Category: Food

Posted on

Mini Roadtrip

A Road Trip Tale

The other day, April called and said she needed to drive clear to the moon and back and did I want to come with her? You can’t actually make that long of a trip all by yourself, with two babies in the back seat. It’s not physically or emotionally possible without sacrificing a major portion of your sanity. Not smart either.

So, of course I wanted to come.

Besides the Logan trip is one of my personal favorites. Seriously, it’s quite a pretty, peaceful drive–as long as you can hand out fruit snacks to the two-year-olds in a timely enough fashion.

When we finally arrived at the shop, and April delivered her brand new quilt patterns, we decided that the day couldn’t possibly be over yet.

There was just more to see…and do…and buy…and…umm…nibble on.

So we scooted right on over to the Gossner’s cheese store, where we promptly bought out the rootbeer milk and squeeky cheese. No, there’s no more left. We got it all, so don’t even ask.

Still not satisfied–we kept right on driving until we reached the wicked, evil, marvelous, incredible cookie factory. I don’t have a picture of it for you because I was so excited to get there that my hands were shaking uncontrollably and it screwed up the picture.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

But this is what the car middle space looked like for the drive home. I don’t know exactly where all those ridiculous cookies and crackers came from. Perhaps the rapid intake of sugar impaired my memory some how. Pretty sure they were allll for the kids. {insert diabolical laughter}

It did make the drive home more interesting…that is until the sugar highs plunged down to the sugar lows. But never you fear. Because just as we were about to sink into the depths of much-too-much-junk-ism, we found a lonely little fellow at a roadside stand–with a fresh-picked supply of…

Autumn raspberries!! Oh happy day!

We were saved!

Now we could drive all the way home in corrected blood sugar level peace and safety…or something.

In fact, we bought so many raspberries that we could eat our fill and do it again and STILL have enough to share with the neighbors and all of you guys and the cat! We could send you all a package, just as soon as we got home. What a great idea. Watch for them in your mailbox.

Oh, sorry. Beckham said no.

The End.

Posted on

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before this last week, the only Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookie I’d ever tasted was born at the grocery store. They were ok, fine, swell even. But I really wanted to find my own recipe and make it mine–to share with you.

Found it–tweaked it in a couple of places and ate them…all. Ok, with some help from the Bald Kid. But still…

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips.

Combine pumpkin, sugar, butter, and egg. In a different bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoons on to greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on pan for about 3 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

I asked the bald kid if he liked the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies and he said,

“Dude. I ate 12 of them.”

I’m thinkin’ that’s a yes.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Gr-Sig-right-size-e1547674736862.png

Happy Birthday my sweet little Mom!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
Print
:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips.
Instructions
  1. Combine pumpkin, sugars, butter, and egg.
  2. In a different bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, spices and salt.
  3. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
  4. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.
  5. Drop by tablespoons on to greased cookie sheet.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
  7. Cool on pan for about 3 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Posted on

Sweet Tooth Fairy

Ahhh yes…the rumors are true. I am in love.

April and I spent the evening with Dave at Sweet Tooth Fairy in Provo, to make the final arrangements for the Harry Potter Premiere party next week. Look what he gave us.

No, no. Sharing is not an option…sorry.

This Dave fellow is one smart cookie…or should I say cupcake? Perhaps guys don’t actually like being called cupcakes so sufficeth it to say, he knows his stuff. He’s working on some amazing wizard cupcakes for our party and took us in the back to show us how they are made.

We are in soooo much trouble.

Dude.

I’ll tell you, if I wasn’t already committed to finding a cute little farmer man with a Scottish accent, well, I’m quite certain that I could really fall for a guy who is up to his elbows in chocolate all day and has the Top Secret recipe for a Key Lime frosting that could bring world peace ALL. BY. ITSELF.

Alas, I’ll have to be satisfied with being madly in love with…

the cupcakes.

Somehow—it’s enough.

PS— Gracious Rain is being featured this week on Casual Blogger Community–please, please, check it out and leave a comment. Thank my dah-lings!

Posted on

The Pumpkinless Pie

My cute little daddy–in the middle, with the beard–had worked in a bakeshop of one kind or another, ever since he was about 8 years old. So, when he went into the Navy, it was only natural that he became a cook. To hear him talk, he must have loved it. One story that he told us when we were little, was of being on a battleship, somewhere out in the middle of the South Pacific on Thanksgiving Day.

He said the food was always as good as they could possibly make it, considering what they had to work with. But today, the guys were hoping for something more–anything that would make them feel just a little closer to those they loved back home.

Canned turkey was expected, along with some sort of dried bread stuffing and soggy vegetables, but what they all were missing the most, they said, was pumpkin pie. Of course there was no pumpkin–fresh or canned out in the middle of the ocean–during a war. But that wasn’t good enough for my smarty-pants dad.

He thought about it and thought about it and realized that cooked pumpkin, in many ways, is quite similar to…

carrots. Yesiree. Carrots.

So, while no one was looking, he cooked them up and added all the right spices, milk, and sugar. He said, that he found that if you treat a carrot like a pumpkin, it will act just like one. So when the “pumpkin” pie was served that day–it was perfect. Everyone thought it was a miracle or that pumpkins had just dropped out of the sky or something. They never knew. But they didn’t think too hard about it because they were way too busy being grateful for all their blessings…

and their amazing Superman cook–my cute little daddy….

who saved Thanksgiving Day.

And that’s the way he told it…

except for the Superman bit…that was all mine.

heh, heh.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Gr-Sig-right-size-e1547674736862.png

Happy Veterans Day!

Posted on

Friendly, Familiar Food

Not so much going on in this kitchen that’s brand new these days. In fact, we’ve been falling back on some good old standards lately. Normally, we have Egg Toast Cups on Easter–but it’s been so long since Daney boy has had them, that when he asked me to make them–how could I resist?

Any Fruit Smoothies are always a hit and since we had a full flat of autumn raspberries…well, some things are a given.

Ran out of corn flakes for the crumbly topping–but this time of year Cheesy Funeral Potatoes are always on the menu. Yummm.

While it’s true that we do eat a TON of apples around here, I’m only showing you these as a buffer for the decadence that is coming next. Oh, do forgive me…

but Tropical Krispy Treats just sort of popped up. I know, I know…enough color and sugar to light up Fargo, North Dakota. But…they didn’t last long, so it was just a very temporary lapse in judgment.

And the guys are lit up like Mack truck head lights…but they’re recovering and the glow is nearly gone.

All is well in Zion.  

How about you? What’s cooking in YOUR kitchen these days?