Oatmeal Cookies wth dates and chocolate

Oatmeal cookies are my favorite. These were good with dates, milk chocolate and white chocolate chips even though I only had half of the oats called for. Maybe the part about cooking that I like most is the adventure of making stuff up when I don't have all of the ingredients. Or hell, just making stuff up for the fun of it.

Family++

It just keeps getting better.


Margot's eyes are trending mostly green lately. I'm still in disbelief that I could pull out anything but a brown eyed baby.


And Penn is predictably shaping up to be the best big brother ever. On weekend mornings I stumble out of her room after her 6:30a.m. nursing and he stumbles in to check on her and play if she's awake. They will play for up to TWO HOURS by themselves. Penn's taken to putting her in one of the fabric boxes we have and sliding her into the living room to watch television.

Margot is hitting a new phase where she only likes mom, dad and brother. And especially mom. As in, I can't even leave the room without her losing it. But who cares. 'Cause lordy she's cute.

Runny is Yummy

I kind of love our morning schedule. It could be more productive, sure, but for now it's relaxed and luxurious in a decadent and not really hard earned sort of way. Margot is usually the first to wake. She gets some nursing, then Penn gets dressed and I make coffee and breakfast for Penn. Then I shuffle him off to kindergarten and Margot coaxes Daniel awake with her powers of cuteness.

More coffee and email and sleepy chatter and then a late breakfast of awesomeness. Lately I'm obsessed with poached eggs. This is a poached egg topped with a bit of Parmesan in between two thick slices of buttered and toasted Hawaiian bread.

Runny is yummy.

Valentines

I bounced around three million ideas in my head to celebrate Valentines Day this year.

And then suddenly there was snow and hoopla and in the end I had nothing to place in my Valentine's hand. He had nothing to unwrap as a token of my love. I went shopping but could never find the "right" thing.

As if anything could ever accurately relate my affection.

But there is affection. Lots of it. Forever feels good. Daniel Miller is perfect and more importantly (you'll get this if you're in a "forever" relationship) he's perfect even when he's not. Life is good. It has never been better. I've never been happier and I find myself being able to truthfully say this every month. It's a good thing I have health insurance now. I might explode.

To my Valentine I say, I love you. More than anything ever. You and our family make me so unbelievably happy and fulfilled. I had no idea. Thank you for all the ways you make me feel and all the things you do and all the things you want to do. You are amazing and I am lucky to be celebrating such a holiday next to you. I'm lucky I have you to dream with and to love with and to hold every night.


I did manage a nice meal of fresh crab and pasta in white sauce, sauteed asparagus and salad. For desert I made Strawberry Babycakes with cream cheese icing.

Snowpocalypse 2010

The snow took our power and almost took our sanity for two days.




At first, it was okay. The power went out. No big deal. It was easy to be distracted by so much pretty outside. We bundled up and I played with some time lapse. Our phones and laptops were still full of podcasts and games. But in the morning we were even colder. We snuffled our way through a morning and to Margot's doctor appointment to check on the fever she had been running for two days. In the waiting room everyone was this much disheveled and charging their phones. A small discussion yielded that most of us were toting sick kiddos and without electricity.

Also, Margot has her first earache.

We bummed it a bit at places with electricity but that wasn't really working out. We ended up driving to Plano where our friends kindly opened their warm doors and hospitality. We snuggled into the comfiest guest room in Texas. The next day we heard word there was power! So we trekked it home only to be greeted by a dark house.


We built a fire and crossed our fingers.


We could see our breath, but that didn't take the silly out of Penn. "Mama, take my picture by the fireplace!" Sweartagod. How did my son get so cheesy?


Even though our friends had power at their house, they agreed to stay another night in Plano. Just for us. Right as we were getting ready to load into the car again we heard the blessed sound of the electric truck. We had a line in the yard. But just like that, this man fixed it.

The central heat came on and the angels they did sing, Gloria.

Sadly, I had to cancel a maternity portrait due to the hoopla and inability to ready my gear.
Don't have that baby yet, Cassidy! Here's to hoping for a better week and electricity for everyone!

And many many thanks to the Guthries for taking care of our family and keeping us warm in more ways than one. We owe you many.

Click here for more photos.

Awesomesauce

I first met Lainey in 2008 when she came to model her gorgeous locks for Kinome's hair shoot. I was SO excited when she asked me to shoot their wedding! Lainey and Steven (with a "V" for goodness sakes) are a phenomenal couple laden with smarts, wit and humor. Never a dull moment. Always a genuine idea.










A lot of these things came out in their photos. Like the affection they have for their friends.


And the affection they have for one another.














Many thanks to Lainey and Stephen for letting us come shoot such an amazing day. Congrats and more photos to come!

Click here to see a few more.

Ginger Fried Rice and Butternut Squash Wontons

The other night Daniel and I were curled up around the mac watching Bittman podcasts. He made a ginger fried rice and a common comment followed, "You could do that." This dinner goes into the top 5 of the best things I've ever cooked. Dead serious.

I made a side of butternut squash potstickers and wontons. Same thing only potstickers are steamed and wontons are fried and ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Really yummy. I made too many actually and froze the rest. Three times now I've dipped into the freezer for a handful to make really quick. They're so good I kind of want to make a bucket, freeze them and pass them out to the neighbors.

I followed the linked recipes for the most part. I'm more of a dash and pincher than I am a measurer. I used vegetable oil because I was out of peanut oil and added a bit more sesame oil to make up for it. Really though, Bittman is my hero.

So cute it hurts

Margot is six months of multi-chinned, giggling, eating, drooling, teething, cuddly umpkins goodness.

Click here to watch a video of her eating her socks. Click here to watch her say "Da da."

Banana and Nutella Blintzes

Being vegetarian is easy. Vegan would be a different story. I love all things cream and cheese and eggs. In fact, cream, cheese and eggs are my favorite food groups. Also, maybe Nutella. That's its own food group, yeah?

I've just recently ventured into the world of crepes. If you've never made them before understand they are easy. Really really easy. Don't be afraid. They're on my menu twice a week now. First in savory form (cheese and asparagus) and second as a dessert (cheese blintzes.)

When I made the above I found out at the last minute we were out of cottage cheese. We have a cottage cheese monster living amongst us. His name is Daniel. So I filled the crepes with Nutella and diced bananas, folded them into cute little packages and browned them a little in butter. Then I dusted them clumsily with powdered sugar and wolfed down two.

3/4 cup flour
salt
1 cup milk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
banana
nutella
powdered sugar

1. Whisk together flour, pinch of salt and milk until smooth. Beat in eggs and stir in butter. If time allows, let rest in refrigerator for an hour or up to 24 hours and beat again. (They turn out fine whether or not you let it sit. My experience has shown the edges get kind of lacey when the batter is used right away.)

2. Put an 8 or 10 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add butter. Ladle into pan and swirl around so that it forms a thin layer on bottom of pan.

3. When the top of the blintz is dry, about a minute, turn and cook the other side for 15 to 30 seconds. Stack the finished blintzes on a plate.

4. Smear a teaspoon of Nutella and a hand full of diced bananas into the bottom third of blintz. Fold bottom third up, then sides in, then roll until you have a cute little package.

5. Brown blintzes just a little on both sides in butter. Dust with powdered sugar.

Doing my parts by spreading the words

Penn's School is having a Spring Carnival fundraiser in April. Click here if you are interested in sponsoring.

You can also buy your White Rock Coffee through Coffee With a Cause to help donate money to Lakewood Elementary.

And don't forget your boxtops!

National Carrot Cake Day

I made carrot cake (in a muffin pan) with cream cheese icing yesterday and unbeknownst to me, it was National Carrot Cake Day! Who knew that practically every day is National some-kind-of-food Day?

Daniel was born on National Cheese Doodle Day. Go ahead and tell someone that Congratulations, they are born on National Cheese Doodle Day, without laughing. I was born on National Bouillabaisse Day and I had to look up what that is. That Penn is one lucky kid because he was born on Bavarian Cream Pie Day although seems silly to have a national holiday for a Bavarian dish. Margot gets one of my favorites, National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.

More importantly, look how many birthdays I have to remember now!


I should bake them 2 or 3 minutes less next time, but Margot agrees that National Cream Cheese Icing Day wouldn't be a bad idea.

Oh Sweet Figs

When I was little I didn't understand figs. I couldn't get my tongue to really embrace figs. Or tomatoes. Or onions. Or jalapenos. Perhaps it's one of the great trade offs for having to grow up. You get all of this cool food to yourself.

FIGS! Can't get enough of them. For breakfast I sliced some wheat bread and spread it with brie. Then I topped it with sliced dried figs sauteed in butter and heated the whole thing in the oven. Burning them just the very tiniest bit gives an awesome black and crunch. (But if you cook them too long because you're trying to take a photo and they get more than the tiniest bit of black, well STILL GOOD!)




Margot had some minus the figs. Margot actually had a whole piece and a half. And some peach and banana granola. And some milk. Because her stomach is the cutest little bottomless pit you've ever seen.