December means only one thing... Peppermint!

  I swear that there are times when I feel like I need to move to a warmer climate so that I can enjoy citrus fruits on the reg!   Honestly, as much as we love Colorado-the fruit situation (except for Palisade Peaches) is pretty weak.  :)     Having said that, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do and when winter keeps showing up, I make something with lemons so that I can get that warm weather feeling.  Considering how busy we've been with baseball, work and Ivy being in college, these crinkle cookies were the perfect quick treat to shake off the winter blahs.  Nothing beats a sweet crinkle cookie that is somewhere between a cake and cookie and asks you not to wear black because it'll show when the powdered sugar rains down.   Recipe adapted from Broma Bakery 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp - note I use salted because that's what I always have on hand.  If you use unsalted add 1/2 tsp of salt with the dry ingredients. 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar Zest of 1 le

   The story I'm about to tell is a little odd.  I figure it's best if I warn you ahead of time so you don't read this and then reach out saying "Christine, that's a weird story."  I embrace my particular brand of weird, but you should know what you're getting into.   A lot of people have certain bench marks for being a grown up.  Their first car, the first apartment they live in by themselves, the super dream job.  My definition of adulthood when I was 19 was owning a fancy cappuccino maker and a Belgian Waffle maker from Williams Sonoma.  What can I say, I dig breakfast...like A LOT!     When I moved out to live with the man who would become my hubby (way before Ivy was born) my mom bought me both as a gift to show me how proud she was of me.  I loved those two kitchen appliances so much!  Fast forward more than a few years and I was the mother of two selective eaters.  What was one of the only things that the two of them loved without fail?  (No, I wasn

   Maybe it's the time I spent living in Chicago or maybe it's the influence from my darling hubby, but for the last million years, Friday Night means Pizza Night.  More often than not, that means hitting a favorite pizza spot (Giordano's, I'm talking about you!).  But you know that if this girl can make it herself, this girl is gonna make it herself.    It's safe to say that my hubby fully supports my home made pizza desires.  Ivy and Zander don't like pizza (which all falls into that ARFID spectrum that I've covered in other blog posts) but that just means more for me.     While I'm up for being adventurous with pizza, my hubby is as much of a selective eater as his kids, so it's pepperoni, sausage or cheese all the way.   For us, the real key to an amazing pie is the crust, no matter what you decide to put on it.   The key to an amazing crust isn't some special artisanal flour or super complicated ingredient list.   The real secret, my friends