Alphabet Soup

Photo Credit:  Garrett Farlow  via Flickr  You've heard the phrase “life is what happens when you’re busy making plans”, right?  Well, let me tell you, a whole lot of life has happened in the last two years.  I haven’t been blogging much, and while I’m not apologizing to anyone for that, I will say that I have missed it.  I want to try to get back into a routine, more for myself than anyone else.  Of course, I totally love it when others read what I write!  J   Summer is fast approaching and I’m very much looking forward to a new season and a new outlook.  

  I honestly don't even know how to start this post.  I've written it a thousand times in my head, and now that I'm sitting at the computer, the words won't come. Earlier this week Jennifer Perillo of In Jennie's Kitchen lost her husband suddenly.  There was no chance for a goodbye.  She has two girls, 8 and 3.  Though I've never met her in person, I follow her through her blog and on Twitter.  And even though I don't know her or her family, when I read what had happened, it brought me to tears.  On Tuesday she posted on her blog.  I don't know that I would have had the composure to do so.  This is part of what she wrote : For those asking what they can do to help my healing process, make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on. So I baked today, along with many others . I made our family's new favorite chocolate chi...

Hey everyone!  A few things I have to share.  First - I have a new laptop.  I am screaming from a virtual mountaintop I am so excited about this!  My old laptop officially crashed, and I just could not get this new baby set up fast enough.  With any luck, this will also mean that I can get some posts up that have been in the queue for a while...because, well, the old laptop has been giving me issues for quite some time now and was really bogging me down in all aspects of technology-related life. Second, I have a reader story up on the  What's Cooking with Kids  website.  If you haven't read What's Cooking, I encourage you to.  There is also a Facebook page where you can snag a sample of her Whole Family Cookbook.  Here's the link to my story . Ok people.  It's Friday -- have a great weekend, and if you're celebrating the Fourth of July, here's to a safe and highly enjoyable one!  :)

Yes folks, I may not be spending a ton of time on the blog right now, I admit, but I created a Facebook fan page.  Because I need my head examined, that's why!  Anyway, I'm having some technical difficulties getting it linked on the sidebar of the blog, but if you search for "Katy's Alphabet Soup" it should pull up.  I need some outside input too -- if you see anything weird going on with it, please let me know.  I'm a little bit of a noob when it comes to Facebook!! Enjoy, and thanks!!  :)

I have a confession.  I love butter.  Since I also love to bake, I try to keep a hefty supply of butter on hand at all times.  However, over the last few days, I managed to run out of butter!  I was ready to declare a state of emergency.  Well, ok, technically I had half a stick left, but that's just not nearly enough. When D sent me a text earlier this evening that he was about to head home, I asked if he would be willing to stop and pick up some butter.  Yes, I asked him to go to the store just for butter.  I wanted to make biscuits to go with supper!  Anyway, here is the text conversation that followed.  It amused me. Me:  I don't supposed you'd want to stop & get me some butter, would you? Him:  I could.  What type? Me:  Unsalted sweet cream.  Land o lakes or challenge brand. Him:  Ok.  How much? Me:  2-3 lbs. Me:  Just please make sure it's UNsalted.  :-) Him:  Holy $#%@ Me:...

No, this  is not some sort of weird April Fool's Day joke.  You really are viewing an actual blog post from me!  :) I mentioned before that we've had a lot of changes hit recently, and that we are homeschooling our 9 year old Munchkin.  We've been on that adventure for a little over a month and it is going quite well!  It is definitely a work in progress and we are certainly learning as we go, but for the most part we are all enjoying it. During the last month, the Sprout turned 3.  Three years old!!  Can you believe it?  We had his party at home, a Toy Story 3 theme of course.  I had all these grand Martha Stewart-ish plans, but forgot that I'm me, and ran out of time to get them all done.  However, I did get some "3" cookies made and decorated and was pretty proud of myself.  It was something new for me -- I'd never decorated cookies like that before.  I'd always wanted to, I just never had!  They may not look ...

You may have noticed that I've been absent from the blogging world for a few weeks now.  Without going into too many details, we've had some changes going on around here and are embarking on a new adventure with our 9 year old. That's right.  We are now homeschooling, at least for the rest of this semester.  It has been a challenge, be sure, but I have to admit that I'm really enjoying the extra time spent with him.  I think this new adventure will be good for all of us, in a lot of ways. So that's why I haven't been around as much lately.  I've been spending more time and attention on my family, and less on taking pictures of food.  :)  I do miss it, and hope to be around more often soon. 

Hey everyone!  I'm guest posting over at Frosting for the Cause today, and I made moon pies for the occasion.  Check it out!! Update 8/18/13:  It seems as though the Frosting for the Cause website is no longer up :( However, I have reposted the story and recipe HERE .

So, this is just a random pet peeve of mine.  Have you ever noticed on cooking shows and other TV spots that the chef will handle raw meat, and then dig his hand right into the salt bowl, or grab the pepper mill?  So. Not. Cool. You know they know better.  Or at least you sure hope so.  But they do it anyway.  I'm sure it has something to do with not wanting to take away precious seconds out of the well-scripted time slot to properly wash their hands or something.  But hello!!  Food safety, people.  It just irks me. Any why, do you ask, am I ranting about this today?  Well, because in the winter, my hands get so dry that my knuckles will start to crack if I don't watch it.  And repeatedly washing my hands during the day doesn't help matters.  But I do it anyway.  When we had a snow day a while back, I did a lot of cooking and baking.  And a lot of hand washing.  And watching of cooking shows on TV.  ;)...

So it seems like everyone is doing a "Top 10 of 2010" post on their blogs.  I've always been a rebel, but this one sounded like fun.  I'm doing a Top 5 based on pageviews, and then a couple of my personal faves from the year that didn't make the list.  5.   Molasses Spice Cookies 4.   Pumpkin Butter Cookies 3.  Frijoles a la charra 2.  Mocha-Toffee Truffle Bars 1.  Chewy Ginger Snaps And there are a couple of recipes that may not have made the top 5 based on pageviews, but were some of my favorites: Chicken Enchilada Chowder Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas Homemade Cinnamon Dolce Latte And what was one of my favorite things from 2010?  Welcoming a new member of our family!! I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's celebration, and may 2011 bring many amazing things for everyone! Enjoy!  :)

It's almost Thanksgiving.  Can you believe it?  I thought I'd share what's on our menu this year, and see what everyone else is cooking up.  :) We are having a hard time deciding what to serve as the main dish this year.  Munchkin is convinced that it's not Thanksgiving if we don't have turkey "it's tradition!"  Actually, tradition around here is to serve something non -traditional.  I'm thinking pork loin.  We shall see. Here's what else we have cooking up: Cornbread dressing (family recipe) Bacon Wrapped Green Beans by Our Best Bites Sweet Potatoes from Pioneer Woman Mashed Potatoes also from PW Cranberry Sauce ...ummmm, also from PW Corn on the Cob (self-explanatory) Yeast Rolls Pecan Pie from Southern Plate Sweet Potato Pie (my recipe) Chocolate Cupcakes from Martha Stewart and I'm debating Banana Pudding (my recipe) That's what we've got so far.  We always make enough to feed an army, I swear.  What...

I've been blogging for two years now! It's hard for me to believe it's been that long. I know I haven't been all that consistent with it, but it really has been fun! This little anniversary actually snuck up on me. I was thinking last night that I needed to see when it was. I checked, and eek! November 6th. Guess maybe I should put it on my calendar or something so I don't forget it. :) I wanted to do something special on the blog to celebrate. In typical Katy fashion, I'm going to be late to my own party, but I have a couple of things in the works that I will share soon! I've been doing a lot of thinking (stressing) lately about blogging. I never set out to try to be a big-name blogger, land a book deal, or even make a little money off my blog. I am certainly not knocking those that have those aspirations. I just...don't. I just want to have fun, but I also tend to have a "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" attitude. So...

I'm not talking about a Halloween costume here. I'm talking about the Supermom cape that I wear everyday. The one that I know better than to try to fit into, yet I reach for it all the time anyway. I'm always being told that I try to do too much, but I always feel like I never do enough. This morning, I missed my oldest singing in chapel at school. This is a new school for him this year, and it was his first time to be in a group that was singing at morning chapel. I got a phone call about 8:00, and he was in tears. He wanted me to go to school and watch. I had no idea he was going to be doing something special today. It takes me at least 20 minutes to get to his school. His dad usually takes him to school, and there I was, sitting in the recliner, still in my pajamas, watching the Disney channel and hanging out with the two youngest kiddos, also still in their pajamas. There was no way I could make it to school in the next 5 minutes to watch him sing. It tore me up. Wh...

I ran across a post today, that I found through Twitter (I've become addicted!) called Retake Homemade .  What does that mean?  Well, here's a little quote: I am proposing that we start a movement, people! To teach people that good food does not have to be complicated or come from a box. That you can put a meal using fresh, healthy ingredients on the table in the same amount or less time than it takes to open those boxes and cans and microwave dinners :shudder: To show them that it doesn’t have to be complicated or creepy... That's it.  Simple.  Basic.  What I want to do!  You can read more about it here on Pots and Plots by Kait Nolan.  So, what does all this mean to me?  I try my best to serve good meals to my family.  I'm not going to lie, we have definitely had our ups and downs when it comes to eating.  We fall prey to the call of fast food.  If I'm lucky, I get to go out for lunch with my best friend on a weekly basis....

I was hoping to be able to post about some yummy sticky pecan rolls, but I'm still tweaking the recipe just a bit.  Instead, I want to share some (a ton!) of pictures and explain what it's like having a two-year-old in the kitchen.  Or at least, my two-year-old in my kitchen.  :) These days, whenever Sprout even thinks I'm going to be cooking something, he comes running into the kitchen saying he wants to help.  He then proceeds to haul out one of the step stools and drag it to wherever he thinks he needs to be.  So, how do you cook with a two-year-old?  And what can they help with?  Good questions. Well, step one is to find the closest two-year-old.  This one looks like he might be up to something.  And apparently, if mama is wearing an apron, he requires one as well. Next, he might climb on the counter you just very carefully cleaned.  It's okay.  He's just after the magnets on the refrigerator.  After he gets t...