Archive for April 2012

Catch Up

So it's been a little while since I've updated a post on here. I would post more often but the only time I get on the computer is when Aria is asleep so I usually end up going online at night when she's down for the night. Unfortunately, I'm usually pretty tired at that point too so I've been going to bed early - or I had other stuff to do around the house. So this is me playing catch up.


Easter has come and gone, I didn't really do anything special for Easter. I went to my home church - which is on the other end of the city so I don't go that often - for their Easter Sunday service. Aria had fun playing with the other kids - and stealing their markers. After that I went to lunch with a family friend at her friends house. We ordered Middle Eastern food from The Pita Inn. It was great. I also made Berry-Coconut Macaroons - recipe below - because her friends were gluten-free.


I started this entry a couple weeks ago, and just never got around to posting it, so it is obviously way past Easter now. Things have happened since then. I got hooked on this show on the HGTV channel called "House Hunters" - which has inspired me to sketch quite a few of my own "dream house" floor plans. I made a new friend as well, I met her through my upstairs neighbor - and I was quite excited to learn that my new friend, Krista, has a son who is only a couple months older than Aria. Yay. AND she organizes a playgroup on thursday mornings - which is so great because I'd been looking for something like that for months and this one is a ten minute walk away.

I've also made lots of new foods in the time I've been away from the blog - so I shall proceed to bestow a food dump upon you.




Above: Bagel Pizzas - Below: Spicy Corn Chowder






Above: Pasta Salad - Below: Pumpkin-Ginger Muffins



Berry-Coconut Macaroons
adapted from here.
I used a blender because I don't have a food processor and so I had to do each of the steps in several batches to make sure it was evenly blended.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Ingredients
- 14oz. sweetened, flaked coconut
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 pint, 6oz. or  1 1/4 cup of your choice of fresh berries, i.e. strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc.

Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, blend the coconut for a minute.
- Add sugar and blend another minute. Add egg whites, salt and almond extract and blend another minute more.
- Add berries and pulse machine until mostly blended. Some parts should still be completely white, resist the urge to mix it all together. It makes for pretty marbled cookies this way.
- With a tablespoon measure, scoop batter into 1-inch mounds on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 25-30 minutes, until they look a little toasted on top. Let rest for 10 minutes on the tray, then transfer to a cooking rack. 

Enjoy.



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