I'm in the thick of preparing for Malan's birthday and baptism next week. I'm so excited for her and a little in awe at the same time that here we are already.
Not much time to write, so here are just a few memorable bits from our week:
Tried a new recipe from one of the books my chefy sister Juli collaborated on- pumpkin chickpea red lentil stew (I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin.)
Perfectly hearty (and meatless) and Autumny. I made it twice I liked it that much.
Recipe here
Sassy. . .and sweet Olivia at the fire station.
Dixon gardens field trip. Beautiful!
here is what I found when I emerged from a few hours of working on a birthday project for Malan:
A mega-fort! I was really impressed with the creativity involved here. Also impressed by the mega-mess these girls can make in a relatively short while, but very happy to see them collaborating creatively. Malan has always been a good project manager, and I'm grateful.
finally, the best chocolate chip cookies I've had. And I've had a lot. (Too many?)
I found the recipe here first.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips (i used 1 1/3 cup and that was plenty)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
* I used half milk chocolate chips, half semi-sweet.
*** don't be tempted to make them smaller, they aren't as good (texture is compromised)
Hope you have a wonderful, Autumny general conference weekend. We'll be making our traditional general conference weekend donuts and hanging around in our jammies (and maybe finishing the window seat?)
8 comments:
Soup! It's definitely time to start trying out more soups around here - this looks like something to put on the list, so thank you!
Olivia is just. PRECIOUS! She's really beautiful.
What an awesome mega-fort! Kudos to the girls for making it happen all on their own!
And oh, my goodness, we love homemade chocolate chip cookies. I've been thinking of playing around with the recipe I typically use, and my ideas aren't too far off of the recipe you posted, so I will definitely give it a try in the near future. Thank you for that food inspiration, too!
Kate, it looks/sounds/reads like you all are settling in pretty well down there! I'm sure it has its difficult points, but it sure looks like you are making the most of it. I hope you get more time with Caleb! (I don't know how much you *are* getting, but I'm sure it isn't enough. And kudos to you for living that life, as practically a single mother for a time.)
We miss you all greatly, of course. I hope your October is shaping up to be as wonderful as most of them have been in recent past! Feel free to send us a note if you want to plan some Skype time with the girls, or anything! And best wishes on any planning you are doing for a great Halloween!
we are so excited for malan. time sure flys by. give all the girls a hug
Yum! Thanks for the recipes! Question, what color gray did you use for the walls. We are gong to repaint and I am living gray, but most of the colors we try look blue. Thanks! And congrats to Malan. Strange to have an eight year old, isn't it?
Made the cookies- WOW that recipe is a keeper! See you in a few days!
Loved the stew. Thank you so much for always welcoming us in your fun and festive home. I love being around you guys.
Hi. Since I'm blog-stalking you, I decided I'd leave a comment. Those pictures of Olivia are SO adorable. And I'm jealous of the mega-fort. I wish my kids had a project manager, who is not me, to help them make cool things like that. ;)
Those cookies look amazing. I haven't tried that stew recipe, but now I want to. Love the Garden pictures. L8er K8er
Thanks for the fall recipes. I have butternut squash in the garden. Soup time!
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