Carrot Cake

I was digging through my recipe box last week looking for something to make when I came across my grandmother's carrot cake recipe.  Several years ago I went to my grandparent's house and went through their recipe boxes and typed up the ones that were most interesting to me.  Before I went, I put together a spreadsheet of all of  the recipes I could think of that I wanted to type up and created a template so that each recipe would look the same.  I came away with about 60 recipes, most of which were not on my original list.  It was a fun weekend - they showed me how to make a few things, and then we relaxed together in the living room, my grandfather in his reclining chair, my grandmother in her spot on the couch, and me sprawled out on the flowered chair near the front door with the recipe boxes on the little wooden bench to my right and my computer perched on my lap.

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Triple Citrus Cookies

Hi there!  I've been meaning to write, but I keep getting sucked into other things, like ripping out the vines that keep threatening to consume our fence and trying to find curtains that don't look like they belong in Arsenic and Old Lace.  Yes, things have been very, very exciting lately! 
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Lemon Coconut Sandies

If you're looking for a lemon cookie that is light and delicate and looks relatively fancy, but is easy to make, then look no further than this recipe.  I whipped up a batch of these for an awesome surprise party I went to a few weeks ago.  In preparation for the party, I scoured my cookbooks looking for the perfect lemon cookie recipe.  In my search, I stumbled across a pecan sandie recipe.  I lingered over the recipe, because I love how cookies rolled in powdered sugar seem to melt away with the first bite. 
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Sweet Pretzels

I have a pile of dishes in the sink due to a foray into the world of making pecan sandies, so I am going to keep this short.  This recipe is one of my favorite things to make on the weekend for breakfast or a mid-morning snack.  It's nice to spend a few quiet moments in the kitchen, gently kneading the dough and then setting it aside to rise.  Once the dough is ready, there is the fun of shaping the pretzels, and then the immense pleasure of eating them.  I pretty much only make these when Scott and I will be able to share them with others because we can't resist eating just one more.  Adding this recipe to your brunch routine will certainly make your life sweeter. 
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Fudge Pops

Scott and I spent the majority of the past weekend outside in the yard.  We lathered on sunscreen, pulled out some old baseball hats and tennis shoes, and got to work building a raised bed for our vegetable garden.  I started the seeds weeks and weeks ago and they have been ready to go in the ground for a while now.  The only thing holding us back was ordering some cedar and taking some time to pull up the sod (ahem, weeds), level the ground, and build the bed.  And what, exactly, does the garden have to do with fudge pops? 
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Limpa Pound Cake

Each week, I spend 270 minutes, give or take a few, lost in my thoughts on my way to and from work.  Don't get me wrong - I am paying attention to what is going on around me - but there really isn't much else to do but watch, listen, signal, pedal, shift, break, and think when you're riding a bike, especially if 80 percent of your ride is on a trail.  On my way to work, chances are that I spend at least a few minutes thinking about what I'm going to do that day; on the way home, my thoughts often stray to baking. 
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Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

Perhaps you've noticed that I love ginger.  Forever ago, Scott and I bought two pints of Haggen Dazs Five ice cream:  one chocolate and one ginger.  We don’t buy ice cream very often, but when we do, we like to get two different-flavored pints and nestle a scoop of each in our bowls.  When the ice cream is almost gone, we skip the bowls and eat straight from the cartons, passing them back and forth between us as we sit on our plaid couch and cheer for the people who opt for a "true Daily Double" on Jeopardy!  Inevitably, one flavor becomes the favorite, and when we get to the last spoonful, there is an awkward moment where each of us wants to let the other person eat the last bite, but is secretly hoping the other will say, "No, you eat it."  I suppose we could avoid our little battle of the spoons by always using bowls, but where is the fun in that?  Pin It