Cinnamon/Chocolate Rolls. Valentine's-Style.

A few weeks ago, I made Novel Eats' fabulous vegan cinnamon/chocolate rolls.  I decided to repeat the recipe and send some to work with the hubs.  Since it was Valentine's Day, I wanted to do something a little fun and special and so I decided to make them into hearts.  I had the basic idea of what I wanted to do, but because I wanted to check and ensure that it would not be a complete waste of time by trying this idea, I did a quick google search and found this and went for it.  I've got to say that these were a success.  Here's how they turned out:

Smelly...in a Good Way! (A Chai Tea Syrup Recipe)

I stumbled upon an adorable Chai Tea Syrup Recipe this morning and instantly thought it would be the perfect recipe for today's project. While we are not regular coffee drinkers (I think coffee beans are magically delicious, but I hate singing this song after I drink the stuff), chai tea has become JJ's favorite afternoon pick-me-up. We've had a pretty good relationship with Oregon Chai for the last fifteen years or so, but after purchasing Tazo's Chai Tea Concentrate 3-pack from Costco, we both fell in love with its blend. Now I refuse to buy Oregon Chai, especially since the last box I bought tasted like the company forgot to add important ingredients like black tea to their mix!

Not yet having made this month's Costco trip and after just relabeling the contents of my spice rack yesterday, I knew I had everything I needed on hand. As I got started, well, I kind of got a little crazy and completely strayed from the recipe of inspiration. I knew that JJ would reprimand me for doing this and so I created two different batches of Chai Tea Concentrate, creating my own version and also sticking (mostly) to Lucy's recipe. Sorry, JJ. Lucy's recipe is good, but was a little too sweet for me (I should have followed her warning). The only modification that I made was after adding one tablespoon of the recommended three tablespoons of vanilla extract. I stopped at one tablespoon.

Outdone By a Vegan! Sorry Ree.

After cooking up a fierce and fattening storm for JJ's birthday, I was on a roll, and decided to keep on trucking this week. In our house I usually switch between feast and famine mode. I think that this has to do with the fact that the stuff I love to cook is really, really bad for you. I use lots of butter, cream, and cheese. Unfortunately. So usually I try to make all other stuff I make super healthy, but this was still technically a birthday week...so I picked four new recipes to work into our weekly plan.

First up, I decided to make Ree Drummond's Cinnamon Rolls. I have had great success with a few of her recipes (Migas, Olive Cheese Bread, and her favorite sandwich, which is now one of my favorites as well), but I've noticed that Ree's desserts aren't necessarily my cup of tea. The one exception are the semi-delicious Apple Dumplings. I've made a lot of these for youth people we have around. It's a really fast and relatively cheap dessert to make. I've found that kids love these things, especially after I tell them the dessert has had Mountain Dew poured over the whole thing before being baked. "Oooooh yeeeeahhh...I can TOTALLY taste it!" (You really can't.) While the Apple Dumplings recipe is still slightly too sweet for me I know that other people like their desserts that way, so it's worth keeping in my Tastebook for now.

One-year Moveiversary, Part One.

One year ago yesterday, we moved into our current little home. I clearly remember the first time I saw it. While I thought the outside of this place definitely had some charm, once I walked in the front door, I whispered, "I hate it! I absolutely HATE it! The answer is NO" to my dear husband.

Isn't that typically a rather promising first response to things we think we will despise that actually turn out to be quite good for us? Or is it just me...?

We looked at this place in December on a whirlwind interview trip. My husband had a shot at a job he thought he just might completely love. The numbers worked. But the housing situation. Oh, the housing! Living and finding affordable housing in San Diego county was challenging enough for us (but a way was made for us!). Now we were considering moving from one expensive city to one far north of that. The difference? Oh, only about twice (gulp!) as expensive as our former city. With no real pay increase. But I was determined to find something for the sake of my husband.

After pouring over craigslist ads, calling around, and getting really frustrated with people not returning my calls since we were not local, there were really only one or two affordable options out there. One was the place I didn't exactly love and the other would be stretching our budget a little too much for my comfort. After all, if we were going to rent a larger place, we had better make sure that we could actually afford to feed "all the people we could potentially invite over" something more than crackers and tap water!