Naturally Optimistic

A simply delicious holiday treat. In case you want to make some last minute yummy niblets, say for Santa, check these out! (there are many iterations on the internet right now, they're so simple to make & yummy...this is how I made mine). Take a bag of pretzels (I've used tiny twists or the little checkboard ones). Lay pretzels on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Unwrap Rolos & set one on top of each pretzel. Bake in oven at 250* for 3-4 minutes. Upon taking the pretzel/rolos out of the oven, smoosh a pecan on the top of each one. Refrigerate or pop in the freezer for a few minutes so they set up/cool. EAT! Yum! *for those who don't like nuts, I also have made a Rolo/pretzel sandwich which is also quite tasty!

This is my 2nd spring in a house with no rhubarb plants. I am starting to think that I should plant one (or dig one up from my Step MIL's) so that I can make my single rhubarb recipe each year. I love rhubarb, but in moderation. Last night said Step-MIL cut me a bunch of her rhubarb (so early for Duluth! We've had a heck of a spring!) and today I'm going to make something..... pie? Martha's Rhubarb Upside Down cake ? Muffins? Crisp? Mmmmm, the possibilities are endless....

I participated in a cookie exchange with some ECFE Moms on Monday. I was happy to be apart of it because I've always wanted to do one, but never been asked. There were 6 of us participating and we decided on doing 6 cookies for each Mom. That was a great number. I made a normal sized batch of cookies and it worked out perfectly. Of course I think my cookies turned out rather ugly. They were a bit better when I packaged them but still I was rather disappointed with their outcome. Oh well! Hopefully they will be enjoyed regardless.

This week's meal plan is posted. I also put up some pics of the No Knead Bread which turned out great! Super easy and delicious. Especially if you like rustic breads - great for buttering and gobbling up. I tried making Applesauce Muffins from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook on Saturday morning - they were SUPER yummy (and healthy to boot!). Pics up of those too. (can you tell I just learned how to use my macro on my camera? Sheesh)

So another weekend has come and gone. And BOY was it a great one. (I am being sarcastic). It wasn't necessarily "bad" it was just...."meh." Friday night: Um....I got home late from grocery shopping so therefore we ate late and had a very hungry & crabby baby. Fun! I then made 2 pans of lemon cheese bars for Steve's Uncle's memorial service on Saturday. Saturday: Rush rush rush! Try to get all three of us clothed, bathed, fed, bars cut, FIL picked up, etc for said memorial service. Spent most of the day there and you know what? There are no ramps from the parking lot to the entrance at Marshall School (the memorial was in the chapel there). There is handicapped parking on top, but if you're like me and just have a stroller, you're f'd. And there's lots of snow & ice in the parking lot and if you're also like me - you're carrying 2 pans of bars, a platter on which to put them, a baby, diaper bag & purse. Your husband is...

I always offer to bring dessert to my MIL's because it's what I *make best* (IMHO)and she's a great cook...and I suck at salads. This Easter was no different. So I pulled out the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook to pick a recipe for Easter Sunday. I thought lemon would be springy and picked the Lemon Curd Cake. Read through - sounded easy! I'll be done in a snap! Um, yeah. I spent 5 hours on Saturday making this cake. Well, more specifically the lemon CURD. This cake took forever. It also took more eggs, butter & sugar than I thought possible (16 yokes just for the curd!!!!!). By time I finished the cake I didn't have time to frost the thing. So I made the frosting and refrigerated it for the night. Well, long story short, when I went to frost the cake yesterday - the frosting separated (even though I followed the directions on how to get it back to a spreadable consistency), then I could get the paper cornet w/decorating tip to stay together to put the decora...

My honey has requested this for his b-day cake this year....anyone got any recipe ideas? This is the kind of bundt cake with the pudding tunnel inside.... Hmmmm.....

Last night I hung out with Miss M. We made banana bread ("I just looooooooooooove banana bread.") We had a very nice time. We also finished watching Shrek (the first one) and ate dried beef on toast for dinner. I'm hoping that one of these days will be nice so we can put our seedlings into the garden outside! Maybe next time. Last night was a good night for staying in and doing warm kitchen activities!

Ah the cheesecake! That's what Easter's about, right? I started off here with the MARTHA STEWART BAKING HANDBOOK - New York Cheesecake: It called for 7 8 oz packages of cream cheese. I thought that was a lot. What I didn't realize was it was a recipe for a 10" pan which as cheesecakes go is quite large. I believe my pan is only 8" doh. So much for reading ahead. After reading more of the recipe and starting to feel a time crunch as I had to be to Steve's Dad's by a certain time....I started researching other cheesecake recipes in my cookbooks and online. I decided to forgo the "water bath" and bake it the normal way. I did learn though that you can let your cheesecake cool from 3-5 hours IN THE OVEN which apparently prevents cracking. Hmmmm, the top popped up (I used SO MUCH FILLING - and sadly still dumped a ton down the drain. Pooey for wasting good cheesecake filling! the top got quite brown - unfortunately. Hmmmm..... After freaking out a bit...

My Mother-in-law has asked us to bring dessert for Easter dinner on Sunday. I am considering making a simple New York Cheesecake w/chocolate crumble crust & topped with fresh strawberries & cream.... The recipe in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook calls for seven 8oz packages of cream cheese. SEVEN? Ay yi yi - so much for my "diet."

Last night Steve decided he wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies. I knew he had been craving them for a while but I hadn't had time to bake any yet. He took matters into his own hands. He exclaimed "I can't wait to use my new mixer!" Cheeky bastard.... :) I was putzing around the kitchen, measuring dry ingredients for him, cleaning up after he'd finished and doing some laundry & cleaning in the basement. When I came upstairs I said "Did you add the secret ingredient yet?" He said "yes, yes, I did." I then asked him if he knew what the secret ingredient was. He looked at me and said matter of factly "Love." He is right. That is exactly what I was going to say. I love this man. The cookies were excellent.

For Christmas, my Mother-in-Law gave me this book that had been on my wishlist: I was so excited! And had the perfect occassion to try it out. My Dad's 60th birthday is only a few days after Christmas and we were having a party for him the following weekend. I decided to make the Ginger Chocolate cakes because 1) it seemed like a "special" cake (as one should have for celebrating 60 years!) and 2) it was ginger bread and we were still in between the holidays so I figured people would not think I was out of season by baking this. Oh and 3) I LOVE gingerbread. It took me all morning to create the cakes & the ganache (and pack for the weekend). I also had to run to a candy store to buy crystallized ginger (who knew they sell it at candy stores? Well, they do!) I was quite pleased with how they turned out. The ganache frosting was easy to make (putzy but easy) but the recipe was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too big for these 12 cakes and sadly a lot of it ended up getting tossed (af...

My husband's birthday is on Halloween...and this year not only did that day fall on a Tuesday but also during his camping trip into the Boundary Waters. Oh he also got stranded there on his birthday this year due to crappy weather so...we're celebrating tonight! We had planned to have a dinner party anyway and thought we'd combine his birthday into this. I'm currently roasting a turkey in the oven and for as little as I like to touch (or even look or think about) raw meat, I got it into the oven with little drama. Sometimes there is a lot of drama! We're also having the usual "Thanksgiving" fixings - mashed (whipped! with the new KitchenAid Mixer!) potatoes, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, dinner rolls and for dessert - pumpkin cheesecake! I made this cheesecake last year for Steve upon request. It was my first cheesecake ever and I was nervous but it turned out really well. This year when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he said "pumpkin...