New Life, New Growth

Last year before Miette was born a few friends came over to help me plant my Summer garden. Because I knew for sure that by the Summer I would be cooking up a storm and would, of course, want to use all the vegetables from the garden. Well, that didn't happen. I was a bit overwhelmed with being a new mom and the garden was neglected. There was a point when the cucumbers grew to be as long as my little one! And now, since I'm making all of the baby food for Miette I want to grow as much food for her that I can.

For the first time I planted seeds in all my beds, instead of seedlings. The next thought was how in the world can I keep my dog out of the soil. She just loves digging a hole and taking a nap right on top of my seedlings. So my genius husband came up with the idea of placing yarn over the top of the beds and it works!


We also decided to plant the fruit trees in the ground instead of keeping them in pots. Hopefully this will produce more fruit. For now we have lemon, lime and a Fuji apple tree. The almond tree just started blooming and looks just beautiful!

So there you have it, my Winter garden. Miette enjoys being outside with me while I garden so I think I will do a good job of not neglecting the garden this year!


Oh and this is what I will be tackling this week. Every year this weed, bermuda buttercup, completely takes over the backyard. A few years ago we ripped up the grass and put down decomposed granite in the hopes of having less work in the yard. Unfortunately now we have more work. The only way to get rid of it is to pull it up, root and all. Oh boy...

Cooking Classes

Hello!

Well I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. Baby M is 9 months old and I've been busy taking care of her, making her baby food, making food for Brian and I and just enjoying life. I'm planning to start up some cooking classes this Spring and Summer and was wondering what type of classes you would be interested in taking.

I have a few ideas but want to hear from you! So tell me, what do you want to learn?

A 3-course Spring dinner. Soup, main course and dessert.

Homemade pasta plus fresh sauces.

Homemade breads, a great way to get an arm workout and to save money!

My new favorite thing!

Quite a lot has happened since my last post. I'm a mom now and keeping busy with my almost 8 week old baby girl! I haven't had much time to cook, bake or eat out so I don't have much to share but I'm getting back into the swing of things and plan on doing lots of baking in the near future!

Just a few pictures of my adorable little girl before I tell you about my new favorite thing...




Okay, so a few years ago I saw this wonderful reusable cup at Starbucks used for iced drinks. Complete with reusable straw and everything. I didn't get it and I should have. They sold out so fast and they don't offer them anymore in stores and the one's I found online were around $40...so sad. I've been making iced cafe mocha's at home and I thought about those cups all the time and how convenient they would be but couldn't find anything like it anywhere!

Cut to an outing today with my sister-in-law. We were eating breakfast on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore and decided to walk to Polly's Gourmet Coffee for a delicious beverage (fyi, they roast their coffee beans fresh so when you walk in the aroma is wonderful!). Can you guess what I found? That's right! A reusable cup, with lid and straw just for my iced mocha's and my water and whatever else I want to use it for.

Perfect for some iced tea or even white wine sangria (Sorry for the terrible picture!)

BPA free, insulated to keep drinks cold (or hot), made from acrylic, 16 ounces and just perfect. They have it in 4 colors: clear, purple, red (I think, don't exactly remember!) and blue. $10 for the cup and a free coffee with purchase. I absolutely love it and I highly recommend you buy one if you are in the area!

It took me 2 years to find this and I think I may need to go back and get a few more just in case something happens to the one I have!

Here are a few links to some recipes for iced coffee:

Vietnamese iced coffee from White on Rice Couple
Cold brewed coffee...Enough for 2 Cups from Smitten Kitchen
Large batch coffee concentrate from The Splendid Table
Cold brewed coffee and tea from Simple Bites

Frozen Yogurt + Pizzelle Cones

I had a major craving for Pinkberry the other day and I decided to indulge and remembered how much I love tart, plain frozen yogurt. Making my own frozen yogurt is much more affordable than going to Pinkberry every other day! And this is such a delicious recipe and so easy to make that I definitely recommend trying it yourself. You won't regret it!

I also wanted to experiment with my pizzelle maker so I decided to make mini cones and although they don't hold a lot they are the perfect little spoon to scoop up this wonderful frozen yogurt.


Frozen yogurt + fresh fruit + pizzelle = A wonderful dessert.


Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

3 cups Greek-style yogurt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.

Cinnamon-Vanilla Pizzelle Cones
Adapted from Epicurious.com

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus additional for buttering pizzelle maker

Special equipment: an electric pizzelle maker; a 5 1/2-inch cone-shaped pizzelle mold

Whisk together all ingredients except additional butter in a bowl until smooth. Chill batter, covered, 1 hour.

Heat pizzelle maker and lightly brush top and bottom of pizzelle molds with butter. Pour batter into bottom of each pizzelle mold. Close cover and cook batter until golden, about 2 minutes.

Working quickly (pizzelle are pliable only while hot), peel off 1 pizzelle and wrap around cone mold, overlapping ends, and pinching tip closed. Hold cone in place until it hardens, about 5 seconds, then slip off mold and repeat with remaining pizzelle. Make more pizzelle and cones in same manner.

Makes about 20.