A Pantload of Belgian Waffles

 My family loves waffles. When I ask my 4.5-year-old daughter what she wants for breakfast, 99% of the time she will say, "chocolate waffles," and it has been that way since she could talk (only three years ago, it was "shaw-kwit faffles"). She means waffles with Nutella on them. Yep. I do that. Every morning. And I'm not sorry. Very lately, she has changed her preference to vegan butter (okay, she doesn't know I put that on them), and maple syrup. Next I hope to interest her in a little fruit to go with them. Baby steps.

My two-year-old chooses waffles about 80% of the time, sometimes branching out to yogurt, and always pinching about three out of five of the berries that I'm eating on MY waffle. Oh yeah - and I eat them three or four days a week, with vegan butter, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, maple syrup, and veggie sausage. Breakfast is my biggest meal, and I love it. Three or four days, every week. (I eat my fruit on cereal on my work days, because I'm always in a hurry.)

Because these waffles make up about 50% of my daughters' diet for the day, I have always tried to make sure that they have the maximum amount of nutrition jammed into them. Previously, this meant buying the "fancy" waffles with protein and fiber. Then I did the math on that. For the family, this means I have been spending between $450 to $625 a year on boxed waffles. Wow. And you know, I'm not the tops when it comes to ecological worries, but how many boxes is that? I'm spending a lot of money, downing a lot of trees, and I thought the waffles could taste better, too.

I announced to my husband, "I am making all our waffles from now on." He shrugged. He's a lovely man who follows my lead on things like this. I think he was just happy to hear that there would be no more, "No, these are MY waffles, and these are the KIDS' waffles!" Now there would just be waffles.

I looked through the reviews on Amazon (from whence all things come), and I chose the Waring Pro WWM1200SA Double Belgian-Waffle Maker based on the good reviews. It's a double, so I figured I could go factory-style, and crank those mothers out. And while I swear I have not been paid a dime (though I'm happy to change that status, if anyone is paying attention), I am so happy with my choice. I have monkeyed so much with the manufacturer's waffle recipe, and I had to stray pretty far from it not to still get a perfect waffle, every time. It fills the house with cinnamon and vanilla scent, and I still enjoy making them.

The included recipe involves eggs, melted butter, and flour dough that has been risen with yeast. I swapped out some things so that the recipe is vegan, and I'm very happy with the result. I've added chickpea flour for protein, though I once used a bit too much, and it made a thinner batter that stuck to the waffle maker. Adding more all-purpose flour fixed this. Phew. (The chemistry of chickpea flour is a bit different, so it doesn't work quite the same way).

I also included whole wheat flour, applesauce, and wheat bran for fiber. (The whole wheat flour also contains more protein). My recipe includes Splenda, which also contains fiber. I know it isn't the most natural product out there - but I only use a half cup for all these waffles, and it adds a lot of sweetness without a lot of sugar. I also have brown sugar in the recipe, because both the yeast and I find it to be yummy.

My plan all along was to make a giant batch of these, and freeze them, so that we could use them throughout the week. Yes, I know that fresh waffles taste the best - so if you have time to make fresh Belgian waffles every morning, then I'm happy for you. I don't. And these still taste better out of the freezer than the boxed kind do - about eight times better. That's science talking.

I have to mention that I use the Oster TSSTTRWF4S 4-Slice Toaster, because it just might be important to the successful re-heating. This toaster has a "frozen" setting, which is so handy. I toast the waffles once on this setting, then again lightly without it. This way, the outside gets toasted and the inside doesn't stay frozen. If you don't have one of those, you could try nuking them for a few seconds in the microwave, then toasting them. Trust me, it is worth it.

So here's the recipe for the giant batch. It makes about 20-22 thick Belgian waffles that are doughy inside, and crispy outside. If you want to make fewer, just do the math and subdivide. You should keep those fraction skills sharp, anyway.

Giant Batch O' Waffles (makes 20-22 waffles)

1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup garbanzo (chickpea) flour
1 3/4 cups wheat bran
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
5 flax eggs (5 Tblesp. milled flax, mixed with just under a cup of water - combine separately)
4 1/2 cups warm tap water
3 packets of instant yeast
3 sticks vegan butter, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups soy milk
1 cup apple sauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. butter extract (skip if you don't have)
2 Tblesp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

Whisk the flax powder (milled flax) with the water indicated, and stick in the fridge for 5 minutes. Remove, re-whisk, and put back in the fridge for another 10 minutes. This is your "eggs."

Meanwhile, measure HALF the warm water (2 1/4 cups), mix with all the yeast in a BIG bowl, and a pinch of your brown sugar. Whisk, and allow to sit until the yeast forms a thick foam on the top.

Add the sugar, Splenda, and your set flax "eggs" to the yeast mix and combine. Next, add all the liquid ingredients (melted butter through the extracts, and the rest of the water). Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl with a whisk, then add to the wet mix while whisking. Then allow the whole batch to stand for one hour. You need some space in the bowl, because it rises quite a bit. What I do is pour a lot of it back into the bowl I whisked the dry ingredients in, and allow both bowls to rise under a towel.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions on your waffle maker, and crank those babies out. I freeze mine with a square of parchment paper between them, in stacks of four inside a gallon freezer bag. This way, they pull apart easily as you need them.

These come out reminding me a bit of French Toast, which I like. I have also made a ginger pumpkin version, which came with my waffle maker also, and which recipe I adapted in the same way. They were great, but now I'm pretty much sticking with the standard that everyone likes.

Breakfast Savory Crepe Burritos

I have a stepsister who lives in Washington state. If you can believe it, I don't think I've ever actually met her in the 25-some years my mom has been married to her dad. I do know, however, through my mom that she has been a dedicated vegan for many years. She gave me a great vegetarian crepe recipe, which involves chick pea flour and several ingredients. I've had them when my mom has made them for me, and they are very good. However, I have yet to buy any chick pea flour, and I don't often like too measure too many ingredients. So I came up with a "quickie crepe" recipe for savory crepes that is pretty good, and has fewer ingredients, and no measuring at all. The numbers listed are for "parts" - so, however much you like, in the following proportions:

• 1:1:1/2 parts Bisquick, whole wheat flour, and nutritional yeast, respectively 
• 1-2 Tblesp. miso paste, whisked smoothly into a little veggie broth, then added
• water and veggie broth until the mix is fairly thin 

So, that's one part Bisquick (vegan! Yay!) to one part WW flour, to a half part nutritional yeast. I just dump some Bisquick in the left side of a bowl, then add an equal part of the flour, then a half part nutritional yeast. Totally "eyeballed." The resulting crepes are just a little "puffy," and not as paper thin as a true crepe would be. However, they are satisfying and great for filling. I made breakfast burritos out of this batch, filled with a western-style tofu "scramble," lentils, and vegan cheese.

Tofu Scramble

1 diced baked potato (a leftover)
one diced bell pepper
one small diced onion
one package sliced mushrooms
1 block of pressed and crumbled tofu
garlic powder or blackening seasoning, salt and pepper
about a cup of cooked lentils, which I had withheld from my lentil mushroom loaf

I peeled my cooked potato (I make 5 or so baked potatoes at a time in the oven, so that I have them throughout the week for use in cooking, or to top for a quick lunch) and toasted it on high heat in a little vegetable oil until well-browned. Then I added and sautéed the pepper, onion, and mushrooms first, then added the tofu and lentils just to warm them through, and seasoned the mix. I put a little filling down the middle of a crepe, and added vegan cheeses on top. I folded them up, and decided that half would be plenty for a single breakfast!

I first folded them in Glad Press and Seal, then in aluminum foil. They "peel" more easily out of the freezer this way, are protected against freezer burn, and I can drop them in a bowl and re-use the piece of Glad wrap to re-heat them (about 2 minutes a side, covered and on high power).

Mmmm, steamy.

Now I have a hearty breakfast stockpile for the next several months, since I save these for my hurried work mornings.

Across the Lincoln Highway: Dixon to Clinton, IA and Home Again

Yeah, I know. Long time, no post. I have several good excuses, which range from: my kids, to the half marathon I'm training for, to sleeping, which I like to do sometimes. And back to my kids again. I also have written a couple of pieces by the request of a local TV show for their blog. (Before you picture me actually breathing on my fingernails and buffing them on my sleeve, things seem to be in a bit of an overhaul over there, and this may never get seen by anyone.) I'm only writing at this moment by the mercy of my elder child, who requested an early bedtime tonight. And I thought I should sit down and record that before the earth blew up beneath me.

Okay, so as you most likely do not remember, since it was posted two months ago, we woke up in Dixon, IL, on the last leg of our Lincoln Highway trip. Things looked much better (read, "not Deliverance") in the morning, except for this:

This mural, at our Dixon hotel, was entitled "the Illinois Presidents." If you know your presidential birthplaces, and I don't know why you would, you know why that's funny. Before you begin Googling, I'll just tell you that only one of them was born in Illinois, and probably not the one you were hoping for. (And not in Dixon, either.)

But before I get started taking away from ol' Dixon, let me build it up a little! It is the "boyhood home" of President Reagan. He was born in Tampico, but said he considered Dixon "home." Good enough for me, Mr. President.

So we had a lot of nice experiences in Dixon, but let me relate this one. We happened to get a piece of luck, for the third time on our trip, and happen on an old theater that just happened to be open. The folks that run the Dixon Theatre just happened to be giving the first presentation (before the official dedication) of a restored Barton Pipe Organ. They let us up on stage to see it up close, and told us all about the theatre.

There are only a few operating in the world, and they asked us if we'd like to meet the man that donated the organ, ha ha ha. He was very private, and he just happened to be there very briefly. Remember the suited cat that advised us that there are nicer places to eat than the Galena Steak House (but perhaps none in Dixon at that time of night?) Turns out, he was the organ donor, ha ha, ohhh, that never gets old. He gave us an official poster of the opening performance, and I corrected him on the quality of the chicken fingers at the Galena. I'm so full of sass.

We made a lot of stops in Dixon, but food-wise, we were headed for the Iowa border before our next experience. We crossed out of Fulton, IL, and into Clinton, IA.

And look, a real working windmill in Fulton! (More tours, more cool people that I won't bore you about. Plus, I do have that early bedtime.)

The windmill does grind and sell grain, so that's food-related, though we didn't buy any. I needed some food of the prepared variety.

After some browsing through Clinton, and realizing that our first choice was closed for the day, we liked the looks of Nora's Cafe.

Inside, you could sit at a booth, a table, or right in yo' chef's binniss.

I liked the looks of the "Juicy Potato Soup." I mean, how could you not order that? I figured it was a non-creamy soup, and the name was their way of telling you that. I was right. I guess Nora and I think the same way.

That was delicious, and for my meal, I got the old-school diet plate. I know you're rolling your eyes, but I loves me a diner diet plate: meat, and sliced veggies. This one was extra-deluxe, with fruit and eggs. And I loved that the friendly waitress asked me "what kind of dressing I wanted with that." Don't want to lean it out too much, do we?

Chris tried to order three pancakes. He was strongly advised by our waitress that three was a lot of food. That's okay, he said. I mean, like a LOT, she said. I really like pancakes, he said. I've never seen someone eat four, she said, but if you eat two, I'll bring you three. I saw the competitive spark (the one he denies is there) light in Chris' eyes. This is him, making the "are you kidding me?" face when two arrived. Clearly this woman is unaware of the carb-hog, and automatic gainsayer, that she's dealing with.

He horked down his two cakes, and she offered to bring another. He passed on it. Here's where I love to say that officially, he only ate two. I know this will drive him crazy, and that's what kind of person I am.

Lincoln, you were tons of fun, man. I have always said that about you.

Back to the land that was named for you, along the road that was named for you, we were glad to get home to our wee folks, and our own house.

At the beginning of our trip, Chris began to take the info sheet we had printed for each town, and as we passed through the town, crumble it up and toss it over his shoulder into the back seat. This never failed to make me laugh. What can I say? That's how two hyper-planners cut loose. Here is the product of our trip: Illinois, you have been smoked and cashed!

So that's the last post on this little fall trip. Not long now before I'm blogging about our recent trip to Napa, CA! If I play my cards right, this blog may not involve any actual cooking on my part for quite some time.

Heart-Shaped Stuff, or "Happy Black Monday"

I was gonna call this post, "Hey! Wait! I've Got a New Complaint," but, eh. Maybe I'm dating myself with that. And hey, maybe YOU'RE dating yourself this Valentine's Day! In which case, you probably don't wanna hear any more about it, in which case, I apologize. I'm remembering one particular V-Day in Chicago, when I went to pick up my roommate and friend Katie after work. I stopped at a gas station off Ohio Street, and promptly locked my keys in my car. I soon had the help of two cabbies, one minivan mom, and no less than eight gangbangers trying to help me break into my own car. The cabbie had an illegal jimmy in his trunk, but it didn't work on a car "as old as mine." The gangbangers fished out a coat hanger, but after an hour it was finally me that extended it long enough to unlock the door on the side opposite me. All the criminals cheered, and the mom got in her car as quickly as possible. Spending the day that way just made being single that much more special for me.

Well, this Valentine's Day, I will have three dates. I haven't made any dinner plans, and we don't have a babysitter that day, so I may be employing the old standard: a heart-shaped pizza.

This one is from Wayne's in Arlington Heights, but most pizza places do this. A nice option for some of the fellas: pair this with a nice piece of jewelry, and no one will really care that you didn't cook (plus she gets the night off from it). Just a thought.

If you want more of a simple breakfast-in-bed, jump-up, kick-in-the-privates from the adorable children, you can pair a "red scramble" (good diced salami, scrambled with eggs, topped with parmesan) with a heart-shaped artisan roll:

Easy to do - just use an oblong roll with rounded ends, cut in half on the diagonal, and then split. You could use red jam if you wanted to go further with the red thing.

Just for fun, I have some photos of some other heart-shaped things. Since this is a food blog, I'll spare you the picture of the perfect heart my cat left in his litter box, and just show you the heart-shaped potato I found!

Cutting it in half was a bit weird, though. And sometimes I cut into a pepper, and there's another little baby pepper in there. This one had a heart inside, which I found cool, and then upsetting and anatomical.

Well, anyway. Neither here nor there, but what other post was I gonna use those pictures on?

Have a Happy Valentine's Day, or alternatively, just get through it without drunkenly attacking any singing telegrams, tearing the heads off someone else's flowers, or locking your keys in your own car.

Fiber One Choco-Banana

Seriously, get on board the Fiber One train. These taste great! (And I eat mine with a banana, as in the "serving suggestion.")

Soft-Boiled Egg

And now, for the first post of the re-launch. I've had my babies, and I've never stopped taking photos. This is my first post via phone!

The peelable, soft-boiled egg! Boil salted water, add eggs, reduce to simmer 6 min, shock in ice water for just a minute or two. The white can be peeled, and the inside is still warm and slightly runny. Great on a salad. Mmmm.

Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Well, hello dere!

I am officially back from hiatus. I am a bit over four months pregnant now, and mercifully over my nausea. I can look at food, and eat food (and now I can post about food). It is wonderful. For the last two weeks I have felt blessed every day.

I have a lot of photos to catch up on. I'm going back to Christmas, here! The organization is probably going to take me most of the day today. But we've moved to another town, and first I have to find the USB cord to my camera...

Well, here's one that was already in the hopper. Are you familiar with Amish Friendship Bread? Someone makes you a live yeast starter. They give you a bag with the dough starter and the live yeast in it, plus a set of instructions. Most days, the instruction is, "Mush up." Then you add some flour and sugar: once during the proliferation phase, and once again right before you bake.



The batter will bubble up in the bag, showing you that the yeast is growing. It just sits on the counter and does its thing. At the point of baking, you are to split the starter off into several new bags. Then you have some new starters to give to other people, and one to bake with yourself (that's why it's called friendship bread.) Who knows where these things actually got started, or how many times these little yeasties have gone around the country?

My friend Kira first made me the Amish friendship starter when I lived in Peoria... And I was too broke to buy a new bag of flour and sugar to actually make the bread, so sadly my little yeasties died unfufilled. I didn't see another starter for several years. You don't have to wait for someone to hand you a starter, however. Here are directions for creating your own starter. You can do this with packaged yeast. Just remember the cardinal rule of Amish bread (which as it turns out, is probably as Amish as I am): no metal spoons! No metal bowls! And no wire hangers! EVER!

Just be ready when you get into this. I last made this when my boss and his wife went out of town, and she trusted me to perpetuate her starters. They were gone long enough that I had to turn the starters over twice. That means shucking myself of six total starters, and making four loaves for myself. Finding "homes" for the starters is not always easy. I don't have a lot of friends who are into baking. I tried to give the first set to family members, and they were all like, "Ucchhhh..." The responsibility! You don't want to let the little microbes die, and then YOU have to find three people to give the starters away to. And a lot of people, it turns out, are not into having living things on their countertops. Several people I asked in my playgroup were convinced that bacteria was growing in there. My arguments that a proliferation of yeast suppressed any blooms of bacteria fell on dead ears. Folks don't realize that there is yeast in most any bread they are eating, either. You have to eat things that were once alive, people. Rocks are not an option.

Anyway, if you are successful in giving the starters away, I think it is worth it. The bread is very good! Here is the recipe I used:

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp.
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 c. oil (I used 1 cup applesauce instead)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large package instant pudding (any kind)
1/2 c. milk
optional: 1 c. raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips

I went for the chocolate pudding, and added chocolate chips and walnuts. I also used whole wheat flour (just at this last add: I didn't want to mess with the chemistry the other times in case there was less gluten in the wheat flour.)



You generously grease two loaf pans, combine 3 T. sugar and 1 T. of cinnamon, and dust the sides and bottom of the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, and you are done!



The bread was great toasted in the morning with a little light butter. I froze the second loaf until I was ready for it, and it worked very well.



My second time around, I used butterscotch pudding, and butterscotch chips instead of the chocolate version. It didn't have a butterscotch flavor, just very sweet. This one was good with pumpkin butter.



That one was tasty, but I think I preferred the chocolate. Good luck with your bread, and if you start a starter, you can always give one to me! Next time I get one of these, I may make all eight loaves, freeze them, and just share THOSE with my friends ("Or eat them myself," said the Little Red Hen...)

Spam 'n Eggs, Yes, I Said Spam 'n Eggs

I am my father's daughter. Though the cooking I do is typically healthy, one thing I have in common with Dad is that I sometimes get a craving that is undeniable. I don't mean the type of craving you get where you think, "Hmm, I think stir-fry might be nice for dinner." I'm talking about the kind that starts as a nagging voice in the back of your mind, and builds over days at a time. Should you try to suppress the Craving, and allow days to turn into weeks, you will find yourself making a trip to the store at the most inconvenient time, and doing your food shopping at places like Walgreen's. Because you just have to get whatever-it-is you've been trying to tell yourself that you don't need, or is too high in fat, or doesn't fit with your ideals. And you have to get it right then.

Spam is not for everyone. In fact, I don't think it appeals to a lot of people, even those who are dedicated meat-eaters. I remember walking into my friend Jen's house one morning in high school. Her father worked for Dial corporation, which had recently acquired the company that produced Treet, a rival product of Spam. He had gotten a lot of free Treet as a result of the merger, and was packing Treet sandwiches for all the kids. One of them, Jason, was having none of it. As I walked up the stairs, I heard her dad saying, "Jason, do you like pork? Do you like chicken? Do you like beef? Well, good. Because IT'S ALL IN THERE." I'm sure Jason tried unsuccessfully to trade his lunch that day.

Well, I've never tried Treet. But I grew up with Spam, and for me it is a fond memory. In my younger days, before I turned fifteen and my metabolism came to a screeching halt, I ate as much as four grown men at every meal. I also had no standards or "ideals" to speak of, and I only obeyed my instinct -- to eat what was tasty. And oh baby, I could eat those pan-seared slices of Spam just as long as Dad would cook 'em up, and the stockpile of cans in the cabinet held out.

Now, I still adore the idea of Spam for kitsch value (a reputation I think the company is well aware of, due to their production of an extensive catalog of items, a museum, and a pretty awesome, if slightly obnoxious, website). But come on. I'm not that girl anymore. I can't stand most Hormel products (Dinty Moore beef stew gives me the shivers just to think about... And remember the Frankenstuff hot dogs with chili inside? In the commercial the dog was struck with lightning, and the chili gushed out. Uhhhk.) I don't generally eat mystery meat, or pork of any kind. Except, of course, for those times when I do.



And don't bother with the Spam Lite. It doesn't taste the same, and that unsatisfied craving just might get rolled over to another day. When you experience the Craving, just go for it. Serve a bit of it diced in scramble eggs with onion for dinner, some green veggies on the side, and enjoy. If our lives are like houses, then a good home is all about balance. And sometimes the cracks can be patched up nicely with Spam.

Grilled Veggies... and What to Do With Them

I love the veggie griller's package at Trader Joe's. It comes with bell peppers, a slice of eggplant, sweet potato, zucchini, red onion and yellow squash, plus a couple mushrooms, and some asparagus. I added the green onion myself, plus some additional bell pepper I had. If you don't have access to Joe's, you could easily make the mix yourself. I just like that it is "single-use, no waste."

Now, of course, they are good simply paired with a grilled chicken breast, but one could get tired of that. Also, there are a couple of these (like the eggplant) that need some "sneaking in" for my husband's sake. I grill the veggies on my grill pan, and I've come up with several uses for them after that.

One night I rough-chopped them, and added them to pasta with some olive oil, a can of clams, a little red pepper flakes and a bit of white wine. Plus, of course, a ton of parmesan cheese.



On another occasion, I put them through the slicer blade (after grilling) of my food processor, plus some leftover asparagus and steamed broccoli I had.



Then I added them to a sautée pan and added red sauce. I got a nutrient-packed veggie sauce out of that, and there was lots left over for the week.



Lastly, I also diced them after grilling and added them to a "crustless quiche." I based it on this recipe from cooks.com, but I basically put in the following:

10 cubed slices wheat bread
9 eggs
3 cups skim milk
two large handfuls (about 8 oz. or two cups) shredded cheese
the cubed veggies
four slices grilled Joe's turkey bacon, diced
salt and pepper

I cut the bread into cubes, and added the beaten eggs and milk, then all the other ingredients. I baked it in a sprayed pan at 350 until it all puffed up into a nice blossom, which took something like an hour. (Hard to say, because mine takes twice as long as everyone else's on earth.)



This was really delicious. We had lots of leftovers that we just reheated in the microwave throughout the week... Would be good without the bacon as a vegetarian option, too!

"Let's Get Some F*%kin' French Toast..."

A little more than a year ago, Chris asked for my instruction on how to prepare French Toast. He became quite frustrated during the process, as he usually does whenever he performs something for the very first time, and afterwards no one solemnly presents him with an embossed certificate proclaiming him the "Ultimate Maestro" of whatever that new thing is. We have that in common, actually. It will be very sad for everyone to see us pass this trait onto all of our future children -- a gaggle of neurotic kids that feel completely worthless if they can't do something perfectly the first time, at the age of three.

Anyway, I think he's ready for his certificate. He's better at this particular dish than I am. And believe it or not, I'm totally okay with that.

Camera Phone!

I sent my brother a text message today saying, "I got a picture phone!" along with a picture I snapped of the framed photo of he and I that is on my mantle. He immediately texted me back with an accompanying picture, saying,

"Yay! Check out these pancakes!"

Christmas Cookies in L.A.

For Christmas this year, in case you haven't already gotten this, we went to L.A. and saw the bro. We ate (both at restaurants and at home) so much freaking food that I will be posting feverishly for the next few days!

David had requested some Chicago gear so that he could "represent." We followed through, and he was able to fully represent while eating his salami, toast and eggs on Christmas Eve.



While watching the Bears game and not climbing out of our pajamas all day, Chris sampled his first bloody mary... the first of his many "first drinks" on our trip.



I don't think he was a huge fan, and while they aren't my favorite drink either, you can't argue that Dave makes the best ones. He makes them spicy with horseradish, worcheshire and hot sauce, and gives you plenty of skewered snacks.



That day, we also baked sugar cookies (per Chris' request.) We got plenty of Christmas cutters from the 99 cent store. I made the cookies from a box and still managed to mess up the directions with too much butter (I failed to use the "roll out" recipe.) So I had to keep adding flour. I also managed to overbake most of them slightly (I like to watch the game.) Still, despite my lack of baking prowess and a failure to purchase many decorative items, they came out pretty good.



I can't believe our trip is over and we are home, already! Hope yours was happy!