The party details

I'm not usually much of a theme person but I thought the idea of a Winter ONE-derland theme was pretty cute. This was the photo we used for his invitations:


I was excited when I came across the idea to have a hot chocolate bar. I made homemade marshmallows for it using this recipe and let me tell you, that recipe results in DELICIOUS marshmallows!


I'll be making another batch for Valentine's photo props (picture my sweet Ethan taste testing a heart shaped marshmallow popsicle -- IF he'll let me take the pictures).

We had crushed candy canes, soft candy canes (some dipped in chocolate), white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkles, whipped cream, vanilla wafer cookie sticks, and fudge and caramel toppings as 'fixings' for the hot cocoa bar. The restaurant where we held the party let us use these carafes. If they had not offered I planned to use a crock pot to keep the hot cocoa warm and a ladle for serving. I used this recipe for the hot cocoa. It's similar to the recipe on the Hershey's Cocoa container.

{What you can't see in this pic is that the ribbon wrapped around the topping bottles and glasses holding the cookies say Let it snow and Winter Wonderland!}

The beverage table with the favors to the left:


The favors came from another idea that I read about online...Hot Chocolate on a Stick. The Giver's Log has the recipe here. I decided to follow Sprinkles Bakes idea of using the brownie pan.

I was very, very tempted to also copy her idea of using those birchware spoons but I stuck with cookie sticks to save a few bucks and so that they were still Hot Chocolate on a Stick b/c I like the name.
I wanted to make them prettier on top so I tried a powdered sugar and water combo to create icing. I also tried melted white chocolate on the tops but wasn't thrilled with how either looked. I attempted a not so successful snowflake design using the icing too. I only made a few of those because, let's face it, it took time and my time was limited due to a certain someone. I had a lot of other projects that I wanted to accomplish.

I ended up facing them down anyway and topping them with two homemade marshmallows since the recipe made SO many.



Ethan's daycare teachers transformed their room into a winter wonderland and they were kind enough to share how they made these amazing 3D snowflakes. I thought they would be perfect for Ethan's party. I thought they looked difficult to make but they were a breeze.


I loved how they looked in the windows. Thanks to Charlene for hanging all of them!


I wish my photo of the banner I made had turned out better. Thanks to Charlene for hanging this too!


The dessert table which included chocolate & sprinkle dipped marshmallows on a stick, vanilla cupcakes using this recipe, chocolate cupcakes using this recipe, Ethan's giant cupcake using this recipe and this frosting, and cookie/candy that tasted like Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies (so I hear), which I did not make. Initially I was just going to have the vanilla cupcakes but when I was finished making them I feared that I did not have enough so I googled a chocolate cupcake recipe and randomly chose one. It sounds like I chose a good one because I heard they were really good. I look forward to trying the recipe when I can eat them, someday. I have a feeling it will be my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe since it was very, very easy.


Monthly photo display


O-N-E collage that I put together. Ethan was done putting up with my photo taking by the time we got to the E.


I made cupcake toppers with a snowflake stamp, circle punches, and toothpicks. The snowflake cupcake wraps were part of a Wilton kit I bought after Christmas on clearance at Target.


We brought a bunch of Ethan's toys to the party to help entertain the little ones. I loved looking back there, seeing the babies playing, and parents chatting.


Friends brought a projector and speakers to hook up to our laptop so that we could play Ethan's first year slide show at his party. Ethan danced to the music while the slide show played :)

Edited to add that we asked our guests to write a message to Ethan in the book On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman.

I didn't get a picture of the good food. The appetizer was called Tuscan Sun and it seemed like it was a tray of breadsticks with dipping sauce. Pizza was for lunch. This was my lunch:


Ethan and his lunch:



Ethan and his cupcake:


This party was a lot of fun for me to plan. I spent time reminiscing about the past year and being thankful for our blessings.

Of course, no event goes off perfectly but we're fortunate to have friends who help save those moments of chaos. For example, Charlene and Steven graciously offered to arrive early to help me set up. I'm sure they were surprised to find me 3/4 of the way dressed, my hair 3/4 of the way blow dried, two gallons of hot chocolate yet to be made, and two car loads of stuff waiting to be loaded and transported to the party.

These moments help to create some laughs and memories though, right?

I had forgotten to order balloons. Ethan fell in love with balloons at the parties the prior two weekends so we HAD to have balloons. Matt made two trips across town to order, then pickup the balloons.

How many Tablespoons are in 1 Cup? See the hot cocoa recipe above. We followed that recipe x32, twice, to make sure we had enough hot chocolate (we had about a gallon too much).

We used nearly 2 containers of cocoa to make the carafes of hot cocoa. I had planned to make a mug for me using So Delicous Vanilla Coconut milk (which Ethan has NOT reacted to, btw). When we realized we had used all of the cocoa, Steven was sweet enough to scrape together what probably would have been enough for me in the bottom of the Hershey's Cocoa container. I turned around to use it and accidentally dumped it in the sink.

We arrived at the restaurant and discovered that we needed more ice for the beverage tins. Joe offered to go get some more. We later learned that Joe walked several blocks, bought 4 bags of ice, lost one on the run back to the party (I still laugh picturing this) and saved our ice dilemma. We thought he drove down the street!

I saw friends ask the waitress for things while setting up, to make sure we had everything that we needed. I saw Charlene, Steven, Jen, and Joe helping to hang all of the decorations and set everything up. Other friends joined in to help set up the dessert table. Wow, we have wonderful friends. Thank you all!

I'm sure Matt will be happy to have our house back in non-party planning mode. Some pics... too bad I didn't take any of the HUGE kitchen messes I created while preparing the favors and cupcakes.




Previous post with pics of the party.

Allergy update

It's been more than a month since my last allergy update. We've had some progress, some new found allergies, and still some unknowns.

Progress: We have been able to introduce cocoa into my diet, which allows me to bake this cake. I use water instead of rice milk (I planned to trial rice but haven't gotten there yet) and it's turned out great. Even Matt taste tested it and said that it is pretty good. It is awesome to have something chocolate and sweet to eat!!! Ethan didn't show any new reactions after I ate the entire cake over the course of a week so I baked another and introduced it into his diet. I hope to use this recipe to bake his first birthday cake. I think he liked the taste but the texture took some getting used to. He gagged a couple of times.

New found allergies: I decided to get a second opinion from another allergist. Our allergist wasn't going to test Ethan again until next summer. Our pediatrician and I felt that was too far from now since I'm navigating through foods blindly. I am so glad that I went with my instinct on this one. The new allergist patiently listened to everything I had to say, answered my questions, and gave me some reassurance. So, we had more skin testing done. Ethan still showed a reaction to eggs (his most severe reaction), cats, dogs, and peanuts. His new reactions were to milk (he is dairy and soy intolerant but his previous skin & RAST test did not show an allergy to them). I've heard of other children suddenly developing an allergy to milk around 10 months old and growing out of it within a year. I'm not as concerned about the milk allergy since we will likely avoid milk until he is 2 years old due to his MSPI. The upsetting positive reaction was to wheat. I had been eating the sprouted grain bread that I posted about on here, drinking beer, and had just started eating Oreos the week prior to testing (can you belive Oreos are dairy free?!). I noticed that the eczema on his face had worsened after I started the Oreos but thought it was because one of the other ingredients. I didn't suspect the wheat! The part of the allergist appt that left me confused was when the allergist said I could continue consuming wheat but not to feed it to Ethan. He knew that I was nursing. I've decided not to continuing consuming it. I felt the skin reaction was enough for me to believe that it is being passed through my breastmilk and I'm not going to risk it. Ethan and I continue to be dairy, soy, egg, peanut, and wheat free.

Unknown: Ethan has a patch of eczema on his chin that will NOT clear up. It's very frustrating. It nearly clears, peels, and starts oozing again despite my efforts to keep it moisturized and protected. I'm sure that his drool and hands touching it often are not helping matters. I can't help but wonder what is causing it. His skin is definitely better than it has been but I wish I could get the last few patches cleared up. It's a constant work in progress. We continue nightly luke warm baths, leaving skin damp instead of drying him off, applying Aquaphor/Vanicream, and hydrocortizone (we've gotten down to 1-2 times a week instead of nightly application of this. Although the doctors keep assuring me that it won't harm him to use it nightly, I'm still not comfortable with it). If only I could eliminate the cause of the eczema!

Ethan continues to react to our wall to wall carpeting. If it touches his face then he itches and develops little hives. It's not just from residual cat dander either. He reacts to my mother-in-laws carpets too. Her home is about a year old and there weren't ever any pets in it when Ethan showed his first reaction in her home. We've contemplated replacing our carpets with laminate or hardwood floors but we're not sure if we should invest that money into this house when we are considering moving within the next year or two. It's a difficult decision.

I mentioned cat dander and have to say that I've been thinking about our girls a lot lately. We still miss them and talk about them often. Christmas was tough w/o them. I kept thinking about how they loved to sit under the Christmas tree and about how cute they were playing with the wrapping paper and bows on Christmas morning. They're both doing very well. It sounds like their new owners appreciate them as much as we did! That makes me happy for them.

Squash, baby food, and allergy update

How have I missed winter squash all these years?! I think I've eaten it if someone else has made it but never prepared any myself until this year. Butternut squash is so good! Ethan really enjoys it too.

Before I discovered how simple it is to prepare, I fed Ethan Earth's Best brand of winter squash. He developed a flaring red rash all around his mouth and was fussy. I tried another brand of organic winter squash baby food and he didn't have an allergic reaction. I tried Earth's Best again and he had the same allergic reaction. Our allergist thought that Ethan may have been reacting to a preservative in it or that Earth's Best was cross contaminated. Making squash at home has been more successful, very easy, and prompted me to eat some with him.

I found spaghetti squash at a local market and decided to give it a try with Bertoli sauce (it's soy free). I'm making enough homemade food these days and needed a quick dinner so I haven't attempted making my own sauce. If anyone has a recipe for one though, I'd love to try it. The first time I baked spaghetti squash it was fantastic ... just like spaghetti! The next two times it turned out crunchy. Maybe I need to bake it for longer? I'm hoping to introduce spaghetti squash into Ethan's diet soon too.

I plan to try this recipe for acorn squash soup.

Other foods I've made that Ethan has loved are mangos, peaches, pears, and green beans. We've bought a few other pre-made baby foods but plan to make and freeze more homemade food. It seems more economical this way and then I will KNOW what is in it. Plus, Ethan is moving past the smooth purees and needs more of a variety of textures which I can easily accomplish by making his food.

I have also started giving Ethan whole peas to help him work on his pincer grasp. He can pick the peas up and has made a few attempts to put them in his mouth! It's wonderful to watch him develop and enjoy food. The sound of him smacking his lips makes us laugh. Anyone who tried to feed him just a couple of months ago is amazed at the difference between then and now. He went from clenching his mouth closed and refusing all food (except nursing) to showing excitement when he knows it's time to sit at the table to eat. What a difference!!

Although we've made such progress with his willingness to eat foods, we've had a setback with his reactions. We were doing so well and moving right along w/o reactions. Well, now that he's eating foods it has been even more difficult to determine what he is reacting to. Is it something I ate or something he ate? I haven't been introducing more than one thing at a time but some of his reactions are very delayed reactions. Since he didn't react when I ate the sprouted grain bread I figured gluten was ok and added oatmeal back into my diet. I didn't notice any reactions so we tried giving him oatmeal. All of the store-bought baby oatmeals have either dairy or soy in them so I made Ethan's from plain organic rolled oats. He was fine for nearly a week of him consuming oatmeal so I reintroduced one of the Enjoy Life Foods rice milk chocolate bars into my diet. That night was TERRIBLE and symptoms started. I can't decide if it is a delayed reaction to the oatmeal or a reaction to the chocolate bar. Regardless, both are gone until he feels better. Rashes, mucousy diapers, several night wakings, screaming & arching his back in the middle of the night, and overall fussiness have returned. It's been difficult on all of us.

*Oh and I had previously cut ALL rice out of my diet to see if his eczema patches on his face cleared up. After nearly 4 weeks of being rice free his cheeks were still pink but no bumps! They looked so great and didn't require any maintenance! It could have been the rice or possibly that the cat dander had finally died down enough. He still reacts to the cat dander/carpets in our bedroom though. So, another mystery still unsolved... is he intolerant to rice? The chocolate bar was a test to see if he reacted to rice milk. I should have waited more than a week after introducing the oatmeal into his diet or used something else to test rice. Ugh.

YUM!

{His expression isn't showing it but he really enjoys his veggies}

The Baked Apple Slices were delicious!! I used the microwave to cook them and they turned out great.

Oh and I made the mayo recipe again but used extra virgin olive oil instead of mild olive oil. I did not like it as much. I'll try it with mild olive oil again.

Rice & recipes

First, I wanted to get back to my post about my sandwich...
The bread I was eating was the Food For Life Seven Sprouted Grain bread. It is only 1 of 2 from their line that is soy free. Some of their other breads have soy oil in them. I wanted to clarify that just in case. It's always important to read labels. The other bread from Food For Life that is dairy and soy free is The Original Bran For Life Bread. I switched to this one because it's also rice free. It's tasty too.

Eczema... We're still struggling with this. I was wheat and gluten free for months but Ethan still had eczema on his face. Knowing that and the fact that he hasn't had any new reactions since I added wheat/gluten back into my diet makes me feel comfortable that he can tolerate it. I started questioning RICE though. Ugh. Rice is in all allergen-free foods! I've consumed A LOT of rice since this all began. I wonder if he has become sensitized to it. So, I've cut rice out for the past two weeks and will give it some more time before I decide. I'm hoping it will help his face clear up. It's tough... all those Enjoy Life Foods treats are free of the top 8 allergens but all have rice in them :( I miss the cookies.

Have I posted about this ice cream yet? It has soy lecithin in it but Ethan didn't have any new reactions after I ate it. Makes me wonder if he can tolerate soy lecithin now. In the beginning I had been concerned about guar gum too but again, Ethan didn't have any new reactions. Read about Turtle Mountain's Allergen Program here.

I stopped eating cereal and rice milk. I think the rice milk was making my stomach hurt. I still haven't tried hemp milk. I wonder if it would work in the cinnamon cake recipe that calls for rice milk.

I previously posted about this recipe for buckwheat pancakes. I've been eating those with real maple syrup and fruit for breakfast. Sometimes I think they taste like gingerbread pancakes!

I've been missing out on fall treats like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I did find some yummy & safe (by safe I mean free of offending ingredients) pumpkin butter at a local market. I've even put it on the buckwheat pancakes!

I'm going to try baked apple slices this week. Instead of a microwave, I've read a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Ok, now I'm hungry ... time to go eat!

3-0

{Not the fanciest birthday cake in the world but Matt seemed to enjoy it. Recipe below.}

My sweet husband turned thirty recently. I surprised him with a dinner get together with a few friends. I wish I had a picture of him, his friends, and his son sitting at the dining room table. It was like E was just another one of the guys ... only much smaller. I was really pleased with how the night went. Matt was surprised and everyone had a great time.


{Matt and Ethan on a weekend morning. Normally Ethan doesn't pay attention to the television but SportsCenter must have been very interesting on this particular morning. I love how he's using Matt as a footrest!}


{The three of us ready to go for a walk on Matt's birthday. I am one lucky gal!}

Recipe:
It's a creamy no-bake cheesecake. I really should have made the crust myself but I'm having a tough time making goodies that I can't eat so I'm shortcutting it when I can.

Beat 8oz cream cheese with 1/2Cup sugar.
Stir in 8oz Cool Whip.
Place in graham cracker crust.
Refrigerate.

I had cherry topping for Matt to add since he loves it.

Professional photos

We had our photos taken by Elaine Gates a few weeks ago and she posted a few of them on her blog.

It was hot and E was tired so he's giving his scowl in most but she managed to get some great ones of him smiling.

I'd highly recommend her if you are local.

Also... I read this blog and tried her recipe for fruit roll-ups since Matt's mother brought over some peaches. They turned out great. Matt said that if I hadn't told him they were 'home made' he would have thought I had gone out and bought fruit roll-ups. I thought they were better than store-bought but I was biased ;) Super easy and you know exactly what's in them!!

What a week!

It's amazing HOW quickly babies change. Over the past week Ethan has been working on his 5th and 6th teeth!! His gums are swollen and the white bumps are visible. He weighs 21 pounds and is 27 3/4 inches long. He learned to use his hands and arms to spin himself around while he's on his belly. He is VERY close to crawling too! He looks like a frog swimming but it gets him where he wants to go. Ethan also tried and actually ate pureed pears! He's getting better at drinking from his sippy cup too. I have to put water with a splash of apple juice in it but I'm hoping he'll eventually drink breast milk from it.

Last week we gave the daycare sweet potato in the mesh feeder to feed Ethan. He loved it! Later that day and for the next few days the skin around his mouth was all pink & red :( We'll have to try the sweet potatoes again in the future to see if it was a reaction to them or something else.

I've been trying to eat less rice. I worry that Ethan has been sensitized to it since I have eaten so much of it. For breakfast I've been eating Buckwheat Pancakes. I've used this recipe from Kathy's recipe box. I used applesauce instead of pureed squash. I omitted the milled flax combo (egg substitute). I also used 1tsp baking soda instead of the baking powder. They don't smell great but they taste good!

I picked up this book and whenever I've had a free moment I've been paging through. So far, it has some good, helpful info.

Ethan has a new found love for electronics... phones, remote controls, and the laptop. He reaches for them all.

Adjustments

Catching up on the allergy front but first a pic-

{My grandparents gave him that duck and he LOVES it. It quacks a song and he smiles every single time he hears it.}

When I last updated about allergies I was feeling pretty defeated. I needed a break from focusing on it but that didn't happen. I did divert some of my attention and time to getting my end of the month paperwork done. Time well spent since I'm feeling less stressed.

We spent a weekend cleaning. THOROUGHLY cleaning! We did all the cleaning while Ethan napped or was in another room to prevent reactions from dust/dander being kicked up into that room. We had our carpets professionally cleaned. We had our heat pump serviced and filters changed. We looked into a HEPA filter for our HVAC system but the options were out of our budget. BTW, in a previous post I mentioned reading a suggestion about putting cheesecloth over registers. Our HVAC service company did not think that was a wise choice as it would make the system work unnecessarily harder and could cause damage.

I ordered some Allerpet to hopefully cut down on the dander (thanks SAnon for the rec. I've been thinking about you & hoping that things are going well). We've continued vacuuming often. The cats continue to be confined to half of our upstairs. We do not take Ethan into that part of our home. We wash our hands and change our clothes after petting the cats.

We're on day 4 without Hydroxizine and I can't really be sure if our efforts are making enough of a difference. Ethan is itching and rubbing his eyes. I know that as long as we have the cats then we are going to have more and more dander in our home. They're dander will remain even if they are not here but at least it would stop increasing. We're facing the sad reality that if our efforts are not enough then we may need to find new homes for our girls. It breaks my heart to even think about it but it may be something that we have to do. Others out there might suggest to take the avenue of treatment instead. Personally, I can't continue to medicate my son. It's not just the fact that we are putting medication into his body without knowing the possible long term effects, it's the additional issue the medication is creating - a learned behavior. It is a FIGHT to get the medication in him. He shivers as if he just took the most foul tasting shot. He continues to make a face and shiver for more than a half hour after we finally get it into him. Then he continues to fight you if your hands go near his face. This is troubling when we have to put MORE medication on his cheeks to treat his eczema, which the allergist believes is due to his cat allergy. He reacts the same way when you try to put something in his mouth. This is quite upsetting when he needs to EAT!! So, right now our plan is to wait and see if our efforts are enough and if they aren't we need to find suitable homes for our cats. Again, this is such a difficult decision.

I decided to have myself tested for food allergies and a gluten intolerance. Once I stopped eating the Rice Krispies (that contain gluten) I felt better and Ethan slept a little better!! I've been reading that a mom's leaky gut can cause a child's allergies/intolerances/symptoms. Another page that gives info on leaky gut. Interesting stuff! I don't know if I have a leaky gut. I don't think I have symptoms but I'll be very interested to see if I test positive to any food allergies.

I've been trying some new foods and recipes. Quinoa has been a nice grain addition. It has been helping me eat less rice. I've found cereals made by Erewhon. The Rice Twice and Corn Flakes are favorites. Check out what FEW ingredients there are! I never imagined I'd be eating these cereals. About 2 years ago I was eating Reese's Puff's cereal almost daily. Check out the difference of ingredients. Hard to believe that I actually like my new cereals after eating sugary cereals but I do. I've also used this site for recipes. I love that you can search recipes free of offending allergens. I think the following recipe is from that site too. It turned out to be a spice cake when using cinnamon instead of cocoa. MMM.

1 1/2 C. rice or buckwheat flour
2 heaping Tbs cocoa (I took the suggestion of another baker and used 2 tsp cinnamon instead since I don't know if Ethan would react to cocoa. I eliminated it weeks ago.)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 C. sugar (I'll use less next time)
1/2 C. oil (I used olive and it was good)
1 tsp vanilla
1 C. rice milk

Bake in a greased 9X9 cake pan at 350 for 40 minutes (needs the whole time).

YUM!!! Even Matt liked it. I'm anxious to trial cocoa b/c I hear this will taste like brownies. It will be quite a while until we get there though. We have other, more important things to trial before we get to cocoa.

Recipes: crock pot and freezer meals

I've been trying out a few new recipes in addition to making some freezer meals. I thought I should post them here in case anyone is interested in trying them.

First a slow cooker chicken and dumpling recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Chicken-and-Dumplings/Detail.aspx

I made a few changes after reading the reviews. Instead of 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup I used one can of cream of celery and one can cream of chicken. I think both were the low sodium kind. Instead of water I used chicken broth. I added frozen peas and carrots when I added the refrigerated biscuits. The biscuits took more than 90 minutes before they weren't raw in the center. Only one tube of biscuits was needed in the crock pot. I used the other to bake in the oven just in case. They were nice to have with it but not necessary.

CHICKEN & RICE WRAPS
1 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 c. water
1 c. mild salsa
1 pkg. Taco seasoning mix
2 cups instant rice, uncooked
8 - 12 flour tortillas

In skillet or saucepan, combine chicken, water, salsa and seasonings.
Bring to a boil.
Add rice and simmer on low for 5 minutes.
Spoon mixture into center of tortillas and wrap. You can add cheese to mixture before wrapping, if desired.

To FREEZE: Simply wrap each folded tortilla in tin foil and place in 1 gallon freezer bag. I like to have 8 to a bag (for our swaps).
To SERVE: Reheat and eat.
*I tried the filling for these and it was very good!

BEEF & BROCCOLI
1 lb. Ground beef, browned until crumbly and drained
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
½ c. chopped onion
¾ c. sour cream
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Garlic powder
½ tsp. Italian seasoning
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
To FREEZE: Combine ground beef with other ingredients (except bread dough) in a bowl. Roll our bread dough to a 9"x13" rectangle. Spoon filling onto one side of the dough, leaving a border of dough on three sides. Fold over bare side of dough and pinch ends together. Spray lightly with cooking spray and wrap in plastic wrap. Wrap again in tin foil and freeze.
To COOK:Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Unwrap calzone and place on cookie sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Allow to rise, but not double. Cook 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven until golden. Slice and serve.
*I thought the filling made enough for 2 BIG calzones.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 jar (8 oz.) Fat Free French Dressing

1 can (8 oz.) jelly whole cranberry sauce

1 package Dried Onion Soup Mix

1 bag stir-fry frozen vegetables

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (you can add more or less - cut into cube pieces)

TO FREEZE: Dump all ingredients into 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Lay flat in freezer.

TO SERVE: Mix all ingredients in a 13 x 9 glass pan. Cover with tin foil. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir and serve over rice or noodles.

*This smelled good. I thought the combination of cranberry sauce and french dressing would be strange but it looked good.

A homemade Mac and Cheese recipe:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Fannie-Farmers-Classic-Baked-Macaroni-and-Cheese-135350

* This isn't the healthiest but it was good! I made double and froze half of it. I'd use less bread crumbs the next time.

Another link full of freezer recipes:

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/oamc-freezer-make-ahead,main-dish?categ=285%2C89&ls=h&pg=3&Search=Search&s_type=%2Frecipes.php

Hope you find something you enjoy!

Martha & Pumpkin are BACK!

I've been anxiously waiting for Martha's new season to premiere. I was disappointed to discover that not only has she changed stations but time slots too. I used to catch her while doing paperwork on certain days at 10am on ABC. I went to tune in on Sept 15th and Bonnie Hunt was there instead!! Now, I have nothing against Bonnie but where was Martha? Well, she moved to 11am on NBC. She may not be the best live talk show host (sometimes I find her commentary a little awkward and borderline rude) but I love her ideas ... especially decor, crafts, and recipes. So far the new season hasn't impressed me as much as past seasons but I'll stick around.

FALL is here!!


Which means ... pumpkin recipes!!
For the past few years I've made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies using this recipe:

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margerine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 can (15 ounces) 100% pure pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (I leave these out)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease baking sheets. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Spread or drizzle with vanilla glaze (see below).

Vanilla Glaze:
Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well.

They are great with or without the glaze.

This year I decided to try Martha's Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Squares. I'm not sure why her site says they'll take 2 hours and 30 minutes because they certainly didn't take that long. Maybe that includes waiting for the butter to come to room temp? The prep was less than 30 minutes and they baked for 35 minutes.

I forgot to take a pic of mine but they turned out beautifully. Mine were more cake-like than the picture on her website. The friends and family we shared them with enjoyed them as much as the pumpkin choc chip cookies I've made in previous years. Not only were they a hit but they also took less time overall than the cookies do. I'll be making them again soon!

Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich

Have you ever had one of these? A waffle ice cream sandwich.



I can't remember the first place I had one but I think it was when visiting the beach/boardwalk as a child. I was shocked to find out that Matt NEVER had one or even heard of them until I made him one a few years ago!!

They are heavenly. Normally I only use half of a homemade waffle for the sandwich, but we were treating ourselves the night I made these and opted for a whole waffle.

Simple ingredients:
Homemade waffles, freshly made or pre-made and heated in a toaster oven
Ice cream, I prefer Neapolitan
Optional side of fruit

More Giant Cupcake Goodness

In an email from Williams-Sonoma that I received last week there was a link to their version of the Giant Cupcake Pan. In that same link there is a recipe for a giant ICE CREAM cupcake! How awesome is that? What a clever idea! I can't wait to try it out this summer. I'll be sure to post pics when I do.

On another ice cream cake note, my sister-in-law sent me this recipe last year. I have to pass it on because it is amazing. With ice cream sandwiches, crushed Oreos, fudge topping, and Cool Whip, it can't be anything BUT amazing!

It wasn't a total flop.

I decided to try out my new giant cupcake pan on Friday night. I used this recipe for Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cake. The cake tasted amazing. The Magnolia recipe is even easier than the Snowflake Cake recipe by Sara Perry that I have turned to over the past 3 years when I wanted a vanilla cake/cupcakes.

Here's what the cakes look like pre-icing and after being trimmed down (flat) so they could be put together:


I used the butter cream icing recipe from the same Magnolia link. It is good but was not stiff enough to use the way I had planned. I was hoping the icing would turn out like these cupcakes , pictured below, that friends and I made at a get together.


See the star icing design on the cupcakes at the top right hand side of the picture? That is what I was going for but the tip I chose to use may have been too big and the icing was too thin to create those. If I use that icing recipe again I'd use less milk (or, Jen, can you send me your recipe for icing please?). My icing ended up looking like this:


Not terrible and not exactly what I was going for but I'm still proud of it. I love my new giant cupcake pan. We shared the cake with family on Mother's Day and are still enjoying it with fresh strawberries for dessert this week.

I love cupcakes.

They're even better on a stick!
I've had this page bookmarked for a couple of months. I wanted to try to make them. I even bought the tiny scalloped cookie cutter but haven't gotten around it trying them out yet. The first part of the recipe is the same as I used to make the red velvet truffles at Christmas (except I dipped them in white chocolate). I wasn't as impressed with the red velvet truffles as I was with the Oreo truffles. Maybe I need to try to make Oreo cupcakes on a stick!

I checked Bakerella's blog recently and saw that she was on Martha! I am bummed that I missed this episode but hopefully it's still on our DVR (it's set to record all new Martha shows). Bakerella blogged about being on the show here. I'm thankful that she posted such detailed instructions and look forward to trying to make them myself. You should check out her blog & photos. She creates beautiful treats that seem almost too pretty to eat!