I literally have 2 minutes to write this. Quality. (But apparently not quantity, as has been evidenced by lack of blog posts.) That’s what I’m all about here on the blog.

Ahem.

Speaking of quality, Eliza was Daniel’s quality assurance tonight. She was making sure Daniel was doing a good job making ice cream with a “missing crucial parts that I didn’t notice when I bought it at a garage sale for 2 dollars” ice cream maker.

She is all about the quality and the quantity when it comes to vanilla ice cream. She gets that quality from her father. The ice cream MAN. He would eat a pint of Ben and Jerry’s a night back when we lived in Alaska and North Dakota. The man was an ice cream machine and never gained a pound.

This is me hatin’.

But whatever.

Nope. Didn’t work. Still hatin’.

Moving on.

All she wanted was a bite. Daniel kept telling her no. No. No. No. But she’s persistent. And way too cute for her own good.

Daniel, her Daddy, could not resist her. I am the opposite of a push-over, and even I can not. Except when I can. And boy, do those times make her mad.

Apparently, it was good to the last drop.

We ate our vanilla ice cream with cherry pie. Happy tummies tonight!

I know, everyone has their own favorite pancake recipe, and I’m no different. But, in case you want to try out my trusty old standby, here it is:

(I apologize for the uninspiring pancake photo. Totally took it on the fly! Trying to feed everyone and get Daniel out the door, on time, was no small feat.)

Andrea’s Trusty Pancake recipe

(Chocolate chip pancakes today!)

Place in a medium bowl:

3/4 cup milk

2 Tablespoons oil

1 egg

Add in dry ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

Mix lightly. Fry over medium heat in a lightly oiled (not butter!) pan. Smother hot pancakes in butter and pure maple syrup (or Aunt Jemima’s, if that’s what floats your boat!). Eat!

I always, always double the recipe. And that feeds my family of five nicely. I also use rice milk which makes the pancakes slightly less fluffy but ridiculously moist. Cow’s milk is perfect, though.

Here’s to many delicious pancake mornings! Enjoy!

Seriously, ugly. I stuck the flowers in the photo as an attempt to distract you.

Wouldn’t you know, I even forgot to dot the apples with butter before I put the crust on. And then I forgot to do an egg-wash and sprinkle sugar on top.

That will teach me to stray from my beloved crumb topping apple pie. If it’s not broken….

Well, I guess all that this means is that I need to make another pie to try to salvage my reputation.

Darn.

It’s “M” week here… Mexican Rice and Beans, anyone? We had this meal for dinner last night… delicious!

Never. Never ever, ever.

She and I are a lot a like.

Yesterday I made Peanut Butter cookies with chocolate chunks in them. Because pairing chocolate and peanut butter together surely makes the angels sing just a little bit louder. Don’tcha think?

Me too.

I sweetened the cookies with lots of honey and about a quarter of a cup of (unnecessary) raw sugar. I do that so the kids can eat as many of them as they want and I don’t worry about the amount of sugar they are consuming.

Eve and Judah ate about half a cookie. They were more interested in playing. Eliza and I… we didn’t even leave crumbs.

I thought I’d give you a little play by play of Eliza and her cookie. Because…. I can. And because she’s very chubby and cute. And, you know you love her. Besides, she learned how to smile on demand this week and it melts me like butter on a hot knife. And I wanted to share that experience with you.

Cookie…

Cookie, cookie…

Do you see this cookie? Take a good, long look at it because it is about to be history, baby…

I swear, she unhinged her jaw. I mean… wow. Just, wow.

Bye, bye!

Waste not, want not… she ate every last crumb.

What? Do I have something on my face?

Smile!

Tell me you aren’t feeling a bit like melted butter now too… I just love having my very own (cute as a button!) cookie eating partner!

What’s your favorite kind of cookie?! Mine… Trash cookies (aka: pimped up No Bakes) or my Chocolate Chip or Molasses Crinkles or… I could go on. And on. And on.

Nobody needs to make me feel any worse or beat me up. I’ve done far more of that to myself than anyone else ever could.

Actually, the last couple of days have been kind of ornery for me. I think I have too much on my plate, now and in the very near future. And well, I just don’t do so good with that. Also, I accidentally published a prayer on my other blog, Dear Me, and it made me cry. It was so personal and not suppose to be published. Not that what I have written over there isn’t personal, I mean, I did blatantly talk about the s(ex) word, after all.

I certainly learned my lesson on being more careful to not push publish on something that is only suppose to be a draft. Goodness gracious.

Have I mentioned that I am going down to New Mexico for a couple for a couple of days next week? ‘Cause I am. And boy, am I nervous! I think it might be a little hard on my heart, seeing how I thought the next time I was in New Mexico it would be a HAPPY time and our family would be WHOLE again.

I am very excited to see my friends again, though. And see some of those sunsets that I love so much. And check on my roses, should no one live in our house yet.

This Saturday I am working as second shooter on a wedding with Amanda. And I am excited! I’ve never photographed a wedding before.This one is sounding like it’s going to be pretty awesome. I’ll let you know how it goes. Wish me lots of creative luck!

Daniel is doing good. It’s like groundhog day over there; every day is very much the same. And very, very hot. He starts his last class required for his Physician’s Assistant program application package, this week. We are excited for him to have everything put together and ready to submit. Especially because Daniel’s career field just went to something called “One to One.” Which means a cycle of: 6 months of deployment, 6 months home.
Tell me that doesn’t totally rot. The mere thought of that becoming my reality strikes a whole lot of fear into this woman’s heart.

A bunch of you expressed interest in buying some of my photos… I totally blushed when I read of that. I have thought it over and generally over analyzed it as, you know, I do… and much to the relief of my biggest cheerleaders, decided that I am willing to set something up where you could purchase prints.

If you want to, of course.

Tomorrow I’m going to be a cleaning FOOL. I feel Fall coming on and that spells CLEANING to me! Oh, and baking too. I took my favorite recipes out today ( I keep them in a ziploc bag. Fancy, eh!) and felt this feeling of happiness and comfort wash over me.

I felt like they were a little piece of home. Worn out, stained, scribble upon, and treasured. Sounds like home to me!

Let’s have a happy Friday. Shall we?

It’s peach season here in New York!

I have been looking forward to this time of year since… forever! At least it feels like it, anyway. I remember sitting on the porch swing of our house in my teeny-tiny home town, eating sweet, ripe peaches. My friends and I would peel off the skin and eat the peach naked. Because really, who enjoys eating the fuzzy peach skin. Ick.

I haven’t had the chance to pick or eat fresh peaches since I have had my own family. And while this year we couldn’t actually pick the peaches… we sure are eating them! Some family friends brought back a bushel for me and the kids! Whoo-hoo! We have been eating them hand over fist these last few days. Yum!

I don’t know if there is a fruit that tastes more drastically different store-bought to fresh, than a peach. At least in my “never been to Hawaii and eaten a fresh pineapple” opinion. Please do feel free to correct me should I be wrong.

I am planning on making a peach pie this week because thankfully, after the canning/freezing session, I still have plenty left over.

I made this peach pie last year and it was good. But, I have a feeling that this year… it’s going to knock my ever lovin’ socks off! I sure wish I could send a piece to Daniel. I did freeze a bunch of sliced up peaches so I can still make him a pie. What a nice thought that is!

As a side note, as long as you use a butter pie crust recipe (you have to scroll down to near the bottom of the post), the peach pie recipe is egg-free. Hooray!

Long live the peach!

So far Mama has…

Bawled her eyes out when she came across this photo of “D” for Daddy (who is also known as Daniel. Double whammy!)

We have visited with….

“D” for Dad (or GiGi to the littles) who also bears the name “Don!” Another double whammy!

And…

“Diana” whose name to us is Grammie Chips. (She’s the originator of this delicious coffee cake recipe. If you haven’t made this delightful confection, well, you must! A one of a kind, melt in your mouth, moist coffee cake.)

We were surprised by a special delivery from Daddy in the desert…

Dinosaur stamps! Our cut out letter “D” was decorated with these awesome (and perfect for little hands) stamps. Daniel is such a thoughtful Daddy.

It has been a very enjoyable week so far. I am amazed at how these letters have made our time away from Daniel seem to pass more quickly. And to have purpose. We are on a new, surprising adventure each week.
It’s truly a wonderful distraction.

I promised you a recipe and look! I brought you a winner… Not only are these muffins delicious, they are oh so healthy, and they are kind to those with dairy and egg allergies.

And in my book… that is happiness.

First off, you need a beautiful little helper in a found at a garage sale vintage apron.

Here is the recipe for the ‘exceedingly healthy without compromising taste‘ muffins:

Mix together:

2 cups of whole wheat flour (or 1 cup spelt flour, 1 cup kamut flour)
1Tablespoon baking powder
1/4+ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed

Mix separately:

1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons lemon extract or the juice of 2 medium or 1 large lemon
zest from at least 1 lemon (but 2 is better)
1 cup plain unsweetened soy or rice milk

After mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, let the batter sit for 10 minutes. Add in:
1 cup raspberries

Completely fill the muffin cup with batter.

Bake at 425 degees for 14-18 minutes
When the muffins are finished baking let them rest in the muffins pans, on a cooling rack, for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely. Try not to inhale them all in one sitting.

We love them and hope you do too!

Ground some sugar (in the gorgeous evening sun) for a light and fluffy (the secret is adding a 1/4 cup of whipping cream to the butter/sugar mixture) vanilla buttercream frosting.

Topped the frosted cupcakes with strawberries… added a couple mint leaves on the side. Because everyone knows fancy cupcakes taste better.

Quintessential summer time fare.

I laughed so hard and so much I was afraid my face was going to fall off.

But, that’s the best part, isn’t it?

I was worried that Daniel and I were never going to make friends after we moved here. It was touch and go for awhile. We had tons of people over for barbecues but we just weren’t finding “our type of people.” You know, the good kind. The kind that when your face falls off from laughing so hard, they’ll help you pick it up and stick it back on.

Thankfully, we found them. Or did they find us? I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m happy now.

Here is a glimpse into our fun time last night. You can find more if you click on that Flickr tab at the top of my page.

This is Miss Sydney and her Mama, Kelly. Isn’t she gorgeous?

Katherine is going to have a baby in a couple of months. Can’t tell, can you? I was never like that.

Here’s Katherine with her son. He’s super cute!

Here is one of my favorite photos of the night. Love it.

Another favorite photo… Charles with his twin brother Landon in the background. Lovin’ the mirror effect!

Charles and Landon’s parents, Chad and Brandy. Feel free to give Chad an internet style high five. He just pinned on Major!

The medium sized girls… Mine (who looks like she just sucked on a lemon!), Brandy’s, and Kelly’s. The three musketeerettes!

Love this picture of Eve! Love this one too… can’t decide which one I love more.

Here is Daniel trying to get me to smolder. Except I don’t smolder. I laugh.

Jamie and her son were there too but I didn’t get any photos of them. I don’t know what’s up with that! I did take some pictures for them a few weeks ago… I love this boy. He’s a little ray of sunshine!

We’ll finish up with some face squishing. Believe me when I tell you, Eliza put an end to all that.

Such a fun night!

If you want to see more just click on the Flickr button up top!