Embrace the Camera: January 13, 2011

Me and Zoe soaking up our vitamin D while "little brudder" takes a nap. This is such a cozy spot on sunny, winter days!

And, just for fun, a flashback to me and Zoe last year at this time --

41 weeks pregnant. Everything about this picture cracks me up. The birthing pool in the background. Zoe's missing pigtail. Zoe's hair in general. The look on her face. The look on my face. How huge I am. Clearly, baby boy, we were doing nothing but waitin' on YOU! And, boy, were we tired of it!


Embrace the camera! It's fun!

Embrace the Camera: January 6, 2011

That (above) was my first time writing 2011. Feels weird, like it always does at the beginning of a new year. I sure hope this one doesn't go as fast as last year. The years seem to fly by now that we have kids. Time flies when you're having fun, right? Or, maybe, time flies when you're sleep deprived, changing countless diapers, nursing 8 times a day, constantly cleaning up puke, making dinner, doing laundry, etc. etc. etc! :) 2010 was a great year (I can say that now that it's over :) ) But I'm really looking forward to new beginnings around here. Happy new year!

This week's picture is from our time in the states {over the holidays} at my parents' house. J and Zoe playing in the snow. Zoe is officially not my daughter. She loves the snow. I do not. I'm more like Colby, who, yesterday, as I was dressing him for an outing in the snow, screamed the entire time. I sat him near the window as I was putting on my coat hoping the view would intrigue him, but the poor boy was so padded in snow gear (think A Christmas Story) that he fell straight back, hitting his head on the air vent. I just kept telling myself that once we got out there he would love it and stop crying. I was wrong. He cried the entire time. Then I cried once we got back inside and finally took off all of our layers. Can we say - not. worth. it?!

Without further ado, here are my two snow bunnies on a beautiful snowy day in Pennsylvania

Peppermint Bark Cookies

I love peppermint bark so, naturally, I was very excited to try out this recipe. It is now my new favorite holiday treat. And a very festive addition to my holiday baking! Here's the recipe -

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use chocolate chips)
1 cup chopped Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses (or use crumbled candy canes)
2 ounces white chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with long strip of 9-inch-wide parchment paper, leaving overhang on both short sides of pan.


2. Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla, then egg yolk. Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just to blend.

3. Drop dough into prepared baking pan, spacing evenly. Using moistened fingertips, press dough to form even layer over bottom of pan. Pierce dough all over with fork.

4. Bake cookie base until light golden brown and slightly puffed and edges begin to come away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; immediately sprinkle bittersweet chocolate over. Let stand until chocolate softens, about 3 minutes. Using small offset spatula, spread bittersweet chocolate over top of cookie in thin even layer. Immediately sprinkle chopped candy cane kisses over (or candy canes).

5. Stir white chocolate in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. If it’s too tough and thick to stir, add a tiny drizzle of vegetable oil or 1/2 tsp. of shortening to thin it out. Remove from over water. Using fork, drizzle white chocolate all over cookies. Chill until white chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

6. Using paper overhang as aid, lift cookie from pan and transfer to work surface. Using large knife, cut cookie into irregular pieces.

Cooking Tips:
*DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in refrigerator (or freezer) in airtight containers between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. Can be stored in the freezer for several weeks.

Yield: About 36 pieces
Source: Adapted from Bon Appetit

Embrace the Camera: December 9, 2010 - Flashback

We didn't take a single picture this week (until today; I got my camera back!), so today's embrace the camera features a flashback to last year at this time. Looking at this picture, I have to laugh. It was only the second week in December, my due date was January 10th, but I was so completely certain that my baby was coming early. In fact, I was pretty confident he'd be here on or before December 29th. He had to be. I was huge. And very uncomfortable. But baby boy didn't show up until January 19th! Yes, 9 days AFTER my due date! Oh well, he came when he was good and ready.

Zoe's hair {and outfit!} crack me up.

To make matters worse, my husband and child liked to mock me.

Embrace the Camera: December 2, 2010

My last Embrace the Camera featured pictures from my birthday "party," during which, the flash on my camera completely and randomly died. So, my NEW Nikon was rushed to the shop in hopes that we might get it back before the holidays! Despite the fact that I haven't had my camera, I do have some fabulous embrace-worthy photos to share today. We got the rest of our pictures back from our family photo shoot and I am beyond pleased with them!

There are many more to share, but at an average of 10 minutes per photo to upload onto here, forget it!

Enjoy...and embrace your camera!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I lied. No blueberry spice crumb bars here today. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand, so I opted for a quick and delicious fix that I hadn't tried -- vegan chocolate chip cookies. They are delicious and comforting and homey, just as chocolate chip cookies should be. And, once again, I don't know why I am still surprised by this, they don't taste like they're missing a thing (i.e. butter or eggs). They're amazing. The girls who wrote Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (among other titles) deserve metals - many, many, metals - for they're amazing vegan recipes!!! Did I mention they took about 30 minutes from start to in-my-mouth?!

Picture courtesy of the old Olympus camera!

Chocolate Chip Cookies {adapted from VCIYCJ}
Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies

1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

Red Plate Smoothie?

Baking has been minimal around here the past week or so because we've been so busy, and because a dear friend made me a dairy-free apple crisp for my birthday! I do, however, have a smoothie recipe to share. Fortunately, there is no picture of a smoothie on a red plate (weird) because, unfortunately, my camera is broken!

So here it is, in rough form, because every smoothie (and blender) is different and everyone enjoys a different consistency --

Chocolate Almond Milk
Chunks of frozen bananas
A tad of vanilla extract
A tablespoon or so of cacao nibs
A glob or so of smooth peanut butter, optional
Ice, if needed

Blend to desired consistency and enjoy! Kids love it, too!

Coming up this week - Blueberry Spice Crumb Bars!