Look Ma no pineapples!

I ran out of pineapples so I used peaches to make an upside down cake. This was my first time ever using peaches and I think it didn't turn out so bad.

Results Are In

I'm so proud of myself! I actually made the teething biscuits. I decided not to go with the recipe I posted earlier - I realized that it contains a whole egg and milk, two items which I am not ready to introduce to Lil' Cherub yet. At 9 months old, she has only had egg yolk - and though I know some say it's okay for babies to have whole egg cooked in a recipe, I'd rather just play it safe.

So I found another recipe which contained just four items!

1 cup of flour

1 cup of rice cereal

3 tablespoons of cooking oil

ice water.

I combined the flour and rice cereal, then gradually mixed in the cooking oil. I stirred in the ice water a bit at a time until the dough came away from the sides of the bowl. I rolled it out on a floured surface to the thickness of a cracker and cut it into strips. I baked them on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10 minutes - or until slightly browned. The recipe made several "crackers."

They are not very pretty, but Lil' Cherub seems to like them okay. If I had to change anything, maybe I would roll them out a bit thicker. They are hard - perfect teething biscuit quality - but also break very easily. That seems somewhat of a contradiction. Well, they snap right into pieces, but the pieces do not disolve very well. So I had to fish several chunks out of her mouth. I think if I made them thicker, they may not break so easily? She might be able to just hold onto them and gum them. I'm still pretty excited to have made them and motivated to try some other recipes!

Something to Sink Her Teeth Into

Lil Cherub has grown the cutest two little teeth. I'm sure she doesn't know what to do with them yet...though she has bitten me a few times already... Anyway, they are a reminder to me that she is growing so quickly! Babbling, crawling, cruising, eating lots of food to keep up with all of the energy she is spending. I made my own babyfood for all three of my little blessings. However, this time around I'm taking on a new challenge! She loves to eat toasted o's and graham crackers, so Ive decided to make my own teething biscuits and crackers . I found several recipes at a website that was a great resource to me with my first two blessings, wholesomebabyfood.com. I hope to try this one out this weekend and post pictures soon!

Baby Teething Crackers

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup milk



Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

In food processor or in large bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. Blend in enough of the milk to form a dough that will hold together in a cohesive ball.

On a floured surface or pastry cloth, roll into a rectangle about 3/8 inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2 x 3-inch rectangles. Place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Stick each cracker 2 or 3 times with the tines of a fork. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the crackers are thoroughly dry. Cool on a rack. These crackers should be hard. If necessary, put them back in the oven for a few minutes.

Yields 10 to 15 crackers.

Born Again Apple Pie!

I come from a long line of pie makers. Everyone in the family makes pies and I love making pies. I make them so often without following a recipe that it always catches me off guard when someone asks me to teach them how to make a pie. How to make a pie? What do you mean? I don't understand the question... That's the translation of the look that is usually on my face!

Yesterday we had a special guest visiting for dinner and at the last minute I decided to bake an apple pie. I quickly made and rolled out some dough, sliced up some apples, seasoned everything, put it together and threw it in the oven just before our guest arrived. After a lovely dinner I brought out a beautiful sparkling pie (I sprinkle sugar on the crust before baking - hence the sparkles). Imagine my shock, disbelief and horror, when I, the mistress of pies, cut into her perfect pie only to reveal apples floating in brown water! In my haste, I had forgotten to put in a thickener -which is almost always needed for a fruit pie. I usually use cornstarch, but sometimes use tapioca or even flour. Well this pie had none of the above! I was beyond embarrassed - though our guest and my family happily ate the apple soup. The apples were quite tasty and the crust was delicious. I was still very upset.

Sooo... after our guest left and the kids were in bed, I tried a little experiment. The pie was about half gone, but the pie plate was still filled with brown cinnamon flavored water. I stirred some cornstarch into the liquid I could see and just kind of hoped it would work it's way into the part under the crust. I put the pie back into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or so.

IT WORKED!

When I took the pie out it had thickened beautifully. It was smooth as can be and oh so tasty! While I saved this pie - or at least half of it, I have definitely learned my lesson - no rushing while making pies anymore.

Busy Little Elf

I've been working away, though it seems as if everything that could happen to keep me away from my tasks has happened! My cold has lingered on, making me really exhausted by the time the kiddos go to bed (and it's hard for me to make gifts while I'm sleeping). Friday I was determined to at least get the things that needed to be mailed finished. A big storm was supposed to start Friday around noon, and I was furiously sewing and cooking away while keeping one eye on the skies (looking for snow) and one eye on the kids. Yes, your math is correct, that didn't leave enough eyes to have one on my sewing machine. As I was rushing, I sewed one of my reverse applique letters right to the collar of the t-shirt! It was a nightmare to take out because I used a really close stitch. It was also my first time doing reverse applique, so it took me quite a while to complete the project. I hope the boys like the finished product - I wanted it to have a rough, boyish look and I think I acheived that, though their parents might just think it looks messy. Oh well, messy sure was a lot of work!A bit after 12:30, Lil' Miss announced, "The snow is coming down Mommy!" It came down fast and hard and by the time I finished the shirts, there were several inches on the ground. I ended up waiting for Hubby to get home and he drove us to the post office. So I am happy that I got the t-shirts finished and six bags of chocolate covered roasted pecans made AND they all got in the mail on Friday.

I thought that Saturday I'd be able to get some more things done, but since we got 12 inches of snow on Friday, hubby spent most of the day cleaning up - which meant the kids were with me (they went out for a little bit, but are too small to really stay out very long). Sewing with the Little Guy around just does not work. However, I did go to my neighbor's house for a cake baking lesson. I already know how to bake cakes, but she makes those professional cakes that you pay tons of money for birthday parties and other events. It was great, I learned how to make the cake AND the icing and it was delicious! This is a 12 inch, 3 inch high cake and 24 hours later there is only about a fourth of it left!

Today, church was canceled because it was still snowing - it snowed straight through from Friday until Sunday evening. Though I was looking forward to going to church, not only to worship and fellowship, but I had a few bags of pecans I wanted to give to some folks, I was also happy to have the time to work on some projects. Well, we drove out in the snow to get a few things and wouldn't you know that when we returned, our CO detector was going off again?!! Hubby went down to check out the furnace and the one near the bedrooms began to go off too. We decided that it would be best for the children and I to leave the house, while Hubby tried to figure out the problem. I woke the Little Guy from his nap and bundled everyone up and went to a neighbor's. While it was nice to visit, all I could think of was my sewing! It felt like someone really didn't want me to make any gifts.

When we finally came back home to a soot covered Hubby, I let the kids decorate gingerbread cookies while I started on one project. By the end of the night, I was able to finish it and a little something to go with it. It's a tissue pouch holder and a keychain! Hopefully the next few nights will be much more productive!

'Tis the season...

The holiday season always makes me want to bake. Pies, breads, cookies, cakes... Our home is toasty warm and smelling of sugar and spices from November through January! While everyone else is excited preparing their famous mac n cheese or award winning turkey for Thanksgiving, I get charged up slicing up fresh fruit and rolling out pie crusts. That is going to be my contribution for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents this year. I plan on making an apple pie, a strawberry rhubarb pie, pumpkin bread (from pumpkins, not from the can) and a pound cake.

We usually spend the holidays out of town with my inlaws and I don't get to contribute much. My mil is one of those who has her holiday menu perfectly timed from start to finish. Another cook in the kitchen throws the whole plan off! This year we moved our visit up to this past summer so that we could avoid traveling so close to the due date. Not that people don't travel at 7 months pregnant, I'd just rather be close to the comfort of my own home at this stage. We've done the airport traveling with two small children when I'm NOT pregnant, and it's just not fun.

Anyway, yesterday I tried out a new cookie recipe. A friend gave me the recipe but I made a few changes. After the regular base for many cookies (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, creamed butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla), it called for lots of coconut, pecans, old fashioned rolled oats and chocolate chips. I decreased the amount of pecans by a fourth because Hubby has convinced himself he's allergic to them. He's SO not, it's just that the first time he had a fresh pecan, he happened to eat the very bitter red part in between the meat. I also decreased the amount of chocolate chips by a third because I'm trying to cut down on my chocolate intake. And then I added fresh cranberries to half of the batch. They turned out great. However, this morning, they were pretty crunchy. I think next time I'll also decrease the amount of rolled oats.

I guess the crunchiness didn't bother everyone. I sent some to work with my husband and he said everyone liked them. I'll bring some to church with me this evening and over to my parents. For Christmas I'll be baking cookies and making chocolate covered pecans to give along with my handmade gifts. What are you baking this holiday season?