thursday. monkey bread.

many of us have little monkeys running around. and more often than not, those monkeys are hungry ... and whining about being hungry ... and wanting to help make something to make them not hungry.

monkey bread is the solution. and unless you're like me, who honest-to-goodness thought the easiest way to make it was to actually make the dough from scratch—yes, I'm brilliant, I know. NOT. it's REALLY easy to make. and the monkeys can help out without driving you batty!

monkey bread.

ingredients.

• 3 (12 oz) tubes refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (ummm, yeah, instead of making dough from SCRATCH!)
• 1 C sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C huckleberries (or any other yummy berry you think you'd like to try—huckleberries rock, though.)

how to.

1. preheat oven to 350 and grease one 9 inch tube pan.
2. mix sugar and cinnamon in a large ziploc bag. kiddos love doing this part. just make sure the bag is zipped, or you'll be cleaning sugary cinnamon from every surface from here to timbuktu.
3. cut biscuits into quarters. shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. again, this is a perfect job for the starved, whiney kiddos.
4. arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan and alternate sprinkling huckleberries between layers. but, try to keep the berries towards the middle and away from actually touching the pan, they'll taste better that way. continue until all biscuits are sugar-fied (is that even a word?) and placed in the pan.
5. in a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat until it turns into caramelly goodness. boil for one minute. pour over the biscuits.
6. bake at 350 for 35 minutes—now is a great time to send monkeys outside to make mudpies, play tag, or whatever else those little whipper-snappers might have in mind. p.s. warn them that if they whine before the bread is ready, they don't get any. it makes for a quiet house. promise.
7. let the yummy goodness cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate—if you don't grease the pan well enough ... this part will not end well. lucky for you, your monkeys are probably so hungry by now that they don't care if it's not a perfect tube shape.
8. let the monkeys have at it.

here's a closer-up shot ... mmmmmmm.

wednesday. the pioneer woman.

i've had a bit of a farm theme going this week, i blame mother nature. the whirlwind of weather we've had the last couple weeks gave us some lovely weather, causing me to go into garden/cooking/cleaning/wanting to live on a farm overdrive ... and then she took it away. at the moment, i see raindrops and grey skies. yuck. mother nature needs a timeout.

but, i digress (fancy word, huh? you can thank fancy nancy), here's something to turn that frown upside-down! ree drummond. a.k.a. the pioneer woman. a.a.k.a. kitchen genius. a.a.a.k.a. my hero.

i suspect that hours of well-paid work-time are spent drooling over her website (don't ask me how i know this). cooking, home & garden, photography, homeschooling—i'm telling you, the woman does it all. here, spend some time getting to know her. she's hilarious.

her recipes are to die for. her cookbook is unbelievable. she's funny. she lives on a ranch. she has four kiddos. four! she refers to her husband as marlboro man. she says things like this when talking about butter: This butter was a little soft because I’d left a sack of groceries in my car for two hours because I have a rebellious streak and like to leave one or two sacks of groceries in the car when I get home. Issues.


check out her cookbook. people like her deserve to have us spend $15.00 on a cookbook she's put her life into. and yes, i'm rambling on and on like a love letter about this lady i don't even know (p.s. my mom got to meet her. jealous isn't a strong enough word.), but that's because she's awesome. and pretty much, i want to be her.

seriously. you will go to her website and look at the amazing recipes and her witty, goofy humor ... and you will want to be her, too. promise.

tuesday. freckleface strawberry.

there's a girl i know. she's a funny, silly, goofy, sweet, and lovely girl. you don't know her. but i do. and i know how great she is. this little lovely found out recently she's gonna be a mama! i can't even begin to explain how amazing she'll be to her little bundle of joy. after a phone conversation with said, mama-to-be, she, in a rage of hormones and terror, exclaimed, "what if my baby has red hair and freckles!?" this one's for you mamasita.

If you have freckles, you can try these things:

1) Make them go away. Unless scrubbing doesn’t work.

2) Cover them up. Unless your mom yells at you for using a marker.

3) Disappear.

Um, where’d you go?

Oh, there you are.

There’s one other thing you can do:

4) LIVE WITH THEM!

Because after all, the things that make you different also make you YOU.

your baby will be perfect, just like you. i miss you, missy!

monday. farm chicks.

this is year two for me, attending the farm chicks antique show that is, right here in spokane! year two of spending the day wandering the county fairgrounds cram-packed with some of the most fun, inspirational, motivational, and darn-right cute business vendors from all over!

june 5-6th at the spokane county fairgrounds, $7 for a day, or $10 for the weekend (splurge on the weekend tickets, you'll end up coming back). handmade goods, antique and vintage items—not much tops 150 vendors with this kind of stuff—at least not in my book!

if you haven't seen or heard of the farm chicks ... go here.

here's the map for this year's event ... seriously, way fun.

p.s. this is the farm chicks cookbook. i use it at least three times a week ... and not just as a paperweight. every recipe in this book is worth making. and they're from spokane, so instead of buying local, you're cooking local ... which is even better.

sunday. farm.

a new favorite book ... for this week.

elisha cooper—society of illustrators gold medal recipient, author of lots of other wonderful books: beach, ice cream, bear dreams, and tons of others. this is one of the first books about a farm, for me, that captures the smell, taste, and feel of the changing seasons in such a lovely way.

farms are about the coolest place there is—animals, tractors, crops, barns—what more could a kid (or myself) ask for?! i know i'd be happier if i got to feed animals for morning chores and work on a farm all day! lovely and lyrically written, and ms. cooper's illustrations are to die for!

warning. after reading, you may experience sudden urges involving a desire to house chickens, plant a garden, or sell your belongings to live on a farm.

thursday. oh my, boston cream pie.

my budding 6-year-old photographer took this ever so flattering picture, proving that i have zero ability to put together a decent outfit. please ignore this fact.

until the other night, i had never even tasted boston cream pie. i can tell you now from experience, i've missed out on years of bliss. while it was a tad time consuming, it was worth every bite.

boston cream pie.

ingredients.
6 tbs butter, softened
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C cake flour (regular non-fancy flour works just as well)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C milk
1/2 C light cream
1/2 C milk
1/4 C white sugar
1 pinch salt
4 tsp cornstarch
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 (1 oz) squares semisweet chocolate
2 tbs butter
1/4 C cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C powdered sugar


cake how-to.

1. preheat oven to 375. grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
2. in a large bowl, cream 6 tbs of the butter with 3/4 C sugar until light and fluffy. beat in the 2 eggs, one at a time, then beat in the 1 tsp vanilla extract. add the flour mixture alternately with the 1/2 C of the milk in 3 additions, beating the batter smooth after each addition. divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans.
3. bake at 375 for 15 min or until cakes begin to shrink away from the sides of the pans and centers spring back when lightly touched. turn the cakes onto wire racks to cool.
   

filling how-to.

1. combine the 1/2 C cream with 1/4 C of the milk and cook over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. immediately add 1/4 C of the sugar and the salt, stirring until dissolved. remove the pan from the heat.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the milk with the cornstarch and whisk to remove lumps. Whisk in the 2 eggs. Add the hot cream mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Return to the mixture to the saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and is smooth (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and allow to cool to room temperature.

frosting how-to.

1. in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stir the chocolate pieces and 2 tbs butter until they are completely melted. remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, add the 1/4 C cream in a thin steady stream. when mixture is smooth, stir in the powdered sugar and beat the crap out of it. stir in the 1/2 tsp vanilla.

putting it all together.

1. layer the cooled filling over one the cooled cakes and place the second cake on top. don't eat too much of the filling or you won't have enough. pour the chocolate frosting evenly over the top allowing it to spill down the sides in an amazing and appetizing fashion.
2. eat. or if you're like me, take pictures prior to devouring half of it, way too quickly.
   

monday. cherry pickers' trot.

my, oh my. what a busy few weeks! i have to say sorry to the few who regularly follow my blog ... i have been m.i.a. for far too long! gardening, home projects, and apron-making—these are the culprits i blame.

but, here i am. alive and well. and ready to write about some super-fun stuff!


today, being that it's going to be 80 degrees and thunderstorm-y, i'm sticking with the nice-weather-theme and promoting The Cherry Pickers' Trot™ at greenbluff!

A four-mile run kicks off the beginning of cherry-picking season ... and ends with a pit-spit ... for real. it's awesome, and you should go. good food, rides for the kids, 90% chance for good weather—way fun.

If you haven't been to Greenbluff and you live in spokane or the surrounding areas, you're crazy! local produce, u-pick orchards galore, and farm-after-farm of fun EVERY season throughout the year. (See below, I'm not lying!)

check it out. take your kids and see all the farms. you. will. love. it. (p.s. all the cool photos are straight from their website.)