The Great Outdoors

Golden Cinnamon Pumpkin Bars...

I love you. You are the perfect treat. You are decadent, dense, beautiful, brown sugary-sweet and a tiny bit healthy (but no one needs to know this last part...it'll be our secret). Won't you be mine every fall?

Fall is among us – and so are the pumpkins! We took our first trip (of many, I imagine) to a local pumpkin patch yesterday afternoon. Being surrounded by such autumn wonderfulness kept reminding me of my favorite fall treat, Golden Cinnamon Pumpkin Bars. I made a batch last week and froze half - because if I didn't freeze them, I would have eaten all of them by myself. They're perfect for a snack, dessert, and since they're whole-grain - they're great for breakfast, too. If you love pumpkin pie, you're guaranteed to love these.

I'd like to give big props to King Arthur Flour for creating this intoxicating concoction of fall flavors. And, many thanks to Anna over at Cookie Madness for posting this recipe in early 2009! I could eat any food containing pumpkin year-round, but saving these for fall make them more special – and somehow more authentic.

I've posted the recipe below, but you can view the original recipe at Anna's site here, where you'll get to read everyone's fun comments about their obsessions with pumpkin recipes. My only change is using white chocolate chips instead of nuts and cinnamon chips.

Golden Cinnamon-Pumpkin Bars

6 oz unsalted butter (168 grams)
1 1/3 cups packed light or dark brown sugar (280 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 ml)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder (3 ml)
1/2 teaspoon salt (2 ml)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (3 ml)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ¼ allspice)
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin (9.5 oz)
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (170 grams) — weight out 170 grams white whole wheat
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13×9 inch metal pan with cooking spray or line with foil and spray foil.

Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the sugar. Return the bowl to microwave and heat for another 30 seconds or just until it starts to bubble. Let cool until it’s comfortable to touch, then stir in the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and egg. When well mixed, stir in pumpkin. Add the flour, cinnamon chips and nuts or raisins and stir until mixed.

Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

This makes 2 dozen 2-inch bars.

I'd also like to acknowledge the lovely cake platter on which these treats rest. I received this platter as a birthday gift from my very dear friend Amy, who has impeccable taste with home goods. I was even more amazed when Amy told me that she knew the talented woman who made it! The artist? Katie Reed of Mish Mosh Design. They have beautiful creations, and among their recent selection is some precious hand-stamped jewelry that I have my eyes on...

This cake stand is, by far, my favorite piece in our home because of its versatility and beauty, so you'll probably be seeing it here many more times.

Thanks to all who contributed to this post - you ladies are great!

Now go make some pumpkin bars, sit in a pile of leaves with your loved ones, and enjoy this weekend!

Happy Birthday, Little Budsie.

Today, we celebrated the birthday of our little boy, who was born two years ago today. Two! Because he is known as the "little brother," the "baby boy," - I'm not sure I'm ready for him to grow up. But when I see his growth, his grateful heart, his personality - all the sweet things that become more defined as he gets older: I am more in love each day.

Yes, he is growing more headstrong. He runs from room to room - and when we're outside, he's in his element. Cars, trucks and trains are his game - and playing with his big sister.

Big sister was so excited for his birthday! She spent much time the other day after school wrapping his gift, writing out his card. And today, she decorated birthday cookies for him (since we'll have cake this weekend with family) - and she gave him lots of M&M's and sprinkles! It must be pretty fun to have someone take good care of him like she does.


What a lovely gift in itself, little budsie. Even when you guys have a rough day, she is still crazy about you, even if she won't admit it.

Happy Birthday!

Moments this week

It’s been a lovely week for weather in Texas: fall skies, cooler, drier air, and a breeze that always reminds me that we are not alone – and to be grateful for perfect moments.

In other ways, though, this week has had a couple of not-so-perfect moments for our family, as the stomach bug floating around made its way into our home. My sweet kindergartener, who has managed to escape catching these long-lasting bugs her first five years of life, has been bitten – and has been down and out for four days. It’s hard watching her feel so tired, not being able to keep down much of her tiny meals. How I wish I was one who was sick – so I could take hers away.

It was almost two months ago that our baby boy pushed his chair back (with his chunky legs of steel) and hit the ground – resulting in a concussion and a skull fracture. Miraculously, he was running and playing the next day, and thankfully, his young, growing body has allowed his skull to heal with time. I still shudder at the memory - it's a day I'll never forget.

And today, this same more-independent-every-day boy managed to find some allergy medication of daddy’s, which he decided to try for himself (unsupervised), which gave us another scare! I think he was quite proud that he managed to get the pill out of the pouch – but when he saw the worried look on my face, he immediately teared up. Three calls to poison control, one to our pediatrician and a quick (although unnecessary) trip to the ER, and thankfully (thankfully!) he is fine.

When we become parents, we know these moments are part of the package. Going through them, however, with teary eyes, is a different matter! Although I wish we could wrap our children in pillows and face masks around the clock, we can’t. Moments like these remind me that no parent is perfect, we can always be a little more careful, accidents do happen and that we and our children are given new chances every day: new chances to begin again, new chances to thank God for our blessings and new chances to love and squeeze our children even harder than we did the day before.

I'll let a sweet print of mine by Mary Engelbreit finish my thoughts:

Zen and the Art of Doing Laundry

When housework comes up in conversation with friends and acquaintances, more often than not, most of us (both women and men) seem to try our best at managing our homes as a family: cleaning, cooking, laundry, day-to-day cleaning, reducing clutter and keeping up with our belongings.

I will say that being married for almost ten years (this November!), and being a mother for half of this time, my husband and I have established a good division of our household tasks. And one task that I've secretly loved since my college-dorm days: doing the laundry!

It brings me joy.

Doing our family’s laundry calms me and restores a sense of peace and order in my life. It helps our household run more smoothly. It gives me a break from the day’s fast speed. If the laundry is clean, folded, put away, and everyone’s laundry baskets are empty, our house seems quieter, calmer and more lovely. On the days when my world feels like it’s spinning a bit too fast, doing the laundry brings me back down to the real, the fundamental.

(Doing the laundry also makes me feel slightly Penelope-ish, which also gives me a little natural high!)

In case you’d like to bring a little more order to your home, try some of these tips to help stay on top of laundry (but not literally, like my Bella above):

1. Try to keep your laundry room fairly clean. If you already struggle with a dislike for laundry, having a dirty or messy laundry room will make matters worse. Make it a place that’s nice to go - decorate it if you feel so inspired! We share our laundry room with our two cats, and my husband does a great job of keeping it clean. (I just do the laundry.)

2. Have plenty of baskets for sorting dirty and clean, dry clothes. I keep three large baskets in the laundry room, and each bedroom in our house has a basket. This way, there is a nearby place for every piece of dirty clothing at the end of the day. This method works well for us because clothes are often left here and there by our young children (who, some days, would rather go without altogether).

3. Try to wash a load every morning right after you wake up. I usually do this while my tea is brewing. Then, try to fold a load at some point in the day. Folding laundry is a quiet task, easy to sneak in while you’re on the floor playing with your children, on the phone, listening to a podcast, catching the news headlines, or watching your favorite show in the evening. It usually takes me 15 minutes-ish to fold a load.

4. Put all clean, folded laundry away right after you finish. If you can’t do this immediately, at least organize it by room and set the basket in the room where it belongs. If your children are old enough, they can put it away themselves. (If your children are old enough to do their own laundry, then you may want to pass these tips onto them!)

5. After putting the clean laundry away, grab the dirty laundry out of each room’s basket and throw it in the empty baskets that will be returned to the laundry room. Then, the next morning, you can begin the cycle again.

This may sound like a bit of work, but it really makes laundry such an easy task. And, you’ll find that you do get to sneak in some downtime in there – even if it’s for 15 minutes. You'll enjoy being on top of a task that can often steal a valuable 3 or 4-hour block of time otherwise.

Hopefully, you'll be at peace, something in your home will be orderly, and everyone in your house will be wearing clean clothes – even if they dirty them within 30 minutes!

And they're off!

It's a brand new season of life: school has begun! Our daughter turned five this summer and began kindergarten earlier this month. Our son, almost two, just started a part-time program this week - his first experience away from home - and from me.

"How are you doing?" friends and family ask.

It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster, a bit hard to let go, exciting and liberating all at the same time.

I miss my girl each day she gets on the bus (the bus!), and it's very quiet in our house right now without my baby boy running around, playing cars and patting the carpet for me to come and sit with him.

The good news: they will return in the afternoon!

The other good news: they will return to a refreshed mommy.

And for that, we are all grateful!

Chocolate for your ears

I mentioned in my last post that I'm in love with podcasts. I'm also in love with my trusty little iPod Shuffle. And my iPod Shuffle is in love with podcasts, too.

It all works together quite nicely.

In case you haven't ever listened to a podcast, it's like a pre-recorded radio show. I listen to podcasts whenever I can (usually when I'm alone, since some people may find my walking around with headphones in their presence a little rude.) While I make my cup of morning tea, doing laundry, de-cluttering the house, running, driving on long distances (and, yes, sometimes I listen to them even on short distances when I'm with my children, when I need a teeny a break for myself), I listen to lovely people wax lyrical about all kinds of topics.

Not only have I learned of so many valuable resources, I've also found some friends I would have never met in the physical realm. Podcasters share their knowledge, their lives, their passions...and all the things that make them tick.

iTunes has a ton of podcasts - on virtually any topic, available at no charge (!).

Some of the voices that inspire me regularly are:

Cooking with the Moms
Grammar Girl (and, see USA Today's article about how GG "rules online"!)
Manic Mommies
Mojo Mom
Organization Station @ Home
Vicki and Jen: What Really Matters
Words to Mouth

I want to give all of the lovely podcasters total mad props for bringing me out of my world a bit. Thanks to all the amazing and talented individuals who take the time to plan and record a show weekly! I'm a better woman, a better mother, a better cook, and a better writer because of you.

So, take a trip to iTunes and see what you can find. You don't need an iPod - you can listen to any podcast on your computer. And if you find one you like, be sure to leave a review on iTunes. I know the podcasters would appreciate your words.

Happy listening!

P.S. - A word about my last post: I didn't mean to offend any of you with lovely, brand new, highly functional cell phones. Truthfully, I may be there with a new phone soon enough. I guess I'm learning that I'm not always good at adapting to change. I hope you'll love me for who I am.

P.S.S. - Apple did not have any role in this post. I'm not getting paid by them. But I wish I was.