Cooking and Baking...

...has been the story of my life. As of lately, that is. But, hey, it's keeping our apartment a little warmer than the mere 59 degrees our thermostat is set to. That makes me very, very happy. It can get a little drafty in here, and we especially notice it during the winter months, when the cool air sneaks in (or bursts) through all the little cracks and holes in this crazy old house. We're just trying to save a little money on our heat bill, that's all. Even though it's currently a little cold, we're truly blessed and are so thankful we have a nice place to live while we're temporarily residing in the city.

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I made some yummy cookies a couple days ago that I found a recipe for on http://www.thekitchensinkrecipes.com/. Kristin has the BEST recipes! I've tried countless recipes from her site, all with great success, including these featured Espresso Snowcaps. They're a little bit fudgy and a little bit brownie-ish. They're super yummy. In fact, they may be my new favorite dessert.

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We've come across lots of good recipes lately. In the last week or so we've made Sour Cream Banana Pancakes from Ina Garten; Breakfast Burritos from Ree Drummond; Apricot Bars (also from Ree); Apple Brownies from one of my random cook books; Strawberry and Lemon Muffins from the K.S.R.; Homemade Stuffing from Martha Stewart; Blueberry Swirl Bread from King Arthur Flour (we substituted blueberries for the raisins); Marinated Flank Steak -- one of my mother-in-law's passed-down recipes; a delicious Sweet Potato, Apple and O.J. casserole from a food blog whose name I do not recall; Barbeque Meatballs from Ree Drummond; Salted White Chocolate Cookies from Smitten Kitchen; Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread and Rolls from the Better Homes cookbook; Broiled Scallops from an unknown source; Chocolate Almond Bars from the K.S.R.; Corn Chowder the K.S.R., and many, many other yummy things. Oh, and don't worry. We gave away a bunch of the baked goods and froze the rest. We've been doing our very best to maintain self control with all this delicious food around. See? We get along just fine in our sub-zero degree home (just kidding). In fact, we couldn't be more content.

A Place To Call Home

My husband and I have been thinking that someday we'd like to build our own home. It's a bit of a dream for now, but we're hoping it will soon become a reality. We're not looking for anything fancy. In fact, the simpler it is, the better (think VERY rustic). We'd like to use a form of sustainable energy and be as off-grid as we're comfortable with. We're already quite comfortable not having a television and washing the majority, if not all, of our dishes by hand.



We've been looking into masonry heaters and I think we've decided it's our best option for heating the home as well as cooking our meals. Just think, all the cooking and baking could be done without a bit of electricity. Granted, it might be little more challenging in the summer months, however, I don't see us living in a climate where the summers get terribly hot anyway. Besides, if we had some sort of outdoor grill, we could do the majority of our cooking outdoors in the summertime, and eat an abundance of fresh vegetables from our crops.



We're desperate to get to the country. We're ready to have a place of our own and start a garden and have our own source of milk (either a cow or goat) and eggs. We're serious about all this. The next big step is figuring out where to settle down. If I had it my way, it'd be Maine, of course, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Christmastime Is Near

It's almost Christmas and I'm not even the least bit excited about it. Most years, I've begun listening to Christmas music at least by mid-September. Once December rolls around, the excitement hasn't worn off one bit. But this year seems different. Maybe it's from the lack of snow in the area. Or perhaps Christmas isn't the same without family nearby. Maybe I just hate the idea of Christmas in the city... and a dirty one at that! Nevertheless, I have no sense of Christmas spirit, at least not yet.


I certainly have had no desire to decorate, especially since a live tree around here costs more than an entire holiday meal. And I've never quite understood the idea of a fake Christmas tree. Mostly, because they look like they were made from a recyled hula skirt, and that's just plain weird. Maybe we'll let the holiday slip by quietly this year and not even celebrate.

On a lighter note, we've received an order of fabulous books, all of which seem to have a similar theme, strangely enough. We purchased The Oath by Frank Peretti, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. We already dove into the first two books, and are each about halfway through. We've concluded that reading is far more entertaining than watching television or a movie. And it's good for the brain, too! As I was saying earlier, the books share a common theme of sin/human nature, and the consequenses of satisfying our flesh. How timely and appropriate! The Oath has been very exciting so far. And I'm anxious to get to the other two books, having never read either of them before. Oh, the joy of reading!