the way the cookies crumble

Zeal and I took advantage of one of Anjali's many naps today to sneak into the kitchen to finish some "cookies" we began late yesterday once she was down for the night (I might add here that nights are going quite well; we're all actually sleeping!!)

So, back to the cookies. Last month, we tried our favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe (good ol' Better Crocker) using our favorite pancake mix (Azure Standard Buckwheat) instead of the flour, baking powder, etc. Remember the birth day cake? Yes, we are in a pattern with cutting corners with pancake mix. ;) Well, the cookies turned out great. Your best ever! A triumph, said Daddy.

So, in need of a late night snack we could all enjoy, Zeal and I thought about those cookies. Those cookies. And we were officially on a mission. The boys went to the store for a bit of brown sugar. And then we got to work.

Only problem: in our baby's-here, we're-running-the-cupboards-dry mode, we were also out of egg replacer, or anything that would work as a binder for these cookies.

We thought oil might do the trick, but nope, that didn't work.

Disappointed, but okay we'll live, we went to bed and planned to go to the store in the morning.

Well, morning led to afternoon and we never did get to the store. At one point, Zeal remembered the cookie project and long story short we decided not to go out.

Can I just have a bowl of it? he asked, and then ate a bit with a spoon.

And then, with a brightened, light bulby face...

Let's make it into granola!!! he announced.

Brilliant kid. It's so, so good!

That's just the way I like my cookies to crumble. Yum.

**And yes, that's a Darth Vader mask you see in the picture. Zeal says he's Darth Baker.

Birth Day cake

For those of you who read my other blog, The Wondershop, you already know about the birth of our daughter Anjali.



She is three weeks old today, and I just can't believe how big she has already gotten and how fast the last three weeks have flown.

When we were planning her birth, one of the things Zeal had settled on was that he wanted to make her a birthday cake. We figured it was a wonderful activity for us to do together when I was in labor, before real active labor began. And so we did. Only we did it a few days early when we had what can only be called a "false start". We kept it for a few days and pulled it out when the time was right, when we could actually celebrate the eating of it with a baby. And as it turned out, it was a good thing we did make it a few days early, because her very quick arrival left very little time for cake making.

Here it is...



Our Birth Day Buckwheat Carrot Cake, a hearty, healthy sweet in honor of our little sweetie!

The recipe is as follows:

Buckwheat Carrot Cake
*Since we had used all of our baking products with our holiday cooking, we made this cake with buckwheat pancake mix instead of flour, baking soda, and powder. It worked out wonderfully! I highly recommend trying it sometime.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 cups buckwheat pancake mix*
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped nuts (we used pecans)
1 cup coconut
4 eggs (we used Ener-G egg replacer equivalent)
1 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
Mix together pancake mix, cinnamon, sugar, oil and eggs. Blend in thoroughly carrots, pineapple, nuts and coconut. Pour into a greased springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool. Frost with a mixture of cream cheese and agave nectar (sweetened to taste).

::

We have been so fortunate to have been showered with love and support and amazing food these last three weeks as we settled into our expanding family. So while we have been doing very little cooking lately, Zeal is anxious to get back into the kitchen. In the coming months, Zeal and I are sure to be much more regular here than we have been in the last few weeks, and as Anjali eventually begins her own experimenting with food, I'll probably also share some baby food making as well.

Thank you all for the love and welcoming of Anjali!!