An Afternoon Treat. A little wet, but worth it.

Only in the south do you get caught in a flash rain storm within one mile of your house while on a walk with your toddler, and get offered 5 different rides home by strangers and handed one umbrella through a car window while being told, "just keep it". Random acts of kindness I tell ya. 

Yesterday afternoon Finn and I went on a walk after our afternoon naps (yes, that was our naps and pluralized). Our mission was to walk to the local Wendy's for a Frosty Waffle Cone; if we can walk it we will. I avoid car rides at all costs. Anyway, have you tried the new Frosty yet? I'd been craving one since I first saw they came out and every time I drive by the billboard on my way downtown it respikes my interest. 

My review is "it's good", but next time I'd rather just get the regular Frosty. More ice cream, less cone. Finn sure enjoyed it and couldn't get enough of it. 

Then storm Andrea unexpectedly hit. See story above.

lauren

Lemon Cream Pie. A Gingersnap Twist.

Tuesday evening I hosted book club here for the last time for a while. I love hosting and knew that I may not be doing it for a little while come May. It was a fun night as we all ate, chatted, sipped on wine, and talked Hunger Games.  

I always have fun whipping up a couple snacks & nibbles. Tuesday I made this yummy lemon cream pie from Real Simple (but of course!) made with a gingersnap crust, some bacon wrapped dates, and kale chips. 

Lemon Cream Pie

This pie is really fairly simple. I just had problems with the whipped cream and remembering to get all the ingredients at once while at the grocery store! I recommend using Trader Joe's Triple Gingersnaps, and be sure to pick up at least 2 lemons when shopping for ingredients. 

The bacon wrapped dates were easy-peasy as well.

Just wrap pitted medjool dates with a half a slice of bacon. Then secure with a toothpick. Place them all on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Yumm! I love that salty sweet combination and I'm really not a big bacon fan. 

Lyle & I have been eating a lot of kale lately. It's so super healthy for you. We've mostly just been steaming it a bit then I toss it lightly with a vinaigrette dressing. The other night I turned the rest of my bag into baked chips. Just toss them with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so until crispy. I could have baked mine for a bit longer I think, but they were still tasty. 

The evening ended with a huge sideways downpour! I thought the rain was actually coming through the roof. Oh how I love the storms here. 

Today I may actually break down and get a massage for myself. Lyle gave me the "ok" but I haven't completely committed yet. It's hard to spend money on something like that for myself when there's so many other things that the money would be good to put towards...aka baby. My back just gets put into knots when I sleep these days. We'll see. 

Happy Thursday. Let me know if you try any of these recipes!

lauren

Cookie Butter

Any Trader Joe's fans out there? Well we are big frequenters of the store. Today I did a big shopping trip to help fill up the cupboards & fridge a bit (I ran out of my favorite oranges & apples!) and I stumbled across this amazing stuff in the checkout aisle.....cookie butter. Have you had it before? 

This is this peanut butter-like-but-not spread that you can put on well...just about anything they say. It has a mild ginger snap taste to it. Apparently it's made out of crushed biscuits (like biscuit cookies?). Now I love ginger snaps & the like already, so I'm a shoe-in. But this is nothing like I've ever had before and it's amazingly delicious. I'm imagining putting it on some bread or pretzels, and for a dessert maybe on a cookie? Or even just my spoon! You have to try it. TJ's makes a chocolate bar with this as a filling; the guys at check-out tempted me into this stuff by offering me a taste of the chocolate bar. I was instantly sold. 

I dare you.

lauren

It's been a while.

We had a wonderful trip to Seattle and the San Juan Islands. Checking back in after vacation shocked us both back into reality with work and such. But we are alive.

Things to share. Some yummy desserts. I always remember how to spell dessert vs. desert due to this reasoning: when it comes to desserts, you always want at least two or more. So there are two /s/'s in the yummy one. I recently made a new dessert after Lyle had been begging me to make him cookies over the last couple weeks. We've both been trying to cut back on some extras, but I caved in. My friend Leslie had been telling me about the peanut butter and jelly bars that she makes and I just couldn't stop thinking about them. So I made some. They were good;  I think the next time I make them they will be even better.

When making them I would recommend putting more jelly on them than you might think. I put a whole jar on, but next time would use even more. Also, you don't need to use parchment paper. I just greased mine and they were fine. Try them.

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2½ cups smooth peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups jam or jelly, your favorite flavor
2/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, and coat inside of pan with flour; set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add peanut butter and eggs; beat until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and combine. On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

4. Transfer two-thirds of the mixture to prepared pan; press evenly into pan. Using an offset spatula, spread the jam on top of the peanut butter mixture. Dollop remaining third of peanut butter mixture on top of jam. Sprinkle with peanuts.

5. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cut into about 36 1½x2-inch pieces.

lauren