Still alive....just snowed in!

Several people have asked why I haven't been updating ye ole blog lately and quite frankly it's just because I've been busy doing other things.....since school has been cancelled every single day this week (and the week before Winter Break no less!) it's been pretty darned busy around the house keeping my kiddos occupied without our normal activities!

I found this fabulous website www.mathwire.com that has all sorts of great math-themed winter activities that my 5 year old has been furiously doing (she is working on the quilt activity as I type!) One of her favorites is the gingerbread man game....so much fun! Oh, and we did the dice rolling, draw a snowman game so many times yesterday I can't count them all.

I have been furiously baking, here are a few pictures and links to recipes when appropriate from my baking spree.

The latest project was a coconut bread that I just got out of the oven (and ate 3 large pieces of already!) I was a bit nervous about the recipe as I had to use my kitchen scale and convert things from the Australian measurements (mostly grams) and it seemed to call for an absurd amount of coconut, but, let me tell you, it is TASTY!! It is supposed to be a great breakfast bread and is served at an infamous restaurant in Australia....I can see why! The recipe can be found here http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/36/coconut-bread



One I don't have a photo for, but that was fabulous and on the "to make again" list is a vegan blackberry crisp. http://www.seattlevegan.com/recipe.php?id=3&cat=desserts It was especially delicious with a dollop of greek honey yogurt!

Here are some coconut bon-bons that I made today. I had to use up almost my entire stash of dark chocolate to coat them, but it was much easier than I thought it might be. Here's the recipe I used: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/coconut-indulgences-recipe/index.html (Oh, and I had to make my own sweetened condensed milk, which I googled a recipe for)



Next up.....I've made about 4 batches of bread this week, including some stellar sourdough baguettes that are on the "to repeat" list too! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of them before I cut and toasted one of them into crostinis and froze the other 2 for later use. Other breads I tried for the first time are 2 in the Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread book - a oatmeal broom bread (REALLY good toasted with a boiled egg for breakfast!) and a power bread that used a raisin puree and a variety of grains and seeds and nuts - nice and hearty!



Next, not an edible project, but the kids and I made applesauce cinnamon dough ornaments early in the snow week....they turned out really well, were easy and kept the kiddos occupied for a while. What a winner!



Another project (this one didn't involve food OR the kidlets!) was that I have been doing a monthly quilting challenge at a local quilt store and this month's blocks needed to be completed before we left to visit relatives for the holiday. Luckily, being stuck at home due to the icy roads left a whole day I could devote. I am NOT a great quilter, but am giving it a try. It's kind of nice to challenge another part of my brain once in a while!



Finally, here's a fairly unattractive photo of some of the cookies (and fudge) that I made to take up to the relatives' house this next week. (Some of them were also from a cookie exchange that I attended this week, but sadly I made the majority of them this week!) When I get bored....I bake!



Well, off to pick up the produce bin this week, as we really could use some fresh fare. Hopefully it won't take me so long to post an update! Thanks to those of you who checked in on me!