Crawling, Cruising and Cutting Teeth

Someday I hope to have time for a real blog post again but for now between freelance work, house and garden projects and keeping an eye on one Very Busy Little Person, I'm absolutely exhausted by the time bedtime rolls around.

The good news is bedtime actually sticks these days...Lillian is actually sleeping thru the night!

Anyway that's the big news around here. Hope to be back with something more significant soon.

Playdate Snacks: Vanilla Orange Sugar Cookies

My little group of mom friends takes turns hosting afternoon play group most weeks. Its as much for the kids as it is for the moms, really. Its nice to give the little ones a chance to interact and play with TOYS NOT THEIR OWN. Its also a great change of pace for the moms. I'm rather lucky that the group includes several talented bakers and snack providers...so there never seems to be a lack of treats to munch on.

Today was supposed to be my turn to host. Now, the thing about play group is that it can be rather unpredictable. We tend to all be ruled by the elusive nap and the dreaded late-afternoon baby meltdown. So a group of five can easily turn into a group of two or a group of...well...no one. So, even though I like to offer a nice snack I don't consider it worthwhile to go to crazy.

These cookies are a nice solution. The make just enough -- about 16 bite-sized morsels. They're similar to a traditional sugar cookie, but the dough also includes cornmeal for an interesting texture. And with vanilla and orange juice and zest added in, they smell divine and have just the right amount of sweet, pleasant flavor.

They pair wonderfully with fresh fruit...which is great because I like to also offer a healthy munchy for the kiddos (and the moms too). In this case, watermelon. I've been buying these tiny "baby" watermelons at the store....yes, yes, I know they're not local or in season here. But it must be high watermelon season in Honduras right now because these things are insanely delicious (and I'm a bit of a watermelon snob).

At this point the playdate is in touch-and-go mode....we MAY have one visitor...maybe not. Either way, Lillian and I will enjoy a nice snack when she wakes from nap. And the rest of the cookies are going to be repurposed for dessert with JiT tonight. It just so happens we have some leftover ricotta cheese in the fridge. I'm going to mix it with some honey and make sandwich cookies. I'm already looking forward to dessert.

Vanilla Orange Sugar Cookies

Makes 16 silver dollar sized cookies, adapted from Epicurious.com


2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, cornmeal, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and orange zest. Beat for about 1 minute until creamy. Scrape sides of bowl then add half of the flour mixture and beat until just coming together. Next add the orange juice and the remaining flour and beat again just until mixed. Dough will be somewhat crumbly.

Place granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop a walnut-sized portion of dough and roll into ball. Roll ball in granulated sugar to lightly coat then place on a cookie sheet and press lightly with the bottom of a glass to create a silver-dollar sized cookie. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Bake cookies in preheated oven until the undersides of the cookies are golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Lillys Lunch: homemade fish sticks and easy one-pot Mac n cheese (and peas)

The fish sticks are something I make in double batches and keep in the freezer for easy lunches. Just dip pieces of flounder, cod or tilapia in egg, then dredge in seasoned breadcrumbs. Spray with cooking spray then bake til golden. Throw cooked, cooled sticks in a plastic bag in the freezer. For lunch reheat at 425 til hot.

The Mac and cheese I literally just threw together. I cooked some whole grain rotini, drained most of the water then put the pot back on the stove over medium heat. Tossed in about 1/4cup of milk, a handful of shredded cheddar, a handful of Swiss, sprinkled about a teaspoon of flower over all and stirred until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I comes out a tad lumpy but for a quick lunch it's good...way better that the processed box stuff. Lilly approved :)

Apple and Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This week, we have a very special visitor staying with us: my 92 year old G-ma Rose. We're so excited to have her here and we plan to put her to work making her famous meatballs, pizzelles and doing the ironing (she's a master with an iron). But for now, she seems to be enjoying playing with Lillian. 

In addition to our special guest, this morning we also had a little play date here at the house. My knitting group friend Cassie dropped by with her 19-month old son Oliver. Taking full advantage of G-ma being here to hold the baby I decided to make a coffee cake. Since I've not been to the store yet this week, we had to make due with what was in the pantry and fridge. 

Luckily, we always have apples and sour cream around. And so a yummy traditional coffee cake it was. Moist, cinnamon-y cake studded with thinly sliced apples and topped with a buttery, crumbly brown sugar crust. You could also add nuts to the topping but since little Oliver is extremely allergic, we prepared it without (and nobody missed them). 

Since I had the indulgence of time thanks to G-ma playing with Lillian, I arranged half of the apples in a pretty pattern on top of the batter before I sprinkled on the topping. This created a lovely, golden crust on the cake. But if you're short on time, this would be just as delicious if you roughly chopped the apples and folded them into the batter. Either way its a tasty cake. Might be nice to have one on-hand for Easter weekend. 

Apple and Sour Cream Coffee Cake

12 servings

1 cup cake flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup lite sour cream

2 cups apples (about 3 medium) cored, peeled and thinly sliced

Topping

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon flour

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. In a small bowl combine flours, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk to blend then set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and cream until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth and bright yellow. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, ending with sour cream. 

Spread half of the batter in the baking pan and top with one third of the apples, then the rest of the batter. Arrange the remaining apple slices on top of the batter and set baking pan aside while you make the topping. 

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients and use a wire whisk or pastry blender to cut butter into pea-sized pieces. When mixture is combined, sprinkle evenly over the apples on the coffee cake.

Place cake in the oven and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until topping is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool slightly before serving. 

Lillys Lunch: Vegetarian Brown Rice "Sushi"

Vegetarian Brown Rice "Sushi"

I love these Annie Chun Sushi Wrap kits. I get the ones that come with brown rice. Lilly and I split the rice, but she skips the seaweed paper and soy sauce. We pair the rice with well steamed carrots, edamame (hers are shelled and cut in half) and avocado. Easy to make, fun to eat and filled with lots of fiber and protein!

Genius Free Baby Toy

All credit for this idea goes to my friend Hollie, one of the smartest moms I know...

You know how your baby loves to pull wipe after wipe from the wipe box during diaper changes (I'm sure the Huggies people love that)? This craft basically capitalizes on that idea in a way that will keep a curious little one safely occupied for at least several minutes (change the laundry! Go to the bathroom...you know, INDULGE).

All you need is some fabric scraps and an empty plastic wipes tub. The Huggies kind is best because it has that nice rubber edging around the opening that's easy on curious little hands.

You don't have fabric scraps lying around? Ok...just use one of the dozen or so receiving blankets that the hospital "gave you" when you brought your darling one home (if you don't know what I'm talking about you clearly did not get your money's worth from the hospital). So take your old blanket and cut it into squares about the size of baby wipes. Then fold them together with the ends in an overlapping stack (if you don't know what I'm talking about just look at how your wipes are folded inside the tub so that a new one pops up each time you pull out a wipe). Now put the whole stack of fabric squares in the wipes tub and hand it to baby.

Ta da! Take a moment to appreciate that look of innocent happy baby joy before you go reheat your coffee/pee/let the dog out/pull the laundry from the dryer or whatever else you hope to accomplish in the next five minutes.

To keep the good times rolling just stick the fabric back in the tub. 

PS depending on what your blanket is made of you can also use this same trick to make your own baby wipes (just do a google search for homemade wipes solution)...if you're feeling frugal/eco.

Happy playing!

Vanilla Ginger Fairie Cakes with Lemony Royal Icing

Today is Mine and JiTs third wedding anniversary. Between that, the nice weather and a scheduled playdate at our place tomorrow afternoon, I had some good excuses to bake during Lillys afternoon nap. She was asleep for just over an hour and that's the time it took to make these. Easy, light, springy and good. If you can find an hour and an excuse, these are a lovely treat. Happy Wednesday!

Ginger Vanilla Fairie Cakes
Makes 10 to 12 cupcakes

3/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, chopped into a paste
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons half and half

Preheat oven to 400F and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Combine all ingredients but the half and half in the bowl of a food processor. Add lid and blend just until smooth. Add half and half in a steady stream down the spout, pulsing until combined.

Drop batter into lined muffin tin and bake for 15 min until cakes are golden. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for 3 minutes before moving cakes to a wire rack. When cool, frost with royal icing (see below) and decorate with lemon zest curls (to make curls use a lemon sestet to shave thin curls from a lemon and place in ice water. Once the zest had curled pat dry with a paper towel before placing on cakes.)






Lemony Royal Icing
Make 1 cup icing

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yellow food coloring

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until icing is glossy and smooth. Adjust color as needed with food coloring. Cover until ready to ice.