CuteKittyPunk

Awww, this time of year, I love all things cinnamon. For the last couple of years I would look foward to apple cinnamon vla (a type of dairy pudding desert that was sold in Holland).  I would serve it with chunks of ginger bread called ontbijtkoek aka breakfast cake, literally. Even though I grew up in the USA, it still seems somewhat foreign to me. After all, I was an expat in Holland for 10 plus years, and at one time I had every intention of staying there forever. But it was not to be. The excessive rains put a damper on those plans. Now, here we are in sunny St George, and it sometimes doesnt even feel like Fall. For the first two weeks of October we still had highs in the 90 degrees F. Its now beginning to be "cold" at least for a couple hours in the morning, and I saw tiny leaves on the front porch, so some plant out there is shedding for Fall. This is exciting, because with cooler weather we can enjoy the hikes much more, and I can enjoy some Fallish cinnamon d...

I had about 400 pins in my crafty stuff/crochet board so I've been doing some reorganizing. I just wish that I could have sub-folders within the same board because there is not a really good way to let your followers know to follow a new board when you go and change stuff around.  I added about 5 or 6 new boards as follows: Crochet hats, Crochet afghans, Crochet - home decor, Crochet Techniques, Crochet Clothing, Crochet Bags - maybe there was one more...  Well, it's the point that I've been pinning so many crochet projects and inspiration that it got to be so much that it needed a reorganization.  I've been nesting... I have 6 weeks until my baby boy is born.  Here are some projects that I pinned:  Pretty as a Package by Connie Stults I made this little hat 3 times - in three different sizes... maybe it was the type of yarn that I used, but all three hats were way off on the size. The 0-3 month size fit loosely on a 6 month baby. I made the small a...

Muffins says: Eat Me! I used to love baking cookies - and one of my favorite cookies to make was Monster Cookies ... but if you make the original recipe it's loaded with sugar - which is part of the reason why they tasted so dang good. Now I've reduced the sugar and used a sweeter sweetener: honey! And I've got coconut oil instead of butter or margarine. When I first tried this alternative recipe as a cookie - it was a bit crumbly and the bottoms burned. When I tried it as a muffin - it was a success! Fresh and hot from the oven! 1/2 cup organic extra virgin coconut oil 1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter (or alternative nut/seed butter) 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 eggs 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats 2 teaspoons baking soda 75 grams extra pure chocolate bar, chopped fine (70% cocoa) 100 grams M&M chocolate candies In a food processor cream together:      coconut oil, peanut butter, honey and sugar. Blend ...

One of my weaknesses - is honey butter. I love it with toast, or as a frosting on cake - it's no wonder - what with my love for cinnamon rolls that I would love cinnamon flavored honey butter. First time I made honey butter I used a recipe from Make a Mix Cookery that had a lot of honey in it. So it's no wonder I loved it. But since then, I make it with quite a lot less honey and I found that it really pops when you add other flavors to it. I use a combination of some of my favorite spices and liquid extracts. I don't really measure anything - this is kind of a taste and adjust to taste kind of recipe. First, use biological butter - or in other words butter from grass fed cows (if possible). Also, we are lucky that in Europe the laws regarding honey are that it does not need to be pasteurized - so it's very easy to find raw honey here. I didn't know that at first, but with some searching I found this to be true. And recently I've even found ver...

I don't know why I felt like making ice cream on such a cold day, I just did... and I'm so glad about it, too. But, I'm gonna wait till a warmer day to repeat this delicious concoction! 400ml whipping cream ¾ cup milk ¾ cup grade A 100% real maple syrup ⅛ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Dash cinnamon 1 small ripe banana, pureed Warm 200ml whipping cream in microwave or on stove top. Mix in cocoa powder till no lumps and smooth. Remove from stove top - do not allow it to boil. Mix in remaining ingredients. Pour into bowl of ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze in airtight container until ready to serve. The consistency of this ice cream is smooth like super soft serve. Freeze for 3 hours to get it to firm but soft consistency. The flavor of this ice cream is oh so yummy - really reminds me of the chocolate frosty from Wendy’s restaurants (fast food) in the U.S. You can taste a hint of the banana but all the flavors...

I bought this small recipe magazine at the checkout by my local grocery store back in 2003. It’s by Gold Medal (flour). This is another thing I miss about living in the U.S. I miss those cute little recipe books that you can thumb through while waiting your turn to check out. This book has lots of festive ideas for the holidays. I’ve made this one a few times. I’ve been thinking, I could easily top any of my favorite cookies with this marshmallow and fudge frosting... maybe even cupcakes... and sweet rolls! I think it would go fantastic with PB Criss Cross cookies or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies or Snickerdoodles! Gold Medal uses cocoa cookies - I made mine with a pumpkin variation of this recipe - adapted... I think I just used 3/4 cup pumpkin puree in place of the butter and 2 extra tablespoons flour in place of the cocoa. I put some cinnamon in as well - about 1/2 teaspoon I think and that worked pretty good. This is also one of those recipes that the kids can help out with... my...

So, good news - my brother who had spent the last year or so in Afganistan away from his wife and little girls - and a few years before that in Iraq... made Sergeant and I am so happy for him - he deserves it and also because that means - he gets a bigger paycheck! With good news like that I felt like making some cookies - specifically his cookies. My brother was always baking these cookies growing up - almost every Sunday night and we couldn't stop eating them... which is why they always seemed to disappear. He actually calls them: Vanishing Oatmeal *Chocolate Chip* Cookies. One time I ate so many of them... well, maybe that isn't the right story to tell... the point is that these are addicting - because they are so SO so good. Here is Sergeant York's cookies - in his own words he says “This is the recipe I use for oatmeal cookies. It actually calls for raisins, but I use chocolate chips instead, cause I'm not a big fan of raisins, and chocolate is always good...

Bananas are a staple starch of many tropical regions. Just the other day a friend of mine from Columbia even said they eat sweet bananas together with soup - when the rest of the Netherlands - and probably most Northern countries eat soup together with bread. Another wacky thing about bananas I read today on wikipedia - is that bananas are naturally slightly radioactive... and something that those pro-nuclear energy supporters often site in favor of their arguments. And that banana shipments often set off the radiation monitors installed at US ports to dectect illegal shipments of radiological materials. And have you seen the email forward that goes around all about the nutritional benefits of bananas? Bananas are like a super food! The expression “going bananas” is from the effects bananas have on the brain... just two bananas provide enough energy for a 90-minute workout, bananas may reduce blood pressure and stroke... read more about this amazing fruit here . Aside fro...

What do you do when your 39 weeks pregnant, it's summer vacation, the kids are stuck inside cause of the rain and if you lay on the couch you just know you'll fall asleep? Bake! So, that's just what I did. I got up off the couch, and I walked to my shelf full of cook books and I looked for something to make. I felt like having something chocolately... I let the kids turn the living room into their house/tent for the day - they got all the blankets and pillows they could use for that - and while they played, I baked. I have a friend that has been posting a lot of links related to Baltimore Berger  (Bergers) cookies on facebook lately, and I found a recipe for them some time ago, so I finally decided to make some. Luckily, I even had all the ingredients on hand (as long as I cut the recipe in thirds - which I did)... then I also decided to make some chocolatey fudge gelato as well. If you are not familiar with Baltimore Berger cookies - let me just tell you - they are pil...

Apparently, July was national ice cream month - maybe even international... I didn't make any ice cream in July - even though it was so hot it would have been nice to make some. Here it is August - it's cooler and rainy (thank goodness - for this pregnant momma) and I finally whipped up a batch of ice cream. Pumpkin ice cream would have to be for the fall ideally but I just happened to open a can of pure pumpkin and I didn't use it all up. So I thought I'd make this simple ice cream to enjoy the rest of the week. I got this recipe some where but I did not write down the source. I've looked in my usual places - allrecipes.com and food.com (formerly recipezaar)... and there are quite a few to go through. It's not saved in any of my online recipe boxes... and I've modified it - so I'm calling it mine. It's really good. Really sweet - creamy - and just perfect. It's really easy to put together and contains no eggs. Here is what I did: In a s...

Sunday afternoon it was really hot. Too hot to do anything - or so I thought. We didn't really want to go for a walk - we just wanted to stay inside and try and keep cool. We only have ceiling fans so we do our best. I try not to do too much on Sundays because after church we are usually pretty pooped. I just want to sleep. The kids just want to play. I didn't want the TV on this time though - I just wanted it to be a quiet day. A pregnancy thing I guess. I got my way... I did that by baking cookies together with Kailea. This time I actually let her help - beginning to end - yep, I even made her help clean up. She didn't want to but I said, if you don't help dry dishes - no cookies for you. So she helped really well after that. She likes measuring ingredients and turning the food mixer on and off. She liked getting her hands dirty in the dough - rolling them into balls. I caught her licking her fingers one too many times and said - ok - you're all done helping. I...

I happened upon 17andbaking.com a few weeks ago. I'm so impressed with that blog because this girl - Elissa is so young and so focused on her hobbies, goals and dreams. She started the blog when she was 16 - now she is 18 and ready to head off for college. She bakes because she loves to bake. But she is also good at it - tells a nice story and has amazing photos to boot!  I think she is also lucky because her parents seem to be pretty supportive of her hobbies. You should read what some of the things her dad says in the comments section - it will tear you up - so sweet :) he's a good Dad. So, speaking of Dads, I tried one of the recipes from 17andbaking - the White Chocolate Coeur de la Creme with Blueberry Lime Puree and made it in time for Father's Day. This one needs to chill a while so I actually started it Friday night and we ate it Sunday night. Oh my - yummy - it's very creamy. So if you are one of those people with Lactose intolerance problems - you will have...

Easy to make and delicious too. It makes a lot though - so this is a good dessert to take to a party or potluck. I had seen different recipe variations on several sites but the one that I used I got from a friend - when I tried hers at a party and it was delicious. It was actually a birthday party and everyone was asked to bring a favorite dessert - exception - no chocolate. It's actually nice to be invited to a party like that because usually there is always chocolate at such places and this gave us the opportunity to try something different. The recipes is easy - it goes like this. In a bowl break up pound cake and put on bottom layer. I used eierenkoekjes (egg cookies) which are much lower in fat.  In another bowl, combine 2 boxes frozen raspberries together with 1 1/2 jars raspberry jam and 1 package of raspberry jello (optional). I use strawberry jello because I didn't have raspberry. I'm told the jello helps hold it together better. Then put this raspberry mixtur...