It's Twins (edited- Triplets)!

You all know that my daughter, Laura, is pregnant and due in November, right? Okay, I thought you'd be interested to know that this post has nothing to do with that, and no, she is not having twins.
Last night I was sitting on my porch swing which used to be Karen's swing. Anyway, I was looking at our tree thinking how much I didn't like it. Then I started really looking at the tree and noticed some grassy-like stuff in the middle of the branches. I thought it looked like it could be a nest. Upon further investigation (like when a robin flew in and sat on it) I realized it was a nest. I wondered how many eggs might be in the nest. The answer to that was- none.
Instead of eggs, we have two (edited- three) tiny little babies in the nest. I saw them get their dinner and get tucked in for the night. I think I'll watch their progress and see how they grow over the next little while.

What could this be? 

Two little babies, waiting for dinner! 

Yummy worms for dinner!

Good night little robin family

Sleep tight! 

Now That It's Official

Okay, enough of the covert photos! Here's some pictures of the awesome kids I got to see for one whole day last weekend (repeat performance coming next month!).

Sisters! Well, three out of four. 

Sara was not happy because she wanted a picture by herself with her nana. 

Okay, one less, but still not by herself, so still not happy. 

Ding! Now that's what she wanted! 

Gary, Sara, Theo, Mia, Nora and Tracy with Grandpa

Everybody pile on to Grandpa's chair! Hey Theo, you're not smiling. 

Oh, that's better! Big smile! 

And here's Mia, just being Mia. Makes you wonder what she's thinking, doesn't it? 

Adoption Day!

I was in California this past weekend. It would have been nice if I could have stayed until today because it's finally the day when we officially and legally add three more children to our little family. Samuel and Holly have been working through the adoption process for 11+ months and today is the day they've been waiting for!
Just because I don't know what the rules are yet, I'll go the safe route and show you this picture of the boys.

When I find out from Holly if we're finally in the safe zone and can show their faces (crazy laws and rules!) I'll be updating my blog immediately!

Maiden Voyage

I guess I shouldn't really call it a voyage since it didn't travel anywhere, but I broke out the new Kitchen Aid mixer this morning (I was kind of celebrating something!).

Here it is- out of the box and ready to go. 

Look how much easier it is to add stuff and take pictures of the tornado happening inside the bowl. 

Here's what I made. I'm going to call them Big Island Cookies because they're big (I used the large scoop- nine cookies to a pan. And they have coconut, macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips packed in there. Since I relate macadamia nuts to Hawaii (specifically the "Big Island", since I've been to the Mauna Loa factory twice there), that's going to be the name. That, and it's too much trouble to say White Chocolate Chip cookies with Macadamia nuts and Coconut. 

Big Island Cookies

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened slightly

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 T vanilla extract

3 cups flour (or 430 grams if you want to weigh it)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

11 tsp baking soda

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy;  then add eggs and vanilla. Add the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix just until incorporated. Add the nuts, chips and coconut and mix until it's all together and everyone is being friends with everyone else. 

Use a large cookie scoop (or spoon) to dollop a golf ball-sized amount of dough onto the cookie sheet (my pan doesn't have to be greased, so I hope the dough doesn't stick to your pan. If you think it might, give it a shot of cooking spray or use a parchment paper). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are just starting to brown (barely). Makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

Raspberry Morning Cake

OBB posted a recipe a couple weeks ago called Blueberry Boy Bait. I'm always keeping an eye out for breakfast recipes because we go to a missionary meeting every month which involves a breakfast pot-luck. When I saw the "B-B-B" recipe I thought it would be perfect for this months offering. I started to gather the ingredients last night only to find I had no blueberries. I did, however, have raspberries so I went with what I had and let my ox stay in the mire.
It was very popular this morning, so I'll share how I changed the recipe.

Raspberry Morning Cake (because I didn't want to call it Boy Bait) adapted from Our Best Bites
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup frozen raspberries, divided
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pressurized whipping cream (if desired)

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9x13 pan with Baker's Joy, or grease and flour pan. Set aside.
Beat the butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping bowl as necessary. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined before adding the next egg.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the  butter/sugar/egg mixture and blend slightly. Then add 1/2 of the buttermilk, followed by another 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating just until incorporating. Finish adding the buttermilk and the final third of the flour and when it's blended, stir in 1/2 cup of the frozen raspberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Top batter with the other 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries. Stir the cinnamon into 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and sprinkle it over the batter and raspberries.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 20 minutes or more. You can serve this warm or cold with a shot of whipped cream. I made it the night before and served it in the morning.
To make it Blueberry Boy Bait, substitute the raspberries for blueberries (fresh or frozen).

Frozen Butterfinger Pie

Several days ago, some friends and I were discussing Pinterest. I told them I only used it for pinning the things I wanted to remember, and that I didn't look at what other people pinned. When I came home, I decided to see what all the hubbub was about in looking at other people's pins. Big mistake. Now I want to see other people's pins all the time. And to round out the obsession, I did a search with the word "Butterfinger." Second big mistake! Or not! I was having some company over tonight and needed a killer dessert, and this is what I decided to make.

The recipe came from here, but I didn't have any Cool Whip so I used sweetened whipping cream. 

To decorate the plate, I made the peanut butter sauce from this post and the hot fudge sauce from this post. I added a squirt of pressurized whipped cream and topped it with a Butterfinger Snackerz.

Frozen Butterfinger Pie (adapted slightly)
Oreo pre-made crust (or make your own, as easy as this)
8 oz cream cheese, softened (I would have preferred a little less cream cheese, but that's just me)
half of a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (so, 7 oz!)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
8 oz tub Cool Whip (or 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar whipped together until stiff)
8 miniature Butterfinger candy bars, coarsely chopped (or 4 regular-sized bars)

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, condensed milk, peanut butter and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add the Butterfinger pieces, then fold in the whipping cream or Cool Whip.
Spread mixture into crust. Cover and freeze about three hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving, and garnish as desired.

Oh, Pinterest. I'm afraid I'll be spending way too much time at your place from now on.