late night cookie baking

Making them into hearts was a frantic last minute decision this morning when I realized it was Valentine's Day. oops!

 I always get the urge to bake late at night. I have no idea why...we'll be sitting on the couch and all of a sudden the urge to make 300 molasses cookies consumes me. So, last night I did just that. Late night baking is calming to me. Hubby is doing his own thing, baby is asleep.

There is nothing I hate more than a fluffy, flavorless cookie. Seriously. I like chewy, crispy, dense, and flavor explosion. But guess what? Every time I make cookies they turn out fluffy. And I literally cannot figure out why. My googling of cookies always starts out "chewy, crispy_____" and they never turn out like that. These ones though...they are good. Like, really good. Dense and so much flavor. THe original recipe can be found here. I altered it because I am lazy and sometimes I don't have things on hand so you've got to improvise. Enjoy! xo

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ( I went heavy on cinnamon)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (I did not use allspice..because I never have it)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I used a full tsp to make up for the lack of allspice)
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (I used 2 full sticks...oops.)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulphered molasses
• about 1 cup of crystalized ginger (this is an ingredient not listed in the original recipe)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and throw all of your wet ingredients in another. I know the original recipe says to fluff up the sugar and butter first, but when you are baking at night there is time for no such thing. Plus, as stated up above, I don't like the word "fluff" in my cookies. So I literally throw everything in a use my hand mixer. Chop up your ginger and throw it in with the dry ingredients and mix around. I do think because the ginger is really sticky. Coating it with your dry ingredients helps it not all clump together. Mix in the dry with the wet. Form into balls and roll in sugar. Bake for about 11 mins, or just until the tops begin to crack. do not over cook these! Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy! xo

This stuff is your golden ticket.

Throw it in a bowl. Mix it up. Easy as that.

The many faces of Silas

Silas rocks some pretty incredible expressions while chowing down. This kid is full of so much personality.

What we are eating now:

Raspberries

peas

broccoli

avocado

plums

butternut squash

green beans

All organic. I've been buying organic (and it's local!) frozen veg to make it really easy as far as prep goes. I just throw it in a small sauce pan with a touch of water and defrost it. Avocado we cut into tiny pieces, raspberries are either whole or halved, and plums and green beans are cut into bite size pieces as well.

Happy eating little bebe's! xo

Silas update

Wow. My baby is not a baby anymore. I mean, he is...but he is growing fast. The last 3 1/2 months this child has had a huge growth spurt. Our pediatrician was pretty blown away by how much height he has gained. And while he looks chubby, he definitely did not put on much weight, which is to be expected now that he is crawling and standing all over the place. We are still breastfeeding (yay!) and have recently integrated solids into our daily routine. As I've mentioned here, we have gone the baby led weaning route. His favorites are raspberries, avocado, and green beans. He is "talking" so much these days and it's amazing to see that he can comprehend what you are saying. When I say his name, ask him to come over to me, put my arms out to pick him up, tell him no (which makes him laugh)...he really is starting to understand. I can't believe in just a few short months he is going to be a year old. It really is going by. I am loving this stage of his development though, he is so curious and so cuddly. He loves his mama and papa so much and we are just in awe of the bond the three of us have right now. We are still co-sleeping and at the moment thinking of transitioning him to his crib and possibly night weaning. Jury is still out on that one. Next week Silas is going on his first plane ride and we are both very nervous and excited! Looking forward to the next few months and all they have to offer :) xo

family pictures

A couple of weeks ago, my dear gal pal Christy came by to take some family photos. To say I love them is an understatement. She has taken numerous pictures for us (here and here) so I knew they were going to be good, but these were so amazing. It's nice having a creative and lovely girlfriend by your side, I tell yah.

Thank you, Christy! xo

photo credit: Christy Cassano-Meyer

The frozen mess that is Portland

Soooo my husband hasn't been to work in two days. Snow day and then freezing rain on top of that. It has been so much fun having him home (but the place is a mess! I don't get any cleaning done with him around). The city has completely shut down so we had to get creative with our venturing out the other day. Silas was placed in our hiking backpack and we packed on our snowboarding gear and out we went to go gather our supplies for the night. It was so awesome to see cross country skies lined up outside of the bars. When a city that isn't used to snow gets a ton of it, it is a treat.

He has been loving our snowy walks around the neighborhood.

Oh, man. I want to eat him up. He has been parked at this window the last few days watching it snow.

First time "sledding". We pulled him around the block in a laundry basket.

Off to get supplies! Thank god for our hiking backpack!

Food pic for good measure. Totally digging this clementine, kale, shredded beet, and pepitas salad from our grocery store.

On a separate note, Silas and I are headed to Michigan! This trip has been in the making since August when we were originally supposed to go. I am terrified to fly with a 10 month old, as I think we all get annoyed when we are stuck with a crying baby on a plane. Our flight is broken up into two separate flights with a 45 min. layover in between. I did it this way in the hopes that I could hop off, change a diaper, get us cleaned up, and hop back on. I also found a flight that works with nap time so we *hopefully* have that going for us. Thinking of bringing ear plugs for my fellow passengers just in case though. Silas is just so sensitive to strangers. Keeping my fingers crossed though for a smooth flight! And I seriously cannot wait to snuggle my mama and hang with my brothers. I am really sad that the hubby isn't going to be able to come though :/ we are going to miss him so much. I told him to try and enjoy his 12 days of sleeping in and diaper duty freedom. Anyways, we have Silas's 9 month (even though he's almost 10 months) check-up this week and I can't wait to see where he is at weight and height wise! We are also waiting to hear back on whether or not the offer we submitted for this house is accepted. It's driving us crazy not knowing whether or not we can go ahead with this purchase. The planning has already begun on what we would do to the inside (we need to gut the kitchen and bathroom) and it's just making us so excited!

Can't wait to update you on all this goodness! xo

ps. we get our family pictures back this week!

That one time it snowed in Portland.

Rain boots. Whatever works, right?

Ohhhhh, Portland. As a Michigan girl, I am used to massive amounts of snow every winter. I lived across the street from my high school and would wear flip flops to school in the winter. I know, I know. It sounds like I'm one of those grumpy old men, "I walked 3 miles to school in blizzards!". But, really...I did. Here in Portland that sh*t don't fly. I'm pretty sure our city does not own a plow and you are not allowed to salt the roads.

Pancakes on a snowday seemed appropriate.

Yesterday, watching the snow fall. Obviously not amused.

Morning reading time. This picture is now a part of my top 10 favorite photos.

So here we are in a winter wonderland and the city is shutdown. By the way, I think we only got maybe 5 inches. It's supposed to snow more tonight and to be honest I am really loving it. It's so bright and white out. There is no one out, so on my walk to the little mart up the street this morning (I neeeeeded cream for my coffee!) I walked in the middle of the road, enjoying how peaceful it was. Let's hear it for snow days (and hopefully my hubby getting out of work early)! xo

Hi, we are crazy.

It's a weird feeling...that scared/excited/nervous/anxious feeling. It's overwhelming to say the least. We are getting closer to finding a home and I can't help but go over the decision a million times. At the moment we are in a great apartment...and yet here we are wanting to put an offer in on this fixer. Fixer. It is not move in ready by any means, so there is that. It needs so much work, most of which we are confident we can do ourselves. Such a scary thing though. I've always dreamed of renovating a home. Bringing a vision to life is thrilling in every sense. As a couple who just had a baby and is down to one income though it is such a terrifying and bold move. We have some stashed away funds and we feel like we could make this all happen on a pretty conservative budget, but I'm no idiot. I watch HGTV like it's my job. I know those hidden issues pop out of nowhere and that fear is holding me back. I'm sure we'll go for it though...and I am pretty confident that the sellers will accept our offer (they are seriously motivated, according to their agent). So it's becoming real, this whole homeowner path we are going down. Can't wait to update you on this whole mess! xo

*after we toured the home, I obviously came straight back to our house and jumped on pinterest. Here are some ideas that correlate with what we would be working with (this is all hypothetical. we have not yet purchased the house).

Honeycomb tile. I love you.

White walls are on the agenda.

Looking into counter top options (the whole kitchen needs to be gutted). You can make your own concrete counter tops. Are we ambitious or what? Maybe, or we are just cheap asses ;)

It has a fireplace! I'm loving the vintage mirror over top.

The bathroom is also a gut job. Loving this modern tub and vintage fixtures. Of course, subway tile is a must!

*All images via pinterest

Playtime at the Bushong's

So, this post is going to seem weird. I have two totally different things on my mind, but I feel like they are intertwined. I'm going with it.

It's no huge secret that birthing a child is painful. I found pregnancy to be "painful". I put that in "" because it wasn't actual pain, but it was a lot of uncomfortableness all day every day. I gave birth to Silas sans drugs. Silas's birth was exactly what I wanted though. No drugs and just me and my hubby working through it (and our doula!). After 18 hrs of contractions and pushing and I pushed out that 8 pounder like a god damn champ and then took two ibuprofen. I was proud of myself, but during my labor I thought I was going to die. I said it, oh...maybe 8 times out loud. My labor was filled with contractions on top of contractions and the worst back pain. Thank god for my lovely Doula Sarah, who I must have told 100 times afterwards that she saved my life (dramatic, much?). Anyways, my point is this...when you go for baby two you are essentially consenting to this horrific painful event again. Now, don't get me wrong it was amazing just as much as it was painful. Plus, I felt like I was higher than a kite afterwards thanks to all of that adrenaline and oxytocin. Still...here we are pondering #2 and I'm just like "Oh, shit DUDE. I have to feel the horrific and crushing pain of a contraction again!".

Now, onto the other half of this post and maybe you will understand where I am going. Silas is at an age where he is becoming super interactive. My goal is to keep toys and all of that sort of junk that can accumulate in massive amounts to a minimum so at the moment we have a few trucks, an airplane, some wooden blocks, a few stacking sort of things and then lots and lots of books. He is entertained by all of these mildly, but what he really loves is for you to get on the floor in a crawling sort of position and chase him around. Hiding behind walls, jumping out and yelling "rawr!" at him, telling him you are going to catch him. It's fun. For me as a 26 yr old woman, I think this is fun. Here's the catch though...I can't do it for 10 hrs out of the day. I need moments to drink my coffee, zone out for 5 seconds, and chill. We have our chill out moments when we read books throughout the day, but it got me thinking about how nice it would be for him to eventually have a play mate aka a sibling (now this post is coming full circle!). I loved playing with my brothers and sister when I was younger. Two of them are very close in age with me, my sister and I are only 14 months a part. Obviously I've surpassed that age gap for my child, but it would be nice if at some point a little Bushong could take my place in that crawling position, yah know? So yes, we are at this weird stage of "Should we just go for it?" and it's slightly terrifying. I truly feel like the decision to have #2 is so much more difficult than it was our first go. Sure we think about the difficulties we will face, but what about our first babe? What sort of difficulties will my little guy encounter with this decision? Will he be jealous? Will he get enough attention? He's my buddy. I love our solo time together and I don't want to give that up...so I'm not sure what that means in the sense of whether or not I'm ready to add another Bushong to the mix. So I guess we're kind of in this pondering stage at the moment. Something else I think about it just having one. So, there yah have it. The thoughts that are plaguing my mommy brain at this moment. Cheers to finding some clarity in the coming months! xo

The most amazing cupcake ever

Yeah, I said it. These cupcakes are amazing. And easy. And sure, they aren't super pretty when you don't bake them in a liner, but whatev. My quest for a delicious vanilla cupcake came one day when I was super, super pregnant and craving that fluffy, frosted goodness. I love the texture that box mixes yield, but I am not a fan of the 18 item ingredient list. So, I set off on a googling adventure and to my amazement found these perfect vanilla cupcakes. I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe (which are noted) due to the fact that I hate having specific, for that recipe only, items in my pantry. I improvised and they still came out fantastic.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups cake flour (I use all purpose and then up the baking powder meansurement)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder (2 teaspoons if using all-purpose flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup buttermilk (or, 1/2 cup milk with 1tsp of acid, like white vinegar or lemon juice. Let sit aside for 5 mins prior to using)

The original recipe says that you will get 15. I never get that, nor do I ever get the 12th damn one filled!

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350. Either line your cupcake tin with liners or what I did was oil with a brush and then dust with flour. I suggest using liners though. Pour in batter about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 12-14 mins. Take out and let cool for a few mins and then transfer to a baking rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: Chocolatey almondy

Frosting is easy to make and I do not complicate it here. Mix 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) with about 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of cocoa powder. Add in about 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp of almond extract. Mx with an electric mixer. Add milk to achieve that fluffy frosting consistency.

If you try these I would love to know what you think! Happy baking, xo.