quote of the week

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“Food, a French man told me once, is the first wealth. Grow it right, and you feel insanely rich, no matter what you own.” -Kristin Kimball

life, lately

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  It seems spring has finally arrived here and I could not be happier. There have been lots of walks, playing catch in the yard with the kids I babysit, plans for the garden and plants being bought for the garden. I think as much as I love the beginning of all the seasons, Spring is my absolute favorite of all. Along with the beginning of spring, comes lots and lots of school work and group projects that take over my life.However I'm trying to not let it totally consume every minute of everyday.

The past week, I have visited Bethesda, Alexandria and Mount Vernon. I've decided Virginia has some of the prettiest cities and I must move to Alexandria as soon as possible.

 I've made lists and lists of things to cook and bake. Some of my favorites have been these cookies which did not last very long in the house, along with a raspberry macaroon bar in class that will make it to the blog sometime next week. I've personally ate at least half the recipe on my own.

 I've become rather obsessed with my treats board on pinterest to an almost unhealthy extent. Over 1000 pins of just food?!?!?!

 Recently I created a wishlist on Amazon and I feel sorry for my soon to be empty bank account as I buy book after book from my wishlist, especially this pretty book that I could look at for days. I'm reading this book and wondering why it took me so long to get around to reading it.

Shopping in wegmans has been leaving me broke and giddy all at the same time. I want to try and buy everything in that store!

 Finally I've been registering for classes and come up with a decision I can't make on my own. I have to take either a language or history class for one of my requirements. I can not decide if I want to take french or take the easy way out and take a history class. What would you do?

resurfacing

I can not believe it has been over a month since I last blogged. I did not intentionally take a hiatus, however I enjoyed every second of it. I feel like sometimes people get so caught up in social media and blogging. You know those people, that are all "wait freeze, I need to take fifteen pictures of this moment so in an hour I can blog about it". I try and stop what I'm doing and capture a moment I think all of you would enjoy and in the end I miss out on that moment. So I've been fulfilling one of my resolutions with out even realizing it, I've been living intently, not just doing something, saying something or taking a picture of something so I have something to blog about. While I was on my unplanned hiatus I cut my hair, turned 21, my sister celebrated her birthday, there were spontaneous dog walks, trips to the park, and lots of time just enjoying whatever was going on at home.

walking the little doggie

signs of spring in the yard

a new cookbook I can not stop looking at

a new haircut and a birthday dress that never got worn

For those of you that hung around and waited for me to return, thank you! I promise to be back more frequently with updates and recipes and just the random posts as usual. Also check out the new banner I created all by myself, it's not the best but I'm proud to see I did it all on my own.

quote of the week

my process

I work a few ways when I find a new recipe to try.

The long way: First I stare at pictures of it over and over again until I convince myself it's really something I want to make and something I can actually make. I basically look at my treats board on Pintrest for way way too long. Then I graduate to looking and reading the recipe on whatever recipe or magazine it comes from. Once I've decided I definitely want to make it, I buy whatever ingredients I don't have and then they sit in my pantry until I finally work up the nerve to make it. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, but sometimes you just need the perfect timing.

The short way: I see a recent post from my favorite food bloggers and go straight to the store, buy everything I need, go home and make it. I don't think about when I'm going to eat it, who I'm going to share it with or anything else. I just make it. These granola bars was one of these recipes. I just stopped everything, bought what I needed and made them and was so glad I did because they are worth it.

Usually the second method I have works out better. Whatever I make in the spur of the moment tastes way better. And sometimes, I've have the ingredients in my kitchen for so long and they're about to go bad so I make what ever it is. Who knows why I wait forever to make it but I just do.

So if you've made it this fair along and have read about all of my neurotic ways, I applaud you. And to thank you for taking the time to read about my type A tendencies, I share the best granola bar recipe ever. These are not your typical chewy bar granola bars. They are so so so much better! They are moist, full of flavor and good for you. Late at night when I get the desire to eat a second dinner or leftovers from a late lunch out, I eat these instead. They are the perfect combination of sweet and salty and a good balance. Head over to Farmhouse to check out the recipe, Laken has some pretty great recipes on her blog and you should check those out as well.

Most importantly make these granola bars and hide them so no one else can eat them.

** the flaxseed in this recipe should be kept in the refridgerator
** if possible buy ground flaxseed, because otherwise you have to use a coffee or spice grinder. We can't digest the nutrients from whole flaxseed, so it has to be ground, but don't skip them just because of it, its worth it to include!

quote of the week

wise words from a wise lady, could not be more fitting for how I am feeling lately.

an update on school

I feel like I havent posted a real post in a long time and I am so sorry for that. So much has been going on and school has taken over my life. There is so much I want to share with all of you I just cant find the words or time to express everything thats happening.



My patisserie class is quickly becoming my favorite thing ever. Chef Rita is such a great instructor and one of those people you could spend forever talking to and trying to absorb all the knowledge she has in the pastry field. Every week I look forward to that class, I wish we met more than once a week I enjoy it so much! If I was uncertain about what I was doing in school, she has cleared that up for me. We make such great recipes every week, she shares her personal experiences which makes the class even more interesting. I feel so lucky to have her as an instructor. Honestly I was uncertain if I'd like the sugar work we did in class Monday, but after doing it and making our own pieces out of the sugar it is an interest of mine.




I will definitely be sharing more recipes from her in the future. For right now I'll leave you with some pictures of things we've made in class.