oven on low to stay warm. You can do this or not. When the pasta is done, make sure to save a cup of the pasta water to use later for the sauce.

Once those are both done, it's time to make the sauce.

Now, I have to give you a warning....

If you are on a diet, don't, I repeat, do not make this sauce. It is not low calorie!

But, we already established the fact that butter and cream make everything better, right?



In the same pot where you made the pasta (it makes clean-up easier):

Melt 1/2 stick of butter

Squeeze in the juice of 3-4 lemons. (I just put in some bottled lemon juice, but shhh, don't tell anyone, especially Pioneer Woman. Thanks).

And whisk it together.

Then add:

3/4 cup heavy cream (I told you it wasn't low calorie!)

and

1/4 cup half-and-half

Whisk until hot.

Dump in: 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan (or Romano) cheese. Whisk until melted.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Check consistency and if it's too thick add some of the pasta water you reserved to thin it out a little bit.

Now, for the fun part. Pour the pasta into a bowl. Add the sauce. And add the shrimp. If you have fresh basil you can use that, otherwise you can add dried basil like I did.



This would also work with grilled chicken (like Pioneer Woman used) or scallops or some other seafood, I'm sure. What ever suits your fancy.

Bon appétit!

Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Links to Love

Hi, Friends! Any fun plans for the weekend?

Here are my five favorite blogs this week:

Nat the Fat Rat: I really like Natalie's writing style. And she and "holbsmover" are moving back to NYC!

Kind Over Matter: A blog based on kindness. How lovely!

Passports and Postcards: Travel, art, fashion, food.

aura-joon: Beautiful photos!

Where the Lovely Things Are: Art, photographs, jewelry.

Fun finds from around the web:

Food-y:

3.14 -----> pie

Baked eggs in bread bowls.

Wonderful idea for pudding cups.

Recipe: How to bake a dog.

Baskin-Robbins is changing flavors. Get them before they are gone!

Perfect pancakes and strawberry butter.

How to make yogurt in your crock-pot.

Arts-y:

Amazing castles from around the world.

Typewriter Symphony.

10 ways to new music on-line.

Adorable, adorable birds.

Pothole gardening. What a great urban idea.

A celebration of all things paper.

Early 1900's in color.

Great forced perspective photography.

Minimum wage machine.

TV museum.

Misc:

Are you this cute when you are falling asleep?

Have you seen the new Dyson fan? It was made to prevent buffeting. $300 worth of fan? I think not.

All the best for your family.

Great lessons from Abraham Lincoln.

Anti-theft lunch bags. Genius!

New uses for your microwave.

Birthday random acts of kindness! I love this idea.

Lovely printable quote cards.

90 days of kindness challenge. You in?

Popcorn kittens!


Mormon living:

Feast Upon the Word.

Mormon Matters.

What do Mormons believe?

Even though I've posted about this before, Segullah is definitely a blog to discover.

Have you seen the new Mormon.org? My profile is there too!

Spaghetti with Zucchini and Yellow Squash

Ok, here's the deal. This is the first recipe that I've actually posted on this little blog of mine. It was a new recipe that I saw and decided to try. I hope you enjoy it.

Without further ado....

You will need:

1 box of spaghetti (I used whole wheat)
1 medium yellow onion
1/3 cup oil (I didn't use the whole amount since it is just for sauteing the vegetables)
1 clove of garlic
1 medium yellow squash
2 small zucchini
1/2 cup (10 fresh medium leaves) basil - I used dry about 2 tsp.
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

(Even though the ingredients are above, I'm incorporating them into the instructions below so you don't have to re-look up the amounts).

Begin by dicing 1 medium yellow onion. You will saute the onion in olive oil in a skillet over medium heat for 6 minutes.

While the onion is sauteing, chop a clove of garlic. After the onion has cooked for 6 minutes, add the garlic to the skillet and saute for two minutes.


It was at this point that I began to cook one box (13.25 oz.) of whole wheat spaghetti....



Chop one medium yellow squash and 2 small zucchini and add to the skillet with the onion and garlic. Cook for an additional 6 minutes.

Stir in 2 tsp. basil (I used dry) and 1/8 tsp. black pepper. Season with salt. Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixture and add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

A few notes: I thought it turned out a little bland. When I make this again I will probably add Italian seasoning or other herbs to give a little more flavor. I also flavored it with Italian dressing after I tasted it. I'm sure it would be fine with white spaghetti as well.

Bon appétit!

Recipe from Barilla pasta box.

Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Chair of Bowlies*

"Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only be aware to stop and savor it." Ratatouille

I have many reasons that I love coming home. The following are two of them- the first reason is that I absolutely love visiting with my family and the second is that I make things, as in food things, that I don't normally make when I am living in my apartment. Actually, my mom and I make them together. We spend time baking and mashing and stirring.

And since the results taste great, we spend time eating too.

Want to try some?

This bread started "singing" when we took it out of the oven.

"How do you tell how good bread is without tasting it? Not the smell, not the look, but the sound of the crust. Listen, oh the symphony of crackle. Only great bread sounds this way." Colette (from Ratatouille)

Homemade strawberry jam is so much tastier than store bought!

Milk on it's way to becoming yogurt.

Cherries, you are so sweet!

A bowl of cherries from the trees in my parents' backyard.

Red and round. Cherries are lovely things.

What did you think? Good, wasn't it?

*Bowl of Cherries

Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Yes, Please!

Wouldn't you love a piece of this cake...so white and summery?

But wait for it....

it gets even better!

Taaa-daaa! Isn't it beautiful?

Recipe and pictures found here.

Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Here and There

Not that you really need to know this, but I used hydrogen peroxide to clean the built-up wax out of my ears yesterday. I've heard that it also prevents colds and since I started having a drippy nose and hurting throat on Thursday I thought I would try it. At the time, I thought it was a good idea, but now, my ears are hurting and my nose is still dripping.

Anyway, because I'm hungry I was looking at recipes on blogs today and I really want to try these ones.

Egg Drop Soup

6 c chicken stock
2/3 c thinly chopped green onions
4 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
soy sauce to taste
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer, add the onions, mushrooms and soy sauce. Cook at a simmer for 3 minutes. Slowly pour in the eggs in a steady stream while mixing the soup with a fork. Let cook for another minute, until the eggs form solid ribbons.


Homemade Oreos


Chocolate Chip Cookies


Garlic Cheese Bread


Buttered Rosemary Rolls

And, last but not least

Baked Fudge

I saw this movie in 3D yesterday and suprisingly I really liked it! My first time seeing a real 3D movie! I like Johnny Depp but not so much Tim Burton, his movies are really dark, but this one wasn't which made me happy.




Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Chocolate + Music = Love?

If chocolate be the food of love, eat on.

Oh, wait. Wrong quote.

If music be the food of love, play on. Is that better?

I love many things, it's true. So, in honor of Valentine's Day and for your reading pleasure, I will now list some of them. Warning: I will probably update this list periodically.

I love...

Nutella.

Dry Humor.

Caffeine Free Diet Dr. Pepper.

Fridays.

Christmas eve.

Christmas morning.

The Sound of Music.

The Phantom of the Opera.

The Beatles.

Josh Groban's voice.

Michael Buble's voice.

The smell of coffee beans.

My sister.

Sunshine.

Silence.

Red.

People playing with my hair.

The Olympics.

Sleeping in.

My down comforter.

Pickles.

Lost in Yonkers.

Prank phone calls.

Sheets (or clothes) warm out of the dryer.

Blogging.

World War II movies.

World War II in general.

Gene Kelly Dancing.

Hugh Jackman singing and dancing.

Selfless people.

As Time Goes By. The TV show.

Men in Wrangler jeans with cowboy boots.

Cultural events.

Kind people.

Cookie dough.

Blizzards.

The Ensign.

Rain.

Doughnuts.

Babies.

Baby cheeks.

Spinach.

Baby animals.

Fiddler on the Roof.

Nuts.

The Book of Mormon.

Homecooked meals.

Tumbleweed. The real thing, not the restaurant.

Popcorn.

Cows.

My mom.

My dad.

Hannah.

Staying home.

Thrift stores.

Art galleries.

Real Simple magazine.

Heavenly Father.

Cheese.

Bagels with cream cheese and lox.

Tuesdays with Morrie.

Watching the sun rise.

Pineapple.

Libraries.

Anne of Green Gables.

Chocolate with nuts.

Thunderstorms.

Comfortable jeans.

Nature.

Rain on a summer day.

Fresh baked bread with real butter.

Listening to music as I wash the dishes.

Faith.

The smell of freshly cut grass.

The smell of my dog's toe pads. Don't judge me. You just have to experience it to know what I mean...it goes along with the smell of freshly cut grass.

Now, for your eating pleasure I will share two chocolate recipes with you. In case you want to make them over the weekend, for Valentine's day and all.

Molten Chocolate Lave Cake

Delicious Baked Fudge

Enjoy!

Oh, one more thing. The Olympics started yesterday and I love the Olympics. This means that I might not be blogging while they are being shown. I will try, but I can't guarantee anything.

Copyright © 2010 by Natasha M.

Addendum

I have an announcement to make...

According to a comment by an "anonymous" person (ahem, my mom, ahem) in the last blog post (right below), I neglected to tell you about Snickers Pie.

A little background information...our family had (notice past tense...for some reason I really like parentheses today...and ellipses) a favorite restaurant in Columbus named Josiah's that we frequented- may it R.I.P. (it was a very sad day when it closed). Anyway, they had this dessert there that we ordered almost every time and we would share a piece of it. It was called Snickers Pie. We tried very hard to pry the recipe from the owner, but she refused and wouldn't share her secrets (my dad even offered to work there washing dishes for her in exchange for the recipe, but it was a no go) - the restaurant was closing, but she wouldn't budge about sharing it. So we set out to find the recipe for the peanut butter part on our own. We tried one or two recipes but they just didn't cut it. The consistency or taste wasn't quite right.

Then we found this recipe. It sure tastes really close to the one that the owner used at Josiah's. Here's how you make it. First you need to buy the ingredients: you will need the ingredients that she mentions for the pie itself but you will also need peanuts (salted and roasted work just fine - really any kind but raw) and caramel apple dip.

First, you make the crust (you can follow along with The Pioneer Woman's nice pictures). After the crust has cooled you add the caramel. I don't remember if we used the whole container, just use your best judgement. Next, you add a good layer of peanuts, but the actual amount depends on how much you like peanuts. Then you add the peanut butter topping from the recipe. Lastly, you dig in and eat it! Oh, wait, first you should probably chill it, but you might not be able to wait that long.

It's enough to send anyone into a diabetic coma, but it's oh, sooooo good!! Happy eating!

"I'll lick the bowl" OR "How did those disappear so fast?"

Today I made Granny's rolls.

Not my Granny, but someone's granny. The recipe made 22 rolls. Yup, go ahead and count 'em.


How many do you think were left after dinner?

Yes, that's right.....

there were only three left!

Yes, we ate nineteen of them. Granted, guests did make an impromptu visit and their children ate several of them. But, believe me. They are just that good. Now you're probably thinking "but bread takes so long to make." Trust me, this recipe is easy. They do rise twice but other than that they are really easy since you can knead the dough right in the bowl. Go ahead and make them. You will be happy! (Note: the first time I made them I cooked them for 20 minutes as it says on the recipe and they were kind of burnt. This time I cooked them for 10 minutes and they turned out fine).

My mom and I also made peanut butter pie today. I took pictures, but I will just let her pictures speak for themselves. If you love (or even like) peanut butter and butter and oreos and cool whip, you need to make this pie. Really, your tongue won't regret it, even though your hips probably will. Ooops, did I just say that?

On Sunday we also made chocolate babka. We started on Saturday morning and then finished on Sunday. The recipe takes two days since you have to give the yeast time to rise, etc.

First you roll out the dough


and then add the chocolate mixture


next, you roll up the dough


and then measure it to make sure you have 12 inches...is your mouth watering yet? Mine sure was...


and then you cut them into two inch pieces

and set them in the pan to rise.


Just look at all that chocolatey goodness. Yum!



After they have risen in the pan, you toss them in the oven (just kidding on the toss part) and set the timer and out comes....wait a minute, why are there two pieces missing?


The recipe said we needed to wait one hour to eat them. Do you really think we waited that long? Noooo, as evidenced by the picture, we didn't...and they tasted just fine. Phew, that was a lot of baking.

Now, don't you wish someone had invented scratch n' sniff internet just for occasions like this? Don't deny it, I know that's what you're thinking... But, what are you waiting for? Get baking and you can have your own smells!