It's a Dutch Baby!

So I did make that bread I told you about. I tracked back the original recipe as well. You can find it here. They have tons of great bread recipes! And look at how pretty mine turned out!

It was really good too! Semi-crunchy outside and a beautifully moist and fluffy inside. Wonderful.
Well...I told you about those Saturdays. It happened again. This time we decided to make a recipe from my new Joy the Baker cookbook. I thought the recipe for her Toasted Coconut Dutch Baby looked delicious. Matt isn't the biggest fan of coconut, but I thought it was worth a try. And Matt loved it even with the coconut! I loved it too, but of course I would--I love coconut. I love pancakes. What's new? I tried to find the recipe on her blog, but I think she must have such a plethora of recipes that she doesn't share the ones from her book on her blog. Here's a link to another of her Dutch Baby recipes: http://joythebaker.com/2009/04/dutch-baby-with-orange-sugar/.
What is a Dutch Baby, you ask? I didn't know either. Apparently it's like a mix between a pancake and a pop-over. Does it really stem from the Netherlands? I don't know. Do french fries really come from France?
I think Matt and I should own a bed and breakfast. Seriously, how good does that look?  

Well, we're working on it. It's not like that's our own recipe or anything. Give us another year or two and we'll be full-fledged gourmet chefs. And you can visit our bed and breakfast. Ha.

The Joy of Baking

Happy Monday!! Because Mondays can be just as wonderful as a Fridays if you want them to be. Each day is whatever you choose to make it. Today, I am choosing to be mindful of all the blessings God has given me. Life is wonderful when we dwell on the beautiful things in it.
My sister, Katie, blessed me with a gift last week--Joy the Baker's cookbook!! Woohoo! I've already made two recipes from it and I am planning what I want to make next. First, I had been thinking about what to do with an extra sweet potato we had. When I saw her recipe for sweet potato chocolate chip cookies, it sounded perfect. Those cookies were delicious.
 I was a bit wary of her recipe for Texas sheet cake due to her odd ingredients (coffee and sour cream). It turned out well, though! We shared it with our small group and still had leftovers so I took the rest to work. Matt was disheartened by how quickly it left us. Maybe I'll make a 1/2 recipe for us later. :)
This is what we had for dinner after church yesterday! Doesn't it look beautiful? I will admit that was part of the reason I wanted to try it. This is a chicken and broccoli braid from a cookbook we got from my great aunt Jeanette for our wedding.
It was so good! And simple! And yet I felt a little fancy too. It's good for a girl to feel fancy every now and then. Especially when baking. I've been on a baking spree lately. Today I'm thinking about making this bread from Cooking for Seven. Apparently, it is the best bread ever. We'll see! Hope you all have a brilliant start to your week!

An Eventful Friday

The beauty of pre-made salads:

All I had to do was mix up a little vinegar, honey, and spices and toss it with the veggies. Simplicity. And those are sweet potato fries!! YUM. Usually we bake them, but this time decided to fry them up instead (Why did we go for the less healthy option?? I have no idea.). That's barbeque chicken in the background if you're wondering. Good weeknight meal.

Would you like to hear about our crazy (fun) weekend? Actually, this is now two weekends ago. I get behind sometimes.
Anyway..
It started with a bird.
Yes.
A bird got in our HOUSE!!!
Frightful.
Apparently, they are getting into our attic somehow. So when Matt went up to get something from the attic on Friday, the bird made it's way into our apartment. And would not leave. We* seriously tried everything to try and shoo it out the window.
*I will not mislead you. When I say we, I mean Matt. Matt tried everything while I cowered in the corner, hoping I would survive the incident without getting pecked or pooped on. All I did was shout out suggestions.
After ~45 unsuccessful minutes of trying to scare the bird out the window by nudging it with a broom, Matt got innovative. This contraption is a garbage bag, held open with a wire hanger, taped to a broom handle. This was meant to catch the bird and then release it. After one swoop at it with this, the little bird flew out the window. I guess it saw that we meant business. The triumphant:

Thank you, Babe! To see the bird and watch me be a goober, please follow this link to a video we posted on YouTube. Update: since this is a week later, the hole where they were getting in has now been closed up. Yay!
To calm my nerves, Matt then took me to a farm I've been wanting to visit. It is an animal farm close to us that is open year round for visitors. I loved it! Here are some pics from the day.
This was right before the goat nibbled Matt's hand. Ha!

Matt's view:

My view:

I thought of Robin Hood as soon as I saw this rooster. Perfect! That is still my favorite Disney movie ever.

Trying to decide...

OK, yes. Matt will pet the horse. With the back of his hand.

Dearest family, what does this remind you of?

I even look like I'm 10 years old in that picture.

After playing a round of frisbee in the park and then heading home to get cleaned up, we took off for the big city. AKA--Binghamton, NY. Haha. We stopped by a local favorite to try some of their famous ice cream. I went out on a limb and got their grapenut ice cream. It was surprisingly really good! Like I-would-get-it-again good! Then we went to the Super Walmart to get a bike for Matt. He's been wanting one for a while, but the problem was we didn't have room for it in our second-floor apartment. Finally, I decided to allow the bike to reside in our kitchen/dining room. Too generous? Oh stop, stop. Y'all flatter me. Well, I guess it will make up for me not helping at all with the bird catastrophe. Ha!