My sous chef

Last weekend, Baby helped me for the first time make pancakes. (translation: he like my salt shaker and was mesmerized by it) At this rate, he will have his own Food Network special in a few years. Thanks baby for all your help.

Why do they do those nice things?

I am not going to lie, I have not been the nicest to my husband since the baby came. I have had my moments where I am sweet to him, but I have the feeling if you asked him about my personality he might have to think about when I was nice last. (I get some sort of points for at least being honest about my attitude, right?!)So how do you think I felt when he was nice enough to get a free $100 dollar gift certificate from his work and he chose to get if to a cooking store for me instead of someplace he could use it? His work cashed in all their reward points for the company credit cards the sales reps use and they decided to get a bunch of $100 gift cards to various places and give them to the employees. (seriously, this company really cares about their employees... and we are happy with that.)
With it, I got to go to Williams-Sonoma (which in no way supports this blog, but I would definitely not object if they wanted to!) I got a bundt pan, a cookie sheet liner, a silicon spoon and some muffin liners. If you are a baker, these things are very exciting. I never would have thought that I would be so happy to buy a bundt pan, but it made my day!My husband is so kind and thoughtful, I definitely need to not bite his head off whenever he screws up. (which with all my hormones raging, seems to be quite often lately.) So sorry honey, for all the snarky remarks, and I appreciate the card. You are the best and I will remember that every time I bake a bundt!

Annual Christmas Cookie Day!

Cookie Day!!!

Travis making his meltaways

He even does the frosting. :) 

This is about Half of the  sugar cookies I made. 

Every year, I make a butt load of cookies for all my local friends and family. I make the sugar cookies and I am teaching Travis to make meltaways. I went through 3 pounds of butter, 2 and a half bags of  powdered sugar,  and 5 pounds of flour to make 2 batches of sugar cookies, 4 batches of meltaways and 4 batches of frosting for them all. I totally love to do it, but it gets harder to do every year because it seems like it is a bigger deal.   It makes me feel like Christmas is really here!  

Pecan Pies are tough cookies to bake

My first attempt at a pecan pie.  I think I cooked it too long.   It was still good, but I need to try again. :) 

Last post today, I promise.

So I made 2 pies with different crusts.  The one that won was a recipe out of my Everyday Food magazine. It was a basic pie crust and here is the recipe. 

Basic Pie Dough

This recipe makes enough dough for one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
16 tablespoons cold (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
DIRECTIONS

In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). To help ensure a flaky crust, do not overprocess.
Transfer half of dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into a disk 3/4 inch thick; wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days). Repeat with remaining dough. (Disks can be frozen, tightly wrapped, up to 3 months. Thaw before using.) Makes 2 disks.


It is super easy and quick. :) Hope you all enjoy. 

What is on my mind....

Pie.  I have two beautiful pumpkin pies with 18 minutes left until their gorgeous finish.  I am trying two recipes for the crusts: one is Trav's Yia Yia's recipe and the other is from my Everyday Food Magazine. (I am excited for both of them) I am doing this in preparation for the big day!  Not Christmas, or some other get together, but the big one, the mother of all cooking days, the day I wait for all year, that I plan in my head for months before---- THANKSGIVING!!!!!!  I sit and can picture the spread of the table- what I will axe from the menu, what I will add.  Scouring all my October and November magazines, I will spend hours planning how I will create the perfect meal that everyone will stop and say, "Wow, that was the best thing I have ever eaten.  I mean ever!"  That is my goal.  That is my hope.  It means a lot when my father, who never really comments on anything, says to my mother that she should take lessons on how to make gravy from me!   I want people to compare their turkeys that they eat for the rest of the year to the beautiful, moist bird I set on the table.  One day when I am rich, I am going to buy the most wonderful set of dishes along with a elegant table just so that I can have the perfect dining room all set and ready to go for my guests. (I am talking like the ones in the Norman Rockwell paintings or the ones in Martha Stewart Magazine, the ones with totally too many plates and glasses, but it looks so gorgeous before anyone sits down) 

Cooking this one dinner is the one thing in this world that I can do and I will say it (even though it makes me sound seriously vain) well.  Being in the kitchen cooking, puts me in a zen like state where I really don't care what is happening.  (unless it is taking place in MY kitchen, then I turn into a mix between the Incredible Hulk and Martha Stewart) 

So, in 5 minutes when my pies come out, it will be the first test of my dishes. Let the Holiday season start.  To me, this month is the most wonderful time of the year!