Christmas Things

Just like that, Christmas has come and gone. 

This year's Christmas was fairly simple and quiet. It even shows in our Christmas card. Instead of trying to get a perfect family photo, we went to the mall and took photos in a photo booth. It's not perfect but it's fun and playful.




Carley and I made "gingies" this year. The gingerbread cookie recipe comes from my grandma and it is a fun way to remember her during the holidays. 








Carley's friend came over and I let the girls decorate the cookies themselves. There was a lot of frosting and sprinkles but still tasted delicious. The girls had a good time. 



Christmas day we stayed home all day. No extra people, no visits to anyone, just chilling at home. We did take our traditional family photo in front of the tree first thing in the morning. 


We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, too. 

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls: Life List #57

Lately I've been feeling uncreative and like I have nothing to photograph. I want to photograph something but the intensity of my last semester of school sort of squelched my creative abilities. Or at least my creativity is in hibernation. 

One thing I like to document through photography is accomplishing the items on my Life List. I figured it could give me something small to focus on, just a little something to make me pick up my camera. So yesterday I did.

Life List #57: Make cinnamon rolls from scratch.

I used The Pioneer Woman's recipe. I didn't realize until into the process that her recipe is for 40-50 rolls! Half the dough is still sitting in the fridge until later today.













I ran out of powder sugar so the maple icing was a little runnier than it was supposed to be.

The final result was one thumb up. I think I would have gotten two thumbs up if Carley wasn't busy finishing the last of her cinnamon roll. They were absolutely delicious!

A Chocolate Flop

(Day 6 of my 7 daily posts)



Carley is a self-proclaimed chocoholic. Someone once told her it's why her eyes are chocolate brown. She believes it.

Yesterday (after a quiet day to myself while the kids aren't quite yet on summer vacation), Josh, Carley and I made Carley's favorite chocolate cookies. They're called Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and the recipe comes from her very own kids baking book.

We carefully measured the ingredients, followed the direction, perfectly (minus Josh's) rolled the dough into balls and put them on baking sheets. 10-12 minutes later the delicious smelling cookies were pulled from the oven and placed on cooling racks.

The cookies are awful. (Shhh, don't tell the kids because they still like them.) Dry, bland, more bitter than usual.

This is the second time I've made cookies this week that completely flopped. The first time was a chocolate no-bake cookie that never set. I had to freeze the puddle of chocolate goo in order to eat them without a spoon.

I don't know what school has done to my recently acquired baking ability but it seems to be gone. Hopefully it's just a temporary affliction.

For now I think I should hand over the silicone spatula to Carley and let her make her own cookies. They'd probably come out perfectly perfect.

Stop Looking, I Found It!

The camera battery charger that is.

And here's proof. We're making gingerbread cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

The Fruit of My Fruit Labor

Slowly I've been working through the waiting fruit from last Thursdays picking session. I still have some blueberries that may get frozen or turned into a dessert but I've cooked or canned the bulk of it. Other than the blueberries that have been eaten, which was probably 2 pounds of blueberries. They're like nature's candy. Yum.


There are three batches of jam so far... nectarine, nectarine and raspberry, and blueberry.


This nectarine and raspberry jam came out oh so good. There are only five jars so I'm saving them for a special occasion or the dead of winter when I need a taste of summer.


This morning I made a blackberry cobbler before the heat of the day. My kitchen is the hottest room in the house without cooking and like a sauna on a summer day if I bake something. There was too much berry sauce compared to the topping so the extra sauce is in the freezer waiting for another day.


This is what I had for breakfast. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.


And zucchini isn't technically a fruit and it wasn't technically my labor but I made cheddar and zucchini biscuits with our CSA zucchini. I'll serve them with dinner tonight.

Fido's Fabulous People Biscuits

Carley received a kid's cookbook from a friend (Wendy!) for Christmas. There are fun food recipes but also fun play recipes. One is a recipe for making Fido's Fabulous People Biscuits. In other words, dog treats cut with a gingerbread man cookie cutter.

Yesterday we made them.


The dough is made mostly of tomato juice, chicken bullion cubes and flour.


Then you roll them...


... and cut them just like regular cookies.


They look like regular cookies. I had to remind Carley not to eat the dough. Blech.


They cook in the oven for an hour. Then we let them sit in the cooling down oven for four hours! It wasn't the best plan with an impatient 5-year-old.


Carley loved making them. The dogs love eating them.

And last night we had a fantastic thunderstorm pass over our house. Carley was already in bed and Josh was headed that direction when Walt noticed lightning southeast of us. We went into the backyard to watch. The storm was moving fairly quickly and we got to see the thunderheads roll right over and passed us. The rain started and was coming down SO hard, I kept looking for hail.

I tried to grab a shot of lightning for the first time ever. This was my first shot and really the only decent one I got. I'd try to learn how to properly photograph it but I bet we don't have another storm like that for a few years. We don't have lightning like that around here much.

Cookies

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~Harriet van Horne

Today is the last day of school before the Christmas break. The kids and I bought their teachers gift cards (they are overworked and underpaid and make a huge difference in the lives of my children) and decided to make some cookies to go with along with the gifts.

Last night we made two batches of cookies. Chocolate Candy Cane cookies is a recipe I snagged from pioneerwoman.com, a favorite blog.


I can't make cookies with out my assistant, Carley.


And a baking assistant can't be a real assistant without a little powdered sugar on the forehead.


"This is the yucky chocolate." She tasted it once. It didn't go over well.


A quick pose.


The chocolate dough for the candy cane cookies has to chill for two hours so we hunt for another cookie recipe in Carley's favorite book.


The chocolate dough is chilled. The kids roll balls and smash them flat, just like play-dough.


After dinner and pajamas, the chocolate cookies are cooled from baking and it's time to dip in white chocolate. The best part.


And sprinkle with crushed candy canes.


Want a cookie? They're delicious.

The Baking Time of Year

Carley loves, loves, LOVES her new Williams-Sonoma Kid's Baking book that I gave her for her birthday. Last week we made gingerbread 'kids' from one of the recipes. Today we made s'more bars.








And boy were they good!

I'm not much of a baker, it's just too precise for me, but Carley's baking desires are rubbing off on me. Or maybe it's just the time of the year. Today I made a pecan pie from scratch and I mean s c r a t c h. No Pillsbury crusts for me when I decide to really make a pie. Although I can't even remember the last time I made a real pie.


It wasn't runny. That's a good sign.


Walt goes in for a taste. That's the true test.


30 seconds later he's heading to the finish line. Just call me Betty Crocker-Thiel.

The Real Deal

Even though we had a surprise birthday party for Carley while in WA, we still had a mini celebration on her actual birthday. Good thing too. She doesn't really count the party at my mom's because it wasn't her real birthday.

Carley's birthday was simple. After school, a friend from her preschool came over. Carley loves to bake so I let her and Bela make the birthday cake. They did a great job with only a little help from me with the measuring and of course putting it in the oven.

It was a simple yet sweet birthday. Carley enjoyed it.

























































Happy Birthday Carley!