The Recipes I Promised

I know I went on and on about food this holiday season- all of my cookie making prospects, our delicious Christmas day feast.  And- truth be told, I wish I had a ton of cookie pics to show you all- but sadly I do not:(  The holidays got the best of me, and although I had planned on doing a full photo recap of all the various varieties I made with these dough recipes....I dropped the ball.  I took very few pictures, and lets be real- I was lucky to get the darn cookies made (although I did do that! and I managed to eat a few in the process;)

 Here is one quick recap of one of my favorite varieties from this years bakathon.  I used the vanilla dough as the base for this cookie.  The original recipe is one of Ina's- and can be found here.

Basic Vanilla Dough

2 sticks room temp butter
1 cup sugar

1 egg

2tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Roll the dough into balls, roll each ball into 1 beaten egg + 1/4 cup water, roll in coconut, press with thumb, fill with jam (I did raspberry, but I've also done apricot which is delicious as well).  Then bake them at 375 for 12-14 min, the coconut should be brown and toasty.

The second recipe I have for you is for the AMAZING corn casserole I blogged about here.

It really is scrumptious.  It was great with all the Christmas fixings (specifically those on my vegetarian plate: carrots, cauliflower pea casserole, veggie stuffing, green beans, and home made dinner roles). 

Let me preface this recipe-giving by saying- my Mom has, for years made this "corn souffle" thing on Christmas day- which I avoided like the plague (I am not one for eggy, custard-like dishes)- when she told me she was trying something new this year- I was intrigued to say  the least.  Once I tasted this dish- I nearly leapt from my chair for a second helping.  It was THAT good! It has a soft corn bread-like quality to it- sweet, cheesy, creamy- excellent.

Moms Corn Casserole
2 eggs beaten
1 (15oz) can of cream corn
1 (8oz) container no-fat Greek style yogurt
1/4c. melted butter
1 (15oz) can whole kernel corn
11/2c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2c. chopped onion
1 pkg. (8.5oz) dry corn muffin mix

Preheat oven to 350
Mix eggs, cream corn, yogurt, and melted butter until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Bake 75min.(in a 13x9" baking pan  until top is golden and knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
Let sit 5min. before cutting....if you can stand it!

Enjoy folks!  Happy cooking- and eating!

On a totally different note- I am in the middle of a nursery mural project- and super excited to share it here on the blog!  Stay tuned!
 
 

2011?!

It's hard to believe that 2010 has already come and gone!  Thinking back on the year- I feel like I accomplished a lot.  There was change, there was some beautiful moments, and there was some tough times- but we made it through:)

Reflecting on the past year over the last week or so made me think of all of the accomplishments, milestones, developments, challenges, and moments of the year that has passed. I think it is important to focus on the positive parts of life- but I think it is also important to recognize struggles and difficult times, and try to find the good in each situation so that I can learn from my experiences.

Here is my list of influential choices/moments/experiences of 2010:

Mosie's Baby Blessing.
This is something we've done for both of our children.  It was a wonderful day when family and close friends gathered to celebrate our little guy.  We planted his placenta under a tree in our back yard to represent his life on this earth, and we shared our thoughts and hopes for his future- it was a special day!

Miscarriage on Easter.
This is something I have not talked about before on my blog- but it was an experience that I (and we as a family) went through this past year that was both difficult, influential, sad, and strengthening.  It was probably the toughest thing I've experienced so far in my life, but through such a difficult experience I was able to take away of deeper sense of self, a sense of compassion and understanding for other women and familes that have experienced this unique sense of loss, and a deeper level of greatfulness for both life and birth.

Prudence Island family vacation.
We took a nice little break from reality in the early spring.  It was just me, D,  the angelbabies, and Beau- and it was so relaxing and beautiful.  The remoteness of the island promotes an inner peace, as did the beautiful ocean view:) Dirt roads, no stores or commercial anything, empty beaches, quiet nights, and sunny days- it was lovely. 

Blogging. 
Over the previous year I had become more interested in the whole concept- and more addicted to reading certain blogs.  After returning home from our vacation- I realized that I have things that I want to share!  So I decided to start my own blog with this first little entry....


My tattoo.
This is something that I had been wanting to get for 3 years and counting.  A tattoo of an excerpt from Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching that reads:

"Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting without expectation, leading without trying to control, this is the supreme virtue". 

This quote- to me, embodies everything I strive to be as  a parent- guiding my children through this world.  I had originally wanted the tattoo after giving birth to Zella- and was about to get it and found out I was pregnant with Moses (no tattoos while pregnant).  Then- the same thing happened on Mosie's 1st birthday (found out I was pregnant again).  After we lost the baby- I felt like it was time- it definitely helped in the healing process. Alexa captured it for me with this beautiful photograph:)

Muraling-
This past year I had the opportunity to paint 2 murals in the hospital where I work as an expressive therapist.  This opportunity fell into my lap- my friend Alexa has presented me with many inspiring mantras, among my favorites is- "open yourself and let the universe fill you".  Well, this opportunity was the push I needed to realize that painting for a living is something that makes my heart sing- and something that is worth pursuing!

Zip lining trip with D. 
Marriage is not easy- but taking the time to take a break from the everyday stresses of life and spend some quality time together makes you realize how nice it is to have someone there to love you unconditionally!  It was great to take a break from our (sometimes stressful) reality of being parents of 2 small children, and have an adventure together!

My 30th Birthday Getaway.
It was the perfect trip- read the entry-- look at the pics, enough said!

Christmas 2010. 
Surrounded by family, love, amazing food, and generosity- it was the perfect way to end the year!

I am truly and completely blessed!

Here is my focus list for 2011- a list things that I will keep posted around my creative spaces to remind me of what I want to accomplish this year.

1. breathe more and breathe deeper
2. watch less TV
3. be more patient and tolerant
4. sew more
5. read more books
6. keep organized areas organized
7. work-in a work-out every day
8. restart my yoga/mediation practice
9. look into expanding our family
10. let go of control
11. have more date nights with my hubby
12. slow down my "roll"
13. drink more water

Hope you all are off to a wonderful start this year!