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Five Finds Friday (a watch & a recipe your kids won’t like)
The other night I was at a Christmas party with some friends. I cannot recall the conversation that led to this sentence. (This would probably be a better story if I could.) But, at some point, one of my friends, who happens to be a dude, said something like, “Yeah, you could put this on your Five Finds Friday.” I started laughing. One, because it was funny. Two, because it was odd to hear this particular guy (or any guy really I guess) use the words “Five Finds Friday” in a sentence. It was also strangely gratifying. As in, “Hooray – someone is reading these posts!” So this week’s…
Keep Reading . . .
pendulum swinger
from the cabin: Bergen Hawkeye at Lost Valley
Going to Guatemala
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Five Finds Friday (picking out a Christmas tree and eating Chinese food)
It sort of didn’t feel like Friday last week because I didn’t do one of these routine little posts. Funny how small habits keep you on schedule. But I’m all on track this week and there’s no holiday pushing at our backs so here we go ….. FUNNY I mean, I think my kids are funny. They think they are hilarious. It’s a daily something or other. From London adding to her school list: Be Awesome. (Oh wait. I’ve already conquered that.) To Bergen entering a room and telling us to forget we ever saw him taking whatever item he just took and then waving his…
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Five Finds Friday (chocolate pudding and head wraps on sale. also cookie pigs.)
Friday comes in on little cat’s feet. No – wait, that’s the fog, right? It comes in on little cat’s feet in a poem – correct? Yeah, who knows. That was probably a nerdy literary reference that only I think is funny. That’s fine. Let’s not mention it – okay? FUNNY This is a real cookie that one of our favorite bakeries sold to us. What is happening here? I don’t even know what it is I am supposed to be looking at. A mama pig? It’s too weird to consume. FASHIONABLE Babies need fashion too. And babies need spit/drool/sweet potato puree…
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Five Finds Friday (twenty) (a video you have to click to watch & beef stew)
FUNNY I love having a lot of kids. Seriously – I think I would have another two or three if circumstances were, you know, different than they are. Today we had friends over and Otto came careening into the house full force, grabbing my hand and saying I just HAD to see what was happening in the field. I left the dishes (that was an easy task to abandon) and careened right back outside behind him. He was right. I just HAD to see this: You actually have to take the time to click the link to watch the twelve second video. I understand if that requires too much effort.…
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Pinterest Projects With the Ones
My Pinterest board entitled Projects With the Ones is flooded with ideas with which I rarely follow through it seems. Recently I decided to set my talented children to task to accomplish some of these fun tasks. London was first to be given the challenge. I asked her to peruse the Pinterest board and to make a choice. She was instructed to gather all of the necessary supplies at our home or to make a list of what would be needed to complete the project. She chose an art project that is as simple as it is sweet. Using pages from a discarded book, we all drew designs of our…
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My Pinterest Test Kitchen. Still going strong.
It’s not that I haven’t been perusing Pinterest lately. It’s not that I have been ignoring its many virtues. In fact, I still loves me some Pinterest and I still treat it as my personal cookbook primarily. I haven’t forgotten about my Pinterest Test Kitchen. I forgive you if you have. It’s actually a little more like this – I’ve made a concentrated effort to carry my phone less. Which means I am less likely to take a picture of the food attempts I am creating. So let this post suffice – with or without accompanying photographs. Here is a recipe on which you should not waste your time –…
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Pinterest Test Kitchen: Homemade Graham Crackers
Snow days are great baking days. After concocting the delicious tried and true oatmeal bar recipe with my little apron-clad helper Piper Finn, we decided to browse through the Cook This section of my Pinterest board. And we landed on – homemade chocolate chip graham crackers. Of course – if you follow that link – you’ll notice a gorgeous photo-worthy stack of neatly trimmed, nearly perfect-looking graham crackers filled with tiny chocolate chips. I followed the directions but when it came time to roll these guys out to a tiny 1/8 inch on the counter between pieces of parchment paper before sticking in the freezer for twenty minutes I realized…
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hi.
It’s just a simple project – but I like it a lot.
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Pinterest Test Kitchen: Donut Muffins Good, Cinnamon Quinoa Bars Bad
Success and failure. It seems that is just the way the cookie’s been crumbling lately. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first – that’s the way I like to roll. These cinnamon quinoa bars. I like cinnamon and I like quinoa so I figured I’d give it a shot. What can I say? It looked fine. From the top. But as I began to cut it, it felt, uh – spongy. Rubber-like. It was pretty much like cold quinoa from the drain, all mushy and chewy. A hint of cinnamon attempting to disguise its globbiness. I asked my little go-to taste tester Otto his opinion. He couldn’t even chew…
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Pinterest Test Kitchen: Crock Pot Failures, Soup Is Fine and Oatmeal Bars Extraordinaire
Ah, Pinterest recipes – I have not forgotten you. Me and Pinterest recipes have still been hanging out like the old chums we are. I just haven’t had the time to take cute photos of the food we’ve been crafting together. Also – there’s been a few flops of late from my Cook This board and that’s always a tad discouraging. Let me just get the flops out of the way first. Well – there was that one night I thought it’d be wise and clever to put breakfast in the crock pot with this apple oatmeal crock pot concoction. All we got out of this was wasted apples, gooey…
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My Pinterest Test Kitchen: Cook This – German Chocolate Fudge Bites
I’m not anti-sugar. But I sure am trying to bake more with less sugar. I pinned these German Chocolate Fudge Bites a rawther long time ago. Intrigued by the picture, I clicked the rectangular “pin it” and moved on with my day. Eventually, I read the ingredient list, saw that the primary ingredient was dates and never gave these bites another thought. I’d never tried a date but they looked like overweight old raisins and seemed like the primary ingredient in fruit cake and neither of those facts drew me to the date as a viable food option. A few weeks ago we were going to a friend’s house and…
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My Pinterest Test Kitchen. Cook This: Quinoa Cakes
We have been making this recipe since I first stumbled (was pulled along) into the world of Pinterest. In fact, I figured I had written a post about it, but my extensive (read: two and a half minute) search of my blog reveals that I have not. Quinoa Cakes. Growing up I only knew a couple of side dishes – white rice, instant mashed potatoes. Um. Yep. That’s all I really remember eating from the plate beside our standard beef offering and peas or corn. I can’t remember when I first tried quinoa. But I know it’s changed our family’s diet completely. I think it’s our go-to grain. (We’ve tried…
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My Pinterest Test Kitchen. (Don’t) Cook This: Mini German Pancakes
In case you are delusional or I have misrepresented myself or you have never actually dined on fare I’ve prepared or all three – I’m letting you know – I am not an expert chef. I’m just this person who is nearing forty and has been in a kitchen since I was maybe eleven, prepping both boring and exciting dishes for people that I love. That’s all. And I decided to share with you guys the many potentially tasty treats I attempt from my Cook This Pinterest board. I’ve shared successes with granola bars and cinnamon rolls and blueberry frozen yogurt. It seems only right to share with you a…
