Hi there,

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend. I am.

I went to lunch with a couple of my best friends earlier and then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the sofa. Our sofa has its own gravitational force field… Ripley’s Believe It or Not! ;)

Okay, don’t believe it. But it is darn comfy.

Anyway, just wanted to take a few minutes to share some of my favorites from Pinterest this week (I’m completely addicted to Pinterest now, btw).

Hey! What’s wrong with spending time on the couch?!

But seriously, love this print. (Also available on Etsy)

Baked buttermilk doughnuts (via One Ordinary Day). Cuz… you know, doughnuts are awesome.

Old books spines camouflage a box for hiding your junk (let’s be honest, we all have a little bit of junk worth hiding, right?). You can buy this one on Etsy but I wonder how hard it would be to DIY… find some old books at the flea market… hmm.

5 minute chocolate cake. And it tastes good. Not as good as a “real” cake that you bake from scratch in your oven, but for something you can whip together in literally 5 minutes (including microwave time) this is darn good.

Confession: I’ve had this twice since finding the recipe yesterday. (And now I’m feeling embarrassed at my lack of willpower).

It is spongey and moist. I wonder if it wouldn’t be better if you replace the oil with melted butter though… (via The Bitten Word)

Isn’t that an awesome table runner? This is a wedding reception scene, but I think it could be fun at any party… a kid’s party even. (Chalkboard table runner via Craft).

Anywho, enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember: no matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping me as I sit on the couch eating chocolate cake ;)

(All photos via Pinterest)

Here we are just a couple days away from December, and I am not ready. Last year I made 12 days of cookies and wanted to it to be a tradition but I’m really not ready.

I am not ready to bake for 12 days straight. I’m not ready to eat cookies for 12 days straight. I’m not ready to run the number of miles it would take to work off all those cookies.

But I do think there should be cookies and other treats in December. I mean, what are the holidays without them?

So I guess my plan (if you can call it a plan) is to bake some undetermined number of cookies over the course of the month and share them with you here. If I get on a roll, I may even make 12 different cookies. But then again, it may only be 5 or 6.

While I figure out my baking plan for this holiday season, here is a review of last year’s 12 days of cookies:

jam thumbprints

chocolate crinkles

chocolate chocolate mint chip cookies

lemon butter cookies

cranberry bliss bars a la Starbucks

coconut macaroons

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

palmiers

marbled peppermint bark

praline cookies

jello spritz cookies

sugar cookies

What is your favorite holiday cookie?

Hi, it’s me again. Last time it was my fault, I was lazy. This time, it wasn’t really my fault. Honest.

PS Isn’t Raven cute?

You see, I had every intention of writing a post to follow up the apologetic roasted tomatoes but then I bought a ticket for the crazy train and paid for it through the teeth. Literally. My teeth hurt for days.

Okay, that last sentence was kind of funny but probably didn’t make much sense, so let me ‘splain.

What started out innocently enough, turned into a wine-fueled dance party at a friend’s wedding reception followed the next day by a 9 year old’s birthday party at our house. Imagine: waking up somewhat hungover on Sunday morning, driving the 2 hours home, baking cupcakes, shopping for snacks, setting up… 10 kids, 4 hours… tired yet?

10 kids x 4 hours = enough energy to power the stadium lights at Candlestick Park for an 11 inning game.

Anyway, I went to bed that night with a sore throat and woke up the next morning with a sinus infection (which is why my teeth hurt – my whole face ached. It sucked, I don’t recommend it).

Nine days later, here I am, healthy again. And while I was eating gallons of soup last week, what did I dream of? Pumpkin pancakes.

I finally found enough energy to try my first batch a couple of days ago but sadly did not have enough energy to take pictures or write a post so looks like I will have to make some more. Oh, darn.

So while I get caught up in the kitchen, have a look at these pumpkiny treats:

pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting


pumpkin scotchies


pumpkin pinwheels

I’ll be in a class all weekend so while you are out enjoying the sunshine, I’ll be stuck in a classroom learnin n’ stuff. But it’s all good. I can bake on Monday (it’s not so much that I want to devour a bunch of sweets as it is that I miss baking. Is that weird?). In the meantime, here are some links to keep you busy.

Stuff I want to eat:

• 
  I recently found myself in possession of a new cookbook called Rustic Fruit Desserts. I bought it in the middle of my detox which is kind of masochistic since I was off of pretty much everything in its pages except for some of the berries. Anyway, I can’t wait to get started making some of these recipes. It is a book filled with cobblers, pandowdies, and other kin of the blackberry grunt pictured above. (you should make a grunt, by the way,… and top it with a little vanilla ice cream. You won’t be disappointed).
• Frozen pink cheesecake with a no-bake crust from Green Kitchen Stories (via the Kitchn) — You had me at pink.
• A copykat recipe for PF Chang’s lettuce wraps from Wasabimon. I made these this week and let me tell you, these are goood (so good I had to buy extra vowels just to express all the goodness).
• Everyday chocolate cake from Smitten Kitchen – because who doesn’t want chocolate cake everyday?

Stuff I’d like to make:

Kara’s amazing DIY ottoman as featured on Young House Love — makes me want to trade in some Ikea pieces for some DIY muscle.

I found this handmade art from Sarah & Bendrix on Fresh Nest Design. So cute! I think I could make something like this if I had the patience, but since my patience is questionable maybe I should just buy one here.

And because I have weddings on the brain…

And because this really made me smile, here is a little video from Shark Pig that I found while reading A Cup of Joe:

Max, Margaux, & The Marvelows from Shark Pig on Vimeo.

Things around here have been a little crazy so I haven’t planned anything for Cinco de Mayo this year. I’ll probably end up just eating a quesadilla and making a margarita at home (as the weather heats up I’m looking forward to making a pitcher of watermelon margaritas again sometime soon).

But in case you are up for a more adventurous menu for Cinco de Mayo or any day, here is a little Mexican themed roundup:

Photo Credit: Michael Parlapiano of Food People Want

• An impressive list of recipes perfect for Cinco de Mayo from Food People Want (the tacos look so good I wish he was my neighbor)
• An equally impressive list of cinco de mayo recipes from Two Peas and Their Pod… I especially want to try the lime bars!
• Wash thing down with sangria from Andrea’s Recipes
• Or for a non-alcoholic alternative, try refreshing horchata from Homesick Texan