We Love you Marche!
It's been quite a while--but what a sweet reunion!
Now I'll be searching for a little red teapot of our own--this one made us all so happy!! Of course we sang the teapot song when we saw it :)
Breakfast was never so wonderful as we found it here (sigh for bread baskets with luscious marmalade and cheese filled crepes)!
We'll be back soon!
xoxo
We've tried many hot cross bun recipes, but this quick and delicious recipe (did you see the quick and delicious part?!) for hot cross *biscuits* is the absolute winner. Biscuits--and with icing? Why, yes--I'll take one or two or three! Try them--and see if they don't disappear as you slide them out of a hot oven!
Working with dough is extra fun if you have little ones to help you squish it all together...
Then cut the biscuits out...
And then ice them. Yum!!
Wishing you a Happy Easter--full of sweets and delights in the beauty of the season...
Collaborating on comic books about pirates...
Love the imagination and illustrations that came out of this hour...
I thought of an easy fingerless glove pattern for my biggest boy, pulled out my felted wool sweater stash and started cutting...
I love the ease of sweater sewing projects. They are (usually) quick, easy and forgiving of mistakes--not to mention warm and cozy. Perfect!
I layered two colors--basic rectangles sized to fit little hands, really, and began sewing all layers together along edges with right sides together. Just leave a gap in your sewing where the thumbs will stick out...
More photos to follow as I finish up the second glove.
We made crepes for the first time ever this weekend--inspired by the sweet movie Frogs and Toads: Max's Magical Journey. We watched it for family movie night this weekend--and really enjoyed it. This recipe was delicious, easy and fun to make. I think I always assumed crepes were complicated--but I think we'll be making them a lot.
The boys especially enjoyed peanut butter and chocolate chips inside theirs. Yum!
Hope you're having a nice, long weekend, too!!
Comfort, warmth and coziness--these are the things that fill my mind in the winter. Wool scarves, knitted blankets, hot tea and hot-from-the-oven casseroles all beckon. Although it's not truly winter cold here yet, there is snow in the forecast and it is gray and drizzly and beginning to quickly cool.
Chill enough in the air to make a casserole, I say!
We all really loved this one:
It is mouth-watering. I read the words cheddar and biscuit-dough topping and said Yes, please.
I hurried the prep along with the food processor and had this in the oven within a half hour. I used soysage which is an amazingly delicious and locally made soy sausage that we have long enjoyed. I'm not sure how far their retail reach is, but if you live anywhere near Nashville, you can find it at the Produce Place or at Whole Foods. We re-heated our velvety tomato soup to go alongside--but a simple salad would have been perfect with it.
Cheddar Biscuit Pie (adapted from Martha Stewart Baby Magazine, 2001)
1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup salted butter
1/2 cup sharp cheddar, grated
7 tbsp milk
1 package of Primm Springs Soysage (our favorite) or 1 lb. of any other sausage that you like, crumbled
1 small onion, 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery--all diced or thrown in the food processor with a few quick pulses
1 apple, diced (with skin on)--I used a Fuji apple--but any firm apple will work
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup of vegetable broth (I used water and a veg. bouillon cube)
Preheat oven to 375. Combine 1 cup flour, baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Using pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until dough resembles coarse meal. Stir in cheese and then milk--stir just until combined. Set aside.
Add crumbled soysage to a hot skillet (I like my cast iron skillet for this job) coated generously with olive oil. Stir over medium-high heat until well browned. Remove soysage to a bowl, set aside, and put diced veggies in the hot skillet, cooking until softened over med. heat. Now add apples and seasonings and cook until softened. Add 1 tbsp flour and stir well for 1 minute. Add vegetable broth, stir well and then combine with the soysage. Stir and season to taste.
Pour mixture into an 8x8 baking dish--or something like it (a pie pan, a cast iron skillet) and drop spoonfuls of the dough all across the top--covering as evenly as possible. Bake, uncovered, until crust is golden brown, 20-25 min.
Eat it hot from the oven and see if it doesn't make you feel happy, warm and cozy, too.
Enjoy!
Mixing up our favorite sweet recipe today--Cranberry Chocolate Oat Cookies (and then cleaning the mixer paddle quite well). I do love a helper in the kitchen...
We changed our recipe up a bit today--and we are enjoying the results!!
We used whole wheat flour instead of the usual whole wheat pastry flour--light and dark brown sugars instead of the usual sugar. The result is a rich, deep, full-flavored cookie with a nice, almost sandy, texture.
You can put any combination of add-ins into this recipe--whatever you have on hand works. Dried fruits and nuts, oats and raisins, walnuts and orange zest, straight chocolate chips--whatever you love.
Careful--these are delicious! May temperance be your guide...
1 stick butter--room temp or straight from the fridge, if you can't wait
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 c. flaxseed meal (or just 1 1/2 c. flour if you don't have the meal)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c. of add-ins (we used equal parts rolled oats, dried cranberries and semi-sweet chips)
Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla--mix well. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, then add them all at once to butter mixture. Blend well. Mix add-ins until well incorporated. We used an ice cream scoop to scoop up cookie dough onto our baking stone--or you might use a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 min. at 350. Cool and enjoy!
Have a Happy Weekend!!
