Did You Know?

Did you know that if you cut brownies with a plastic knife they'll cut super smooth?

Every time I make a pan of brownies I'm in love with how they look...

Until I cut into them.

As I drag my knife through said brownies the chocolaty goodness gets all drudged up.

Morphing my beautiful pan of brownies in an ugly mess.

Enter Carla.

She recently let me in on her secret of cutting pans of brownies with a plastic knife.

Smooth as butter.  

Nice clean lines.

Pretty pan of brownies.

I will admit I'm anxious to try this out...I might need to make some brownies soon.

 I also wonder if one could put a light coating of butter, Pam, olive oil, or some such on a regular knife and get the same results. 

Let's try it out, shall we?

Everyone to your kitchens!  

It's brownie time.

I thought it might be a good idea to give you an update on our soap making endeavours.

Over the past few weeks, we've made a few more batches of soap with the intention of giving bars out as Christmas gifts (and to of course keep some for ourselves!).

First, we made our regular soap recipe but used a snickerdoodle scented fragrance oil to make it a bit more christmasy. It is the most delicious smelling soap my nose has ever sniffed!! My husband and I have random cookie cravings every time we get a whiff of the stuff.

The next time we got together, we made 2 batches of soap (actually we made 4 and 2 the last time because we decided to double the batches to make thicker bars). The two batches we made were again our regular recipe with  pine tree and peppermint scented oils. To me, it smells like just like Christmas. I just love it, and keep lifting the lid on the soap to let the scent fill my kitchen. It is just wonderful.

We also tried a new recipe, called "Queen of the Nile". This one is an oatmeal, milk and honey soap. Here is the recipe:

198 grams sodium hydroxide

12.8 oz distilled water

1 pound olive oil

3.5 oz wheat germ oil

1 pound coconut oil

14 oz palm oil

1.5 oz beeswax

1/2 cup oatmeal

6.4 oz buttermilk

12 grams grapefruit seed extract

10 teaspoons honey

7 teaspoons pure essential oil or fragrance oil

Here is where I am going to tell you some things we learned while making this soap. We learned that things don't have to be exact. I take on this theory when I am cooking. I never follow a recipe exactly, I almost always substitute or add or subtract or simply come up with something based on what is in my fridge at the time. We sort of had to take this method on with the Queen of the Nile soap because we ran out of one of the essential oils and had to add some extra wheat germ oil and olive oil to make up for it. We also felt the soap needed more oatmeal, so we just added some and we even added more fragrance oil to make up for the not so sweet smell of the wheat germ oil. Anyway, we were a bit nervous because the first few times we made soap we felt we had to follow the directions exactly for fear of ruining an entire batch of soap. Even though we have yet to cut and use the soap, just by looking at it now, it looks (and smells) like perfection.



Our Winter White pine and peppermint soap, and our Queen of the Nile soap.



Our Snikerdoodle Soap - can you smell it?!

Happy Birthday, Meredith!

Dear Meredith,

Happy Birthday!! I have been so privileged over the years to call you my friend. Remember when we first met? You were interviewing at the center and we went on a buggy ride!! Who knew then that 'the new girl' we were interviewing would go on to become one of my best friends??

Over the years, we've shared lots of things...tons and tons of chocolate, Starbucks runs, a carpool to work, a classroom, an insane amount of exasperated glances, an unbearable number of hours spent in faculty meetings, our fair share of Harry Potter analysis, and a billion laughs. Now that I don't see you at work everyday, I enjoy swinging by on my days off and hanging out with you and Gabe. I love our trips to Starbucks, the zoo, whatever. When we get together, I always have so much fun. I never knew on the day you interviewed that we would share such a great friendship.

And, since you got me into How I Met Your Mother, I have to say that we're like the main characters who can communicate whole paragraphs and concepts through facial expressions. I remember entire statements and remarks being conveyed through looks we shot each other across the classroom, or in those amazingly fun meetings. :c)

You and I have had discussions about the nature of family before, and I know we both agree that there is a family we are born with, and a family we choose. Not all family are friends, but many friends are family. I have been fortunate enough to consider you family for a long time, and I want to thank you for welcoming me into yours. I especially love being an Auntie to Gabe, which is a role I absolutely cherish and am honored to hold.

Happy birthday!! I love you, dearest!

Love,
Sondra 

Happy Birthday, Meredith!!

So, I have to admit that when I first met you, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of you. I remember that there was some sort of accident and you were stuck in traffic so I was sent to cover in your classroom – which I had never been in before – so I didn’t know the babies, parents or teachers! When you got to work – you were so nice and sweet and thanked me a million times, I remember thinking – who is this girl?! I think I had unfortunately assumed that since you were so nice – you must be a phony.

After getting to know Sondra, and then through her, getting to know you, I quickly learned that you really are just that sweet and nice and wonderful. It is refreshing to know somebody like you, who, always takes the higher road, very rarely spouts any negativity, and faces all of life’s challenges with beauty and grace.

I hope you have an amazing birthday Meredith, you deserve it!!

Lots of love,
Nicole

Mere,

Happy Birthday, Lovely. Mere, you are one of the most amazing people I have ever known, and knowing you has taught me so many things about the type of person I want to be...

...Working in your room I learned about the kind of teacher I wanted to be. You taught me so many things in our short time together in your room, I think of your amazing composition whenever those darling kids of mine get a little too darling.

...Seeing you interact and care for me and your friends showed me the type of friend I should strive to be for others. Compassionate and ever ready to love.

...Watching you with Gabe has taught me so many things about being a mother. Most simply; You are the type of mother I long to emulate.

...Talking about faith and watching your journey has (on more than one occasion) given me hope, convicted me, and forced me to look at my life through a different lens.

I've been meaning to tell you for awhile, and your birthday seems as good a time as any: Thank You. Thank you for always being there when I need something, for being such a lovely example of what it means to be a beautiful, young, striving, Christian Mother. Most of all, thank you for trusting me with some of your story. I appreciate what it takes to let someone see the hard times, mistakes, and hurt. Let me assure you, the parts of your story that may not be pretty and all shined up for the world to see are the parts that make me love you all the more. They only stand to show your growth and beauty in more brilliant light. You are lovely, Happy Birthday.

~Meg 

Bad Math

Ink Pen Plus Dryer Equals Disaster

That was my problem a few shorts weeks ago.  Either my husband or I had left an ink pen in a pair of pants.  (I won't tell you who it was....but feel free to guess.)  I have a strict rule at my house regarding laundry.  I will do all the laundry, all the time, requiring minimal help from Steve...so long as each of us empties our own pockets.  I don't check pockets.  If you have papers, chap stick, money, rubber bands, or anything else in your pockets it's your responsibility to empty them before sending them down the chute.  Your pants, your job.  Well, one of us failed.  Seriously.

The pen made it through the washer.  But not so much the dryer.  There was ink everywhere.  I mean E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E-!

So I looked up how to get ink out of a dryer.  There were tons of suggestions.  I went for easiest.  Which, unfortunately, was not so green.  I soaked a white towel in bleach and tossed it in the dryer.  I ended up needing to repeat this process about three times.  But it worked.  All ink is gone.  I simply needed to wipe down the dryer with a few damp towels after I was done bleaching it.  There was dry bleach residue all over the barrel of the dryer. 

The only change I would make if this situation occurred in my house again is the following: using an old any-color towel versus a perfectly good white one.  All that bleach ended up eating through my bath towel turning it into a holey rag.  Oh well.  :-)

We're Baaaaaaaaaaaack! [Hopefully]

I don't have much to talk about at the moment (I'm actually trying to get kids to nap, and am not even at my house. So this needs to be a little quick). As you can tell, we HHH Gals have been a bit out of touch lately. We've been a busy with our own things, to say the least. But we haven't forgotten about all of you...if there are, in fact, any of you. I for one have had tons of things in past month or two that I've wanted to share with you guys. I'm excited to get a few things up and going. Keep in touch, keep checking back, we're going to give you some new stuff pretty soon. And hopefully, things will remain calm for your faithful HHH girls. Calm us means more updates for you. :-)

We're Back in Action

So, we've been away from the blog for a little bit.  The past 6 weeks have been the usual mix of life for each of us: some weeks were better than others, some moments were fantastic, others...not so much.  We decided to get the blog back on track and we look forward to further postings.

Since I last wrote, my husband and I renovated our kitchen!  After we finished, I couldn't believe that we didn't change everything years ago.  When you think about it, the cliche of the kitchen being the heart of the home is really true.  You're in there multiple times a day, making messes, chopping things up, simmering sauces, cranking up the oven, wiping down counters, soaking pots and pans, etc.  The kitchen sees an enormous amount of activity several times a day.  My feeling is, we're in there so often, we might as well enjoy it.  I think that's why I started to fall in love with cooking over the past few years. A lot of times it's easy to look for ways to stay OUT of the kitchen...making excuses for lack of time to cook and eat, blaming being tired or exhausted from the day on always eating out.  When cooking becomes a hobby, being in there is simultaneously a joy and an amazing way to relax.  I've said it before, but when I'm in the kitchen, I'm happy.  Chopping, peeling, prepping...all of it is soothing to me instead of a burden.  Pretty much everything Carl and I make is from scratch, and really, at the end of the day, I don't feel like I'm spending thousands of hours in the kitchen in order to achieve that.  To me, making homemade things is natural and easy.  And really, I think of it in the same terms as I consider making a cake from scratch versus using a pre-made mix: if you're going to be cracking eggs, firing up a mixer, and using a spatula to pour batter into pans, why not just add a few extra steps and make everything from what you already have in your pantry anyway? Plus, and this I discovered only a few years ago...a cake from scratch actually tastes like cake.  To me, cake from a box doesn't taste remotely like cake.  A few extra steps, and the taste difference is enormous.  By the same token, I'd rather do a few extra things in the kitchen and end up with food that is homemade and has a minimal amount of processing and additives.

While renovating the kitchen, I also discovered how much I've grown to depend on our own cooking versus grabbing take-out.  The kitchen was out of commission for about 10 days, which translated into 10 days worth of ordering out and going to restaurants.  I was ready to lose it.  There's only so much take-out I can deal with anyway.  Typically we grab a pizza or something on Fridays, but the rest of the week, we cook.  Having to eat out for every meal for such a long time started to get repulsive much quicker than even I anticipated.  I truly felt like I was just ingesting crap and I started to crave vegetables and fruit, which are of course very hard to come by when you're ordering out.

Since our kitchen has been renovated and re-organized, we've been cooking non-stop.  Clambake Soup (a recipe that produces an enormous amount and has a list of ingredients a page long....it was completely fabulous to make and eat this past week,) Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork, Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches, homemade macaroni and cheese, omelets for breakfast, Fully Loaded Potato Skins for a party...the list goes on.  Today, I'm actually running out to the store in order to make 2 Mediterranean Cheesecakes, which is perhaps the most delightful appetizer I've ever tasted, the recipe courtesy of Meg.  It will require lots of chopping up and mixing, and the use of specialized equipment (springform pans.)  I can't wait to get started!

Super Easy S'more Pie

So, we had some impromptu family gatherings this weekend to celebrate my brother's 29th birthday and the fact that he was home visiting from Iowa. We went to my aunt's house this afternoon for a dinner cookout and I realized early this morning that I had nothing to bring - and no time to cook.

I tried to think of something simple, easy and yummy. I always stress about what to bring over to this particular aunt's house because she is a martha.. meaning her house is perfect, her food always tastes and looks amazing... so what does one bring to wow the martha herself...

Let me tell you... super easy s'more pie.. that's what.


I had the idea for this s'more pie this morning - I thought s'mores went with cookout food.. and even though I've never made it and didn't have a recipe, I thought it seemed fairly easy.


So this is what I did...

I bought graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, 2 giant chocolate bars and marshmallow ice cream topping.

This is what I did:

I mixed the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and some sugar in a bowl until the crumbs were moistened. (You could just buy a pre-made crust - but remember we had a martha on our hands) So you pack the crumbs into the pie shell and bake it at 350 for about 8-10 minutes.

Then I took some of the mini marshmallows a spoonful of sugar and a little bit of the melted butter - but them all in a bowl and put it in the microwave for about 1 minute. I then mixed it up very well - it was super thick and sticky at this point. I also added a spoonful of the marshmallow topping. I bet you could go without this, but I didn't know what I was doing and just decided to add it. I spooned the mixture into the cooked pie shell - spreading it out as best I could. I then crumbled the 2 chocolate bars and spread the crumbs over the marshmallow mixture. I didn't think that looked "done enough" so I melted some more butter and stirred in some sugar and graham cracker crumbs and sprinkled the crumbles over the top of the chocolate. Then, I baked the pie @ 350 for about 18 minutes.

When I took it out of the oven it looked delicious! The chocolate was melty - you could see chocolate and marshmallow through the crumbly graham cracker topping. Yum!

Of course, the one downfall to pie is, you can't really test taste it before bringing it to the martha's house... so, I took a leap of faith and brought it with us... and it was a major success!!! It was just wonderful. It tasted just like a s'more. It made me think of summer and camping and bonfires and it was just incredible.