Pineapple Cupcakes

I made these for work for a lady who was leaving - I hardly knew her, but felt badly that no one was going to make any sort of fuss on her last day, so I whipped these up the night before.

They are the sort of dessert I feel like maybe I should feel badly about - boxed mix with more prepackaged add ins - but frankly they were so freaking delicious I don't care.

The can of mandarin oranges whipped into the batter is a genius move, and one I would definitely use again. 

I left them un-iced with the frosting in a bowl for everyone to do themselves, and I swear, some people were eating it with a spoon.

SO good.

Recipe: Pineapple Sunset Layer Cake

Spiced whipped cream

I made Mr. G's carrot cake cupcakes for the baby's birthday.  I'm so over cream cheese frosting

 right now there was no way I was doing that, but I didn't want to leave them just plain.  

It was a party, for heaven's sake!

I whipped up a batch of whipped cream, and when it was almost ready I added some maple syrup, 

cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.  

It was so delicious, and perfect with the carrot cake. Or just a spoon. 

Snapshot - It's heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!

I actually gasped out loud yesterday when I saw the book was in Chapters, then 

grabbed a copy and ran for the till.

I am so excited to get reading.

Roasted appple pancakes

The Mister made some roasted apple slices for the kitlets to eat.  Apples, peeled and sliced, tossed with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and baked for a while. 

They were delicious.

For Sunday morning breakfast I chopped some up and stirred them into pancake batter, 

with a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg.  

They were so flavorful they didn't need butter or maple syrup, but to me a pancake 

isn't a pancake without them.

Tender, homey and comforting. 

Walkies

Last month, out for a quick walk by myself. 

Snapshot - Cookies for coworkers

It's 10pm, and I have to get up at 4:30 am, so I really should be in bed, but the first trays of cookies just came out of the oven.  

When you promise your co-workers cookies for Friday, you gotta follow through.....

Something I like - Line a day memory book

I bought this on impulse at the end of December, and it's become very important to me 

quite quickly.  The one line a day memory book give you a small space to jot a few lines

 about each day of the year, for 5 years.

I have an absolute terrible memory - I am not a parent that can spout off facts and dates about their kids development at the drop of a hat, or even tell you what I did last weekend, usually.
It's sad.

Our lives are really not super crazy, so some days are easier and more
 fun to fill in than others.   What a joy it will be to look back at days that say
"Worked late.  A&W for dinner."!

Hee.  But I am excited about keeping this up to date and being able to look
back at our year, and years.

I also think this would be a great gift for new parents - what a way to track important days and milestones in your babies lives!  If only I'd know about this 6 years ago.

Buy here!

Book Club - Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese

"He'd never known lonely.  If he put his head to it at all he couldn't work a definition for the word.  It sat in him undefined and unnecessary like algebra; land and moon and water summing up the only equation that lent scope to the world, and he rode through it fleshed out and comfortable with the feel of the land around him like the refrain of an old hymn.  It was what he knew.  It was what he needed."

"Down the one side was a tangle of lilacs, un-pruned and ramshackle, old and uncared for, scraping against the side of the house, and there was only one bloom.  It sat high at the point farthest from the house.  A small dab of color."

"They snowshoed in for two hours, built a fire, and drank strong tea, and in that cold and barren-feeling world, the kid came to know Christmas as a time when the land and its emptiness were perfect."

Perfect Yorkies

We had roast for Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings - roasted potatos, sprouts, creamed spinach, gravy, and the best part - yorkshire puddings. 

I absolutely love yorkies but have always been afraid to make them. Years ago a friend and I made - tried to make - them and we failed miserably. 

I never attempted them again but always wanted to. 

So what better time than a crazy busy day with the stress of completely wired children and grandparents coming for dinner? 

 I followed Jamie Oliver's Amazing Yorkies recipe and they were perfect and impressive. 

Definitely the best part of the meal for me.

A couple of days after, we finished up the leftovers.  I'd discovered a yorkshire pudding mix package in the cupboard, so I made them to go with the leftover beef.

Yuck.  Little tasteless hockey pucks.  Won't be doing that again.

Recipe: Amazing yorkies

(For the beef we followed this recipe and omitted the peppercorns.  Delicious.)

Intentions for February

How things went in January:

Yoga every day - pretty well.  I have definitely come to rely on my practice to bring some peace and calm to my mind and life.  I went for a few days without practicing mid month, and was ready to "remove my skin and throw it at someone" as I so charmingly shared with The Mister.

Lots of water - during the day, I'm pretty good.  At home, no.

Use my Fitbit - I FOUND my fitbit.  So that's a start.....

Keep calm - hmmmmm.


For this month -

Yoga and walking every day.

Reading.  More.  Do it.  I have a big pile of books to read, but I don't actually have much interest in those particular books.  Boo.

Menu planning  _ I have totally fallen apart on this.  I need to make a plan for the week every weekend, and stick to it.

Say Thank You to The Mister, every day.  The man is a saint, and deserves the moon.  Instead, he got stuck with me.