Butternut Braid Bread After 2 years of home schooling my young kids, it finally hit me. We actually have to be home sometimes to do this school thing well. So, since September, we've cut back on our commitments to bump up our time at home. It's been (mostly) good. In addition to more reading, writing, and arithmetic, there have been other bonuses, as well. For example, it's forced me to stay on top of the laundry pile. I try to always show up for class wearing clean yoga pants (and holding a strong cup of coffee). Since we're home anyway, I've also been baking and making more of our food from scratch again. I can't remember the last time I bought Keep Reading
Butternut Squash Soup (gluten-free, dairy-free recipe)
Butternut Squash Soup For some reason, my garden was kind of a dud this year. The tomatoes were stubborn, the kale was cranky. And don't even get me started on the cucumbers. ugh. But the butternut squash? They must've known the other vegetables were slacking off because they kicked it into high gear this summer. I have two boxes filled with big, beautiful butternut squash. If you're just not that into squash, I totally get it. I was once a card carrying member to Squash Haters Anonymous, but I am slowly coming around to its charms. Butternut is a great place to start. It's sweet and firm and mellow and friendly. Simply roasting little cubes with a Keep Reading
How to roast pumpkin seeds
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds The other night, a friend casually asked me where I had bought pumpkins this year. Um... pumpkins? I don't have any pumpkins. I saw some outside the grocery store last week and seriously considered piling my four children on them and taking pictures, like some weird pumpkin patch outing gone wrong. The thought of being blocked from Instagram was the only thing that kept my grocery cart on the straight and narrow. What is wrong with me?! I love everything about fall. But other than eating a piece of pumpkin pie, October has completely slipped past me. Is it having toddlers? El Nino? Do I just need to buy a new pair of Keep Reading
Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe)
I had never even heard of pumpkin cookies until a few years ago. I was at a friend's house, when she casually asked if I wanted to try some cookies she had just made. Wait, pumpkin cookies? That's seriously a thing? Where have I been? After eating a socially unacceptable amount, I was in love. The following week another friend brought a big platter of frosted pumpkin cookies to our mom's group. They were equally delicious. Suddenly, I was feeling like everyone was in on this great secret but me. Good thing she brought me the recipe the following week. Now I'm in the club! If you haven't joined yet, this is your chance. Trust me, these cookies are Keep Reading
Pumpkin Streusel Bread (a low fat, low sugar recipe)
Pumpkin Streusel Bread (recipe) You know something is not right when you are considering buying things online just so the mailman has to deliver packages to your door. Human interaction! Tell me about the outside world! And that's really saying something because my mailman is grumpy and grunty. But desperate times call for desperate measures. With some exciting exceptions (the bank! grocery store!), I have been trapped inside my home with four young children + one large stomach flu + two small colds for longer than recommended by the Board of Mental Health and Well Being. It hasn't been pretty, folks. This is coming from a total homebody, but there Keep Reading
Double chocolate zucchini muffins
Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins After visiting my sister last week, she handed each of my kids one of these chocolate muffins as we headed out the door. Walking down the sidewalk, with two silent, chocolate-faced kids, I was waiting to hear their opinion. When we got to the car and the last crumbs disappeared, my son shouted at the top of his lungs, "Deee-licious cupcakes!" And the six-going-on-sixteen-year-old voice said, "Mom, these are the best ever." The zucchini continue to stack up around our house so I didn't waste any time whipping up a batch of these Double Chocolate Muffins, using the same recipe from King Arthur flour. The mini food Keep Reading
How to Make Roasted Marinara Sauce
Roasted Marinara Sauce Sitting in a restaurant at the beginning of September, I overheard a waitress ask another customer, "How was your summer?" He replied, "So far, so good." It made me smile. So far? Doesn't he realize that school buses loaded with backpack-clad children are rumbling down the street as he speaks? The more I thought about it, though, the more I had to agree with his present-tense assessment of summer. Despite the fact that school has started, early September really is prime summer time here in the Northwest. The days are comfortable and hazy. We start thinking less about travel and more about home. And our gardens and Keep Reading