Latté My Heart

I just found these wonderful gems on Anthropologie's website.  Aren't they just the cutest? Whether you're a coffee enthusiast who must have your latte in an authentic bowl or not, I think anyone would agree that these bowls are amazing. I just think these would be perfect for bowls of ice cream on a summer evening, or a dish full of leftover Valentine's candy, or a bowl for salsa at a party, or simply on a shelf looking cute... I think they're just so charmingly versatile.

Now, if only my kitchen had more storage for them... maybe someday.  *sigh* :)

-Laura

Simple as Pizza and Beer

Last night, we had to honor of hosting Carrie and Everett for dinner and games.  We had homemade pizzas, brownies, and topped the night off with some Settlers of Catan.  I photo-documented the night primarily for my mom and sisters - my kindred spirits in the homemade pizza department.

Pepperoni, Olive, & Canadian Bacon 

Before

After

Canadian Bacon & Pineapple

aka Cole's pizza of choice. 

Before

After

Chicken Feta Pesto Feta Garlic Olive and Feta

aka, MY pizza of choice.

Before

After

 Oh, and THE brownies.

Yummy. Now it's time to hit the gym. Mom, Kelly, and Kelly, this is just a feeble attempt to get you to come visit us. :)

-Laura

Missionary Cereal Granola

The summer before I entered the 8th grade, my family and I went on a mission trip to Ecuador for 2 weeks. We stayed with Tom and Lois Fulghum - who were missionaries in Quito working with HCJB Radio (among like a zillion other ministries).  It was an incredible 2 weeks.

One of the more minor ways that I was impacted by that trip was with this recipe.  Lois made this for breakfast - to be eaten with milk or yogurt, but always with fresh fruit juice made with fruits that I could hardly pronounce and had never heard of. 

I was recently reintroduced to the recipe and had to make it!  So here you have it... The delicious (and surprisingly easy) Missionary Cereal - (more commonly referred to as granola).

Missionary Cereal
 
12 C. Oatmeal (not quick cooking - the OLD FASHIONED kind)
2 C. coconut
2 C. chopped nuts - the best are pecans (Confession: I omitted these since my husband and I are not fans of nuts in cookies, cakes, granolas etc. FYI, my mom just cringed a little as she read that, I'm sure.)
2 T. cinnamon
1 T. vanilla
1 1/4 C. honey
1 1/4 C. oil
 
Mix dry ingredients well. Cook honey and oil together over medium-high heat, stirring til steaming hot. 

Pour over oats mixture and stir to mix well. Spread in 2 or 3 9 x 13 pans, or one very large roasting pan.
Bake for 1 hour at 275 degrees, stirring every 20 minutes. 
Add raisins after granola has cooled if you like. (Which I didn't because, well, we don't like those either. Mom cringed again.)

I  3/4'd the recipe because there are only two of us and we simply won't go through it and because I failed to plan well and only had 3/4 the amount of oatmeal required. Oopsie.  Also, all I had was the quick oats - bad idea. It didn't "glob" up like granola is supposed to do.  And next time, I'll probably add flax seed and wheat germ to add some more nutritional value to it. (Mom just un-cringed. And sighed a sigh of proud accomplishment at having her daughter FINALLY see the value in both flax seed and wheat germ.)

Anywho, there you have it! An inexpensive breakfast cereal, snack, etc... 

Thanks, Mom!

-Laura

PS- I'm listening to [this] right now and it's phen-om-en-al. (You know it's good when I spell it out in syllables!)

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this time of year??  Though the mountain of dishes nearly exceeds the cookies yeilded... it is always absolutely worth it. Now my biggest problem is finding a place to store them all!

Cookies Galore!

Ah, a happy kitchen, indeed!

Stayed tuned tomorrow... there is a very special birthday coming up...........

-Laura