Just what have you been up to?!?!?

Me? Just about everything! We'll I guess moving to a new state will do that to you. Don't get me wrong, it's been great, but there is so much to see and do that it's hard to convince myself to stay inside and play on the computer. 

Below are a few of the grand adventures we've enjoyed! 

Here, my son and I are headed up to Boulder for the day. We visited the Celestial Seasonings Tea plant and then walked around the 6th st mall. Very cool! 

I bought a new car. My freestyle had 129k miles on it and was tired. Besides, after $1400 in repairs with no solution, and the dealer wanting another $3200 to 'possibly' fix the problem, it seemed time. So here she is, my midnight blue, 2014 Chevy cruze. May she run forever. Or at least till I'm done paying for her!

I made applesauce. 10 pints of it actually. Because we won't eat the store bought kind. EVER. 

I'll let you in on a little secret - the best applesauce has a bit of Vanilla and brown sugar tossed in for sweetness. Go ahead, try it - you'll love it! 

I found a NY style pizza joint I can sink my teeth into. Yum and thank you Lord for the greasy cheese?

{THIS} is pizza. That's all folks... That is all.

I've been baking my butt off. I've mastered the fine art of cupcake baking and am working on bread. It's getting there but these were the bomb. One step closer to opening my bakery some day!

It was blessedly cold here this particular morning - and yes, that says minus 9 degrees. I can hear what you're thinking, and I concur. My thoughts exactly! (Actually now, they just finished a blizzard back home with sustained winds of 45mph and freezing cold temps - like neg 20 or colder!) I'll take Colorado anyday now that I'm ed U macated! LOL

And, since I didn't really get to enjoy Christmas last year in light of the big cross country move, I've celebrated this year by putting up (2) Christmas trees. As of this post (Jan 8th) They are STILL up. I guess it's time to start taking them down now... the neighbors might start talking! LOL

I don't know if I'll get used to decorating my tree with the windows open though! It was warm that day for SURE!

This was cool actually, though kind of in a bummed out way. I was in Hobby Lobby recently, and bumped into this plate. Do you know the artist? Her name is Jill Ankrom. LOVE her folksy snowmen! I have a whole slew of her stuff from back in Buffalo that was carried only by one store there. I've been looking for complimentary pieces ever since. I found this one little lonely only at Hobby Lobby - they had no others! I was bummed that I could only get one, but THRILLED that it has cupcakes on it. Bittersweet I guess...lol



Well other than work, and church, baking and crocheting, not much else has been going on in our world. What's been up with you?

~ Kisha

Men - this is who you ARE

Yes, don't believe the lies of the enemy. You are something GREAT and THIS is your purpose! And the complimentary video for us ladies:

Apple cinnamon loaf

Well tomorrow is September first, and I am so excited to see my first Colorado Fall. Now we are seriously delayed in Rain, so I know it won't be the lush, plush, Autumnal eye feasts I was used to back in NY, but on any given day, Colorado is breathtaking, so I expect Fall will be quite nice as well. 

It felt like a little preparation is due - maybe I am just a little too excited to be done with the 90+ degree days - or I just miss baking a little more than I thought? 

I've also spent more than my fair share on Pinterest between last night and today, organizing and sorting my more than 8,000 pins. 

{Silence} 

Why do I have 8,000 pins?

{more silence} 

Maybe because I have over 100 boards? 

{the silence around here is deafening}

My son, he teases me that I'm a hoarder. Um... not in most area's of my life.. but if Pinterest "Hoarding" were possible? Guilty as Charged 

Well, one of two recipes were going to happen today. 

This one here, from Half Baked was a serious contender. It actually was going to happen. And then I plopped on the couch to watch Ree Drummond on Food TV. And after Ree Drummond, Trisha Yearwood. And after Trisha? The Barefoot Contessa. And after the Barefoot Contessa? Giadda... with a guest appearance from Bobby Flay. {Insert "Sheepish Grin" here}

Hello people. Priorities. Yeast, which is called for in the above bread, was obviously not one of them today. However, it's on the list - and will be made sometime soon. In the very near future. So thank you Half Baked for your lovely bread recipe - I cannot wait to consume copious quantities of bread.. with apples. And maybe a Bobby Flay marathon for good measure. 

So, in 2nd place getting bumped up to first place was this LOVELY Apple Cinnamon Loaf Bread  presented by Just a Pinch. God Bless you Just a Pinch. Seriously. You saved me from myself, and my cable television today. I feel productive. 

 

Isn't it lovely? yeah. And a nice picture too! {Obviously I didn't take it} 

I took the pic at the top of the page. You know, the one you found here by coming from Pinterest. Or wherever you visited from.

Thank you for visiting... it means a lot to me! 

I made no changes to the original recipe, so for time sake I won't repeat them - but just click on the LINK HERE and be sure to go check it out yourself. Yummy, moist, delish, uber good bread. Even at High altitude it came out moist and crumbly. But not too crumbly.

Just right kind crumbly. You'll love it. Trust me :) 

Haiti, Take (3)

{Finally} 

The time has finally come and I get to return to Haiti for my third trip to Jacmel with Restore Haiti. 

I'm SO happy! 

I'm guessing, when you think of Haiti, being happy isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Well, I get that. Actually in the last 3 years since the Earthquake, a lot has happened, and most people aren't even thinking about Haiti. We've had countless disasters here in the good ole USA. We've had a recession, we've had unfathomable violence, and a country polarized by Abortion, Gun Control, Legalized Marjuana, Marriage "Equality" and every other thing you could possibly think of.

 Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, surely has fallen to the bottom of the list of American's priorities. I get it, I do.

 But then - I see this face. Artie. The sweetest boy you ever could meet. Speaks no English and is still so loving and happy. He doesn't have a house to live in, and sometimes has no food, but he's loving beyond measure and I realize, Artie, is why we have to remember!

 What do we remember? Kids, families, a community in repair. Changing a nation one young man, and one young woman at a time. People who are being trained, learning to work and earn their living. Learning to value family, marriage, their Children, and God.

 Restore Haiti first hit the ground in 2005. A young man named Philip Peters became friends with a young Pastor, and together, they formed a bond that has served hundreds of Haitians, hundreds of Americans, is supported by dozens of churches, and ensures that kids like Artie - get fed every day. Get to go to school.

 Have their physical needs met.

And their Heart Needs met.  

And I am grateful. Sometimes I help send. Sometimes I help feed. Sometimes I help love.

But this time? I get to go. And if you want to help me - you can. Every penny helps - the link in the right hand side gets me there. Won't you help me go?

Then you can be one who says
"I helped send. I helped Feed. I helped Love" 

Freeze my cookies? Yes I did!

Well. Well. Well.

Look who's back?

yup! It's me! I'm back from crazy move land.

You know, in blog world, it's almost a sin to admit you've been gone for any length of time, but seriously. 

{I know you are smarter than that} 

I know you know when someone's last post has been more than a month (Almost 2! *Gasp*) and they haven't been visible on their facebook page, their pinterest, or well.. anywhere else for that matter. 

Well, I'm back. At least slowly coming back. And it's not cause I haven't been busy. I surely have. 

This was taken March 3rd, 2013. This is just about every worldly possession my family owned. We packed it all up and headed west. Literally. We moved from Buffalo NY, to Castle Rock, Colorado. 

I am a Yankee among Cowboys. Cept there are a lot of Californians, New Mexicans, Texans, and even some Arizonans here.  

Castle Rock, Colorado. Someday I will blog about the very un-eventful, peaceful, God - Favored trip we experienced coming out here. But that's not for today. We are all settled in our apartment. Our house in NY is sold, and we are in a new season in life. It's very exciting, and somedays I feel like I'm on an extended vacation. Do I really live here? And truthfully, pictures do nothing to exhibit the astounding beauty that is everywhere. Sometimes I think "is that a post card backdrop"? Again, Do I really live here?

Kisha, you are not in New York anymore. 

Well that's ok. There's a lot of adjusting to do. Everything is different. Driving is different. Grocery Shopping is different. Cooking is DEFINITELY different. Baking is impossibly different. 

And speaking of baking. Look at what Genius idea I came up with a few days ago. Sure, it's not new, and I'm SURE that someone else has thought of this on a million other blogs. But the other day, it clicked.

Seriously and literally clicked. Woohoo Score one for the Yankee!

Frozen Cookie Dough. 

Yeap - I scooped up my cookie dough, piled it on cookie sheets and popped it in the freezer overnight. Once they were good and hard, I placed the all in a gallon size ziplock baggie, and now they are ready to bake, a few at a time, whenever we please, right from the freezer. 

Now, I've long known that the best way to bake cookies is from cold dough... but seriously? 

These were delicious! My go - to Chocolate Chip cookie dough is super easy and with a medium size cookie scoop makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. Whip up your soft/wet ingredients first, stir in your chips, and then stir in the dry ingredients. It'll incorporate the chips better throughout the dough, without toughening up the dough and final cookie product.

Bake from Frozen at 350 for about 13-15 minutes. Chewy and good!

Enjoy! :) 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dry Ingredients:
2 3/4 c (14.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt 

Combine all in small bowl and set aside 

Wet Ingredients:

(2) sticks of Salted butter (whip in kitchen aid for about 8-10 minutes. Trust me) 

1 c (6.5 oz) light brown sugar
1 c minus 2 T (6.5 oz) white sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c (10 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients, one at a time into Mixer, beating until incorporated. Add chips at end.

Slowly add Flour mix into cookie dough by thirds. Incorporate. Scoop onto a cookie sheet and refridgerate for about 10 minutes. Scoop the rest of the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet. Freeze.

Bake thawed cookie dough 8-10 minutes. Bake Frozen cookie dough for 13-15 minutes.

ENJOY! :) 

Moving moving moving

I've eluded to it for  a while now, but until I'd actually announced it to my employer... I couldn't really elaborate.

I'm MOVING!

Out WEST!

To Colorado!

and it's been crazy, looney and insane round here. Packing stuff, selling stuff... working on stuff. It's a lot of work but somebody's gotta do it!

We're not taking much with us - just hitching a trailer to the car and going. The trailer hitch was installed on the car last Saturday. So now we pack.

I didn't take much time off work either - well, I didn't take ANY time off work. I had to give them as much notice as possible - and so I'm working right up until the 28th of February. I took that Friday (March 1) off.

That'll give me Fri/Saturday to finish everything else up before we head out on Sunday.

So exciting :) Just forgive me if you're lookin for me and I'm not around much. I'll be back I promise!

Little Lamb Set

There are few things in this world that produce as many ooohs and aaaaahs over powder and blankets like that well deserved first baby shower :) And on Saturday we celebrated. I won't bore you with pictures of a bunch of random people neither you, nor I, really know, but would you like to see what I made for mommy to be? Or maybe it's "baby" to be :)

Pea Porridge Hot...

Pea Porridge cold, Pea porridge in the pot, 9 days old...

Did you know, there are literally millions of Pea soup varieties? Trust me, I looked! But only for research. Check it out for yourself on that Pinterest Link, but trust me, the page goes on and on. 

Dutch Pea Soup (Erwtensoep), English Spring Pea Soup, The "Hairy" Man's Pea soup 

(?SERIOUSLY does not sound appetizing!), Yellow Split pea with Sweet potatos and Kale,   

Swedish Yellow Pea Soup (Slow Cooker Ärtsoppa), Lucky Black-eyed pea soup...
You get the picture.

    

  Honestly? I have my own go-to Pea soup recipe and I don't care to really try anyone elses, no matter how good it might be... Yes, I am a pea soup snob.

I almost said "snot",  but then realized that is probably
not appropriate for a post about pea soup...

 

Omgosh  - ever done this? Yeah... me too

{GRIN}

oh don't worry - there's no cute dogs in this soup recipe, I promise

{Yeah, me too, Ryan, me too.}

I do love this soup though. It's versatile, and you can use what you have on hand to make it amazing. It really doesn't take much of anything to bring out the smokey flavor of the ham bits, and honestly while it seems like a soup this good should take a lot of work, it really is a easy to pull together.

You can cook it as long as you want too, making it a perfect Crock pot option while you're at work. I'll share with you the way I normally make it, and then I'll discuss some of the 'substitutes' you can use instead if you need to. 

I'm no vegan, gluten free eater, so unfortunately I can't help you there, but if you look at the link at the top of this post, I'm sure you'll find something that will satisfy your palate.

Winter warmth for my niece :)

This is my niece, Zoey. 

Currently, Zoey reigns supreme in our family, as she is the only girl, AND  the youngest of the nieces & nephews. There are (5) boys that came before her, ranging in age from 21, down to 13. So not only is she the youngest, she came along 8 years after the last one. 

She's every bit of a princess, and we like it that way.

Over Thanksgiving break, we had a wardrobe malfunction, (i.e. a busted zipper)
& had to buy her a new coat. 

Now, you may not know this, but the Princess Wardrobe pretty much
has only {TWO} Color Choices.

 [Pink] or [PURPLE] 

That is pretty much it. And depending on the shade of pink or purple it can be pretty hard to match. So when Zoey asked me to make her a purple scarf and headband to match her coat, I honestly wondered if it were going to be possible. We looked at several different colors, and were about to settle for a white or pink option, when we wandered into the Yarn Store at the Old Forge Hardware Store in the Adirondacks. 

There, we found this beautiful purple color.
Oh the Gasps! Her sweet little hands flew to her face!
"Auntie KISHA" she squealed with delight - "I think it's a perfect match!"
And she was right! This Cascade Pacific, color # 37, is almost exactly the
same shade  of Purple as her brand new coat. We were thrilled!  

Now, I've never written a crochet pattern before, so unfortunately I don't have one yet to share with you. I may get it written up to share, but I can't promise as my "A" button sticks horribly on my laptop right now, and even typing this up is a little bit frustrating.

So I will share with those of you who crochet regularly that this is a super simple project. The scarf and leg warmers are (2) rows of Double Crochet, followed by a single row of puff stitches (5 YO). Then to the scarf I added (2) rows of lacy trim (basically Ch 5, sk 2 st, sl st in next st).

The flowers I just picked a tutorial off of Youtube and followed that. You can search and tons of options will come up :)

The headband whipped up FAST - & that pattern I found "HERE" at "Tangled Happy" - which is a great blog to follow by the way. The pattern was well written and super easy to follow. I see a lot of these in my Niece's future. (And mine too, with a minimal size adjustment).

So, what homemade gifts are you working on?
Linking up here!