yumminess

As anyone who knows me knows, I looooooove to cook and I loooooove to eat. I haven't shared very many recipes on this blog because I keep thinking I am going to start another one with only recipes, cooking tips, etc. Cooking is my passion and one of these days I would love to share it! One of these days...... For now, I can barely keep this journal/blog going and updated. Barely.

Anyway, a friend requested in her comment below that I share this Chocolate-Pumpkin Cheesecake Bar recipe and boy, these are so scrumptiously delicious I did not want to share the last couple...and I didn't. I kept the last two hidden in my fridge and I just devoured them. One right after the other. I couldn't leave one all alone, hidden by itself, cold and lonely in my fridge. Ok...ok....I have NO willpower. None.

• Crust

  • 20 chocolate wafer cookies (half a 9-ounce package)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• Filling

  • 2 packages bar cream cheese (8 ounces each)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin puree
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, blend cookies with sugar until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs); add butter, and pulse until moistened.
3. Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Place cream cheese in food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; process until combined. Set aside.
5. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.
6. Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.
7. Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Using overhang, transfer cake to work surface. With a knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve.

the waiting week

So...I thought this week would go fast. But, it hasn't. It feels like one of the slowest weeks I've had in a reeeeeally long time. Being totally and completely uncomfortable, practically immobile, constantly nauseous and with a horrid sinus headache all day, every day, will do that to a week. I can't believe how hard these last few days of pregnancy have been. I am writing this not to be whiny -- yet again -- but to remember. This blog is my journal and I want to remember feeling like this when I am sleep-deprived and overwhelmed with two infants and two toddlers. I want to remember how MUCH I want these two babies in my arms -- whether they are sleeping, eating or crying. I just want them in my arms and I want to look down at them and feel that complete bliss and joy that a momma feels to the core when she looks at her babies.

I am so utterly grateful to my doctor for scheduling me to be induced I feel like waddling through a store to look for a perfect gift for her -- but I know I won't find one. Partly because I will be so preoccupied with how uncomfortable I am waddling through the store with people staring at me wondering when I'm going to pop, and partly because there simply won't be a gift worthy of what she has done for me. I am quite aware of how overly dramatic I am being right now. What I am experiencing is absolutely NOTHING compared to someone who has cancer or is paralyzed from an accident or dealing with any number of worse things to be dealing with (and there are PLENTY). But, I just need to remember this when I am dealing with what every parent of twins has told me I am about to experience...which apparently is something so difficult that "only a parent of twins can fully understand how much so". Right now, I am beyond excited to begin my journey into that experience -- but in a few weeks, that may not be the case. Who knows. Maybe it won't be as bad as people have told me it will be. Maybe it will be worse. All I know for sure is that I will soon find out for myself...and I feel VERY VERY lucky to be able to have that experience. Through all of this whining and complaining, I have never lost sight of how lucky I am to be pregnant with two healthy babies...and I can never repeat that enough. I am lucky, lucky, lucky.

Anyway...to keep my mind off my complaints and to make the time go by today, I made these:

Afterall, what better treat to come home to after school than homemade oreos 'n milk??

Homemade Oreo Cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In another bowl, stir together butter, sugar, and egg. Add flour mixture, and stir until a dough forms.
2. Divide dough in half; roll out between two sheets of parchment paper to a 1/4-inch thickness. Stack on a baking sheet, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut dough into rounds. Place on sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake until cookies are firm and fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool.
4. Spread half the cookies with 1 tablespoon Cream Filling; top with remaining cookies. (To store, refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 5 days.)

Cream Filling
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and granulated sugar, beating until combined. Beat in vanilla extract.

week 36!!

(I couldn't decide which picture showed off my belly better...so I am showing both...cuz maybe, just maybe, these will be the last pictures of me preggers. Ever.)

It is week 36 starting today and the waiting begins..... I am free to have these babes any day now and have them be safe to be born in the hospital I have practically been living in the past few months. Their lungs should be fully developed and since they are each growing well and at a hefty weight, I am hoping they will use their strength to push themselves out of me and give me some R E L I E F. Finally.

Earlier this week I spent the day in the hospital as I was apparently extremely dehydrated (even though I take a water bottle with me everywhere! But I have been so very nauseous, that I have to admit I haven't been drinking a whole heckuva lot....) which made me have horrible contractions. The doc thought it was just a bit too early, so the nurse stuck that dang IV in me (OUCH!) and pumped me with fluids and when that didn't work, she gave me a shot of a stop-the-contractions drug. By about 6pm, the contractions stopped.

Darnit.

I know...I know...the longer they are in my belly, the healthier they will be, blah blah blah.... But making it to 36 weeks with twins is good enough for me. Nobody will want to be around me if I am still cookin' these chicks in two weeks. That's not a joke. I'll make Cruella Deville seem like Mary Poppins.

But, enough whining. I am incredibly grateful that I and the babes are as healthy as we are (no bed rest the entire pregnancy! Yippee!) and they have stayed in my belly this long. That is a good thing. I just have to keep repeating that in my head....over and over and over again......

I am also grateful for my friends and the INCREDIBLE support they are to me. I was given a baby shower (my very first!) last Saturday and wow. Them are some seriously good friends. It was beautiful in every single way. I doubt I could possibly feel luckier than I am feeling these days...even amidst the pain and total discomfort of these last weeks of pregnancy. I meant to mention the wonderful shower in my last post about having "beauty all around me", but I tend not to stay very focused on anything these days.....

Anyway, in celebration of making it to week 36 and the fact that I don't have to worry too much about going into "pre-term labor" anymore (by being on my feet too much during the day), I made these:


Ina Garten's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound good semisweet chocolate chunks (or chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks. Drop the dough on a baking sheet, using either a 1-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Bake for 12 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

They are THE BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Since I'm still nauseous all the time and sweets make it worse (and I have next to zero motivation to do much of anything), I haven't baked much lately. But today, I just felt like making these. I stuffed myself with about 5 or 6 of them (warm outta the oven...I had more after dinner. Just call me Miss Piggy!) because if I'm going to be this nauseous regardless of what I eat, I might as well eat yummy cookies! Besides, maybe if I stuff myself with enough food I might push the babies out.... See how irrational I am becoming???? I need to be birthin' these babies.

SOON.


This is what I look down on. It looks much bigger from above, doesn't it? That's why I keep sayin' I'm HUGE! That and I can hardly move without waddling, moaning and grunting....

the final stretch

And I do mean "stretch". My belly already feels stretched to the max and I still have 3 months to go!! Yikes. These babies clearly need more room as I am now feeling both of them kick at once -- which I felt for the first time yesterday. They are moving around more and more...and yes, I still love those lil bumpy-bumps in my belly telling me I have TWO babies alive and kickin' in there.

(note that I can't see my feet anymore)

I was trying to get a picture of me and my belly and the Doggy Diva just HAD to prop herself in the picture. Believe me, she is MUCH better looking than I am, so I kept her in and me out. The picture doesn't do the enormity of my belly justice (seriously, it doesn't...my belly is much larger than the picture shows), but she's way more interesting to look at than a bloated momma.

Anyway, my point is that I'm feeling the "final stretch" coming on as I am losing energy, feeling lethargic and not nearly as motivated as I was just last week. Oh so short a break that was! But, I just have to share some of the things I have been getting done in my two short weeks of feeling so dang good (really just to make me feel better knowing I at least got SOMETHING done during these prego months).

I've been cooking and baking like a mad woman, gourmet meals every night, breads, treats, all sorts of new recipes have been tried. I have always wanted to make baklava, so this week I did. It turned out just like it does at the bakery...only better because I could eat as much as I wanted without having to buy every square. I absolutely love this very sweet and rich treat, so I'm glad to know that it is easy to make...although maybe that's not such a good thing considering my rather large thighs.....

I also made some yummy smelling cream for my babes. So easy, cheap, and it's excellent cream for my horribly dry skin...which has inevitably been passed on to my wee ones.

I've started making the nursery look more like a nursery than a guest bedroom.... (both the cream and the pom poms were inspired from a wonderful and most creative friend).


A few other fun creative projects are in the works as well. Why couldn't I get this motivated when I didn't have a huge belly -- and lots more weight -- to lug around???? Unfortunately the motivation is slowly drifting away...and who knows when it will come back given what the next year will be like.....

canning maters

I've decided to give my first "blog tutorial". I canned tomatoes for the first time a couple weekends ago (and again this past weekend) and I couldn't believe how easy it was, so I'm hoping to inspire someone out there to do it too. It's SO dang easy. With some tips I learned, it's even easier.....

1) Ask a tall, hunky guy to rinse the tomatoes (rinsing the tomatoes isn't absolutely necessary, but if you happen to find some hunk of a man willing to do it, why not?)

2) Lay out tomatoes on towels. (Again, not absolutely necessary, but if you're going to rinse them, this makes clean up a LOT easier! Not to mention the towel keeps the maters from continually rolling off the counter.)

3) In a pot of boiling water, plop in a few tomatoes. Leave them in for about 30 to 60 seconds. It all depends on how ripe they are as to how long to leave them in, so I just take them out when I see the skin popping open. If you take them out too soon, it makes step 5 a lot more difficult. If you take them out too late, it makes step 5 a lot more messy. That's why I only plopped in a few at a time -- it's easier to tell if they are ready if there are fewer in the pot.

4) Plop the tomatoes in a bowl of ice water. This cools them off quickly so you can move on to the next step more quickly.

5) Core and peel the tomatoes (I found it more efficient to core THEN peel the tomatoes). If the tomatoes were in the boiling water long enough, the skins just slip off the tomatoes. If they weren't, you have some time-consuming peeling to do. If they were in the boiling water too long, you've got yourself a mushy tomato, but very easy to peel and still good to can. Again, put a towel on the counter as this is a VERY messy step and towel soaks up a lot of the juice that will otherwise be all over that counter, the floor, your shoes, etc.....

6) Cut the tomatoes -- chop, cut in quarters or halves, or even leave them whole, it doesn't matter. Whatever you want to do is fine. However, more fits in the jar if you cut them up a bit. I hope you have a lot of old towels cuz a towel under the cutting board is also advisable for the same reason as in step 5. It's a lot easier to throw towels in the laundry than to wipe all your counters, floor, and shoes, for a good 15 minutes once the canning is complete.

7) After sterilizing the jars and lids (just put the cleaned jars and lids in the big pot/canner of boiling water for a minute or so), fill the jars with the tomatoes. You don't have to, but you can add about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each jar along with a couple fresh basil leaves to add a little bit of flavor. With a wooden spoon (a metal one might react to the acidic tomatoes), press the tomatoes down to get all the air bubbles out. Be sure to leave about a 1/2 inch space at the top so the jars don't explode in the next step. Wipe the rim of the jars and put the lids on.

8) Put the filled jars in the boiling water of a large pot or canner, if you have one. Make sure that about 1 inch of water is covering the jars. Leave them in the boiling water for 45 minutes.

9) Voila! You've got yourself a jar of some delicious and nutritious tomatoes for the cold winter months!! YUM! I can not WAIT to try mine. However, I have a lot more tomatoes ready to pick and eat and cook with -- or even can some more! -- in our garden, so I won't be opening any jars for a while.....

This weekend I'll be canning beets! I hope it's as easy as canning maters......

happy father's day!

Ok...so I know I'm going overboard with the strawberries, but I have been wanting to try this recipe FOREVER (well...maybe just a year...but still....) and I finally made it for Father's Day. It is a typical Martha Stewart recipe with lots of steps, so I was waiting for the strawberries from our garden and the perfect occasion to make it -- and yesterday was that day! Yes, it took a long time to make and yes it was divine. The fried basil with sugar was seriously yummy. So was the basil whipped cream. Oh man it was a good dessert. And pretty too....

The daddy had about four pieces of it, so apparently it was a successful daddy's day dessert. That was a good thing.

berry yummy cookies

My lil girl felt so big 'n strong bringing this big bowl of berries all the way inside after we picked 'em:

With those strawberries I made these:

They are so dang yummy!!!!!