A Crafty Bag

My friend, Candice, made me this neat bag!  (This photo does not do it justice!)  I will probably use it as a diaper bag.  It is actually a no-sew bag that is lined with, believe it or not!, duct tape – not the gray color you are thinking of though.  No, this bag is lined with pretty, white duct tape, to match the bag itself.  It doesn’t even look like duct tape.  It just looks waterproof inside.  Candice made a couple other beautiful bags for her mom and sister too.  If you leave a comment here, maybe she will get around to that blog post I’ve been bugging her to write about them.  ~wink~  So, who wants to see the pics and maybe directions(?) for the other bags?  ME!!  {SMILE}

Baby Bliss and a Batch of Brownies

Sleepless nights, messy diapers, fussy baby times, interrupted personal time, baby blues… How does one ever cope?  I’ll tell you how – baby bliss and a batch of brownies!

Yes, I am IN LOVE with my daughter.  She is absolutely adorable and precious.  I look at this miracle every day and am touched by God’s love towards me, my daughter, and the world.  I adore her and she adores me, and it is wonderful!  Each day I am thankful for her.

In addition to these great feelings, what else could give me a burst of joy?  A batch of brownies of course!  Yes, I baked my first batch of brownies tonight and enjoyed them thoroughly.  There’s just nothing like gooey, yummy chocolate coming fresh out of the oven.  Our favorite brownie recipe, as it stands, is the “Whatever Floats Your Boat Brownie” recipe.  That’s what I made tonight, with chocolate chips inside.  However, I did make a recipe last week, before Ava was born, that was good.  If you like a rich, not as moist, brownie that you would like to serve with a dollop of whipped cream on top, then this is the recipe to try.  (I did not use the espresso powder).

Dark Chocolate Brownies

(from www.joythebaker.com)

     adapted from Bon Appetit, August 1999

     makes 24 brownies

Print this Recipe!

8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan.  Line the pan with foil and butter the foil.  This will make brownie removal much easier. 

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. 

Place butter and chopped chocolate in a medium sized heat proof bowl.  Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, being sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the boiling water.  Stir until chocolate and butter are completely melted.  Use pot holders to remove the bowl from over the boiling water. Let mixture sit for a few minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and espresso powder.  Whisk until pale and thick.  Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.  Whisk until completely incorporated.  Add the flour mixture all at once and whisk to incorporate.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Summer Makeup

Photo credit:  Garden Botanika

I know… I know… I just had a baby… I should be posting about late night feedings and messy diapers.  My brain, however, just needs a little diversion, and I thought you might too.  I think my dad especially might like this post, since he is one of my faithful readers (Hi, Dad!  :-) ).

If you are looking for some fresh, summer makeup, try one of these sites.

• Garden Botanika is having a 5 for $25 color sale on certain color items.  They are a good, nature-based company.
• I ran into Everyday Minerals recently, and their products look good.  They sell all-natural, mineral makeup that appears to be cheaper than Bare Minerals, and you can get sample products.

Don’t worry… I will get to the meatier subject of having a newborn soon.  In the mean time, happy shopping!  :-)

She’s “Arrived”

Well, my due date came and went, but not for too long!  Our beautiful daughter was born on June 24, just after midnight.  She just missed my friend’s birthday by 52 minutes! 

We are so thankful for her and for a great delivery and recovery.  God has answered all of our prayers.  He is Good, and we give Him thanks!

Ava Rose

8 lbs. 8 oz.; 20 inches long

Father’s Day and a Sweet Breakfast

Well, alas, Father’s Day has come and gone and Baby is still snug inside!  I was able to pull together some “surprises” for Brian with the kids’ help.

To display our yummy breakfast and “Daddy’s” gifts on the table, we were a little more “creative” this year (or maybe I should say “simple” :-) ).  We put a rectangular sheet of green cellophane wrap in the middle of the table.  Atop of that we placed the gifts (two polo shirts and a baseball cap), homemade cards, and breakfast items.  My daughter made a “Happy Father’s Day” sign that we hung from the chandelier.  We called Dad up from the basement (where he was hurriedly crunching in some work before church) and surprised him with the presentation.  It was fun to have everything out in the open for him to see and explore.

This was our breakfast:

Stuffed Pecan Pie French Toast and Berries

Delightful!

 

*I used regular bread and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on the first layer of bread slices before topping them with the pecan mixture.  This worked well.  You would use 16 slices of bread for the entire recipe.  I actually made a half recipe because my niece was at her mom’s house.  The half recipe was sufficient for the other five of us.

Stuffed Pecan Pie French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 loaf (16 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Cinnamon Swirl Bread
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• confectioners' sugar

Directions

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Heat the butter and brown sugar in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the pecans.

Grease a baking sheet with the butter. Place the bread slices onto the baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes or until the bread slices are lightly toasted.

Beat the milk, eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl with a fork or whisk. Dip 8 bread slices into the milk mixture and place onto a baking sheet. Spread about 1 tablespoon pecan mixture onto each dipped bread slice. Dip the remaining bread slices into the milk mixture and place over the pecan mixture to form sandwiches.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the sandwiches are golden. Sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar.

Tip: When cooking a sugar mixture on top of the stove, use a heavy-bottomed saucepan.  The thicker the bottom, the less readily the sugar will burn.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies?

 

Well, Baby hasn’t arrived yet.   I’ve got to keep myself busy – what better way than to bake, especially with Father’s Day tomorrow?!  I made these cookies tonight, and my hubby said, “This is the best Father’s Day present”.  I did buy him some other items as well, but he was more than happy to eat these tonight as an early gift.  I’ve made these cookies the past few times I have opted to bake chocolate chip cookies.  My family says this recipe is the best.  It makes about 20 large-sized cookies.  I use a muffin scoop to put the batter on the pans.

Oh, the funny part is how I discovered this recipe… I was looking for an image of a chocolate chip cookie on Google for one of the kids’ school charts.  I found a picture of this cookie and saw there was a recipe linked to it.  The rest is history…

(Recipe source:  http://onewholeclove.typepad.com/one_whole_clove/2005/11/chocolate_chip_.html)

The Only Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You Will Ever Need
2 cups never bleached flour (all purpose will do)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a cookie sheet(s) with silpat mat.  (I do not have a silpat mat, so I spray with oil or use parchment paper).
Sift flour, salt and baking soda together; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until well blended.  Beat in vanilla, egg and egg yolk until mixture becomes creamy.
Mix the sifted ingredients all at once until just blended.  Stir in chocolate chip cookies with a wooden spoon.
Drop by 4 tablespoons of cookie dough at a time onto prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be evenly spaced about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges turn a light brown.
Cool on baking sheets for 15 minutes.  Transfer to wire racks with rubber spatula to cool completely.

Guess Baby’s Birthday

It’s 5 a.m., and I’m up…. again… only four short hours after I was finally able to get myself to sleep, two hours after my last trip to the bathroom, and five hours after my last post … thanks to two of nature’s alarm clocks:  my very pregnant body and the birds wholeheartedly singing outside my bedroom window (Did anyone tell them it is still dark outside?).  Since I was just lying in bed, feeling wide awake, I decided I should try to be productive instead.  Therefore, before I get to the more important tasks of bills, cleaning, and prepping for my day (and then maybe crashing for an early morning nap!), I decided to pick your brains and see when *you* think Baby might arrive.  Here are the stats:

Due Date:  June 22nd

Child #1:  arrived three days late

Child #2:  arrived two days early

Child #3:  arrived five days early

With the trend, frankly, I thought I would be having the baby already, BUT she is still happy to be cozy inside – for the moment.

I’ll start the guessing.  I’m going to say Father’s Day (June 20) since it would just be nostalgic, and it is one of my closest friend’s daughter’s birthday that day, so why not?

What do you think?