PB & Jana

I have come to be known in my current ward as "The Treat Lady." I'm not sure this is the best reputation to have, but I do love to take yummy things to friends' houses. One of my favorites is a Cox family recipe from my sister-in-law, Gayle, who is a fabulous cook. This is definitely not a low fat dessert, but it is so, so good. You must try it. Here is the tasty concoction:

Gayle's Peanut Butter Balls
12 graham crackers, crushed
4 cups powdered sugar
2 cups peanut butter
1 1/2 cubes butter (my brother uses 2 cubes), mostly melted

Crush graham crackers in a plastic bag with a rolling pin until texture is fine. In a bowl, combine graham crackers, 2 cups powdered sugar and all of peanut butter. Add butter and remaining 2 cups powdered sugar. Form into small balls, place on cookie sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Melt 1 bag of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips in the microwave (30 seconds, stir, another 30 seconds), and drizzle with a spoon over balls. Freeze for 30 minutes. PB balls taste best cold. Store in fridge or freezer.

Patchwork Bulletin Board

I am really enjoying using bulletin boards. I love being able to have a place to keep little things that I want to look at without getting my desks or counters all cluttered. I used the little cheap cork squares that you can buy at Michaels and attached some extra fabric that I had left over from other projects with a staple gun. Then we glued it to a solid back and screwed it into the wall.

PS S and I came up with and completed this project before I saw this version at Pottery Barn. Do you think they sent a scout to my house to copy my design ideas?:)

Pizza Toasts

 When I asked S to make dinner for the boys on Sunday night this is what I came into the kitchen to find. The rocket and blackbird jet were for O of course and the elephant was W's . He loves elephants and it is one of his few words. I was lucky enough to eat the race car and S had the shark. YUM! Also, it turns out there is a very specific process for toasting the bread, before applying the toppings and then broiling them so as not to let the bread get soggy. S had it down to a science.

Lunch Ideas

I always have a hard time thinking of anything besides pb&j and turkey melts to feed O and W for lunch. Mare has created a huge list of great lunch ideas on her food & fun blog. Check it out.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I thought it would be fun to have a "Favorite Things" category - a way to share some of our sweet and special things, whatever they may be. I fell in love with this precious vintage board by Marta Peters when I saw it in a little antique shop window. She started a company called Moonlight & Roses and creates pieces from her vast collection of antique cards and memorabilia. The dainty fairy and flowers have the most beautiful sparkles on them. This print hangs in my E's nursery.

Desert Dew

No ice storms here, but we did have a "nippy" morning the other day, and I snapped this picture of some desert dew. I thought it was a nice juxtaposition - Audrey's frozen bush, Jana's dewy bush.

Sick Days

I’m still alive! You wouldn’t know it by my (lack of) recent contributions to this blog. “Sick Days” is the most fitting title I could come up with for the past 14 days at our house. T went down with influenza nearly two weeks ago, and his bed was his constant companion for five days. His illness was followed by four others - an earache for P, a severe cold for J & E, and only one day (luckily) of T’s yuck for me. What to do when everyone is feeling terrible and trapped inside? Cook!

I tried out quite a few recipes over the past several days, including many that Audrey has posted on the blog. We made Audrey’s Yellow Cake, Black Bean Soup (T loved this, Aud) and Play Clay (we made blue :) ), our friend Amy’s Peasant Bread, and our friend Megan’s Whole Wheat Bread. They were all very yummy (except for the Play Clay, of course, which we did not eat). I have to say that I was most excited about the wheat bread because, to date (I'll be married 9 years in April), I have never made a loaf of wheat bread. Can you believe it?! Oh, I've made loads of homemade rolls, sweet breads, bread sticks, cornbread, and all sorts of other bread, but this was a turning point for a girl who used to be afraid of yeast! We slathered warm butter and honey on our hot bread, and it was the perfect comfort food.

Try this super easy and delicious recipe:

French Peasant Bread
1 package dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour
oil
corn meal
melted butter

Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise one hour or until doubled in size. Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Let rise an addition hour. Brush the top with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with butter. Serve warm.