Smith Family Weblog

I meant to share this recipe for Snickerdoodle Sandwiches–I made these at my mom’s a couple of weeks ago, and they were wonderful. It’s risky having an open jar of marshmallow fluff around, but it’s worth it.

I made another batch of pesto this weekend. This bunch of basil–which is about 10 percent of what’s in the garden–made about four cups.

There’s a gorgeous German Apple Pancake on the cover of this month’s Cooking Light. It’s an interesting recipe–you start by coating the bottom and sides of a cast iron skillet with sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Then, you arrange apple slices in the pan and cook over medium heat for eight minutes.

The batter (which you gently pour over the apple arrangement) puffs as you bake it, as you can see in this foggy oven photo.

The end result doesn’t look much like the cover shot, but it was still delicious!

I know, it’s Thursday (night), but I still have some photos to post from last weekend. After my cherry pie failure, I attempted to redeem myself with this recipe for berry cobbler. I used blackberries rather than a mixture of fruit, and I think it turned out pretty well. Bryan was disappointed we left it behind with our friends, and that’s usually a good sign.

On Sunday, Ava and I stirred up the cookie of the month from Martha Stewart Living. It’s a no-bake recipe, which makes it kind of fun (and very yummy).

Ava and I did a lot of baking this weekend, starting with another no-knead bread recipe. I had no idea you could make bread like this at home–it was really fabulous. I can’t take any credit, though, because I didn’t do much at all.

The only ingredients are flour, a very small amount of yeast, salt, rosemary and lemon zest.

Toss in a bit of water, then set it aside for 12-18 hours. Here’s the result:

Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest for a couple of hours…

And put it into a pre-heated dutch oven and bake for an hour or so.

That’s it! Couldn’t be easier.

But it does the job. Or at least part of it.

The little coffee shop down the street makes iced coffee with coffee ice cubes. Simple, smart and easy to do at home–I just freeze the leftovers from the morning pot.

I’ve only been drinking coffee for a few years–I had my first real cup when Ava was five months old. Despite days (months) without much sleep, I felt like a new woman almost immediately. I still can’t believe they don’t hand this stuff out at the hospital when they send you home with a newborn.

I had to quit cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant with Olivia, but now that she’s a bit older I’m back on (back off?) the wagon. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to bother her at all. In fact, the other day I was walking out with two travel mugs, and Bry said, “Wow, thanks for making me a cup!” I said, “Um, that’s my car cup.” Bry: “What’s the other one for?” Me: “The office.”

Perhaps I should think about cutting back just a bit.