Monthly Archives: September 2008

Nope.  Sorry.  No cookies.  No brownies.  Not even bran muffins.  

Instead I occupied my day with craft time.  This was a very complicated, multi-step project for the person wishing to temporarily store their used coffee grounds in a piece of art.  Step 1: Peel label off of peanut butter jar.  Step 1.5: Wash out jar (optional).  Step 2: Cut three pieces of ribbon, preferably ribbon from the clearance basket at the craft store.  Step 3: Glue ribbon onto jar.  Step 4: Write something witty on it, neatly spaced between the ribbon.  Ta Daa!  

I know, I know.  I’ll stick with baking!

For this evening’s small group treat, I decided not to mess around with a new recipe and pulled out a classic that is always a hit – Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.  The name is rather underwhelming, but as we have already established – I am not creative in that area.  This is a recipe that my mom made years ago, and since then it makes an appearance at most family functions, church picnics, and evenings with friends.  Make them.  Love them.  Just try living the rest of your life without them!   

Okay, so after a pretty bad baking bust yesterday (nope, not even going to talk about it!), I managed to redeem myself this afternoon with some pretty stinkin’ tasty brownies.  And not just any brownies, but spiced up brownies, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.  These are definitely some wonderfully fudgy brownies, rather than cakey, but that was just fine with me.  The cinnamon, cardamom, and smoked paprika (I didn’t have chipotle) give just a hint of something different.  I was a little worried that all you would be able to taste was the spice, but it really is just a fraction of a flavor, something to make you go, mmmm…. what is that???  Right before you take another bite… and another… and one more!  Add a Packers win to the afternoon and an evening with the Kings – definitely a great day!

Last night I decided I had had enough of this long hair business.  Actually, about a month ago I had had enough of this long hair business, but because it had taken so much time to grow out (4 years!) and other people seemed to like it (thank you), I kept it.  However, as other people don’t have to deal with it, go through massive amounts of shampoo and conditioner to keep it clean, and massive amounts of ibuprofen because of the headaches it causes, I pulled into the hair salon this morning (sans appointment) determined to be rid of it.  As Claire cut a substantial eight inches off, I thought I might feel some regret over cutting it off.  I didn’t.  Not an ounce.  I was overjoyed when she was done.  

Travis did an excellent job of feeding us today.  Bright and early he went to the grocery store and picked up doughnuts for breakfast, and then put together a vegetarian chili in the crockpot.  We were tortured by the wonderful smells all day long!  He then put together two types of muffins – cheese muffins and cornbread muffins (sorry, no link – just my own recipe!) to go with the meal.  Everything turned out great, and Justin and I certainly appreciated Trav’s work in the kitchen! 

As many of you know, I have been knocking the possibility of starting a dessert/cake type business around in my head.  As we have started down this path, THE question that keeps getting asked is, “What will it be called?”  The immediate answer is, “I have no idea!”  I am not very creative in this area.  We have been throwing around a couple of names amongst ourselves, but then we thought of all of YOU, many of whom are WAY more creative than us.  So here’s your chance – PLEASE HELP US!  We’re hoping to pick a name in the next week or two, so let’s say, you have until Sunday, Sept. 21st to send a name idea (or as many as you can think of!) to us.  Either just add a comment with your idea, or shoot me an email: juliebgasper(at)yahoo(dot)com.  I would be focusing on special occasion cakes, cookies, desserts, etc. initially, but could see myself expanding into breads and such at some point down the road.  We’ll announce the “winner” on Monday the 22nd.  And you better believe the winner is going to get something delicious baked for them!

Okay, so after weeks of talking about it, Justin and Travis (and Jim!) went out last night to Target and got Rock Band.  And now we have been doing diddly-squat except rocking out upstairs.  Justin has gotten minimal work done, I haven’t baked a thing, and Travis only got a couple hours of writing in.  Here is a great picture of the group last night – Travis playing guitar, Maureen singing and Madie playing the drums (with Jenn helping a bit!).  In the picture I took facing them, they all have crazy red demon eyes, so I decided not to post that one!

Here’s what I made today: chocolatey peanut buttery yummyness.  Also known as Brownie Peanut Butter Cups.  

Well actually, yesterday, we drove down to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois.  John and Sarah drove down from Weston and picked the three of us up at 6:15 am, and then we stopped in Madison on the way and picked up Luke and Niki.  We arrived at the park about 10:15 ready for a full day of running between and riding roller coasters.  John splurged on the Flash Pass option for all of us, which allowed us to “reserve” rides at certain times, so you can then jump right to the front of the line when your time comes up.  So instead of waiting in lines, we would ride one roller coaster, immediately reserve another one for 20-40 minutes in advance, and then run over to the next one, and so one.  The guys estimated they got in 2-3 times the amount of rides and saved 4-5 hours of waiting in lines with the passes.  Very neat.  The guys favorite ride by far was Raging Bull.  I think they ended up going on it 4 or 5 times!

What a colorful dinner we had this evening!  Bright yellow sweet corn, red-orange pesto parmesan chicken, and smashed purple potatoes!  I found this recipe and thought it would work out well with the leftover purple potatoes we had from the farmer’s market.  They were very good (I’ll try the recipe again in the future with red potatoes, as it was so simple and yummy!) and the whole meal was like a rainbow (a tasty, tasty rainbow)!