Category: nonsense

Happy 2011!


Okay, first things first. Happy New Year! 2011. Wow! Where does the time go? Really, where does it go?

Last year, my blogging was somewhat.. lacking. Alright, it was awful. Down right, awful. In my defense, 2010 was the hardest year for me that I can remember. It was a mentally and emotionally exhausting. At some points, I did not know how I would get through the year. So, blogging took the back burner. So be it. My family comes first. The end. But, its 2011 now. And I am truly hoping to start blogging more again. I miss it. I really do. Hopefully, I still have a few readers out there. Hi there, nice to see you!

To kick things off, I decided to bake something yeasty today. I love the smell of a yeasty treat in the oven. One of Liam’s favorite breakfasts is cinnamon rolls. With that in mind, I decided to make monkey bread. If you don’t know what that is, you must have been living in a hole the past few years. Its been everywhere. Or maybe you are new to the interwebs. If so, hi there! Nice to see you!

I should have started this project earlier in the morning. It takes several hours to proof and put together. It worked out in the end, since we ended up having a monster brunch to start the New Year.

New Year, new stuff, yada yada. Liam rates all my baked goods. I am totally raising a pastry snob. He is harsh with his ratings. I figured it makes for good entertainment value. This is how he rated the monkey bread.

Liam’s Rating: Bread nice and soft, not too crunchy. Cinnamon really good, but I like a little more cinnamon, a tiny bit more, but otherwise, really good. Overall rating– A

I do not like publishing recipes on my blog. Maybe its my loyalty to Dorie that started it, but its expanded. If you want the recipe for Monkey Bubble Bread in BAKED Explorations, buy the book. Come on, do it. Its a great book with phenomenal photos, and you won’t regret it.

Happy 2011 to everyone! Hope it turns out to be a fabulous year! xoxo- Laurie

Total sidenote: The Pens play in the Winter Classic tonight. Go Pens!

 

White Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

First things first. Its been a while since my last post. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know!! And that means its been a few weeks since I participated in Tuesdays with Dorie. Things are busy here! Colby has had quite a few doctors appointments. After his MRI, we found out he has a brain lesion which may be causing his epilepsy. This is kind of big news. It could finally give us a cause. Which would be HUGE! Various tests will have to be preformed to determine if it is the lesion causing his seizures, but these tests will require he be admitted to Children’s. Some genetic testing is going to be done first, and we will wait for that to come back. Other big news, Colby has been seizure free for a week, as far as we can tell. SEIZURE FREE! Hopefully the medicines continue to do their job for now.

Okay next, in a twist of fate, a coffee shop that catered the wedding I baked for back in April asked to sell my cupcakes once a week. Small orders, but its still very cool to me. These are the cupcakes I made today for them.


White cake recipe is from the lovely Peabody. Vanilla Frosting by me. If anyone wants the recipe, comment and I will type it out. Yes, I am lazy. Don’t judge me.

Hoping to hop back on the TWD bandwagon soon. I miss it!

Offering Deer and Coffee Cake?

No TWD here. This past week has been a doozy and I just didnt get to it. I know I am dropping the ball. But, sometimes things happen, ya know? I come offering a picture of deer eating out of my neighbors bird feeder and a killer coffee cake from Sass & Veracity. Hopefully thats enough for this week. :)

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Deer may not be that impressive to a lot of people. But, considering I live in suburbia, its quite something to see 4 deer just standing in the neighbors yard, less than 50 feet away.

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Coffee cake may not be impressive either. It was wicked good however, and if you are a fan of LOTS of coffee cake crumbs, this is the coffee cake for you. The ratio was about 50/50. Get the recipe here.

Check out the TWD blogroll for the REAL TWD of the week.

Saturday Confessional

I often snack a little bit in bed before going to sleep. Horrible habit, I know, I know. Currently, the snack of choice comes from a jar of cadbury mini eggs sitting on my side table. When the sweet tooth hits late at night, I open the jar, lean it on my thigh, snack from said jar and peruse the net. Harmless right? One would think so. But twice, yes twice this week, one mini egg must have escaped. I woke up twice this week, yes twice, with cadbury egg melted and fused to my leg. The shell does not hold up when in contact with heat for a long period apparently. The shell gives and lets the chocolate ooze all over. The shell then digs into what it comes into contact with. In this case, that would be my leg. You would think that I learned my lesson after the first time. I am thick headed, so no, no I did not. You would think that I learned my lesson the second time. Nope,  I did not. I sit here right now, with the jar of cadbury mini eggs leaning against my thigh, as I type this in bed. I refuse to let these mini eggs beat me. They will not win this battle.

There are only a few left in the jar. ;)