Day One of BLOGMAS- Where Have I been? Spilling the tea..

HIIIII Everyone. I am back.

I just finished my MASTERS program, while working full-time with four children one being only 2 years old. It was a challenge, but now I have more free time. I've been doing yoga and meditation to rid myself of all the extra stress and negativity.

If you don't know, I now live in the United States and I am no longer married. This is a whole new world I've been adjusting to for the last three years. You'd think I'd have it down by now, but I still learn everything the hard way. I believe I learn things the hard way in order to help others in a  empathatic, non-judgemntal, caring way. I find myself to be very wise although I also feel very naive. Oh well.

I've tried several times to create a new blog, but I just couldn't. I wanted to leave the past in the past, but the past is what has made me the woman I am today. The woman I was then is much different than the woman I am now.

I am still totally a foodie, a beauty junkie, traveler, and lover of photography. It's all about finding time and saving enough money. All these things I will continue to share along with my family and other aspects of being a working mom doing the damn thing. There are many things that makes my situation quite unique that I will not elaborate on right now. However, when I hear or read about women in a similar situation as mine, I get so giddy- haha. But we are so damn busy to even spark up a proper greeting or at least I am. I am too busy for anything especially with older kids getting into everything outside the home and a baby who gets into everything inside the home.

So why did I decide to do BLOGMAS? Well, I am kind of a youtube junkie and I love when my favorite vloggers do vlogmas. It's where they vlog everyday. I know some people find it trivial to follow "regular" people, however, I love it because I am nosy and look for inspiration everywhere haha. I feel like blogmas is a way to get back to blogging, but also hopefully inspire that mom who doesn't think she is doing enough- which is me almost 100% of the time 65% of the time hehe.


Day 1 was a day at home. I work all week so I enjoy my rest. My son had a soccer day that my boyfriend who is also his coach took him to. I stayed home and did my yoga as well as meditated, played with the babies.

 I also decided to dust some old cookbooks off to use. My kids ask me why I don't use them anymore. Well it’s sad, but I thought I didn’t  need them and the internet is so much easier when I need to tweak a recipe or find one quickly. After going through them I didn’t realize how much I missed them! So this week, I am cooking straight from the books.  I did my meal plan and as I work 40 hours plus over time- which is an additional 10-20 hours a week- so the more simple the better.

This is the very first cookbook I bought over a decade ago. I look at it now and when they say basic it's truly basic haha. But the recipes are easily tweakable and we all enjoyed it then, so why be boujee about it now haha.


Also we haven't done any decorating for Christmas yet, but Elf Skywalker has decided to pay a visit today.

The kids were cautiously excited. The baby just wants the candy haha.

I also to bring some christmas cheer in this home, I decided to bake cookies every weekend and everyday during the 12 days of Christmas. So that may mean making some dough in advance haha.

I made Ina Garten's Pecan Sandies. I also added Hershey kisses to some because.....why not?

The kids and the elf enjoyed them.

Thank you for reading and see you all here tomorrow <3 p="">

Mama's Christmas 2011 via Instagram and Camera +

For those of you who do not follow on instagram or twitter and those who ignore me on either.  A little of my Christmas via my iPhone. Instagram is my favorite app, and I share a lot and the folk I follow inspire me tremendously. Hope you enjoy!!

Pre Christmas
1st day of Christmas Chewy Sugar cookies from www.cooksillustrated.com

So good they were gone in less than 2 days....

Mincemeat mixed up- I shredded the apple this year also added some of the syrup from my homemade candied clementine peels.


Rich Brioche Ingredients


My little man the Tony Montana of flour. Seriously the leftover flour after I kneaded the dough he went to town on...sigh


Made delicious Buttered Pecan Scones from Dessert for Two. Helped my husband get in the mood to wrap some pressies...he really enjoys wrapping presents.


Some truffle prep (before i covered them in chocolate) for How Sweet It Is's Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles. Soooo good. I used cocoa crispies as well as rice krispies in the dough. They were gone in an hour. Sigh



We did a lot of crafts and spruced up our living room this month. To reward my family, I made Joy the Baker's Red Velvet Christmas Cupcakes. Really good, so good I only got one!! Thank you family ;)


Random bath time 'take a picture of me mommy' flick.


Some of the interesting 'snowmen' from one of our craft night. We are proud anyway and display them...in the main bathroom, but still...people will see them.


Homemade Potato Thyme Rolls ready for the oven!


Cranberry anxiously waiting to be turned into cranberry sauce!


On to the goose aka Bertha Mae!

The toasted star anise, szechuan peppers, cinnamon stick, cloves, and fennel ready to be turned in a powder in the coffee grinder (i don't use it to grind coffee just spices!)


The goose all massaged with orange, lemon, lime zest, and my 5 spice powder! Inspired by Gordon Ramsey! Must work on my scoring technique, though!


I then stuffed the bird with a pricked apple, foie gras, rosemary, sage, orange, and of course seasoned with salt.


Put in the fridge, then sat at room temp about 30 minutes before roasting the next day


More prep
With my homemade brioche loaves, I made savory bread pudding with brioche, bacon and leeks!


First time ever making collard greens because they're usually ALWAYS out at the commissary! Not this year and I put my foot in them!


Oh Christmas tree


My Santa Man enjoying mince pie and a spiked mug of homemade eggnog!


Our living room featuring another craft!


As close to a white Christmas as we were getting this year...


Faking on Christmas Eve...can't fool santa!


LOVE my footed pajamas! Bought these from Walmart back in November and they actually fit my tall self!!! Santa likes them a lot ;)


Hamhocks and Collards....mmmmmmmmm. I put way more collards in, by the way, this is half way through.


Bertha Mae! If you enjoy the dark meat on an poultry, you will enjoy goose. So damn good and the fat that drips out is amazing. It's a gift that keeps on giving!!! More people need to get on the goose train ;)


Crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside goose fat roasted potatoes! We will make this again with the saved goose. If you don't have goose fat, use crisco. What makes goose awesome is that it has an insanely high smoke point so no disgusting fumes and it gets REALLY hot.


Dinner!


Spiced Goose w/ honey
Goose Fat Roasted Potatoes
Collard Greens and Hamhocks
Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole (i had a photo of the process the iphone literally died I had to run to the repair dude's house. Luckily he fixed it for me quickly!)
Savory Bread Pudding with Brioche, Leeks, and Bacon
Orange Cranberry Sauce
Potato Thyme Rolls

I also made A chocolate mousse pie, but we were too full to eat it. Still waiting for us in the fridge! I also took a lot of photos with my camera and a even more video. Look for a video from me after the new year!!

Thank you all for reading! I really hope you all are having a grand holiday!!!! 

Love Sommer and Family


spent most of the day in our jammies! well my daughter in the play dress we got her for Christmas.


from my own camera- Me and my son. He's with his family again for Christmas :(

Cookies and Randomness Christmas-Style

Everyone in the Christmas spirit yet?  I'm not really yet. I usually start feeling a bit festive after my husband's taken some time off. The whole time he's on leave I am usually in the kitchen, and I do not have a problem with that. So far our tree hasn't felt the wrath of our ninja baby. About 3 times a day we go through all of his favorite ornaments so he can play and get all giddy. EVERYDAY. This is the first year none of our children broke any ornaments (knock on wood!).

This Christmas we plan to finally visit some Christmas Markets hoping to get into the spirit. Not just Christmas Market hopping, I plan on tackling the ever so daunting task of Christmas crafts. I've been on Pinterest a lot lately looking for Christmas Crafts and Christmas Goose recipes. 

Oh, did I mention I am tackling goose this year? 

 Not that one- the mean honking bird! My random husband asked me to make goose last year  for this Christmas and then reminded me when I was making our Christmas menu. I am excited, nervous, and very ready for the challenge. I've been researching a lot and I've found a lot of helpful info! I plan on taking elements of 5 different recipes I found and hope it yields delicious results!

Oh, back to the crafts. I wanted to do Thanksgiving crafts, but couldn't so I am hoping to tackle some Christmas Crafts with the children Christmas Style. I am hoping they will be things the children and I won't get bored with after 10 minutes. I will definitely share with you all the results!

The closest I got to doing crafts with my children last year was when we baked cookies and wrote letters to Santa.

 It was SOOO fun and the children enjoyed every bit of it as I did as well. I particularly enjoyed the royal icing soooo much better than store bought and very easy! recipe below!

Food and Wine's Roll and Cut Out Sugar Cookies
 

Floury fun!
2 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup(s) sugar
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
2 stick(s) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup(s) seedless raspberry or apricot jam, for jam-filled cookies
Royal Icing, (recipe below) for decorating
Sprinkles, sparkles, and dragées, for decorating

Directions
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix at low speed until the butter is broken up into small pieces, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the flour and butter form small clumps, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix at low speed until the dough comes together in a few large clumps. Pat the cookie dough into two 1/2-inch-thick disks, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate until chilled but not firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. (Alternatively, cut the dough into 3- to 4-inch shapes and, using a smaller cutter, stamp out the center of half of the cookies.) Refrigerate the cutout cookies until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, until they are lightly golden around the edges; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through for even baking. Let the sugar cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then, using a metal spatula, carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
For sandwich cookies, spread a thin layer of raspberry or apricot jam on the solid cookies and top with the corresponding cutout cookies to expose the jam. Otherwise, decorate as desired with the Royal Icing, sprinkles, sparkles, and dragées.

Food and Wine's Royal Icing

 

My husband thinks he's fancy. He nearly preserved that cookie for decoration!

Ingredients
1 egg white
1/2 pound(s) (2 1/4 cups) confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon(s) water

Directions
In a medium bowl, beat the egg white at medium speed until foamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating between additions, until the sugar is completely incorporated. Add the water and beat at high speed until the icing holds its shape, about 5 minutes.
Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and use at once; thin with water if necessary.

Thank you for reading!!!

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies

Warning: These cookies are highly addictive. 

While shopping for some quick dinner ingredients Wednesday afternoon, I happened to find a display for Heath Bits on sale. I've never eaten the chocolate bar before, but for some reason, I really wanted to try it. So I grabbed it quickly before I could change my mind hurried my shopping thinking of what to do with the chocolate and toffee bits. When I got home, I checked out the recipes on  the back of the bag for some ideas for baking, but when I saw the recipe for the cookies, I couldn't go on any further! I wanted to make them soon after dinner, but the husband told me to be patient, he has a Physical Training test Friday morning. I did however make them first thing the next morning...he wasn't here and those bits were all "try me....try me NOW!"

The cookies tasted out of this world good. I mean, really, how can you go wrong with peanut butter, chocolate and toffee? The soft chewy cookie along with the slight crunch of the toffee was divine.

If you don't have these Heath Bits in your area and you live in Europe please let me know via e-mail (my e-mail is under contact me). I'll send a package to the first 5 folk who asks...I need to make it to the post office anyway.  But really this can be made with any toffee chocolate bar, just crush it into small pieces.

So no excuses not to try this people!

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies
From the back of the bag ;-)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 T milk
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/3 cup Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits

Directions
Heat oven to 375°F.
Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup bits; reserve remainder for topping.

Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet; top each with reserved bits.


Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely. About 3 dozen cookies.