Apr 15, 2007

New Arrival!

Our new little one arrived into the world on Tuesday. Serena Annalise weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 19 inches long. She is just a doll and such a good, calm, sweet baby. We don't post pics of our kids online but trust me, she is a cutie pie :0)

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and prayers!

New recipes will resume in a couple of weeks (give or take). In the meantime, here's one of my favorite sites for recipe inspiration.

Apr 7, 2007

Homemade Graham Crackers

Happy Easter everyone! I am not going to be preparing a big holiday meal this year but I do have some of my favorite Easter recipes listed here.

I recently had the chance to pick up a new very cool looking product to try. Have you seen Philly Cream Cheese's new Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake Filling. Awesome idea for people like myself (my whole family actually) that LOVE cheesecake in any form. The tub of filling costs a little under $5 which is comparable to the amount you would probably spend when buying the ingredients to make your own cheesecake filling. I first planned to just purchase (or make) a graham cracker crust to serve this new found confection, but when I remembered a recipe I had seen on The Baking Sheet for Homemade Graham Crackers, I couldn't resist making them. We made "Cheesecake Sandwiches" with them and the new Philly filling and were they good! If your grocer offers this product I highly suggest you give it a try :0)


Here's the Graham Cracker recipe...

Homemade Graham Crackers
(from The Baking Sheet)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour (I used Organic Graham Flour from Hodgson Mill)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoon molasses
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 30 seconds or so. Add the honey, molasses, water, and vanilla. Mix until the dough starts to come together in a ball, another 30 seconds. Scrape dough out of the mixer.

Between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper, roll the dough 1/8-inch thick. Chill for at least 1 hour, until firm (I chilled for several hours).

Preheat oven to 350F. Retrieve dough and roll it a bit more if it is not yet 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Arrange the crackers on parchment lined baking sheets. With a toothpick, prick several holes in each cracker.

Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan.

Yield: 48 crackers

Apr 5, 2007

Winding Down For A While...

It's been a busy past few days for us... our 2 year old had a penicillin reaction and broke out in an awful rash. It was very scary for us but praise God she is doing so much better now!

I went for my 37 week prenatal appointment a few days ago and was told by my doctor that my blood pressure is high. So it looks like I will be winding things down here on the blog for a while. I am scheduled to be induced on Tuesday. Baby girl will be here two weeks earlier than we expected!

This afternoon I baked two quiche for the freezer to add to my "post-baby food stocks" :0) So far I have pancakes, pinto beans, chili, pepper steak, and baked beans all frozen and ready to go. It sure does make a difference if you don't have to cook after arriving home with a new little bundle of joy!

I have a couple of recipes I plan to post over the next couple of days but after that if I seem to disappear for a while you'll know why.

I'm so excited to meet our new baby girl! :0)