Birthday Pancakes

In Pete's family, they have a tradition where the family makes breakfast in bed for the birthday girl or boy. And let me tell you...

My husband LOVES breakfast. 

He would eat a "weekend" breakfast every morning if he could.  

When we first got married, we tried to carry on with the tradition, but truthfully it doesn't fit with our lifestyle at the moment. Maybe once we have kids and we're up anyway...but for now, we enjoy the extra hour of sleep. So to compromise, we decided that each year we will do breakfast brunch on the weekend after the person's birthday.

Well, friends, this weekend's brunch is all about me :-) 

Yesterday was my 25th.

2-5

That number doesn't seem real to me. I know 25 is not old by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly feels like it to me right now! Honestly, I suppose I just thought my life would be different by this point...but I am learning to trust in God's timing and accept that I am not in control. 

Ok, ok. Very, very slowly...but I'm working on it :-)

Anyway, so want to know what I'll be having Saturday morning?? 

Swedish Pancakes

 (Recipe: Emeril Lagasse)

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• Lingonberry jam

Directions:

1. Beat the egg and milk in a small bowl.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. 
3. Add the milk mixture, stirring to make a thin batter, being careful not to over mix. 
4. Fold in the melted butter.
5. Grease each round cup in the pan with oil. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into each of the greased cups and cook until bubbles form on the top, about 1 minute. Turn with a spatula and cook on the second side until golden, about 1 minute. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining batter.
6. Serve hot with lingonberry jam.

So in honor of my birth, make some of these this weekend! 

Or come on over to my house and I'll share!  

:-) 

Homemade Pasta

 I love pasta. 

LOVE love it. 

 

Ever since middle school home economics, I have wanted to try my hand at making homemade pasta...but never got around to it. I found this recipe on Songbirdtiff and decided to give it a go. Boy, am I glad I did!! So far, we've had some in soup, some with different sauces, and frozen a bunch for later. 

Yum.Yum.Yum.

It's a super easy recipe and doesn't take that much time to make. The only thing is the pasta has to dry for about 30 minutes, so be sure to leave enough time for that. 

  

Homemade Pasta

2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
dash of salt

Combine all ingredients. Roll flat with a rolling pin, adding extra flour as needed. When rolled thin, cut into very thin strips. Let dry approximately 30 minutes.

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Since I don't have a drying rack, I tied some thread from my microwave to a cabinet hinge.  It didn't look pretty, but it certainly did the job and didn't cost a cent. Win. Win.

Giveaway!

I'm having a Today-is-a-beautiful-day-so-why-not-celebrate-it Facebook giveaway! 

Come see! 

Strawberry Cream Puffs

I was reminded this weekend of the power of simple joys. Sometimes I feel I get so wrapped up in the difficulties, the obstacles to overcome, that I forget to just breathe. 

Hubby and I celebrated Valentine's Day a little early this year.

 He had a whole day planned out for us. 

Cinnamon buns for breakfast.

A trip to a cute little candy store in town.

Then over to an unfinished furniture store to see what treasures we could find. 

Home for a special dinner.

And our Valentine's Day tradition of watching Stardust.

(An unknown classic that you should check out if you have never seen it!).

I love you Peter. 

Thank you for planning a simple, sweet day for us to share.

It was picture perfect in my book. 

Right down to the dessert....

Strawberry Cream Puffs

 

 I found this recipe here. I only used half of it and it made 6 large shells.

 Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs 
 
Procedure

Preheat oven to 425. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.

Once the shells are cool, fill with whipped cream and sliced berries. Serve quickly to avoid soggy shells!

Felt Heart Banner

I seriously cannot believe Valentine's Day is tomorrow! 

I haven't even posted my (minimal) Valentine's decorations yet!

I had such great plans for adorable decor, but January got away from me somehow...I did manage to finish the banner I had been thinking of and sent it off as a gift to my cousin. She loved it!

Isn't it cute? I think I'll have to make one for myself for next year. 

(Terrible lighting, sorry! The wall is actually bright blue!)

Pete made me the paper flowers when he was teaching Sunday School last year. His class was making them for a lesson of some sort. They are a little bent, but they make me smile.

Come back tomorrow for some pics of our Valentine's Day celebrations and a yummy dessert idea for your Sweetheart! 

Funfetti Dip

I've been a bad blogger the past few weeks.

I have just been so tired when I get home from work that I just don't want to do anything.

Shame on me. 

Here, let me make it up to you? 

Unless you love Funfetti as much as I do...then maybe this will make you hate me... hehe :-)  

Oh Yeah.

I saw this gem on Little Bitty Bakes.    

You have to check out Liz's blog, it's just full of awesome recipes! 

I have several bookmarked to my "must try" list.

I changed it just a bit,  I didn't love the tang of the yogurt, so I added more cool whip.

Recipe:

3 Tbsp Funfetti Cake Mix
2-3 Tbsp Fat Free Cool Whip
2 Tbsp Light Plain Yogurt


I served this with graham crackers, pretzels, marshmallows, and vanilla wafers. I think it would be awesome with grapes and strawberries too!

Enjoy!

A warm memory on a cold day

My most recent post got me thinking about this time last winter. Boy, did we get a lot of snow then, too! I had one of the best snow days of my life during one of those storms...Hubby and I were home from work, so we went sledding with my uncle, cousins, and my brother...

 Then we went inside and made some of these...

and a ton of these...

Later, hubby and I took a walk. It was one of the most peaceful moments I can remember.

I like that one because it reminds me of Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken.

This is just a pretty glass gazing ball on the lawn. :-)

And just as I thought the day couldn't be better...look what we found!

Yeah, those are some big footprints...and I knew just who made them...because we had met a few weeks before.

Cute, right? Cute, but HUGE! She had gotten into our trash, so hubby and I spent the next hour picking up garbage all over the property in the pouring rain...and I thought she was cute. Silly me. hehe


We wrapped up our perfect day with quality family time spent around the fire, drinking hot chocolate and playing Wii.

What a good memory.