A bad hair day never looked so good =)

If I woke up looking like this, I would panic. I would be so worried that I wouldn't be able to make myself look decent! Brock just takes it all in stride. And, I have to say, I kind of like it on him =) Reminds me of when he was a little baby with a baby mohawk on his head!

And I should add - Brock LOVES his cream of wheat. He was eating it every day for a while and he probably still would!

Blessed

I am so lucky. My boys have a dad who love them so immensely, so passionately, and so wonderfully. They are so lucky. He makes sure that they know it, too. Like this........



Before Nigel went to work, while the boys and I were out, he spelled it out with Caden's cars just exactly how he feels. And Caden was thrilled. He didn't want to ever put his cars away. We are so blessed.

No utensils necessary.

Brock likes to do things his own way. Everything. All the time. Don't tell him how to do something. He'll figure it out on his own. Eating is no exception. He's actually very good with his spoon and fork. But, on this particular day, I guess he thought that going primal would be more effective for him =) It worked! He got a little out!

Kristen Cooks!

I have always loved cooking and baking. I mean, I LOVE it. Strangely enough, it's what I do to relax and unwind. And just recently, I decided to take some photos of my favorite recipes. Or recipes that look pretty! Or, just whatever I feel like taking pictures of. It's also a practice in improving my camera skills. I hope I can inspire some of you to get in your kitchen and whip up something wonderful!

First up - Peanut Butter Swirl Browines. YUM.

Erika's birthday "cake" - Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. Seriously amazing.

Bottom layer - flourless chocolate cake, middle layer - chocolate mousse, top layer - white chocolate mousse. Topped with some chocolate shavings. Yep, I'm serious.

Alright, I must confess - I did not bake these or even make the frosting. My mom did it all! I just helped her decorate. We had so much fun getting these beauties ready for Erika's 30th birthday bash! The cupcakes are either chocolate or vanilla and for the frostings, there's roasted strawberry, chocolate espresso, vanilla bean, and chocolate hazelnut =) =) =)

This beauty here is my very first ever loaf of bread =) I was so excited that it worked! It rose, it filled the pan, and it was half whole wheat! It was good, but I've since tweaked the recipe some to make it delicious! If I have enough time during the week, I don't even have to buy bread - I just make it!

Ok, this is definitely one of the most decadent, rich desserts that I have ever made. It starts with a perfectly sweet chocolate cupcake on the bottom, topped with a Brown Sugar Italian Buttercream frosting on top. Um, it was A. MAZ. ING.

And finally, the most simple thing - homemade Egg McMuffins. It's our dinner once a week. No joke. Nigel's working graveyard shift, so we have breakfast for dinner 4 nights a week. He doesn't like to wake up and eat spaghetti and meatballs or tacos =) He would rather eat breakfast. So, I started making these and they're a huge hit. Pretty delicous, too!

Someday he may hate me for this....

....but I just couldn't resist! I went in his room to make sure he was sound asleep, and I found him like this! So, I turned on his light to get a better picture and I couldn't be more thrilled. I love this so much. Just pure, childhood innocence, sound asleep with no idea of what is going on around him. Precious. Just precious.

Hehe, and notice the superhero friends on the pillow ;)

Another zoo day (with a prehistoric surprise)!

We are really loving our zoo pass. It is a wonderful thing to have and we get to just hop on the freeway and go to the zoo whenever we feel like it! Now that it's getting colder, it's harder to convince ourselves to get out and go to the zoo, but whenever we go, we have a wonderful time! On our last trip, the animals were in rare form. Although, once again, we didn't see the lions (it's been a while since we've seen them when we've been there), but the animals we saw were great! The black bear was doing circus tricks, the alligator was staring at us, and the polar bear was letting us get a nice close look! And by the way, the naked mole rats are one of Caden's absolute favorite things to look at!

Nigel and Caden love the hollow log =)

I absolutely love these 3 guys more than anything else on this Earth. My heart is overflowing with love and happiness =)

Nigel, Brock and a sea lion! Brock loves these sea lions because they're ALWAYS swimming right up to the window!

And now, the prehistoric surprise.......DINOSAURS =) The zoo put on a great dinosaur exhibit that Caden BEGGED us to take him through. Once we got in there, he wanted out immediately. It definitely scared him a little, but he warmed up to the big monsters and we had a lot of fun!

There were a few "spitters" and Nigel got hit a couple of times =)

Gosh, they're all so cute! Well, maybe not the dinosaur!

See the look on Caden's face?!? I had to FORCE him to take a picture with me. He was freaked out by that prehistoric crocodile!

And here's the big guy.....Gigantosaurus! Honestly, that's what it's called. And it's a real dinosaur. I thought it was a joke, so I googled it, and sure enough, it's real. It was HUGE!!!!

Nigel thrills Caden to no end. He's always crazy and silly and full of adventure and it makes Caden laugh all the time.

And Brock had a great time, too! He is so incredibly adorable!

This was our attempt at a family photo - hey, we're all in it =)

So, we decided to do a photo booth instead! The scanner picked out each individual picture even though they're on a strip, but you can see them a little bigger. And the first picture, apparently there was something on the picture or the scanner, because that was definitely not on my forehead =)

Apple Pie and Serenity......

Does that sound cheesy? The title? Hmm, well, I just couldn't come up with anything better! Let me explain.......

I was asked to join a group of women who take turns picking a recipe from the Pioneer Woman website. Then, the recipe choice is told to all the participants and we make it, photograph the process, and share about what we did. I was THRILLED to be asked to do this, as I LOVE cooking and am always interested in learning new recipes. With all that being said, this weeks recipe choice was pretty easy and delicious! It was decided that we would all use the pie crust found on the website and then make whatever pie. I chose an apple pie because I have a whole bunch of apples right now that I need to use up.

Ok, and the serenity part. Well, that's easy. Cooking and baking are my release. When I'm having a bad day, I want to cook something. When someone has a baby or gets sick, I want to make them a meal. When I feel creative, I want to try new recipes or make up my own. Cooking is my art. I love walking into the kitchen and knowing that I have a chance to create something that (hopefully) will make someone happy, that someone might enjoy. I love walking into a grocery store and thinking of different things to make. I wish I had oodles and oodles of money so that I could always buy the best ingredients and all of the ingredients for all of the recipes that I wanted to try out!

While I love all of this cooking and baking, the one thing that I don't want to do too much of is eating! Well, that's not true at all! I wish I could eat and eat and eat! But, my waistline and my pants don't agree =) In order to fulfill my need to cook and also keep myself from gaining oodles and oodles of weight, I choose to make it, taste it, and give it away! I love the creation much more than I want to keep the food and I know that people love getting free food!

Enjoy my first photo-journey of food creating!

Starting with the crust. And, I have to admit......I didn't actually follow the recipe exactly. Well, I should be honest.....I didn't follow the recipe at all! I assumed that it would be the usual butter, flour, salt and ice water pie crust, so I never looked at the recipe before I went grocery shopping. When I realized that I was wrong, it was too late to go back and get what I needed. But, hey, I made a pie! I didn't have enough Crisco or any white vinegar, so I had to use a different recipe.

I love that you can take dry flour, dry salt, dry sugar, mix it with cold butter and ice water and get this.....

*Lunch time break* The pie crust had to chill and my boys were starving and tired. So, quick lunch it was....who doesn't *love* pigs-in-a-blanket?!?!

A quick 10 minutes in the oven after a sweat-breaking 2 minutes of wrapping the hot dogs in the crescent rolls and lunch is served!

Ok, back to the pie.....this is for the filling - a little flour, some sugar and cinnamon. Just waiting on the apples....

And, the streusel topping - brown sugar, flour and butter =) YUM!

Alright, now for the apples.

This was the most work I had to do....peeling, coring and cutting. And I loved it! I loved trying to get the peel off of the apple in one long strip. It really is the simple things =)

All of the ingredients are ready to be assembled, so it's time to roll out the crust.

Right before I started rolling, I realized that I didn't have my pie pan! It's still at a friend's house after I brought a meal to her family =) What did I do? Certainly didn't panic. In cooking there is *almost* always a substitute or an alternate way. I was thinking about using a cake pan instead, but I called my mom just to be sure. I have learned everything I know about cooking and baking from my mom. She's always been a great cook/baker/canner/creator. I know that if I have a question, she can always answer it for me. I asked her about using a cake pan and she said that it would work just fine, it would just be a little harder to get out. And then she gave me a great idea. She said that instead of using the cake pan, I could make it "rustic" style, on a cookie sheet. So, that's exactly what I decided to do. Just roll out a HUGE circle....

Then just pile the filling up in the middle of the circle and fold the crust up around it.

And there you go....*if* you want to stop there =)

I didn't. I added an egg wash to the crust and put the streusel topping on.

And then I sprinkled on a little bit of organic raw sugar, to give it a little sparkle. And then into the oven it went.

While it was baking, I was left to deal with the mess I had created. That's my *LEAST* favorite of my creations. The mess. It would be so perfect if I could cook and bake all that I wanted and then the mess would just take care of itself =)

Alright, dishes finished - now time for pie!!!

And just like I do - I made sure to share it. I took it to work with me and cut it up for myself and my coworkers to enjoy. I even brought a little vanilla ice cream to really complete the experience! Stephanie and Brock loved it! Well, Brock was only interested in the ice cream.

So delicious! It turned out better than I thought it would - even though it made a HUGE mess in my oven and almost started a little fire. Burning sugar is dangerous!

I think I will keep this one in the recipe box and use it again for another chance to bring a smile to some faces!

So, I'd love to know, what have you been making? How do you feel about cooking? And, I would love your feedback about something. Another part of this food blogging is with the pictures. I've always loved photography, but I'm just not very creative about taking pictures and making them look nice. If you could let me know how you think I could improve them, I would love any info and suggestions! Thank you and enjoy =)