As some of you may know, over the holidays I lost my trusty little camera given to me by my hubby after I scratched it up when I got woozy standing on top of a high cliff jutting out of the Grand Canyon attempting to take Ansel Adam-esque pictures. I will just blame it on pregnancy hormones, because every one knows that I have Wonder Woman skills and that heights do not intimidate me - usually. I mean for goodness sakes, I have jumped out of a plane three times at an altitude of 13,500 feet! Why would something like a little ole cliff that is a mile high scare me? Anyway, I digress. I am just upset that I lost my camera that had the best pictures I have ever taken on it. For example, me and the kids in our Cowboys jerseys in front of my sister's fireplace during the Thanksgiving game. I also had some of my baby daughter's first trip to my hometown's waterfalls (with video). Yes, the more I think about it, the more upset I get. I am sure some native Wichitan is enjoying my trusty little camera now, after deleting all my pics and videos that I took with love and pride!

One picture also gone is the one I took of my awesome carrot cake, if I do say so myself. And I do. It was one of my contributions to the Thanksgiving smorgasbord we feasted on. Since, I do not have a picture of this fabulous cake, I had to borrow one.

From carrotcake

Ingredients

• 2 ounces white chocolate
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon orange extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons egg nog

1. In small saucepan, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white chocolate,  vanilla, and orange extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in egg nog. 

Here is a little something I whipped up for my family and my neighbors. Yes, this recipe is SO easy that I could make two with ease!

From Pumpkin Spice Pudding Pie

From Pumpkin Spice Pudding Pie

My posts may be few and far between, but I assure you dear readers (all 2 of you!), I have been a baking fool!

Here is another new recipe I tried this past week. I forgot to take a picture of these babies before I sent them out to the neighbors, but luckily for me, I found a great picture on the website that closely resembled mine! Yay!

From icebox cookies

I love coffee cakes and I love sweet potatoes. Put the two together and it is sure to be a smash. I found this recipe in an old cookbook called Country Cakes by Lisa Yockelson. I just had to give it a try this Fall. I picked this book up earlier in the year at a secondhand book store. I paid $1.00 for it. It was in mint condition. I love older cook books. They have a lot of charm, frugal tips, and traditional recipes involving comfort foods, like coffee cakes.

Since yesterday was my baking day, I made several mini loaves using my Pampered Chef mini loaf stoneware pan. My sissy gave me this great present! I love using it, especially for baking presents! It really does a great job baking evenly and crisping the sides. I have never had a problem with my loaves releasing.

Here is what I baked up yesterday...

From sweetpot-pecan coffee cake

Some of my best memories as a kid are of Halloween. I love to relive the excitement and magic with my kids. It really is a joy.

The older I get, the more I realize just how much I learned from my grandma. I remember her asking us to bring in the pumpkins from the porch after Halloween, so that she could use them to make pie filling. This is something that I have never done, but this year I want to and will. Nostalgia.

Here is how to do it and I wanted to share it with you all while the pumpkins are still good enough to use.

How to Reincarnate your pumpkin.

I am kinda embarrassed to post my Fall Festival cake. It did not turn out quiet as I had hoped. I mean it really does not look very much in quality as the Kraft Version, but I tried. I did however come up with a list of excuses, I mean, reasons as to why it did not turn out that way:

1. They used buttercream and not the recipe's "cream cheese frosting" (I will use buttercream next time).
   
2. They used air brush.
3. They  decorated a bundt pan and not a real cake. Therefore, the smoother finish.
4. I started my cake at 10:00 p.m.
5. At 10:15 p.m., I noticed there was a copperhead snake in my kitchen.
6. Had neighbors over to help me solve my copperhead dilemma. It took a while.
7. I am way out of practice.

From fallfestivalfuncakes

From fallfestivalfuncakes

So much has happened, that I have had hardly any time or energy to write. I am sure to write about it all at some point, but for now, I just wanted to share some Halloween Spirit.  We have been lucky in H-Town and have received some Fall-like weather. Instead of puttting me in hibernation mode, it has awaken the Baking Monster in me. I can not believe how long it has been since I posted!

Here is something I came across I wanted to share with my fellow bloggies (combo bloggers/buddies). 



Kraft has some really cute and easy ideas on its site. This is so good for me, because I am having a little goblin slumber party on Saturday and will need as many easy treats as I can make for my little trick o' treaters.

Be back soon. I hope.

I admit it. I do not always appeciate life. Lately, I have been worse than usual. My iron is extremely low. I am always fighting my anemia. When it becomes very low, I become very irritable. It is hard for me to breathe, which makes it hard for me to run or work out. It is hard for me to be energetic. I fantasize about sleep. In fact, I really do not recognize myself at this stage. My hunger pangs become unbearable. Normal background noises are pounding. All I want to do is sleep, but can't. There is too much to do and I really do not want to do it. Any of it. Even if it appears simple. Yes, life is not beautiful when I can not get my iron to absorb and stabilize.

Then, I wake up one morning and I feel better. I can breathe. I am not as tired. I can think. I can smile. I can see through the fog that my kids are living life, perhaps at its most beautiful, effortlessly.  I realize, my efforts must be winning and I have gotten my iron to absorb.

This morning my boys were so excited because I made them their favorite special breakfast, The One-Eyed monster. I found the idea from an old post from Cooking Dad.  I make mine a little differently. For example, I toast the bread beforehand. Then, cut out the hole.  I also leave out the stuff the boys do not like on their eggs; mayo ( for me, the most disgusting stuff on earth and fattening!), sliced tomatoes, and ketchup.

From one-eyed monster

From Meandgabbybike

There is nothing like writing while it is raining outside, except maybe writing with a hot steaming cup of coffee next to you. Of course, there is nothing like taking a nap or watching a movie while cuddling up with someone when it is raining cats and dogs outside, but I digress.

On any given day, you can find me at some point in time reflecting on the past. Often, I revisit my childhood. This seems to be a favorite daydream of mine. When my sister and I were little, the world was a wonderfully magical place, but never was it as wonderful or as magical as when we visited the public library, a renovated old mansion that had once belonged to a prominent, local family.

For us, walking into our library was similar to Alice walking through the looking glass. I can still remember the sweet, crisp smell as we walked in. The glass doors opened into a very inviting children's section, especially if you just walked in from the North Texas heat. It was very cool, quiet, and bright. You could only hear the murmur of the air conditioning units and office noises and intermittently, the whispers of mothers and children and scuffles of little feet. My favorite noise was the stamping of the book cards upon checkout, even though it would make my eyes blink with anticipation. My favorite smell was the smell of the index cards upon opening the vintage wood filing cabinets, nothing else smells quite like it. We were welcomed to explore here. It was a different kind of exploring from getting dirty and sweaty outside in some abandoned field, but it was just as liberating, minus the yelling. You could peruse at your leisure and freely examine books with all sorts of covers and subjects.

It truly was a special time for me. It has never left me. I can still remember the books I read; Socks, Pie Face and Daphne, Are You There God's It's Me Margaret?, Old Cat and New Cat, The Boxcar Children, It's Raining Pancakes, Ralph Mouse, Super Fudge, Ramona, just to name a few. My favorite books were usually those awarded the Texas Bluebonnet award. It seems we read all the books there, but I know now that was impossible. I just felt at home (as at home as you can feel in a magical place), special. I also remember the feel of walking upstairs to the Adult section of the library. We could not check out books from there without a guardian's permission, but we could look around if an adult family member or friend escorted us. It was like a child being invited to eat at the adult's table.

It was bittersweet when we were old enough to check out books from the second floor. We felt priviledged to do so, but it was hard saying goodbye to our dear friends from the shelves. For a while, we checked out books from both sections. Until one day, we just entered through the front entrance of the renovated mansion, totally bypassing the children's section altoghether, and graduated to the world of young adult and adult fiction, nonfiction, and media. Our magical world now included Hollywood legends and their biographies, sophisticated love stories, sensitive subjects, and a mustier attic smell that mingled with the sweet, dusty smell emanating from the older books.

On a clear day, we could take our newfound treasures outside and read on the marbled steps leading towards the front of the mansion. If we were lucky, it would rain and we could sit down in our sanctuary, our magic kingdom, and escape into the fields that would not tear our clothes up or dirty our faces beyond recognition.

It is a love of reading and visiting the library that I have been most proud to share with my children to this very day.

Okay, I can cook. I can even bake decently. Lately, I have not been inspired to cook or bake. In fact, I am eating pretty substantially, without bells and whistles. I feel good.  I am not eating exactly tofu, but I am eating much better than I was.  I am eating lowfat, low calories, plenty of fruits and veggies,  drinking lots of water, making myself get good sleep, taking my vitamins, and all that jazz.  I have put myself back where I was before my metabolism jumped back to its teenage years while I was nursing and running and eating whatever I wanted (not good for the body). 

I will be the first to admit that it is BORING to blog about healthy eating. Truly. I would rather blog about other caloric culinary masterpieces, but I can't.  My diet is beautifully nutritious and consistent.  I will however blog like I used to blog, which was about everything! This could include special occasion foods, memories, ponderings, humor, reflections, kids, family, love and marriage, just whatever.

So here is a transition from food blog to blah blog.  Let's see how it goes.