Sour Cream Lemon Pie

Normally I love winter. Anyone who knows me knows this fact.
This year has been different.
I've been perpetually freezing, and I haven't been super fond of it. Apparently any Nebraska I had in my veins left during the summer.
That being said, I was so tired of the freezing weather last week that I made up my mind to make as many things feel like summer as possible. So, I painted my toenails, browsed swimming suits, and decided to bake a summer-y pie.
(Side note - where is your favorite place to look for swimming suits? I looked around the mall for a little bit, but nothing was speaking to me)

You guys. This week's pie is currently a tie for first with the Maple Lime pie. This pie was a whole bunch of lemon-y sour creamy deliciousness. And don't worry - this pie was way less complicated than last week's. I mean, I made it at 9:00 on a Saturday morning after only getting 3 and a half hours of sleep, and it still turned out!

Before I get into that - check it out. My blog is different! Shout out to Jenny for fixing it up for me. Isn't she the coolest? Thanks again, Jen!

So, this pie.

You just make a single pie crust recipe (posted at the bottom of the previous entry). Roll it out. Set it in the pie plate. Crimp the edge (or braid it or whatever!) and pop it in the fridge for a bit.
Preheat the oven to 425 F while the pie is chillin' in the fridge. When the oven is pre-heated go ahead and put the pie in the oven for 20 minutes. I know that you're supposed to use pie weights on the dough so the crust won't bubble up, but I don't have any, so I put parchment paper over the pie dough and then I weighted that down with 2 spoons. I was gettin' all ghetto with that pie crust.
Whatevs, it totally worked.
After it had baked for 20 minutes, I took it out of the oven, removed the parchment paper/spoons and put it back in the oven for 8 minutes until the edge of the crust was golden-y brown. You won't have to worry about the crust again! Done-zo!

Go ahead and juice the lemons now. It calls for 5 tablespoons which I easily got out of two larger lemons. As always, make sure there are no seeds in the juice before you use it! (Duh, right?)

Grab a saucepan and pour in the sour cream, milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon juice and start whisking them all together over medium heat. Keep stirring until it all starts to boil a little (not a full boil). Set the heat a little lower and constantly stir the mixture for another 2 minutes or so, and then remove the pan from the heat.

Now you get to whisk 4 egg yolks together in a separate bowl. Once those yolks are whisked add about a cup of the sour cream mixture in with the yolks. Once that is all mixed together combine both mixtures into the same pan. Let the mixture cool for a little bit (not not too much) because you'll then add 4 tablespoons of butter to the mixture. Once it has been added all you have to do is pour the mixture into the pre-baked pie shell.

See? Way easier than last week's. Oh, I put a layer of plastic wrap on top of the pie while it was cooling in the fridge so it wouldn't get a skin on top of it.

Also, I plan to make this custard a ton this summer in little ramekins. I mean, it would be perfect for the summer! Since the custard is made on the stovetop you wouldn't even need the stove if you just left the custard plain or maybe sprinkled graham crackers on top of it.

PS - I'm still super lame at this "take a picture of every single step of the baking process" thing, so there is only the one picture. Oops.

PPS - I kind of do feel bad for posting the entire recipe on the internet. What are the rules on this? It feels like plagiarism to me. Maybe just message me if you would like to make the pie for something? Or, grab a copy of the book!

2014 Pie Challenge

Hello again! It's me - your favorite uber sporadic blogger.

If you follow me on TwitterFaceGram you've probably noticed that I've been fairly pie obsessed so far this year. That's because for Christmas I was gifted with a pie cookbook, so it is now a goal of mine to bake each recipe before the end of the year.
I know, I know. It sounds so cliche and like I just wanted to be like that Julie chick from Julie and Julia.
Well, I just like pie. So, that's why I'm doing it.

I have a few pies that I'll need to play catch-up on, so I will start with the most recent pie I baked: 

Sliced Sweet Potato and Apple Crumble Pie

OK, side note. This whole blogging thing is a little cray to me, so just bear with me as I pretend to be a food blogger this year. Sound cool? 

This pie was the 5th I have made from the pie book, and it was also the most involved of all of the pies.  There was a lot of slicing, stirring, simmering, etc... I'm pretty sure I used 3/4 of all of my pans and bowls. Oh, well. It was worth it.

This little fella moved up to the 2nd favorite pie I've made this year (topped only by Maple Lime - coming soon to a blog near you!). My trusted taste testers (parents, co-workers, and friends) agreed.

OK, here's where it's going to get weird. Do I just write out all of the instructions? I mean, they're in the book. I don't want to plagiarize, or anything. Alright guys. Here it goes.

Pre-step: Make the crust. 

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the butter. Botta-bing. You've got yourself some pie dough. This just called for a single recipe, so I just rolled the dough into one blob, wrapped it in some plastic and stuck it in the fridge for about an hour. More on this later. Excitement!

Now for the pie - Peel 2 medium sweet potatoes. (It calls for about 2 cups sliced. I had a little more than 2 cups, and it seemed to work out OK). Once they've been peeled and sliced, pop them in a pan of water and bring them to a boil. Simmer those bad boys until they're tender when you test them with a knife. They won't be fully cooked otherwise they'll get mushy. Once they've reached the right softness, cool them off with cold water then let them sit and cool down. 

(Side note: I literally told them to "sit and think about what you've done." This has nothing to do with anything except to prove that I'm insane)

OK, I'm going to jump around a bit, because while the sweet potatoes were boiling/simmering I was rolling out my crust, and such. I'm not sure how to describe rolling out dough. I kind of feel like I could do an entire post on just pie dough. I love it so very much.
Anyhow, roll the dough out, fold the rolled out dough in half (gently!) and then transfer it to be on top of the pie plate. Center it. Admire it. It demands your admiration. Once you've fully appreciated what an awesome job you've done on the dough, stick that sucker in the fridge. It also needs to think about what it's done. (Not really. Pie dough is perfect)

Now for the (to me) trickiest part of the pie: the caramel sauce.
Yes. It was delicious, but I always stress when caramel sauce is on the line. (I keep shouting in my head DON'T BURN IT).
So, you get a saucepan and put some water and sugar in it. Whisk those items together over a low-medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter and bring the mixture to a low boil. You'll keep stirring your heart out until the mixture turns golden-ish brown. It's pretty. (Since I was stressed about this step, I was a blogger fool and did not snap a pic of what the mixture looked like when it had reached the golden-ish brown stage). Once it has reached that color you'll slowly add the cream. Then you'll let the sauce be patient and wait for its turn. All in good time, my good caramel sauce.

Remember those apples you bought? Peel and slice them. I used granny smith apples because apparently there was a rush on baking apples at the store I visited to purchase apples. I was planning to get golden delicious, but whatevs. Granny won. I can think of worse things in life. Like when you really want to hear a Radiohead song and The Strokes come on instead. Back to the apples - you'll need about 2 cups of them all said and done. Are they sliced? Cool. Now juice some lemons (I used 2) and make sure you get the seeds out of the juice. Toss the apple slices in the lemon juice. Now the apples get to wait.
SO MUCH WAITING.

OK, so your sweet potatoes are in timeout, your pie dough is chillin' in the fridge, and your caramel sauce is cooling on the counter.

Back to the pie - Your sweet potatoes have probably been in timeout long enough, so go ahead and start slicing them up. Get them thin. Like 1/8 of an inch thin. Then put the sliced sweet potatoes and the sliced apples (after they've been taken out of the lemon juice) together in a bowl. Sprinkle the brown sugar/spice mixture over them and start mixing them all together. Then pour that caramel sauce over the mixture. Try not to eat it all straight from the bowl (but nobody would blame you if you did).

Now go ahead and make the crumble part of the pie. You're going to need it in a jiffy.

Get that pie dough out of the fridge. It's time.
Put the apple/sweet potato/caramel mixture into the pie. Cover all of that with the crumble mixture.
Then you get to crimp the edges or braid the edges or whatever!
Put the pie in the oven. Let it bake. Take it out of the oven. Let it cool.
Eat it.
Eat it all.

Then report back and tell me what you think.

Ingredients!
2 medium sweet potatoes (for about 2 cups sliced)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 heavy cream
2 lemons
2 or 3 baking apples (for about 2 cups sliced)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (to add to the caramel sauce after it has cooled)

Crumble top!
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
4 Tablespoons butter
(Mix all the ingredients together. Chop the cold butter into cubes (about 1 inch each) and mush it into the mixture with your hands. Fun, huh!)

The Crust! (I really want to do a separate entry on just the crust options)
Since this guy (the pie) had a crumble top, he only needed a single crust option:
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
(mix the dry ingredients)
Cut up 1 stick of cold, unsalted butter into 1 inch cubes. Cut the butter into the dry mixture. 
In a separate bowl add 1/2 cup cold water and 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Add 2 Tablespoons of the water/vinegar mixture to the butter/flour mixture. Add the water to the dough one tablespoon at a time until you've reached the right consistency. You'll just have to feel that one out. It will be sticky enough to mold together but not too wet that it will stick to everything when you roll it out. Be sure to flour the counter and such before you start rolling out the dough. 

Christmas Season To-Do List!

It's here! It's finally here!

CHRISTMAS!

You're right - the actual day of Christmas has not yet arrived, but Thanksgiving is behind us, it is officially December, and since Thanksgiving fell later in the month than usual, we have less than a month to pack in everything that is Christmas. It's a serious(ly fun) business. Since I loved crossing off items from my fall to-do list I thought it would be fun to create a similar list for the holiday season!

- Send Christmas cards (because who doesn't like Christmas cards!)
- Make Christmas treat deliveries. (DUH)
- Go ice skating.
- Go exploring for Edmond/OKC Christmas lights (duh).
- Get dressed up and go out for drinks. (Yes, please!)
- Watch as many Christmas movies as possible. This includes, but is not limited to: Home Alone 1 and 2, White Christmas, and Elf.

What else is quintessentially Christmas/Holiday that needs to be added? Who wants to sign up for things!

I haven't been ice skating since I was 10, but I've been wanting to go for the last few years, so maybe 2013 will finally be the year! I'm sure if I go I will look ridiculous and probably fall a lot, but the chances are high that we'll all laugh about it.

Let's all have holiday fun together!

Planning for Friendsgiving



I tend to get ahead of myself when it comes to planning parties. I create lists for all of the imaginary parties I plan to host. I tear out ideas from magazines about centerpieces and place cards that I think would work well for said imaginary parties. I make mailing lists for all of the people who I'd love to see sitting around a table together. I tell you, there is a lot of planning that goes into these imaginary parties that will most likely never happen.

Most of these dinner gatherings end up just morphing into a regular evening of hanging out. People are invited (but not by fun mailed-out invitations), drinks are made (but not in fancy wine glasses), and food is consumed (but not in a three course meal sort of way). Laughter is always involved, so it's never a bad deal.
But Friendsgiving? Friendsgiving has always been the most elusive dinner gathering for me.

I've tried to plan one the past couple of years, but due to all the normal life things that come up between November and December, it has never come to fruition. Has this happened to anyone else? Am I the only one who has failed multiple times to provide a Friendsgiving?

This year Friendsgiving is planned for this Saturday, and I am pretty much super duper excited about it. I feel like I'm jinxing it by talking about it. Food has been planned and discussed and the prepping has begun. My place is tiny, so it will be a cozy (read: packed) evening, but I'm thoroughly excited.

Yay for food! Yay for holidays! Yay for friends!

Food Blogger Wannabe

Every time I bake something I think to myself, "Em. You should blog about this."

You see, I have this blog, but I don't really ever do anything with it. It kind of saddens me. (I realize that is a silly thing to sadden me, but silly things tend to sadden me no matter how much I wish they didn't. Like, it saddens me when I don't have time to sit and read through the magazines I get. See? Silly.)

Moving on! Like I said, I enjoy baking, and every time I begin the baking process I start out with the intention to blog it. It always seems simple enough at the beginning. Just bake, take pictures of the baking, and then write about it, right?
Well, I'm the worst at it. Maybe it's my lack of patience? Maybe I hate treating people like they're 4? (We all know how to mix in flour. Why are you telling me to move my spoon in circular motions until the flour is mixed in?)

Through these thoughts I've come to the conclusion that I will probably never become the next Joy the Baker. Big surprise, right? It's OK. I have other strengths. You know, like Instagramming on occasion and always having candy on my desk at the office. Maybe I should blog about that?
(Ex: Today I brought dark and milk chocolate Dove pieces to the office. Let me show you how I did it!)

I still like baking, though. So if you ever want to see pictures of food but you don't care about how those pictures were made, then follow me on Instagram (emlance).
In closing, I will leave you with pictures of the pie I made on Sunday. It was apple. It was delicious. I ate it for 4 meals straight; breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast again. Can we all say "fat kid" in unison? On three. One, two, three! Fat kid! I don't even care. It was worth it.

 

(Yes, I totally baked this pie while wearing pajamas)

 

 

Thus concludes the picture and writing portion of this post.

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

I don't have anything clever to say about these little guys.
They were fabulous. Stop whatever you are doing and go bake them.
Do it for you. Do it for your family. Do it for America. I'm not really sure what these have to do with America, but goodness are they delicious.
They are perfect to serve with coffee, for dessert, take to work, or eat for breakfast.
I'm just guessing on that last point. I definitely didn't eat one for breakfast two days in a row.

The recipe came from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook that I got for Christmas. I've now made 2 items from that book. Only two in an 8 month time frame. Shameful.

I know the recipe is technically called Gooey Cinnamon Squares, but I started calling it "snickerdoodle cake," because, well, that's essentially what it is.
After my last baking attempt ended in failure, I decided I needed to stick with something simple that was bound to deliver regardless of any user errors.

Question - do blogs sometimes make you feel like a failure at presenation? For instance, I feel the need to apologize that my container isn't an antique, white, quirky dish. I also took this picture with my iPhone, not a sweet camera with a crazy lense, and I didn't serve the dessert on cute vintage plates. I just put them in a generic container and took them to the office. I even put one of them in a ziploc.
Oh my gosh.
It feels so good to get that off my chest.

This pic was taken right before they (the squares) went into the oven. Look at the excitement.

 

Until next time!

Cookie Base:
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 milk

Gooey Layer:
1/4 cup light corn syrup or honey
1/4 cup milk, half and half, or cream (I used cream. Duh)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
12 Tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Baking Bad

Baking Bad

Episode One:

Caramel Apple Cake

 

9:25 PM, Saturday, August 24:

Me: This cake is turning out to be a disaster. What's my deal?
My mother: I don't know. I'm sorry.

 

Two hours after that fateful text, I emphatically proclaimed to the air in my kitchen that I would never bake again and that I've been living a lie - parading around as a wannabe baker when I couldn't even frost a simple cake.

Despicable.

If this were an episode of Breaking Bad, I am certain that Gus would have shot me for producing a bad batch. Or, even worse, the Mexican cartel cousins would have been sent to keep me from producing such an atrocity ever again.

I'm sure I would have tried to offer a peace offering, and my last words would have been along of the lines of "WAIT! Would you like a piece of mediocre ca..."

It would have been too late.

I had been given my chance.

I would have been found lying in my kitchen in a pool of blood and cake batter the next morning.



 

That's probably a tad overdramatic. But just a tad.
Lets's go back to the beginning, shall we?
First, the back story:
My parents and I always eat Sunday lunch together. Since Sundays are nutsballs for us, we take that opportunity to indulge our food desires.

My mother always wakes up at 4:00 AM, or some other ungodly hour of the morning, to prep the lunch and make sure everything is set for an easy post-church, oven-to-table set up.
This always includes dessert.
Not a Sunday goes by when that woman does not have a delicious dessert prepared for us.

So, when I began this lovely little blog challenge for myself, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to relieve my mother of one task on her Sunday morning schedule. I happily texted my mother to make sure she approved of this idea. She responded with "That would be great!" and I quickly began the planning.

I've been craving fall lately. My thoughts have been consumed with tights, sweaters, football, and party planning. Granted, party planning is always on my mind, but it definitely is hightened during the fall months.
Because of this, I thought it only fitting that I make the Caramel Apple Cake that is from the same Baked cookbook I used for the Cowboy Cookies.

Oh, goodness. Apples! Caramel! Cake! It's a trifecta of deliciousness.

I made the cake, and it was wonderful. Three 8 inch cake pans came out of the oven and patiently waited to be flipped over and frosted. One of the layers stuck ever so slightly to the bottom of the pan, but I wasn't deterred. This was going to be amazing.
I could feel it.
I had a wedding that night at work, so I packed the cakes away and returned home later to make the frosting and finish the process.

Somewhere between work and my house I lost my mind, because when I came back, everything I did was the worst.
I dropped 3 cups of flour all over the floor.
I almost added baking soda instead of baking powder.
I dropped the trashbag as I was pouring the failed batch of frosting into it, so as if to mock me, the failed frosting ended up on the floor, my legs, the bottom of the trash can.
Basically, the frosting was everywhere except in the trash bag, which was the one place I wanted it to be.

I apparently also became illiterate, because I couldn't follow the most basic of instructions.
Sugar? They must mean powdered sugar.
Cook? They must mean don't cook.
Like I said, I lost my mind.

The next morning, I tossed the pathetic attempt at a cake in a carrying device and headed out the door.
I warned my parents of the how awful it would be. Just imagine the scene from Anne of Green Gables where Anne shouts "Don't eat it, Miss Stacy!" Except I shouted "Drown it in ice cream and make sure a strong pot of coffee is on standby!"

All in all, the actual cake was delicious. It was just that stupid frosting. I'm sorry I did wrong by you, Apple Caramel Cake. It wasn't your fault.

I hope you all haven't lost faith in me. I promise to make it up to you somehow.





Cowboy Cookies

Have you ever made a challenge/goal for yourself only to have a slight panic attack when you looked at your schedule only to to see you would hardly be home to make that goal a reality?

That just happened to me.

Yes, I probably take things too seriously, but whatever. 

A goal is a goal!

Step one - Pull out all of the cookbooks to decide which one would be the lucky winner as the first "branch out" recipe. There was much excitement, let me tell you.
(We all know the real step one is choosing which music you will listen to during the baking. For the Cowboy Cookies, I went with a classic Kanye West album).

Step two - Read through all of the recipes and narrow it down purely based on the ingredients that are or are not currently in the kitchen.

Step three - Make sure your music is at an appropriate level and begin!

The Cowboy Cookies were the winner for the first post, mostly because I had all of the ingredients.

Side note: I greatly admire all people who are able to keep a fully stocked pantry.

Back to the cookies.

The recipe came from Baked Explorations, which I love. It's so fun to look through!
Fun fact - I first glanced through this cookbook while I was waiting to surprise the manager at the Borders in Largo, MD. That sounds a lot more scandalous than it was.

So, you know how cookie recipes go. Mix the butter, sugar, brown sugar together. Add the egg(s). Then the other random dry ingredients, and what not. End with flour, oatmeal, chocolate.
The recipe called for two cups of semi-sweet chocolate chunks, but alas. I keep a poorly stocked pantry, so I was devoid of semi-sweet chocolate chunks.
So, I went to plan B - chopping up semi-sweet baking squares.
However, I ended up with only a cup of those, so then I went to plan C, which was adding a cup of milk chocolate chips to the mix. I figure it's chocolate, so how horrible can it be?

Once everything has been mixed together, cover the mixing bowl in a soft blanket (or foil) so the dough can take a cold, four hour nap. It's the luckiest dough ever.

Once the dough's refrigerated naptime is over, proceed to scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet. The dough blobs end up being about 1 inch in diameter. Try not to eat as much of the dough as I did. Blast!

Side note - I hate treating people like they don't know anything about baking. Probably because I absolutely hate it when other bloggers do it to me. Like, "Then you're going to want to put the chocolate chips IN the cookies." Oh, really? I thought we'd just be setting them on the counter to look at while we ate the cookies.
So, please don't be offended if I make a comment about how big the cookies are supposed to be. I am guessing all of you are familiar with the average size of a cookie.

So - fill the cookie sheet with cookie dough blobs, stick the cookie blobs into an oven, wait for a few minutes, then pull out the cookies, let them cool, and then partake in the deliciousness.
If you're like me, you bake them at 7:00 in the morning and take them to work with you so you won't be tempted to eat all of them.
Also, if you are like me again you will forget to take a picture of them as proper bloggers do, so you'll be forced to take one at your office while they are still around.
And you'll love sharks.
We're still playing the "if you're like Emily" game, right?

I digress.

Verdict:
These cookies were a super easy first recipe. I mean, they're cookies, so I kind of feel like I cheated the new goal.
I'll make it up to you next week, Goal! I promise!
Moving on, these were tasty little morsels. My co-worker said "It's like meeting a Care Bear! And he's real!" I'm not entirely sure what this means, but she said it with a smile on her face, so I'll take it as a good thing.

Obligatory photos!

Recipe:

1 3/4 flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups rolled oats

14 Tbs. unsalted butter

3/4 sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. instant espresso powder

2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks

3/4 thin, salty pretzels (optional) to sprinkle on top of the dough blobs prior to baking.

Baking! Challenges! School!

(When someone asks where my happy place is, I describe this picture. Dough! Rolling pin! Flour!)

Two truths and a lie:
1) My hair is unruly.
2) I am super good at keeping up with a blog.
3) I dream about cake.

If you guessed #3 as the lie - you are wrong! It is #2.
(And, yes. #3 is unfortunately very true. Last night my dream was pretty much just me in the kitchen baking a chocolate cake, and then bringing it to work to distribute to people. What does this mean? Other than I am a boring person who dream about real-life experiences) Oh, well!

And now a confession:
I am a cookbook hoarder. It's true. I have so many, but I always end up using a tried and true recipe and tell myself that I'll branch out the next time.
Well, no longer, I say!
I made a deal with myself that I would bake one new item per week from my currently owned cookbooks. I am writing it on here as a way to keep myself accountable. Because I'm sure you all will yell at me when next Monday rolls around and I haven't baked anything. Don't yell! I'll bring you a treat to eat!

I mean, what better time to begin a new goal than at the beginning of the school year, right? Excitement!

DPP: Days 8 and 9

I've come to accept the fact that I will not stay current with blogging the pictures I take each day. I hope you all can forgive me.

Day 8:

I am pretty lazy when it comes to making lunch in the morning. If I decide to "make" lunch in the morning, it usually consists of me throwing 3 cheese slices in my bag in between pouring coffee and throwing on my boots. Occasionally I include some almonds. I mean, go big or go home, right?

Anyhow, in an attempt to not suffer through horrible lunches each day, I try to plan ahead (crazy, I know). So, last Saturday I made a batch of pasta salad, divided it up into multiple containers, and sat back to admire my stash of future lunches.

The rest of my day was filled with working at Coldwater Creek and being stuck in traffic. Hence the picture of pasta.

Can we talk about Quail Springs traffic for a minute? No, we better not. We'd all use language that we would later regret.

(Update: I ended up eating Monday's pasta allotment at 9:30 PM on Saturday when I got home from work. So, I'll be forced to make adjustments. I'm sure you really wanted to know that, huh)

 

 

Day 9:

This might just be the way my brain functions, but there is something so overwhemingly beautiful about coming together as a body of believers and singing hymns that have been sung by countless others through the ages. And when those hymns happen to be about the birth of our Savior? Sheesh. I get chills thinking about it.

I can't wait for Christmas Eve!

 

 

 

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared, and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born!"

 



Thoughts and Things

It's Tuesday, but I keep thinking it's Wednesday.

It's the month of Christmas! I just thought I'd remind you.

I want to paint my nails tonight, and I want to paint them each a different festive color. Just because I can.

For the life of me, I cannot concentrate today even though I really need to. (Really) Can you tell?

I want all of my friends to be right here with me right now, because I miss them, and they're all the best, and they make things better.

I want a puppy.

I can't decide if I want a sequinny shirt for the holiday season or if that would make me feel like an 80 year old who is trying to be festive.

I think it would be cool if my boss said, "Hey, go home and bake all day. Just take pictures of what you bake and show them to us tomorrow."
Done-zo.

I also want a pet tiger. And then I would move to a state where it actually snows, and I would watch my pet tiger play in the snow. I wouldn't have to get out of the way if the tiger was running toward me, because we'd be the best of friends, and he would know that I am his friend and not his next meal.

 

 

 

Since today feels like Wednesday, will tomorrow feel like Tuesday?

 

This completely random post is brought to you by lack of this and lack of this. And the letter M.

Movies of Christmas

Let me just start this out with a disclaimer:
If you are one of those people who does not believe in talking about Christmas, listening to Christmas music, or decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, then you had best stop reading this post now. Because I intend to discuss my love for all of those things right now.

I've been listening to Christmas music at work for a few weeks now, but last week officially marked the beginning of holiday baking at the homestead, so Christmas music and movies have infiltrated normal life, as well. Last Tuesday I baked a pumpkin cheesecake while listening to the Christmas stylings of Mariah, Amy Grant, Karen Carpenter, and Nat King Cole. If that's not a party, I don't know what is.
Last Thursday I baked gingersnaps, snickerdoodles, and brown sugar cookies while Sleepless in Seattle played in the background.

My family, not unlike the majority of American families, has Christmas movie traditions. We always try to watch at least 3 of these each Christmas season, which for us begins beginning to mid November. We usually get through two while stringing popcorn and cranberries (CHRISTMAS!)

While You Were Sleeping

This isn't technically a Christmas movie, but it starts out during Christmas, so it totally counts.
"Ummm, sir. It's an Express. And it's FAST!"
Pretty sure I had a crush on Jack when I was a young tween.

OK, I might still have a crush on Jack.

 

Elf

I can't list all of the ways I love this movie. There are just too many. My co-worker and I quote this movie throughout the entire year. (Well, we paraphrase: "I'm in an office! And I'm singing!")

 

Home Alone (1 and 2)

We've probably watched Home Alone 2 more than the first purely based on the fact that we own the 2nd, but that doesn't mean I don't love the 1st installment. I'm sure many people think it's cliche or overly-silly, but I lovelove it.
"Kevin, you're what the French call 'Les Incompetents.'"

 

Sleepless in Seattle

Here we have another movie that's not really Christmas but kind of is all at the same time. For those of you who don't believe in watching this movie during the Christmas season, I have

three words for you:

"Harses, Harses, Harses."

 

 

White Christmas

 

OK. You guys.

I can't tell you how hard it was for me to pick one image to display for this movie. They are all perfect.

Luckily I was born into a family where a strong love of White Christmas had already been established at the time of my birth.

My childhood Christmas memories are of traveling to my Grandma's house and watching (and quoting and singing and dancing along with) White Christmas with my Grandma, Aunt, Mom, and cousins. One year, two of my younger cousins (guys) won a talent contest by recreating the "Sisters" number as performed by Bing and Danny.

Yeah, we love White Christmas.

And there's no way I could pick one quote from the movie. I would just end up typing out the entire script from beginning to end, and I'll spare you from that.

 

 

Remember that one time I told you that I had a hard time picking just one picture from

White Christmas? Well, I settled for two, and that was a struggle.

 

What are your family's favorite holiday movies?

 

 

 

Velma's Cookies

For as long as I can remember, Butter Cookies have been in my mother's baking arsenal.

When I was little, I would use any and all cookie cutters on them. We would make buffalo shaped cookies whenever the Huskers would play Colorado (you know, so we could take a bite of the buffalo when Nebraska would score), pumpkins at Halloween, hearts on Valentine's Day, etc. (I know, I know. We're really original with shapes and their corresponding holidays).
The cookies are simple, yet delicious. I mean, how can you go wrong with butter, sugar, and vanilla mixed together, then baked and topped with buttercream frosting?

Each time we prepared to bake these tasty gems, I would watch my mom pull out the very worn and very loved recipe card that had been written out decades before. My mother got the recipe from her mother who would make them all the time, and my grandmother got the recipe from her friend Velma who lived next door to her in the late 50s/early 60s in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Apparently, my grandma, Georgia, and Velma would go over to each other's houses in the mornings to sip coffee and watch the kids play. They would also lug their irons, ironing boards, and clothes that needed to be ironed to each other's house so they could talk while they ironed. I mean, how cute is that? And in my head, they both wore adorable dresses and pearl necklaces while doing all of those things.

Fast forward a few decades to one night a few months ago when my mom called me to say that she had looked up Velma's information and found out that she still lives near Ottumwa. My mom decided to call Velma to catch up and tell her how much we have loved baking her cookies over all of these years, and they ended up talking for a little over 30 minutes. They've since corresponded via regular mail and phone calls a few times.

Call me over sentimental and over dramatic, but I love thinking about how many people have enjoyed baking and eating those cookies over the years all because of Velma.
According to my mom, Velma got the recipe from her mother, but beyond that we don't know the origins. Seriously, though. I'm guessing that when Velma wrote down the recipe for my grandmother, she wasn't thinking how 50 years from then Georgia's granddaughter would be making them for her friends in a completely different state.

So, thank you, Velma. Your cookies have received much praise and gained many admirers.

Happy Things

There are a few things that always make me happy. Like, when they happen, I just want to freeze time and soak in the moment.

Well, two of those things happened on the same day for me,

and it was almost too much to handle.

First came the car wash.

It had been a long day. A very long day. It was 10:00 at night (still 105 outside), and I still had to go to the house where I was staying, feed a dog, water a bunch of plants, and respond to some messages. Not the worst thing in the world, but for some reason, I just wanted to collapse on the couch and watch one of my guilty pleasures (read: The Real Housewives of NJ). But as I was pumping gas, I thought, "Duh." (OK, I think that a lot, but this time it was more of a "eureka!" type of duh).

A car wash.

That's what I/my car needed.

Aren't they just the best? They're so refreshing.

OK, so after I left the car wash and was pleasantly singing along to the radio with my new found zest for the evening, I remembered that I still had to bake cookies for something that was taking place the next day.

I love baking cookies, but I still just wanted to collapse on a couch and watch The Real Housewives of NJ. (I know, I know. Feel free to judge. I know it's ridiculous)

I finally snapped out of my inner pity party and got down to business.

This might sound really stupid, but I love the form of packed brown sugar. It always just looks happy, and it means that wonderful things are being created.

Also, when you get to smash it up, well, that's fun, too.

Like I said, it might sound really stupid, but it's a small joys.

What are your small joys?

Tornado? Bake a Pie!

I've lived in the midwest for the majority of my life. The plains have a beauty unto themselves, especially during storm season. There are few things more awe-inspiring than seeing a storm roll toward you.

In Oklahoma, people go crazy about storms. There are drinking games for local weather

reporters. Other local reporters have special wardrobes they only wear during inclement weather. Probably the most famous of our reporters, Gary England, has even been lucky enough to be a part of national clips such as this. There are even clips of him in Twister.

Oh, the fame.

(abrupt segue)

Since storms tend to bring with them cooler air, gloomy clouds,

and an all around sense of excitement, my favorite thing to do during a storm is take cover? FALSE.

It's bake!

Yep. Bake.

Yesterday's storm seemed like the best day to bake a pie. And an apple pie seemed to fit with the All-American-ness that is a tornado. I love making pies.

Love it.

Before and after!

And then I had a piece for breakfast with a mug of coffee.

Perfection.

Who wants to come over and help me finish it? There's coffee, too!

PS - Thanks to my mother for the new pie dish (!) and for letting me borrow her apple peeler/corer/slicer (!!). It's a life changing device. Truly.

Meet Scarlett.

Everyone has that one object that they simply cannot live without. Maybe it's a dress. Or maybe it's a book. Perhaps it's a makeup product or that one CD you could listen to over and over again.

Mine is my Kitchenaid mixer.

Her name is Scarlett. And, yes. You are correct. She was named after the Gone With The Wind character.

We've been together for almost 3 years, and I honestly don't know how I survived without her for the majority of my life.

You see, I've had other mixers. There was my mother's hand mixer that I used until I moved out. Then I got my own hand mixer, and I was thrilled. I remember thinking how wonderful it was. I baked my fair share of food with them, but neither one of them can compete with Scarlett.

Whether we're whipping up a quick batch of cookies or preparing a menu to feed a party, she's got it covered with her muscle, prowess, and beauty.

We're a good team, Scarlett and I. Sometimes we hang out in the kitchen for hours just baking and listening to Beyonce.

I'm sure you'll see Scarlett much more in my posts to follow, and I hope you come to love her just as much as I have.

Now if you'll excuse me, Scarlett and I have some baking to do.