September 22, 2010

What to bring a new mom?!

Hello Friends!

Last month, the lovely Miss James of Bleubird Vintage brought another beautiful child into the world–little Gemma Bird! I had the opportunity to do a guest post on her fabulous Bleubird Vintage Blog while she was away on maternity leave! You’ll find a few of ideas/recipes/baked treats to bring a new mom & family. Show you care with some yummy treats!

I’d be delighted if you took a look!

Congratulations James & family!!

xoxox

Tracy

p.s- those little footsies belong to Mr. Cooper. He’s gonna be TWO in less than two weeks! EEP!

recipes, Uncategorized

September 20, 2010

Baked Caramel Apple Donuts

When you find yourself shopping online at 2AM, mini donut pans sound like a brilliant idea. That’s not something your sharp witted, practical 12PM mind allows you to consider–especially when your husband begged you not to add anymore items to the kitchen. When you wake up the next morning with a confirmation that your donut pans have shipped, you might find yourself wondering what else you’ve ordered online…Japanese steak knives? (a wise purchase!) A leash for your invisible dog? (I’ve always wanted one!)

On the day these donut pans arrived, I immediately made a batch following the recipe included with the pans. BLECK! They tasted awful. Guess who had shopper’s remorse?! After doing some serious searching, this simple recipe obliterated all the guilt associated with my donut pan purchase–Hello!! Baked Caramel Apple Donuts!!

While diving into my first few donuts, I thought they were awesome but the caramel topping was a bit on the thick/chewy side…An overnight stay on my kitchen counter produced the most amazingly moist caramel saturated donut. That’s right! The caramel seeped INTO the donut. I was also delighted to find that the appley goodness really came out during day two! A cakey donut that gets better on day two?!! Who would have thought? So yes. You should try these and I hope you have enough donuts on day two, so you can see what I mean 😉

p.s.- what if we put some fancy salt on top? OVERLOAD.

recipes, Uncategorized

September 18, 2010

Spiced Cocktail Nuts

I really wish I could tell you that I don’t have a potty mouth and a penchant for bathroom humor. Truth is…I do!! Even as a parent, I still can’t help myself. The fact that my son says “cock” instead of “clock” makes me giggle something fierce.

“Mama? I see a big COCK! See it!? Big COCK!” I just turn my head and bury my face in my hands to muffle the giggles. Inside my head, there’s a 13 year old boy who loves to be indulged with dick & fart jokes. There I said it. I am not ashamed!! I suppose that’s what happens when you grow up with two older brothers…

After making a huge batch of these SPICED COCKTAIL NUTS, Casey and I stood in the kitchen tossing NUT innuendos back and forth. We simply cannot pass up a good NUT joke. Honestly, who can?

“Here! Taste my nuts!!”

“How many nuts can you fit in your mouth?”

So while I was gobbling these nuts, I thought “DANG! These NUTS are spicy! I’m not sure if I like how spicy these NUTS are. But for some reason I can’t stop eating deez NUTS!” And perhaps if you give these NUTS a try, you might find yourself scarfing down NUTS like there’s no tomorrow. They are pretty addictive and you’ll probably grab handfuls of NUTS before you decide it’s time to stop!! They will be great for holiday parties coming up! A crass NUT joke is the perfect way to break the ice with some random person at your friend’s party! If it doesn’t go well, you’ll know they’ve got an anemic sense of humor. Move onto the next victim!

Hey! Check out my NUT sack!

(That was a photo request from Casey)

Go ahead, laugh!

So yeah if you like spicy things AND NUTS, make yourself a batch!
CONTINUE READING

Uncategorized

September 16, 2010

Homemade Applesauce

Your kitchen called to tell me it wants to smell like warm cinnamon applesauce!

I suggest you fulfill the request. Who wants a pissed off kitchen?!?!

Check out my post over @ Modern Kiddo!

Be sure to stop by and say hi! Your kitchen will be happy that it smells soo good!

xoxoxo

Tracy

around the home, Uncategorized

September 15, 2010

Craft Project: Silhouette Portrait!

I’ve been wanting to do a silhouette portrait of Cooper since the day he was born!

In the midst of our super busy Labor Day weekend, I finally busted one out!

I used this contrasty photograph of him in front of our sunny guest room curtains.

I played around in Photoshop- cropping out his silhouette from the background…

I printed out a copy and traced it onto a thick piece of black card stock-then I cut that out.

I lined our fancy IKEA frame with yellow striped fabric and taped his portrait on top.

And here it is! (so far)

I’m going to enlist the help of my neighbor to write COOPER in her perfect/scripty handwriting.

I’ll place that underneath his portrait.

It feels really good to have that done. I keep staring at it because it totally looks like him–especially in the nose & lip area!

I’m really enjoying all the yellow accents in my living room. Can’t wait to decorate my mantle for Halloween!!!

recipes, Uncategorized

September 14, 2010

Brown Butter Biscuits & Creamy Sausage Gravy

I’ve never really understood the appeal of biscuits & gravy. Out of all the things to eat for breakfast, it never seemed worthy to share the same head space as my waffle, french toast & fried egg breakfast food fantasies. Look at it!!! It’s a plate of monotone.

I was reading this recipe in the current Food & Wine Magazine on my recent flight to Seattle and out of nowhere my mouth started watering. Ground turkey, chipotle peppers in adobo with sage?!?!!! I think the whole plane could hear me enthusiastically rip out the magazine page. The pilot should have turned on the fasten seat belt light!

Thanks to this recipe, I’m happy to report that I am now a fan of biscuits & gravy. Make a Facebook page, and I’d press LIKE in a split second. The speckled bits of chipotle peppers give a nice spicy kick to the gravy. Monotone??!!! Who you callin’ monotone?!! The sage makes the ground turkey taste like sausage and the milky gravy part?? Heaven. I might put some of the leftover gravy on top of brown rice for dinner tonight. Sounds good, huh?