I just don't get it....

What is it with New Englanders and Dunkin Donuts? The coffee sucks, the donuts are mediocre, and yet, the stores are EVERYWHERE. One day, on the way home from Trader Joes, I decided to count. There were EIGHT Dunkin Donuts in the 12 miles I drove. Two were directly across the street from eachother. I just. don't. understand.

Happy Spring!

I'm so pleased that Spring is here. Not that winter was all that bad.... I think I handled it quite well for my first winter. I just love everything that spring comes with... including the successful blooming of all the bulbs I planted. I planted around 140 bulbs, and at last count, baby E and I saw 98 plants. We'll do even more next year, I think!

Also with springtime comes Bunnies! Rather than scare the bejeebers out of E visiting a mall bunny, we had her picture taken with a REAL bunny at the Foto Factory in Haverhill. Seriously, if y'all live near here, you've got to do it. Michel is great with the kiddos, and the bunnies are SO sweet and soft.

For photo presentation, I got E in on the action! She colored blank cards in springtime colors and we affixed the pictures to them. We're going to use this technique for Thank You cards and maybe Christmas too. Family feedback says they are a big hit!

The final picture for this post is E with her many, many bunnies. A few were my grandmother's. When she passed away last year, I got some of her springtime decorations. Having E has added more bunnies. Hopefully we can get this pic every year as we add to the collection as a tribute to Grandma Ruby.

Daring Bakers Challenge #3- Flourless Chocolate Cake

Jeez I hope they haven't checked yet. I'm a morning late in posting. First the required stuff:

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

I really enjoyed this challenge. As anyone knows. I love me some chocolate. And a recipe that calls for a whole pound(!) and is served with homemade ice cream.... SIGN ME UP!

I did 1/2 the recipe, and did it in two small springform pans. 1/2 of a springform was just enough. I was so excited to try it that I didn't even let the ice cream get quite hard enough. YUMMMMY. Kind of dry, though, especially for something that had so many darned eggs in it. Ahh well. It was still VERY enjoyable. I love pulling out my ice cream maker. It's a great tool and makes great stuff. I'll definitely use the ice cream recipe again, and am glad I tried out the flourless cake.

It made for a lovely Valentine's dessert!

New Year's Resolutions

Now that we've settled in, I can finally set some goals for the next year. I hope that if I write them here, I'll be accountable:

1. Get healthier. Right before we left California, I was doing great. Eating healthfully, doing Bikram Yoga 2 or 3 times per week, walking with E twice a week or more.... and I completely fell off the wagon when we moved. Trying to work out in the winter is a challenge, 'cause it's too cold to go walking, and I don't like the temperature swings involved with doing Bikram.... So, we got a Wii Fit (hey, it's SOMETHING), and I'm looking into a membership at the YMCA, which not only has free childcare, but a kids mat room (like gymboree). Hopefully, once spring hits, we'll be able to afford to put me back in Bikram.

2. Get involved. It's hard to meet people in new places, but Emma and I are doing our best, we're involved in the Newcomer's Club Moms and Tot's group, are going to start going on outings with another local mom's group. I have my first Book Club meeting on Monday, and we have a playdate set up for next week.

3. Finances. While we are in great shape, and so lucky to be so, these troubled times mean everyone should be more careful. The most immediate goals are to complete our re-fi and get the papers in order for taxes. We also need to set a budget and stick to it.

4.House Projects. We own a fixer-upper and we love it. So, we're hoping to do a few things before 2010: radon mitigation, new floor/epoxy in the basement and garage, paint Scott's Basement Bar (which who knows, could become the Jimmy Buffett Tiki Bar if I'm left in charge), paint in the half-bath and upstairs hallway, and replace a few of the ugly light fixtures. If things go very well financially or we get a big return on our taxes (c'mon Mr. Obama!), we want to put in a wood-burning stove.

5. Other Stuff. Hmmm.... Get Emma to say a word that makes sense to someone other than herself, stay addicted to Facebook, continue to read at least 12,000 pages of books per year, and attempt to be more eco-friendly wherever I can.

This is a big list, and likely won't all get accomplished, but hey, I'm going to try!

Winter Living

This whole snow and ice thing is new to me. So far, I'm having a lot of fun with it (perhaps with exception of living like refugees in a hotel when we lost power during the ice storm). Here are some pics of our best moments.

Holidays O8 Wrap-Up

It's been a wild couple of months. Here are the highlights:

Thanksgiving was a small affair - just the Hubby, Baby E and me in our beautiful new home. I only have a couple culinary notes to share. Brining a fresh turkey is really the way to go. After a day and a half in his salt, sugar and spice bath, that bird was so tender and juicy and flavorful. I have forsaken my mother's whitebread spackle stuffing. I am now a Cornbread stuffing girl. Strangely, boxed cornbread is far tastier in the recipe than homemade. This year, I also added pecans and dried cranberries. Very good addition indeed. Speaking of cranberries, I made a simple Cranberry Compote at the hubby's request. I never much cared for cranberry sauce, having been raised on the can-shaped, store-bought variety. This was MUCH better. I still didn't use much, but it was a marked improvement. Also served: mashed potatoes, green beans and Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Pie, for which I made my first-ever pie crust from scratch. YUM.


Later that weekend, we went to a local farm and got our Balsam Fir. WOW! Fresh cut trees are a different experience. Of course, trees that natural aren't as balanced. Ours fell over night one and shattered a few ornaments. Nothing too precious. Hubby and I also got the lights up on the house during Baby E's nap. I'm so pleased with how the house looks with Christmas lights.


Christmas was spent in real snow country with the in-laws, and was in many ways an unmitigated disaster. We dressed E up for Christmas Eve services. She looked beautiful for the 45 minutes we were there early, and the 10 seconds of the service she made it through. Her dress (pictured here) was then shown off only to other parents wrangling toddlers in the coat room. She was fussy all night. We assumed it was because the family party had been that day, and she didn't get a nap. We were wrong. We woke to find her covered in her own vomit. So instead of opening gifts, our morning was spent finding somewhere that was open to sell pedialite, cleaning up stuffed animals and area rugs after a couple more rounds of projectile puke (Seriously, folks. This kid has RANGE!), and doing multiple clothing changes. Emma started to recover quickly, but unfortunately, I could barely move the next morning and spent that day painfully heaving anything I tried to eat. It hit hubby, his parents and the rest of the extended family the next day. None of us ate much for the rest of the trip.

We drove home heavy two nieces for New Years week. While it must be said that I'm thrilled that E won't be a teenager for another 12 years, they were fantastic, and it was the best New Year's I'd had in a long time.

All in all, the holidays were much more good than bad.

Daring Bakers Challenge #2

To refresh everyone's memory (especially since I've been awful about blogging during the big move), a few months back, I joined the group Daring Bakers. Every month, members present a challenge for their fellow bakers... we all post to our blogs, and it's a lot of fun. See the link above for a list of all the Daring Bakers. After having to take 2-3 months off due to the big move, I was very excited to try......drumroll....Caramel Cake with Carmelized Butter Frosting!

This month, our challenge was hosted by Dolores of Culinary Curiosity, and the recipe came from came from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater and her signature caramel cake.

For me- this challenge went better than eclairs. The first step was to make the caramel. I admit, this step worried me... This involves boiling a mixture of water and sugar until it's darkened and thickened. The instructions said that this was dangerous due to spattering and spitting once you add the colder water to stop the cooking process. I just used a splatter guard. No harm. No foul. Next time, I need to let it go just a little longer. While the color was beautiful, it was a little thin.

The cake itself came out perfectly. I found it easier to frost than I'd expected. Perhaps, though, I should have cut the cake into two layers. Frosting in between layers would have cut down on all the icing the recipe called for. If you're going to make this cake at home, I'd say half of the frosting will suffice. Unless you want the additional pound of frosting in my fridge. The hubby says he'll eat it, so I'll leave it in there a little longer. I didn't sift a pound of sugar for nothing!

Truth be told, this was my first made-from-scratch cake, and I was pleased with the result. The cake was a little dense and oversweet for even my tastes (that's saying a lot), but very enjoyable. I also thought the taste of the browned butter in the frosting overpowered any caramel flavors. Still, as I've said, highly edible.

I chose to forego the an optional challenge: Alice Medrich’s Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels, as it was challenge enough to put together a cake from scratch with a 14 month-old running around. However, a lot of the Bakers had a great time making them, and you should check out their blogs for more pics.

Thanks for the challenge also go to bloggers who assisted in presenting the challenge: Blondie and Brownie, Foray into Food, and for those bloggers who do the alternative baking thing (not me...) thanks to Gluten-a-Go-Go. I had a lot of fun with this challenge and look forward to more fun with my fellow Daring Dakers.

Our Little Piece of the World....

Welcome to our new home! Our first weeks in Massachusetts have been so wonderful, I've been a blog slacker. Enjoy the pics of our new place!

I don't care if you like Barack or not..... this is FUNNY

I am not trapped under something heavy!

I've just been very busy with the move to Boston. With the exception of heinous Dunkin Donuts replacing my Coffee Bean, I LOVE New England. Currently I'm eating a Mac apple that we picked yesterday, and sharing a cider donut with my sweet year-old bean. More posts to come. I feel a blog glut coming on!

If you didn't watch the Emmy's, you MUST watch this.

Josh Groban is awesome. This is perhaps the funniest thing I've seen on TV in years.

If you haven't heard....

We have BIG NEWS. We're moving to Boston! In less than a month! It's all very exciting, yet stressful, so I don't have a whole lot of time to talk now, but I'm hoping that the next weeks will be filled with posts about the things we'll miss in Cali, and the things we're excited about in Beantown. Thing #1 we're excited about- being able to go see Sox games at Fenway! We'll be arriving just in time for playoffs.... not that I think we'll be able to get tickets, but still. At least the games will be on TV!

Blasts from the Past.....

This summer, baby E and I are enjoying a treat from my childhood. OTTER POPS! How did I go so long without rediscovering these! Hubby insists that they are called Flav-or-Ice, but that's lame. And I know he totally digs Alexander the Grape....

My First Daring Bakers Challenge: Eclairs

Recently, I joined a group of foodie bloggers that challenge eachother once per month to attempt feats of culinary greatness. My first act as a daring baker: Chocolate Eclairs! Lucky me! I got to try something I love during my first try.

The recipe called for a standard pate e choux with chocolate pastry cream and chocolate glaze. Because it was allowed by the rules, and a have a 'nilla loving hubby, I used Martha Stewart's vanilla pastry cream. I was very proud, as I tempered my eggs, they didn't break at all! I was certain I was going to have vanilla scrambled eggs! Unfortunately, while hubby was stirring the combined pastry cream, it got all chunky (not whisking hard/fast enough). As I incorporated the butter, I whisked it smooth again. Unfortunately, it never set up enough to pipe. Despite being a little bit runny, it tasted fantastic.

Next step: Pate a Choux. Everything looked beautiful, and all instructions were followed to a T. I didn't feel like investing in a pastry bag and tips, so as you see here, I improvised with a ziplock. However, after removing the beautiful little ecairs from the oven, almost all of them went sadly flat. Hubby and I tasted one of the flat ones and it was so eggy, he described it as sweet scrambled eggs. I kept the 4 that worked, because I had to for the challenge, and as an experiment, made a half batch of Better Homes and Gardens' version of Cream Puff Dough. WOW! Super puffy, not eggy, and perfect!

Next step: Glaze. I intended to make the Glaze Recipe provided, but after a day full of sick moody baby, two attempts at dough, and trying to make travel planse, it felt unnecessarily complicated to me. First I was supposed to make a chocolate sauce. THEN create the glaze using that sauce and a bunch of other stuff. Again, I opted for Martha and her simple chocolate ganache. No muss, no fuss, and perfect- thick and shiny. Good dark chocolate taste.

All in all, it was fun! The final product looks a little sad, but tasted great. The eggy taste of the first pastry disappeared once all the elements were together. I'll definitely try that recipe again, and do it better. First, I'll bake them on my silicone mat, to prevent the overbrowning and sticking to the wax paper. I'll also bake them longer. They were just starting to be golden when I pulled them out and I don't think they'd set up in the middle, resulting with the flattening.



The second pastry dough was great, though not nearly as sweet- and made beautiful cream puffs. The recipe made puffs that were WAY too big in my taste. Next time I'll make them smaller and experiment more with filling. Perhaps a sausage and mushroom filling for a dinner dish? Fill with ice cream and top with hot fudge?

I feel confident now to call myself a Daring Baker. Check back every month for the next challenge! Weeeeee!

Something New...

Check out those pearly whites!

A Yummy, Lowfat Dinner in Less than 1/2 an Hour...

Mushroom Leek Soup

4 oz. Fresh Mushrooms (I use 8)
1 c. sliced leeks
2 tbsp. Margerine (I omitted)
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 c. Dry Sherry
6 c. Beef Broth
Ground Black Pepper to taste
1/2 c. Uncooked Orzo

In a Dutch Oven over med-hi heat, saute the mushrooms and leeks in margerine and oil. Add the Sherry, and reduce liquid by half. Add the broth and pepper. Bring to a boil and add the pasta. Boil gently for 10 min., or until the orzo is cooked.

Recipe was found at Allrecipies.com

FYI- This is fantastic with a Chicken Caesar Salad and a nice Cote du Rhone.

New Phone...

Thank goodness for cell phone contract end-dates. This week, I was finally able to get rid of my stupid Razr- the one that no longer held a charge. Instead, I got myself an LG EnV. It's got a full keyboard which makes texting MUCH easier, has Bluetooth (I don't know HOW I got by without this!), and is quite simply, supersexy.

Twilight...

I finally gave in to the hype. The week we went back East, I got the first book of the Twilight series. I'd read all 600 pages the first day there. I made my hubby take me on a midnight trip to the store to get book two, then again two days later to get book three. Yesterday, I was at Barnes and Noble picking up my reserved copy on the first day it was available. I will finish it within two days as well. Roughly 2000 pages in less than two weeks. Stephenie Meyer has single-handedly got me on track for my 12,000 page goal for 2008.

While I am thrilled that I found four great books, what am I going to do NOW? I want MORE!

A Family Heirloom....

Well, no one is getting this recipe, because it was given to me by my Maine family. Mmmmm... Fresh Blueberry Cake. It's got a streusel-y topping. I did a few things wrong- like not tossing the berries in enough flour- so they all sank to the bottom, but it still tasted amazing. I made two- one for a BBQ at a friends house, and one as a "Coffee Cake" for a breakfast thing today.

I will admit, it's best served after a monstah lobstah and Mama's homemade tater salad and corn on the cob. I think I did alright, though.

Oh My Goodness, I Love Maine

And I want to go back. NOW.

Last week, while we were back East visiting the In-Laws, I took three days for a Mommy-holiday and went by myself to visit Say in her homestate. I had to do some boyfriend recon, so it was very convenient. I'm happy to say, she's carved out quite the life up there, and I hope that maybe someday soon, we'll be closer so that I can see her and visit this amazing place more often.

Some highlights:
-The monstah lobstah we had at Say's family homestead.
- A day out on Boyfriend's boat.
- Shopping and lighthouses in Portland.

I missed baby E enormously. In fact, it actually hurt me physically to leave her. However, a few days off gives one some perspective- and I feel more like a person now than I did before. I was slipping into too much of a "I'm a mom and that's all I am." mode. Bittersweet, also, was realizing just how very much I miss my best friend, and wish she could be part of my everyday life. Fingers are crossed that this may happen soon.