What I'm Into (January)

Joining in for the first time with Leigh Kramer and her monthly What I'm Into linkup! Head over to her site to see all the other great bloggers participating.

Reading:

Loved, loved, loved The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. It tells the story of Ernest Hemingway's first wife and their years in Paris before he was a success. Their relationship was fascinating and flawed, but McLain made every moment compelling. Now I'm dying to dig in and find out more about Hadley's later life and read more by Hemingway himself, which to me is sign of a really good historical novel.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss is a half grammar how-to book, half funny diatribe about modern punctuation (or lack there of!). Sometimes hysterical, sometimes a bit slow, but a good refresher either way.

I'm still reading The BFG with my boys, though my goodness it is dragging! I loved it as a child but there just isn't enough action to keep us hooked as a read-aloud. Any suggestions for favorite read alouds for boys? I always need to add to my list.

I'm going to try to join Leigh in her February Reading Challenge. For this month read only books you already own rather than hitting up the library or bookstore. I am so guilty of find new recommendations on blogs or Goodreads and ignoring the great books laying around my house unread. The picture above is my working to-read in February pile…considering that I have enough unread books on my kindle alone I'm sure this list is going to change!

Listening:

Since I'm somewhat randomly headed to a Luke Bryan concert this weekend I've been listening to his album and similar music on iTunes radio to brush up. I was pathetically excited when a song popped up by Darius Rucker (aka Hootie minus the Blowfish) and I realized he made a country album! Excuse me while I turn into a 90s fangirl for a moment.


Watching:

Sherlock is back!! Sunday night was the most fabulous Best Man's speech ever. Now if only this season had more than 3 episodes. Of course, I'm watching Downton too. Frankly, the storyline with Anna really is putting me off this season. I wish Julian Fellowes could have left well enough alone for at least one season!

The Bachelor. Total guilty pleasure. It was really fun watching this week's episode where they all went to South Korea and we could see some of the same sights we saw when we picked up Ben.

Loving:

Hot chocolate dates with my boys and snuggling my dogs in the cold weather, and sneaking a few minutes outside to read when it's been warm.

Comfort cooking: Nigella's Rice Pudding, cinnamon sugar scones, homemade pizza, and spiced brownies  and drinking hot toddies and warm tea.

Classic movies: Finally convinced my husband to watch some of my old favorites…not sure if it was the end of football season or canceling our cable package  that finally made him say yes. First up The Thin Man, The Uninvited and lots of Alfred Hitchcock!

Wishing for these shoes, an excuse to make this hostess gift, and a local source for Ginger Beer so I can make this drink (in that fabulous mug of course!)

The holidays always makes me want to clear out my clutter. I've got one thrift store donation run down and a bunch of clothes loaded into Poshmark to sell and my closet looks so much better! Now to add a few new things into it :)


What are you into this month? Check out Leigh's blog for more fun posts!


This post contains some affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

Cranberry, Almond and Toasted Coconut Granola Bars

Last time I made granola bars on the blog I was mostly worried about getting the kids to eat them, which means lots of chocolate was involved. Recently I've been looking for more snacks for myself to eat. Snacks that might be a tad healthier than an entire batch of cinnamon sugar scones…hypothetically speaking of course. I shared one or two with the children, I swear.

I dug through my pantry and cobbled together enough half empty bags to make up one of my favorite flavor combinations. Almond, cranberry and coconut happens to be my favorite Kind bar so I figured the three would go together just as well in a traditional granola bar. I took my old granola bar recipe (please excuse the pictures-it was early blog days then) and tweaked it a little.

The combination worked really well. The toasted coconut added a nice balance to the sweetness but despite the honey and the sugar it isn't overly sweet. Don't feel like you need to toast your coconut, but if you do want to all you need to do is spread it on a baking sheet for a few minutes while you're oven warms up. Keep an eye on it and as soon as it starts to brown take it out. Burnt coconut is not an enticing odor: I speak from experience. The texture of these bars is soft rather than crunchy. If you find these a bit too crumbly, cool them in the refrigerator before slicing and store them there as well.

What are your favorite grown up snack foods? 


Cranberry, Almond and Toasted Coconut Granola Bars
adapted from my adaption of a Smitten Kitchen recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup toasted shredded coconut
1 cup almonds  ( I used slivered because that's what I had on hand but whole would be great too)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp water
1/3 cup almond butter

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, and try to keep just a little hanging over the side.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mix the melted butter, vanilla, honey and water together and then pour them into the dry ingredients. Stir together until combined and then add in the almond butter. Mix thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out until it covers the whole pan and the top is smoothed.

Bake for 20 minutes until the top just begins to brown. Cool in the pan. Let sit in the refrigerator for a few minutes if they seem crumbly before cutting. Wait to cut into squares or slices until it has completely cooled.

Prosciutto and Caramelized Onion Pizza

My college town had the most fabulous pizza place called Antonio's. It was so good and well known that anyone driving from Amherst to my hometown (2 1/2 hours away, mind you) would end up with a list of orders to be brought back and warmed up. I even stumbled over a reference to it in The Penderwicks on Gardem Street! It wasn't just the quality of the pizza itself that was so good, but the unique combinations they had on their menu. Until I ate there it never occurred to me that pizza could be topped by anything other than cheese, pepperoni, maybe onions. And sauce was always red.

Always.

Then I tried pizza with a potato on it. And pizza with tortellini on it. White sauce even! All for a dollar per giant slice. To this day everyone I meet who went to school in Amherst will discuss Antonio's when they get together, no matter how long it has been since we left.

When I started making my own pizza dough I was cautious and started with really basic flavors. Then I stumbled on some more unusual toppings on different blogs: asparagus, zucchini, corn. I remember how much we loved Antonio's and then we would experiment. Whatever was in the fridge was fair game and combinations that I saw online would be filed away for future attempts.

This is one that ended up on regular rotation and while I'm sure I am not the first to put prosciutto and caramelized onion together it really was just me throwing some of our favorite things on a pizza. We ended up loving it. The sweet onions are a perfect contrast to the salty prosciutto. The proportions of the toppings can all be adjusted to your personal taste, particularly the cilantro since that seems to be one herb you either love or hate!

What's your favorite or most unusual pizza topping? 

Caramelized Onion and Prosciutto Pizza
Ingredients:

1 recipe of your favorite pizza crust

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1/2-3/4 mozzarella

3-4 slices of prosciutto 

3 tbsp caramelized onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Make the dough according to your recipe.  Once you've gotten the dough into the right shape, spread sauce over it and then cover it with almost all of the cheese. Rip the prosciutto into large chunks and evenly distribute over pizza. Spoon the onions evenly over the pizza then sprinkle the last little bit of cheese over the top and bake per dough instructions. I bake mine 12-15 minutes at 425 after preheating a pizza stone for about 30 minutes. 

Keeping Connected: Vonage Box Review

Home from a deployment a few years ago

There are a lot of things that makes life as a military family tough. We deal with deployments, constant travel when he isn't deployed, moving every few years and being far from extended family and "home". We've been living this nomadic life for so long I'm not even sure where home is anymore…they say "home is where the Air Force sends you" and after almost 12 years, that's pretty true for us.

When my husband first started flying communication was pretty touch and go while he was gone. For the most part we got short morale calls once a week, but since he was flying from base to base during each trip we couldn't rely on him having access to a phone or solid internet. We learned a few tricks  that gave us a chance to talk a little more often but it still wasn't great. For years I was never more than 2 feet away from my cell phone while he was gone.

The longer we spent in the Air Force the more we moved and the more our friends moved. We have friends stationed all over the world and all across the United States. Family is scattered across the country as well. When you add all that to the trips my husband was regularly taking you can imagine why we were constantly searching for better ways to communicate. Email only goes so far…what a difference it makes to hear your loved ones voice! I still remember the first trip he took when we could use text messaging despite the fact that he was overseas. It felt like such a luxury!

We've been stationed at a training base for a few years now but we will be heading back to the operational life style soon. To get ready I've been searching for new tricks to keep in touch while he travels. When Vonage reached out to military family bloggers to try their service I couldn't wait to give it a try.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Vonage it is an internet phone service. You attach the Vonage Box to your modem or router, plug a your phone cord into it as well and you're all set. It makes and receives calls just like like a landline phone service but it uses your high speed internet connection instead of a phone line.

Extra bonus for us military folks (or others who are far from home or regular travelers)?
You can pick a number that is "local" to where you live OR where your family lives. When you move or travel, bring it with you and you keep that local number. Even overseas! So if your family is in New York and you move to Germany…you still have a local New York number. Just like when you were living stateside.

That means when my husband is flying from base to base, he can call us anytime he wants and even better-we can call him! Now that is a luxury.

I was really pleased with the box I got to review. I set it up all by myself, with no problems. I was a little worried because we have a wireless router and I thought that might be an issue when I looked at the instructions. Just in case I ended up using a step by step installation tutorial on the Vonage website which gave me easy access to customer support in case anything came up. Nothing did and it was installed in less than 15 minutes. The box itself is really small and unobtrusive which I like for the aesthetics, and it takes up very little space if you needed to pack it and travel with it.

The sound quality on both inbound and outbound calls has been great. The boys have been loving having a phone that they can hold more easily than our cell phones (goodbye constant hangups!), although they are perplexed that the cordless phone (the one that was so high tech when we bought it) doesn't have video. Crazy how fast technology changes, isn't it?

Keep your eyes peeled for a giveaway over the next few weeks where you will have a chance to win one for yourself!

This is a sponsored post. I received a Vonage Box and one year of service for review but the opinions are my own. Thanks to Vonage for supporting Hearth and Homefront!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone! Are you still hunkered down in the freezing cold? We're getting a brief reprieve from it for the weekend thank goodness, so I can get my stir-crazy boys outside before we get another "arctic blast" next week.

I've been reading a lot this week and while the book subjects are all over the place, one of them is about unexpected houseplants. Between that and the dreary weather I am longing for garden season. I used to have a lot of houseplants but it got difficult to manage them with all the military moves so I've been gardening outside only the last few years. I might look for one this weekend though, it makes such a difference having something green in the house in the dead of winter!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Here are some of my favorite links around the web this week: 

Manhattan Clam Chowder by the Brown Eyed Baker. As a native New Englander, it feels a little blasphemous to say it…but this looks fantastic.

Shana and Stacey ended their series on Learning to Like a Social Network. So many good tips!

These Stir Fried Noodles would be perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.

Another slow cooker recipe to try: Chicken in Milk by the Naptime Chef.

Ending the "mommy wars".

It might be that I'm used to moving every few years, but I totally have the "re-decorating disease"!

You know I love a good owl craft!

These are getting made this weekend. My boys will flip out. Pizza Waffles!! What 5 year old can resist that!?

Back to Basics: Caramelized Onions

Confession: I have never met an onion I didn't want to caramelize. There's just something about the sweetness and depth of flavor that it adds to a dish. I have to regularly remind myself that not every recipe will be better with a caramelized onion…even if it does make the house smell divine. Sometimes, though, it just the thing to elevate what you're cooking from boring to something special. We use it as a topping for steak, added into a pasta sauce, even in grilled cheese.

I once read that a famous hostess would time her dinner prep so that the house would smell of caramelized onions just as her guests were arriving. That is a smart lady…and I may or may not have tried it myself a few times.

There are no unusual ingredients in this, and it can be done well in advance. I usually do 2-3 onions at a time but this is easily adjusted for more or less. The only real difference will be how long it takes.

You will need:
2 onions
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 big pinches of kosher salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar (optional)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

Start by peeling the onions and chopping them in half. Then slice them so they look like half moons.

Melt the butter and olive oil together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and stir so that they are coated.

Simmer until they start to soften and brown, about 7-10 minutes. Then add the salt and stir together. Continue simmering for another 20 minutes or so until they are really soft, brown and broken down. You want to stir every few minutes, but you don't need to stand over the stove stirring constantly.

At this point, if you would like, add the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Just stir for another minute or two and you're done. I don't always do this if I'm putting the onions directly into a sauce, but if they will be the focus of the dish (say a pizza topping or in that grilled cheese) then I do. It just heightens the flavor a bit more. Use the vinegar to deglaze the pan a little, as anything sticking to the pan will be extra caramelized and even more flavorful.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days or use immediately in a recipe.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

My slow cooker is something I just don't use often enough. I completely neglect it in the summer because I think of it as best suited to soups and stews and then in the winter I use it to make two or three things and never experiment. Now that our evenings are filling up with kid activities I am making a concerted effort to use it at least once a week. We'll see how long that lasts, but I'm hoping that necessity will keep me from falling out of the habit again.

This is pulled pork is a family favorite. We've eaten it on tacos, in buns, by itself and even as the topping for a barbecue pizza. It feeds a crowd or makes a lot of leftovers, so I try to make it early in the week when we can enjoy it for lunch or reuse it in another recipe later in the week. It also goes over very well as party food…sliders at a birthday party or as part of a big football party buffet.

The flavor falls into that not too spicy, not too sweet range and my children devour it in all forms. Since we have firmly hit the picky stage with my youngest, that makes this a regular in our dinner rotation. (What is it about age 4? The child will eat spicier foods than I will but give him a sandwich and you'd think he was being tortured. Ah, the joys of motherhood!)



Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
adapted from The Naptime Chef

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pound pork roast
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup ketchup
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp paprika
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper

Place a saucepan on the stove over medium heat and pour the olive oil in. Sear the pork roast on all sides and then add it to the slow cooker.

In a separate bowl, place all the other ingredients and mix well. Add to the slow cooker and turn the roast so all sides are coated with the sauce. Cook on high for 5-6 hours in slow cooker (or 7-8 on low).

When the roast is done, shred the meat with two forks and mix the shredded meat with the sauce that's left in the slow cooker.

Serve in buns, tacos, etc. Garnish with cilantro or anything else you'd like. Also makes a fabulous pizza!

Cinnamon Sugar Scones

Did everyone have a nice three day weekend? It was a good countermand to the craziness lately and I spent it teaching my oldest card games, relaxing and generally getting organized. I made a lot of lists, and feel like I might have a handle on what needs tweaking in my current system. More on that later this week. In the meantime I'm balancing my to-do list with things that make me happy and getting back to baking is a big one.

Scones are one of my favorite instant gratification recipes. They are relatively easy and are done within 30 minutes. This batch was inspired by my favorite breakfast as a child (and adult, let's be honest)-cinnamon sugar sprinkled over buttered toast. Being scones, these aren't quite as sweet as my inspiration which suits my palate more as an adult. The cinnamon chips add an extra pop of flavor as you take a bite. These are perfect with a cup of tea and a good book-my favorite kind of baking!

Cinnamon Sugar Scones
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces (needs to be cold!)
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp cinnamon chips
1 cup almond milk (can also use heavy cream)

For the topping:
1 tbsp almond milk (again, heavy cream will also work)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


Whisk all dry ingredients except cinnamon chips together. Add cold butter and mix together with your hands or a pastry blender until it becomes sandy with larger chunks of butter left (about pea-sized). Pour in the cinnamon chips and stir until they are distributed throughout.
Pour the almond milk over the butter mixture and stir until it just begins to stick together. Pour mix onto a floured surface and knead until the dough forms a ball. Pat into disc about 3/4 inch tall and either cut out in circles using a cookie cutter or slice into triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Mix together cinnamon and sugar to form topping. Drizzle almond milk over each scone and then coat the top with cinnamon sugar  mixture.
Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! So happy that it's a three day weekend with minimal plans in our house. I have grand plans of cooking, cleaning out my closet (thinking about trying Poshmark. Anyone had good luck selling clothes there?) and constantly vacuuming up the dry grass my dogs are rolling around on in the backyard.

Here are some fun links from the last week:

Slang phrases from the 1920's that should be brought back. The history nerd in me suspects some of these might not be accurate, but some are hysterical…

Anyone heard of these MiiPC's reviewed by Cool Mom Tech this week? As my boys get older and are needing to do school work on a computer I'm very intrigued by this idea.

Ready for more brownies? These Dulche de Leche brownies from Brown Eyed Baker look phenomenal.

This Beer and Cheese dip from the Curvy Carrot would be perfect football playoff food.

Are you looking forward to the Oscars? Luckily there are a few children's movies on the list of nominees or I wouldn't have seen any of them! Somehow I don't think I'll get a chance to watch the best picture movies before March…

Happy weekend everyone!

Streamline: Planner Problems

                  

For some reason once the holiday season was over I expected myself to be back on top of everything. I blamed the business of our schedule on Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the social events that accompany them. I felt like my current calendar system might just not be working because there was just too much. Last week I told myself that it was all the appointments and meetings that were put off until after the school break was over that made me feel like I wasn't on top of things.

This week is forcing me to look at the real issue though. I can't keep blaming this feeling on there being  too much to do, because frankly, this is my life. It's busy. Appointments and meetings are going to keep happening. My children will keep getting homework projects and paperwork that I need to send back to school. This is what life looks like with young children and the commitments my husband and I take on outside work/home. For the most part these are things we want to do or have to do (There's no skipping hair color appointments anymore-hello gray roots!) 

Cooking has taught me that if something isn't working the recipe needs to adjusted. Add a little more seasoning, adjust the ratio of milk to flour. It's time to start adjusting how I organize myself/stay sane. If the system works, I'll keep it up and then stay sane. If it doesn't fit my life at the moment, I fall off the wagon and end up stress eating brownies out of our freezer because, well…chocolate! 

I'm going to try to re-integrate my meal planning and family scheduling a little better. It kind of fits with my plans to streamline things this year. Bear with me over the next month because I'm going to figure out how to make things run more smoothly and document it a little here. Consider it a mini-blog series! 

So here are the scheduling things that need work (at this moment):

Meal Planning

Family Calendar

Blog Calendar

Paperwork

Normally we meal plan once a week and I try to match up what events we have in the evening with the meals. We post the meals on the chalkboard in our kitchen so that I don't forget (yes, I know) what I planned to make. Now that pretty much every evening has an event for somebody in the house I've been trying to cook in the middle of the late afternoon homework rush and that gets complicated fast.

Our family schedule gets input into both the Cozi app on my phone and a white board calendar on the wall. This system was working great until both kids ended up in evening activities and now there really isn't enough space on the board to fit everything and still read it.  

                                                                            via

The last paper planner I had was The Busy Body Book which I adored, but they went out of business. Each week had a two page spread. The left page was set up for notes and to-do lists, and the right page had the days in a vertical column. Then there were 5 other columns to label with whatever you needed-one for each family member, work vs home, meal plans, etc. It was FABULOUS. 

So the first order of business is to find a new planner. Do you have one you love? Please comment if you do! I'm going to do some research this weekend and I'll post a roundup of possibilities next week. Over the next few weeks I'll share what's worked and what hasn't in terms of meal planning and handling the paperwork craziness. It's always nice to be accountable to someone and I'm betting that I am not the only one having problems getting back into a groove this year so maybe it will help one of you too!

Feel free to share your favorite planner/calendar/general organizing tips in the comments! The more ideas the better!

January Reading Roundup

Once the chaos of Christmas prep was over I finally settled down with some good books. I've read way more in the last month than I did in the months leading up to the holidays, and am back to my usual method of reading a few books at once. I don't have a specific book list for 2014 (except for my book club picks) but my "to-read" list on Goodreads has exploded over the last few weeks with all the end of year book roundups. The tough part is choosing what to read next!

Here's what I read over the last month:


                                   



Deadlocked and Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Well, I finally caught up on Sookie Stackhouse. I happened to stumble on the last two books while at the library before Christmas and grabbed them both. While I'm less enamored of the stories than I was in the beginning of the series, Harris makes her books hard to put down. I still don't know how I feel about the final end to the series but I know there was no way to make everyone happy with Sookie's love life!

House of Hades by Rick Riordan
The latest Percy Jackson. I love these books…they are fast paced and totally absorbing. Not the height of literature to be sure, but the way he weaves in the different Greek and Roman mythology is impressive and saves them from being fluff. This one finds our team of heroes divided between two worlds as they try to free the doors of Death. The characters are beginning to grow up (sniff, sniff!) and they are dealing with much more mature problems. Now to wait until next fall for The Blood of Olympus!

Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey by Emma Rowley
Fun look into the production of the hit series. I grew up on Masterpiece Theater and have been watching Downton since the beginning. The pictures are beautiful and there was a lot of really interesting information about how the filming works in an historic home. And the pictures of the costumes and Highclere Castle? Swoon!

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
I'm very torn about this one. It's our book club pick for January and while the story was interesting and fast paced, the character development bothered me. I didn't think the author conveyed Anne's character in a smooth arc-it felt choppy and a bit contrived sometimes. I also think that Charles Lindbergh would have been really interesting if his character was fleshed out more. He felt like a cardboard cutout of the genius/jerk husband archetype and not like an actual human with flaws. Part of my problem could be that I've read Gift from the Sea (see below) multiple times and had my own image of Anne Lindbergh to contend with while reading Benjamin's version. It left me wanting to reread Gift from the Sea and track down a biography of each of the Lindberghs…wanting to read more is usually a sign of pretty good historical fiction for me. Since my book club is made up of modern day aviator's wives it should be a good discussion!

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
After I finished the Aviator's Wife I couldn't get the two versions of Anne out of my head, and how different they were. Gift from the Sea became a seminal feminist tract as it encouraged women to grow throughout her life and to be her own person, as well as half of a partnership. This is one of those books that I read every few years and relate to entirely different parts of it. Anne wrote this after a retreat to solitude and simplicity on Captiva Island in the 50s. She frames each chapter by exploring one of the shells she found on the beach while she was there, and later brought to her home in Connecticut to see as she wrote. Sometimes dense but I think this is one of those books that everyone will find at least a few words that resonate with them.

Where'd you go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Funny, quirky, satirical. This was the perfect read for this past weekend. It tells the tale of a woman who goes missing just as her daughter is finishing middle school. It's told through emails, faxes, invoices and narration from her daughter Bee. Go read it! (And then come back and snicker with me about the Suburu vs. Mercedes Parents!)

What have you been reading this month? As usual, I'm linking up to Twitterature on Modern Mrs Darcy. Go check it out for more great books!

This post contains affiliate links. 

Spiced Brownies

So I talked about wanting this past weekend to be a quiet weekend on Friday, and sometimes you get just what you ask for! My husband was on the road, and a packing snafu left me with an dead laptop battery and no charger. We also finally made the decision to ditch cable tv since we use netflix/hulu more anyway and it got turned off a few days ahead of schedule. So no computer, no tv.

I was a little grumbly at first, but realized in the end how good it was that I was forced to REALLY unplug. All I had was my iPhone and Netflix and that was more than enough. (And should be more than enough!) I read a lot, caught up on old British dramas and spent lots of time with good friends. The boys and I got some one on one time and a special Mommy date to celebrate good report cards. A nice reminder that shutting down that laptop a little more often is in all our best interests…maybe something I should've added to my goals list for the year!

I volunteered to bring dessert to one of our get togethers this weekend, and since the kids outnumbered the parents I needed something that would appeal to the kids but also be a little bit different for the grownups. And of course, something that didn't require me to go to the grocery store with 2 small children in tow!

These brownies are an old favorite of mine. They are based on a brownie made by the Baked bakery in New York City, which is known for putting new spins on old classics. The spice is subtle and not "spicy" despite the use of the smoky paprika. It just elevates and adds a slight sophistication so that it works just as well at a dinner party as it does a kindergarten class party. The texture is that sweet spot between fudge and cake. They taste good with coffee or tea and wine, which is why I love to have a stash of these in the freezer for those moments when I need an emotional snack. I'm much more likely to be satisfied with one great brownie than I am with a handful of 'meh' oreos!


Spiced Brownie
adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Baked Bakery

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp smoky paprika
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
12 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick butter, sliced
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together the flour, salt, cocoa powder, paprika, cinnamon and cardamom. Set aside.

Melt the butter, espresso powder and chocolate together in a glass or metal bowl placed over a pan of gently boiling water. Once the mixture is completely melted and smooth take it off pan and add in the sugars. The mix should be cooling slightly at this point. Add in 3 eggs and whisk together. Add the last two eggs and then the vanilla and whisk until just combined. This is point where you don't want to over mix or the texture will be more like cake.

Fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture with a spatula until it's all just mixed together. There should still be a touch of flour visible.

Pour into a 9"x13" pan that has been buttered or sprayed with a non-stick spray. Cook for 28-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, rotating the pan half way through. If you insert a skewer into the center it will be done when just a few crumbs come out on it, not when it is completely clean. Wait until completely cooled before cutting into squares.

Friday Favorites

Somehow I always let the first week after the kids go back to school from a vacation get extra busy. Too many appointments, too much paperwork. I got a lot accomplished, but there were times I felt on the edge of burnout. I have big plans this weekend to cut myself a lot of slack, get together with friends, let the kids play and the grownups relax, read a good book (I just started Where'd you go, Bernadette?!) and remind myself that it's ok to take the easy road sometimes.

Happy weekend everyone! Here are some of my favorite links from around the web this week:

Scientists in Australia respond to their lack of research into Dragons…and then make a 7 year old very happy!

Kelsey (The Naptime Chef) has posted a ton a great recipes in the last few weeks. The lemon marmalade and classic lasagna bolognase are going to the top of my to-do list!

I love Stacey's idea of an inspiration card that you can carry with you instead of a board hidden somewhere in the house.

How do you measure creativity? The Art of Simple shows us how to think beyond the number of completed crafts.

Tips for cooking with your kids from Simple Bites readers.

I really need a party as an excuse to make this Salty Honey Pie from Joy the Baker because I'm pretty sure I would eat the whole darn thing myself otherwise.

A great perspective on changing online envy into motivation from PJ at Bunny and Dolly. This is something I need to work on this year!

Eggnog Pancakes

I had grand plans over Christmas break to do a lot of baking. I had my eye on an eggnog bundt cake, spiced muffins and a few other odds and ends. Life had other plans for me instead and I spent more of the break taking care of sick children and succumbing myself on Christmas day than I did cooking in the kitchen. No one minded that there was no big Christmas dessert and the kids certainly didn't notice that we had "regular" breakfast instead of our special muffins-they just got to the presents that much faster! It was a good lesson in what stress is of my own creation and what is really necessary. Something I need regular reminders of!

The flip side to all this is that I ended up with a ton of leftover eggnog. The kids didn't really like to drink it and frankly one glass of eggnog per day (brandy or no brandy) seems to be all I can handle too.

I was brainstorming ways to use it up when I recalled seeing an eggnog pancake recipe last year. A few quick moments in Pinterest and I found one that would work. These are definitely much sweeter than your usual pancake, but they are a fun treat. Kids and grownups alike devoured them. With just a touch of maple syrup they were perfect for a cold winter morning! And even better, it's a one bowl recipe. Special breakfast with minimal dishes? This will stay on our breakfast rotation for sure!

Eggnog Pancakes
adapted from Savory Simple 


Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups eggnog
2 eggs

Mix all the ingredients together with a whisk. Careful not to over mix the batter-some lumps are ok. Heat up a frying pan or griddle and lightly grease with butter or non stick spray. Spoon out with a small ladle or 1/4 c measuring cup and cook until the edges start to bubble. Flip and cook through on the other side. This recipe made about 16 small to medium size pancakes for us-perfect for a big weekend breakfast.

Streamline

Photo from my instagram 

What is it about January that makes me want to streamline everything? Maybe it's the changes coming later this year, maybe it's the fact that we just hit two years at this base (and one year in the new house) and I'm itching to move? Or maybe it's the influx of stuff that follows Christmas with two children?

No matter the cause, this year I'm going to follow my instinct. Usually I half-heartedly make a donation pile and drop a few things off at Goodwill before my motivation dies. I stumbled on this pin last week of a simple handwritten list of areas to clean/organize/declutter. It's not a fancy printout. It's not a schedule. It's just a list.

I know myself and I am at my best when I have a list of specifics to get done. Between the adoptions and the multiple moves I can rock a to do list (especially the paperwork ones-ha!). So why not give it a try? If I lose motivation and stop, the worst that will happen is 3 or 4 rooms with less clutter. That's a win in my book.

If there is one thing that motherhood has taught me-it's that every season of life requires a different method. So here's to a few months of selling, donating and recycling the excess. A time to let go of what's not working, and to find what will work now, in this moment.

Do you get this urge to clear out in January too? What are your favorite ways to simplify? 

Carrot Coconut Soup

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous winter break. The kids head back to school today, which means I get to be productive again! Wheeeee! I feel a little bit like the parents in this back to school Staples ad. I loved getting to spend extra time with the boys…but boy am I ready to actually get things accomplished again. Exciting (ha!) stuff like going to the Post Office or getting an eye exam. Anything that requires me to stand in line (or generally stand still at all) does not happen when the boys are with me!

But now that I'm back let's get on to the food, shall we?

I've been holding out on you with this soup. I made it immediately after seeing it on Tracy's blog Shutterbean and it was a huge hit with the family-including the kids. It's been part of our regular dinner rotation ever since. It's creamy and filling but not rich, and I love the sweetness of the carrots paired with the spice.

So why did I wait so long to share it? Well…we never had leftovers. Not once. I never got my act together to take pictures of it before we ate, and after there was nothing left to photograph! It wasn't until I decided to double the recipe to use it for lunches that I could finally get a picture.

The original calls for a chile paste that I can't find here in the middle of nowhere, so I adjusted the recipe to work with sriracha. Since every member of our family prefers a different level of spice I made the base soup very mild. It has all the flavor from the sriracha but not so much of a kick that the boys will refuse to eat it. Then my husband and I drizzle our bowls with extra sriracha and get the spice that we prefer. If you have a houseful of spice lovers, you can just go ahead and add more sriracha right into the pan of soup.


Carrot Coconut Soup
Adapted from Shutterbean (originally appeared in Bon Appetit Magazine)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp coconut butter (or olive oil)
2 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced
salt
black pepper
2 cans coconut milk
1 large onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 tsp sriracha (plus more for serving)
fresh cilantro, to garnish


Warm a saucepan over medium-high heat and add in coconut butter. Once it melts, add in the chopped onion and carrots. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper to your taste and sauté until the carrots and onions have softened. (About 20 minutes).
Next, add in the chicken broth, coconut milk and sriracha and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down so it can simmer for about 40 minutes. At this point the carrots will be really soft and the soup will have very slightly reduced.
Blend the soup until smooth, using either an immersion blender (best kitchen invention EVER) or moving batches of the soup to a food processor or blender and adding back to the pot. Be very careful if you use the latter method!
Adjust the seasoning by adding more salt and pepper if desired, then serve in bowls garnished with cilantro and a drizzle of sriracha.

Favorite Books of 2013

I just barely reached my goal of 60 books this year, but I managed to outdo 2012's page count by 2000 pages! Thank you Mr. George RR Martin! I'm planning on geeking out over my reading stats a little more this year (locations, fiction/non-fiction categories, oh the possibilities!) and upping my reading goal to 65. I also really want to read more on the craft of writing (I have my eye on Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott to start with) as well as working on the unread books I already own. I have so much motivation and excitement in January! We'll see if it's still around in June :)

On to this year's favorites though. I read much more fiction than non-fiction, but there were very few books I finished that I didn't like. If you want to see the whole list for 2013 you can see it on Goodreads. (Friend me while you're there!) I also keep a running list on my "books" tab!

Here though are my top 10, in no particular order.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

The second graphic novel from the writer of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" was more mature than his first both in subject and writing. A young boy journeys to New York and ends up hiding in the Museum of Natural History while he tries to find his father. The scene that takes place in the middle of miniaturization of New York City is one I still think about months later.

 A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

Deanna Raybourn is one of my favorite authors, hands down. (Seriously, read her blog and tell me you don't adore her.) This is a standalone novel set in Kenya in the 1920's, as opposed to her usual Victorian series. Delilah Drummond, sent away from Paris while a scandal cools down, finds more than she bargained for when a murder intrudes on the Happy Valley set.

A Daughter's Tale by Mary Soames

A memoir written by Winston Churchill's youngest daughter. Fascinating glimpse into their lives leading up to World War II. It was a lovely read paired with Mr. Churchill's Secretary.

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson

Barbara Buncle is a quiet spinster living in a small village outside of London. She needs money and on a whim writes a novel about the people she knows best-her neighbors. When the book becomes a hit, and life begins to imitate art, the village is turned upside down. This is simply a sweet book. It's not syrupy, but it's comfort reading at it's best.

Instant Mom by Nia Vardolos

As an adoptive parent I love this book not only because it's well written and funny but it's also a refreshingly honest portrayal of adoption. I wrote a longer review here.

Quiet by Susan Cain

As an introvert it was fascinating to read this book and just keep nodding my head. I learned a lot about myself and my interactions with people, and learned a few new ways to keep myself from burning out. Whether you're an introvert or not, this is really interesting stuff. (And the kindle edition is just $2.99!)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This book is the perfect example of why I love my book club. I would never have picked this up. Ever. I would have continued thinking it was too scary and not my cup of tea thankyouverymuch. Once I started it, I realized it's much more like Harry Potter than horror…and all those creepy vintage photographs? They don't seem creepy within the story. In fact, they help tell the story and that's such a cool concept that even if the story was just "meh" this would have ended up on my best of the year roundup anyway.

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

A man returns to the town he grew up in for a funeral and he begins to remember a haunting story from his childhood. Gaiman is not for everyone, but man this book is good. I literally harassed my poor husband to read it for weeks after I finished. It's part horror, part fantasy, part coming of age. It almost edges out The Graveyard Book for my favorite Gaiman story, which is saying a lot!

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James

St. James creates an utterly chilling story about a temp named Sarah sent to assist a ghost hunter study a ghost who is afraid of men. The writing is phenomenal and I couldn't put it down for about 24 hours. I was also too chicken to read it before going to sleep :)

Buddhism for Mothers of Young Children by Sarah Napthali

I loved the theme of becoming a more mindful and present parent, and this book gave me ideas and support that you don't often find in parenting books. She acknowledges the difficult parts of parenting children who are very young, while presenting reassurance and a path through the tough moments, as well as a reminder to care for yourself too. Not just for Buddhists, and in fact only the last chapter really discusses Buddhism as a religion as opposed to the beliefs (like mindfulness) woven throughout the book. Careful, though, this one is pretty dense reading.

What were your favorite reads this year? Modern Mrs. Darcy is hosting a linkup of 2013 favorites today-click here to check them all out! 

Some of these links are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

2014 Goals

                  

A pretty good way to start the year-Behind the Scenes of Downton Abbey and chai :) 

I hemmed and I hawed about doing one of these posts. Did I want to make public commitments that I wasn't sure I'd follow through on? I always made vague resolutions but they were never measurable and eventually I'd forget about them. Last year I wrote about intentions rather than resolutions for 2013. A bucket list of sorts, with no real worries about checking things off. Without even keeping track I managed to do about half of them. It was nice and low pressure, but that isn't what I need this year. This year calls for something more.

2014 is going to be a year of changes for my family. We're making some big, scary, exciting grownup decisions and the dust hasn't settled yet to see what direction it's going to take us. Granted, it is only the second day of 2014. I might need to add "have more patience" to my list...

I'm a believer in putting things out to the universe. I don't mean that the universe is just going to hand your dream over to you simply because you asked out loud though. I think if you acknowledge what you really want/hope/dream that things become clearer and start to come together.

Words have power.

Saying your dream out loud, writing it down, acknowledging it- they all give that dream power and momentum. It gives you a spot on the horizon to look towards and that helps guide your baby steps in the right direction.

My 2014 calls for measurable goals. A reminder in the chaos that I need to brave and take risks. I plan check in every so often here on how they are going-maybe quarterly, maybe monthly.


Cook something once a month that scares the pants off of me. Macarons. Fondant. Croissants. That's just a start. It's ok if the recipes bomb, but I need to push myself.

 Blog 3-4 days every week. That might not mean 3-4 recipes every week, but the routine of writing is important.

Guest post at least 4 times this year (once a quarter). More would be awesome, but for now that's a start.

Figure out Twitter (and the rest of social media).

Run 500 miles this year and train for one road race. I have my eye on a half marathon, but I'm not sure the timing will work out. Running keeps me sane but I don't have much confidence at it yet. I'm hoping completing a race (which I haven't done since cross-country in high school) will bring that back.

Read 65 books this year. I did 60 this year, but almost 2000 pages more than last year (thanks George RR Martin), so I'm pretty sure I can do 65.

Of those 65 books, 2 need to be about writing and 12 need to be books languishing unread on my own bookshelves. 

Submit my food photos to FoodGawker or Tastespotting. This goes hand in hand with working on my food styling and photography.

Take more photos of the family…and make sure I'm in some!


What are you aiming for this year?