Joyfully Weary

During my last post  I mentioned that my sister, Angel, had a dessert celebration for her graduation party. So the evening before we headed to Iowa I stayed up, way past my bedtime, to make goodies. The ones my husband was most excited about was definitely the vanilla scones. He even, kindly let me know, that a few of them would not be making it to Iowa. I've spoken about my love for blueberry lemon scones before and they are still probably my favorite, but these are great substitute for when blueberries aren't in season.

This summer there is one food that we've enjoyed almost every week - a couscous, black bean and corn salad. It started out as me mimicking a corn and avocado salad my sister-in-law, Heather, made for our annual Memorial weekend bash , but over time I've adapted it so much that's it's now quite different from the original.  This has become our go-to party and potluck dish and is always well received, with at least a few people asking for the recipe. My favorite things about this salad is that it's delicious cold or room temperature and it makes for great leftovers.  Ingredients 3 ears of sweet corn 1 cup (dry) couscous 1 can of black beans 1 T cumin 1 lime 1/2 red onion 2 cloves of garlic 3 red sweet  peppers (or 1 red bell pepper) 1 avocado 5oz (1/2 package) queso fresco Directions cook sweet corn (in husks) in oven at 350' for 30 minutes, then set aside to cool cook couscous according to package directions rinse and drain ...

I love coffee - like used to drink 5-6 cups a day love coffee! As I've gotten older though I've noticed that coffee doesn't always sit well in my stomach and sometimes leaves me feeling edgy and with a bit headache. I still have my one cup (and occasional second) in the morning but for the afternoon and evenings I've started searching out other drinks. Hot cocoa and peppermint tea are my go to winter choices but for hot summer days I prefer something cooler. This iced peach green tea has been perfect. It's refreshing and gives me the mid-afternoon pick-up I sometimes need with out any of the aches and jitteriness. Ingredients: 6 C boiling water 6 green tea bags 2 ripe peaches 3 Tbsp honey Directions:  pour water into blender and steep tea bags for five minutes slice peaches and remove skin add peaches to blender and puree add honey to blender and mix throughly  strain tea through a fine mesh sieve chill in refrigerator  serve over ice ...

I mentioned in last week's Small Graces post that Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Ginger had become a recent favorite treat. I decided to mix it in with another one of my favorite treats - banana bread. I can't help but feel happy whenever I eat banana bread because it makes me nostalgic for some of my favorite times during high-school. Before every cross country meet my senior year, the team would get together for pasta dinners and banana bread was always the dessert. The evenings were full of encouragement, anticipation, and laughter. I attended three different high schools so by the time I was a senior I wasn't sure I'd ever find my "place" or my "people". These dinners changed that. They made me feel part of something bigger than myself, being part of a team, and I found friends I knew I'd cherish forever .  Ingredients 1 C sugar 1 stick butter (soften) 2 eggs 3 very ripe bananas 1/2 C vanilla yogurt 1 C all...

Have you ever had cream cheese mints at a wedding or graduation?  You know...the really addictive ones? This recipe is those mints in cookie form. The basic recipe is: Ingredients 1 cup white sugar 2 sticks butter (room temperature) 4 ounces softened neufchatel cheese 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp peppermint extract 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 egg yolk 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour Directions 1) Beat everything except flour together until smooth 2) Stir in flour until well blended 3) Refrigerate dough at least 8 hours 4) Preheat oven to 375 degrees 5) Shape cookies as desired 6) Bake 7-10 minutes The dough is really easy to work with so you can do lots of things with it. The first time we made these cookies, we made candy canes.  Immediately after blending in the flour I removed half the dough (leaving it white) and added several drops of red food coloring to the other half. I then placed both halves in the fridg...

Baking has become a sort of therapy for me. We started our sessions almost five years ago, I had just accepted the director position at a nonprofit child care center and I was in way over my head. All the children that attended the center came from low-income homes and several came from highly dysfunctional homes. Their needs where great and being non-profit our resources where limited. Many nights I went home feeling defeated. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my job and I believe we made a difference, but it's a job where you don't see an immediate result...you really can only hope.  So I'd come home and bake. I'd make a huge mess measuring and stirring, then while my home filled with enticing smells I'd clean it all up and be left with something warm and sweet.  Compared to my job, the hour or two that baking takes gave immediate gratification and somehow it gave me the energy to keep hoping.  I'm mostly a stay-at-home mom now (I sub from time to time) but...

It doesn't take most people long to notice that I thoroughly enjoy coffee & chocolate & sugar & cream.  Frappucinos are perfect blend of all these things and with the heat, I've been craving them more than usual. Sadly, $5 beverages aren't in our budget. In desperation (spending above 95 degree days with three young children gets you to this point fast) I looked around our kitchen to see if I could create my own version. Ingredients 2 C strong coffee (chilled), 8 Ice Cubes, 2 scoops vanilla ice cream, 1/8 C chocolate syrup, 1/8 C Heath Bits,   Throw it all in blender for 10 seconds Drink. Enjoy. Be Happy. It turned out pretty well.  Maybe too well - my morning green smoothie has been replaced by mock frappucinos. It's summer, so ice cream with your breakfast is totally acceptable...right?