Alphabet Soup

I'm not talking about a Halloween costume here. I'm talking about the Supermom cape that I wear everyday. The one that I know better than to try to fit into, yet I reach for it all the time anyway. I'm always being told that I try to do too much, but I always feel like I never do enough. This morning, I missed my oldest singing in chapel at school. This is a new school for him this year, and it was his first time to be in a group that was singing at morning chapel. I got a phone call about 8:00, and he was in tears. He wanted me to go to school and watch. I had no idea he was going to be doing something special today. It takes me at least 20 minutes to get to his school. His dad usually takes him to school, and there I was, sitting in the recliner, still in my pajamas, watching the Disney channel and hanging out with the two youngest kiddos, also still in their pajamas. There was no way I could make it to school in the next 5 minutes to watch him sing. It tore me up. Wh...

This past week I actually managed to sit down for a few minutes and watch part of an episode of Everyday Italian on the Cooking Channel . The recipe that caught my eye was for a chicken and orzo frittata . I had no idea if my family would go for, but I decided it would be worth a try. I changed up the recipe a bit (and lightened it up too) and I think it turned out quite well. We all enjoyed it. Yes, you read that correctly. We ALL enjoyed it! :) It's also a fairly easy recipe to prepare. I used a garlic and herb rotisserie chicken from the deli at the grocery store and that made it even easier! I even managed to get a few side dishes made to go with it. Seems like I can either get the main dish, or the side dish, but getting a whole meal made at once eludes me a lot of the time. I served it with roasted broccoli, roasted potato wedges, and cheesy garlic bread. The only thing I was wishing for was a nice salad to go with it. On a side note, I realize that the picture to go alo...

Homemade graham crackers.  That's what I've decided to share with you for my 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies post this week.  I thought it would be a fun change of pace!  However, I also have to share that this post contains a major planning #fail.  As in, it sure would have been nice to take pictures of the finished product before we ate them all!   Oh well, at least that shows that they were good! I've actually tried several recipes for graham crackers lately, but this one has been the favorite at our house.  It's from Smitten Kitchen, and the recipe can be found here .  If you use a food processor, the dough comes together very quickly and easily.  It is definitely a sticky dough, so make sure you chill the dough, and use plenty of flour when you're rolling it out.  This is a fun one to have the kids help with too.  I found an adorable mini cookie cutter set at Michael's a few weeks ago, and thought it would be perfect for these....

Hey everyone!  Well, my back is feeling better.  I want to thank everyone for the well wishes!  I'm still exhausted and behind on everything, but isn't that always true? Just as promised, I have two recipes to share this week.  One is a new one for me, and one is a long-time favorite. The new recipe is Cranberry Almond Biscotti.  This is only the second time I've ever made biscotti, and the first time I've made it from scratch.  After reading the recipe, I thought to myself "I can mix this by hand; no need to get out the mixer!"  Well...yes and no. It came together, although for a minute I thought it wasn't going to.  But next time, I'll just use the mixer.  The recipe came from an old Taste of Home book. I've read, though I honestly can't remember where and can't attest to either my memory or the accuracy of the following statement, that traditional biscotti is made with no fat other than eggs, and that biscotti wi...

Confession time. I'm totally ripping myself off for this week's 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies post. Starting a couple of days ago, my back became very unhappy with me. I'm not sure why, but it's just not happy.  I know I shouldn't complain, but I am decidedly a wimp. Complicating matters is the fact that my oldest is out of school for fall break, and we had already promised him a day trip today (Friday) and another on Saturday. So, I decided to give my back a break yesterday and not do any baking. I thought it would be better today. Not so much. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here in the recliner, with a heating pad and my laptop typing. We had a fun day, but I'm done! D told me just to skip this week, that everyone would understand. I can't do it. Can't just skip the post this week! So...I'm pulling out a recipe that was one of the first ones I posted after starting my blog. I was such a newbie, in fact, that I didn't manage to take...

This week's selection for Tuesdays with Dorie comes from Lynne of Honey Muffin .  What a perfect choice for the first Tuesday in October!  It's finally starting to feel like fall around here, so the scents of this cake baking were very welcome indeed. This cake comes together fairly easy, with the exception of grating the apples.  However, you only have to grate two of them, so it's really not that bad.  I had some 2-year-old help in the kitchen while making these, so things didn't go quite as smoothly as perhaps they could have.  I guess I didn't get my bundt pan buttered as well as I thought, because the cake did wind up sticking in a few places, though not too horribly.  And if I'd had a little more time, I probably would have toasted the pecans first.  I was finally able to use the apple butter I bought at a local apple orchard too.  Still, it turned out quite well.  Following Dorie's suggestion, it really is better the next da...

Sit down.  No really, I mean it.  There are 12 weeks until Christmas.  Seriously.  Get out your calendar and count if you don't believe me!  Do you know how I know this?  Because I'm participating in the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies this year.  It's hosted by April of Abby Sweets .  And there's a linky thing to all the other cookie posts  down at the bottom of this post.  Or at least there's supposed to be.  ;) Aside from being horrible at time management and also being a huge procrastinator, want to know what my biggest problem has been?  Narrowing down what cookies I'm going to make!  There are just so many choices out there.  I decided to start with this recipe for Chewy Ginger Snaps. I got this recipe many years ago off an online parenting message board, and I've made it several times since then and adjusted the recipe slightly.  I'm sure there are several recipes out there, and I'm just not ...

Well folks, Dorie Greenspan's new book, Around my French Table is out!  And with it, a new group to cook along with the book -- French Fridays with Dorie .  Of course I had to join! Dorie chose the first month's worth of recipes herself, beginning with gougeres.  They are basically cheese puffs, which begin with a  pâte à choux, something that I have never even attempted.  Hello!  Where have I been?  They were not nearly as daunting as I expected them to be.  The recipe instructs you to bring your milk & butter mixture to a boil, dump the flour in, and begin "stirring energetically."  For some reason, I just love that description.  Anyway, as soon as I dumped the flour in, my phone started ringing.  Of course!  I let it go to voice mail (sorry Mom!).  After beating in the eggs comes the awesome part -- adding the cheese!  Oh yeah.  :)  I chose cheddar because, honestly, it's what I had.  I ...