in my kitchen - chikaustin

in my kitchen

November25th

5 Comments

fancy

Posted in: celebrations, in my kitchen

Today I am fluffing up our nest. Making it fancy, as Fancy Nancy would say, to host Thanksgiving. Using our china for the first time. Pulling out the sparkly water glasses. And even using the cloth napkins.

Last night my hubby asked me if I had napkin rings. Ahem, doesn’t he know we NEVER use cloth napkins? Since we are using cloth napkins I guess I’m supposed to have napkin rings. Nope. Don’t have any so I improvised. I used some twine and made tags with scrapbook paper. I added some Thanksgiving-y words and voila… napkin rings!

And it even took an act of Congress to obtain the only three remaining pumpkins at my local grocery store. Apparently there was a bad pumpkin crop this year because of the drought and pumpkins are in high demand. There were no pumpkins to be purchased in the store. Until I spied some in the deli display used for decorations. Thirty minutes later, and being rung up as acorn squash because no one knew how to price them, they were mine.

There are a few things I need to cook, but most is being brought over by my family. I wanted to set the table to show that I am grateful for everyone traveling to our house so it will be easier on us with the new baby. The least I can do is set a nice table and do the dishes right?!? And what’s even better is that no one expects a thing. They would be just as happy with paper plates. And for all of these things, I am thankful.

Everything is set up and now I’m just waiting for family to arrive tomorrow. No rushing around today. No getting up for Black Friday. Just going to spend the holiday with family, probably partaking in some serious Wii challenges, going on walks, and sitting on the porch telling stories.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Take a breather, take a break, cherish your loved loves. Be thankful for all that you have. You are blessed.
September25th

16 Comments

while we wait

Posted in: in my kitchen
Still pregnant. For all of those random strangers who said I was going to deliver early, I scoff in your general direction. None of you sweet blog readers, it was those strangers on the street that gave me the ‘Oh my GOD! How far along are you? Oh honey, you are never going to make it! Shirley, come look at this!’ On one outing alone that happened to me FIVE times. FIVE. Good for the self-confidence.

We haven’t been doing much to write home about. Just waiting. Doing some laundry. Watching the rain. Baking. Oogling over all of the fall catalogs arriving in the mail. Each one of us picking out our wish list. Loving all of the new shows. And avoiding the acorns as they come plummeting from the sky. Seriously, our oak trees have never produced acorns, but something about the weather lately has them falling from the trees. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Last night I got a hankering for some pumpkin cupcakes. Oh. My. Godness. They seriously make the house smell better than any pumpkin candle could ever try to do. Seriously. And they have to be the best cupcakes I have ever eaten. I know I have mentioned the ‘trailer food’ around Austin and how phenomenal it is. Well, apparently this sweet gal opened yet another cupcake trailer called Sugarstar Cupcakes and shared her recipe for pumpkin cupcakes with the world. So I will share it with you.

*****

Linus’ Pumpkin Cupcakes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package instant butterscotch pudding mix
- 2 t. baking soda
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1 T. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t. ground ginger
- 1/2 t. ground allspice
- 1/4 t. ground cloves
- 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (i left out because i couldn’t find it)
- 1 cup butter, room temp.
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée
For cream cheese frosting
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 t. cinnamon
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla extract and pumpkin purée with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops and spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

For icing, combine all ingredients and spread frosting on top of the cupcakes. Makes 24 cupcakes.

*****

I hope you all have a nice relaxing fall weekend. We’ll be going to soccer games and car shopping for a bigger vehicle. And unless I happen to go into labor this weekend we’ll have a sweet baby on Tuesday. Oh. My. Goodness.
August17th

12 Comments

scenes with a belly

Posted in: babes in toyland, home sweet home, in my kitchen, mama life

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We took a quick trip to San Antonio for my brother-in-law’s birthday and hit up Sea World one last time before the baby comes. I think we did it right this time. We went in the evening and it couldn’t have been more pleasant. Actually, it gets nicer and nicer as fall comes and school is back in session. The crowds disperse, the temperatures drop, and the water park closes so there aren’t people walking around in bikinis. What’s that about anyway? That’s a whole other blog post entirely. What not to wear to a theme park. Followed by Why on earth are you wearing that?

Sorry, I got distracted. Today was a pretty low key day. I get many comments from my bloggy friends concerned about me, that I’m overdoing it. I swear I have the BEST friends in blogland. I wouldn’t trade any of you for the world. While many days I’d trade my kids in for a goat or two.

So I decided to take some pictures today to show you a day in the life of what it’s really like around my house.

Breakfast which usually consists of frozen waffles or cereal. Notice the adult plate and fork. Makena insists on it.

Ahhh… the living room. I had planned on doing a post to show you our new sofas and new arrangement, but decided to show you what it normally looks like in our house. Toys strewn about. Boy laying on the couch watching cartoons. Crooked pictures on the wall. Yup, that’s about right. We used to have a dark green sofa and red curtains. I totally changed up the place by purchasing two white sofas. Yes, I’m crazy. And white curtains. I really love a white room.

With toys everywhere. This is my reality.

Afternoon. Feet propped up. Belly relaxed. I finally bribed (payed off) the kids to clean up the toys. It’s amazing what 25 cents will get you. On the ottoman in front of me is some of the work I’m doing for the book. Hidden in the binder. Mooahahaha… The most recent Land of Nod catalog to dream from. And my stack of magazines that I plan to read.

Oh wait, and across from me is a humongous pile of linens from the kid’s old beds that need to be folded and stored away. I have no idea where I’m going to put them, that’s why they are sitting right there. I’m sure they’ll be there in the morning. And possibly the rest of the week.

And right after this picture was taken it was nap time for all of us.

All of this to show you, my friends, that I’m doing okay. I’m resting, I just tend to show you the activity in my life. There is plenty of downtime. Trust me.

This evening I went and sat in the kids room for a bit while my hubby cleaned up the kids toys down there. I decided that the room was too cluttered and cleared out half of the pictures from the art wall and half the toys from the shelves. The bassinet went away and so did the parking garage. A much cleaner space. Maybe it will encourage the kids to keep the room cleaner. Maybe not.

Rest well friends and put your feet up when you get a chance. You are in good company.
July20th

10 Comments

martha, martha, martha

Posted in: in my kitchen

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments about my little nest in the last post. I can’t even begin to tell you how long my bedroom has gone neglected. I should have taken the before shot to give you the whole picture, it was a mess.

I tell you, it’s the pregnancy. If you want to redo your house, get pregnant. It’s a sure fire way of getting organized and getting things done. The fun part is that I was able to reuse just about everything in that picture. The only new thing I went out and bought was the lamps… at Marshalls. The rest I just had around the house. Tucked into closets and drawers. Shameful. I know. It’s all about repurposing what you have. The budget friendly way to decorate.

This weekend was my sweet hubby’s birthday so we had family over for a fajita cook-out. Nothing like standing over a hot grill in 100 plus degree weather. Yay Texas! I wouldn’t even venture outside to take a picture for you. Sorry. I love you, but I have to draw my limits somewhere.

So I stayed inside and made this cake. Ain’t she a beauty. Although, when you make a cake like this you get the resounding ‘well aren’t you Martha Stewart’ comments. Good times. Sometimes I get all discombobulated in my head when people say things like that to me. I did not grow up in a June Clever household. As a child, I wasn’t around sewing, knitting or baking. So as a mom, I work really hard to do all of this. Really hard. I can’t stress that enough. It does not come naturally. Not. One. Bit.

So, all of this to say, thank you for your sweet comments you leave me. They really reassure what I do at home as a stay-at-home mom with a masters degree. Sometimes feeling that loss of purpose. Sometimes wanting to pull my hair out. Many times saying things I swore I’d never say as a mom. And remembering that I always swore I’d never stay at home. But one glimpse at my first child when she was born and I was sold. Done. How can I not be home, trying to do my best. For me and my children.

So please remember that this is just a glimpse of my life. A screen shot, if you will, of our home. I show you the pretty things. The things that inspire me, in hopes that they will inspire you. I tell you the real stories, with hopes that you can relate. Thanks for joining me in this journey. It’s one heck of a roller coaster.
July5th

7 Comments

independence day goodness

Posted in: babes in toyland, celebrations, crafting, in my kitchen

Yesterday, in the midst of the Fourth of July festivities, I decided that this has to be the longest holiday of the year.

You wake up early to rush out and watch the small town parade. Spend the day with friends and family enjoying good southern hospiality, barbeque and treats. Then stay up late watching the fireworks. All in 106 degrees.

Scenes from our independence day ::

You’ve really gotta LOVE Texas to make it through the entire day.

We crashed around 10 pm, with the sound of fireworks going off over the lake out back. We rushed down to the kids room, grabbed them out of their beds and sat up on our bedroom deck to watch hundreds of colors exploding over the lake. Each one of us, cuddling one of our babies, who are growing up so fast. Enjoying moments just like these, and holding them dear in our hearts forever.
July3rd

5 Comments

don’t eat the play doh

Posted in: in my kitchen, kid crafts

Happy Friday friends!

I can’t tell you how many times in a day, when the kids are playing with play doh, that I yell ‘don’t eat the play doh.’ The play doh makers say that play doh is non-toxic, but come on… you really don’t want your kid eating it do you? I didn’t think so.

While perusing the blogs over my daily cup of caffeine, I came across this post that shows you how to make your own play doh. Now at least I know what they are eating. We quickly pulled out the only cookie cutters we have, of the Christmas variety, and went to work. Then we moved on to beach shapes. Palm trees. Crabs. Fish. Boats. ‘Tis the season.

And speaking of homemade goodness, on our trip to Costco this week. I *heart* Costco. I really do. We purchased this savvy piece of machinery. Our own, ready in 20 minutes, ice cream maker. And that was $50 well spent. Run, go now to Costco and get this machine before ice cream season ends. You will not regret it.

Earlier this week I made the Ghiradelli brownies (from Costco), so we made brownie ice cream. With huge chunks of brownie. Mmmmm….

I buy my vanilla from El Mercado in San Antonio. If you can find a Mexican market in your area, you can get a big bottle like this for around $6.

Then, get this, last night I was eating some Blue Bell Ice Cream, a southern favorite, when I bit into something hard. I kid you not. It was a piece of metal. No lie. About one inch long skiny piece of metal. Ick.

From now on I’m sticking to the homemade variety.

Have a lovely Fourth of July weekend! A truly homemade fourth.

**Friends, what do I do with the metal? Send them a lovely email/letter? What would you do?
July2nd

6 Comments

squirrel

Posted in: babes in toyland, home sweet home, in my kitchen

He loves me. He really does. Look what my hubby bought me for my book deal.

Squirrel!

Oh how I relate to the ’squirrel.’ One moment I’m in the middle of something and the next… squirrel. Distracted and onto something else. You must go see the movie Up to fully understand the true concept of ’squirrel.’ It’s a good one, I wouldn’t lead you astray.

And it’s prominently displayed in my dining room. I’ve been doing some more nesting and changed out my red curtains to white ones from Ikea. The white seems to filter the Texas sunshine much better and just makes the house feel cooler. And the bowl in the center of the table now holds Legos to keep the kids occupied while waiting for mealtimes. Little things that make my life easier.

We’ve mostly been staying home. Playing with our favorite toys. Makena gets it all set up and Keegan likes to knock it all down. I’m sensing this will become a pattern throughout their childhood.

We had a break in the heat for the past two days. It rained! Glorious temperature dropping into the 70’s rain. When it started to rain, we dropped everything (squirrel) and ran onto the porch to sit and watch it come down.

Then the rain dance began. Accompanied by Keegan’s own rendition of ’squirrel’ when he found a bug on the ground.

Squirrel… the story of my life.
May26th

3 Comments

fresh berry cobbler

Posted in: in my kitchen
I love this time of year. The gardens. The wildflowers. The backyard cookouts. The rain showers. The giggling children. We spent the weekend with friends and family going from one backyard to the next until we finally landed in our own, down at the lake.

I made a great red, white and blue dessert that was a surefire crowd pleaser. It’s made with fresh berries and served with vanilla ice cream. It was a quick and easy recipe, minus the fact that my berries and sugar boiled over leaving a lovely sticky mess on my stove top. All of this to tell you to watch the berries while they are boiling. It is not a time to go read a book on the back porch. Not that I would know. Oh yeah, and the recipe calls for self-rising flour which means you can not fill up your baking dish to the top and stick it in the oven. It will spill over. Again, not that I would do that.

fresh berry cobbler
- 8 T. butter (1 stick)
- 1 c. sugar
- 3/4 cup self-rising flour
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 2 cups of berries mixed with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter in deep (very deep) baking dish and place in oven to melt. Mix sugar and flour; add milk slowly. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. In saucepan, bring berries mixed with sugar and water to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. I used blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Stir often. Spoon fruit mixture on top of ingredients in baking dish. Still do not stir. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I’m sorry that there is no after picture. This pregnant woman never misses dessert to take a picture.
December22nd

10 Comments

cookies for mama

Posted in: in my kitchen

My grandmother used to make pecan crescent cookies every year at Christmas. It’s a family recipe that surely will have you walking away with powdered sugar all over your shirt.

:: Pecan Crescents ::

1/2 c butter, softened

8 T powdered sugar, plus extra for rolling the cookies into

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 c flour

1 c chopped pecans

Cream butter. Add sugar, vanilla and flour. Mix thoroughly. Add pecans. Shape like crescents by pressing dough together in your hands. Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes. While still warm dip in powdered sugar.

Today I’m also enjoying The Hotel Cafe Presents… Winter Songs. Great holiday music that’s good for your soul. This is the first track on the cd – Sarah Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson – Winter Song. Enjoy!

Love and Peace.
October6th

14 Comments

Apple Pie

Posted in: in my kitchen, mama life

Central Texas is not known for producing apples. In fact, I can’t find a pick-your-own apple orchard anywhere. So I will just have to watch all of you northern types, who actually have four distinct seasons and rain, and oogle over your baskets of apples. In the meantime, I stock up on the wonderful varieties that the supermarket brings in this time of year. Make my lists of appleicious recipes. And force fall into Texas.

With all of the apples, the first item on the list was to make an apple pie. So I googled ‘apple pie recipe’ came up with this FANTASTIC recipe. It is one of the best apple pie recipes I’ve ever tried. Yummy! Add these items to your shopping list and make it now. Okay, tomorrow. Or even next weekend. But you have to make this pie. And don’t forget the Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. That combination will knock your socks off. If you don’t have Blue Bell, you’re going to have to make your own. Just kidding!

Do you have any apple recipes to share? I’d love to collect them and put them on my blog in a post. Send me a link or comment with your favorite apple recipe by Friday. Can’t wait to try them all!

He said it was going to rain. The weatherman that is. A shower for five minutes this morning does not, in my book, constitute rain. Whatsoever. The grass is all brown. Most plants have dried up. And Lake Travis is beginning to look like Lake Havasu. Boy do I sound like Debbie Downer today.

Speaking of the lake, we spent a lot of time down there this weekend fishing and throwing rocks. And can I tell you that Makena’s little princess pole catches more fish than any pole we bring down there?!? Granted they are little perch, but a caught fish makes everyone happy. Anyhow, we’re not fishing for dinner. We’d starve.

On another note, why do people flip me off with my kids in the car? I was thinking about painting a huge sign on my back windshield that says ‘Keep your finger to yourself. My kids are in the car.’ How do you think that’d go over? Yeah, I figured as much. Fun to think about anyway.

Happy Monday friends!