Cozy

Cozy

Posted by Brit

We just got our first snow this week. I don't care for it at all. Cold, dreary. Our home, though, is cozy. It's the little things.

Toasted Coconut Heath Bar Cookies

Toasted Coconut Heath Bar Cookies

Posted by Brit

So... I pretty much only post recipes on here so I can reference when I want to make to them again.  I do hope some of you try them.  I'm not the best blogger so I'm not sure if I really "sell" them or photograph them well.

Well here goes the latest recipe:

Toasted Coconut Heath Bar Cookies

• 1 cup softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups golden brown sugar (packed)
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 8 ozs Heath Bar pieces (You can crush up the candy bars or buy 1 bag Heath bits from the baking sections)
• 1 1/4 cups shredded coconut (Toast 1/2 a cup and leave the other 3/4 cup plain)

Set oven to 350 degrees.  Spread 1/2 cup of the coconut on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 5 minutes and check once a minute after than until mostly golden brown.  You will have a few pieces that are still white and a few on the edges that a little past golden brown.

Increase oven temperature to 375.

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Mix in eggs and vanilla extract.  In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt.  Slowly combine the two then add both the toasted and untoasted coconut and the Heath bits.  Remove mixture from mixer (or stop using the hand mixer) at this point and mix in the oatmeal by hand.  The dough will be a bit hard to mix at this point.  I actually used my hands and almost kneaded it like bread.

Put parchment paper on your cookie sheet and make rounded tablespoon sized mounds about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake for 7 - 10 minutes until golden and leave on cookie sheet for about 1 minute after baking and then move to cooling rack.  If you over cook them (like I did my first batch) skip the whole leave them on the sheet for a minute thing.  Do pick up the parchment paper and just move them all over at once.

Should make about 4 dozen give or take.

Adapted from here. 

So life is currently good and busy.  Work is hectic this time of year with different auditors and regulators in the bank!  

I got to spend this weekend with Tia and get to spend some time next weekend with Ashley.

 

Baby Blue

Baby Blue

Posted by Brit

Tia shared this with me last night.

I made a pie

I made a pie

Posted by Brit

For Brandon.  Not for myself.  I didn't eat a single piece because eating fruit pies isn't really my thing.  But baking fruit pies, well that is fun and somewhat therapeutic and is definitely my thing.  I'm told this one's excellent.  He's a tough critic, so enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Recipe for double pie crust here.  I've been using this Better Homes and Gardens Pastry for Double Crust Pie since I taught myself to bake pies! I highly recommend it, but if you've got one you prefer that would work too.

1 pound strawberries
1 pounds rhubarb
1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. All purpose flour
3 T. Butter
1 egg yolk

1. Make pie crust.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Mix strawberries and rhubarb, add premixed flour and sugar. Coat fruit with flour sugar mix.
4. Pour filling into pie crust and put dollops of butter on top.
5. Put top crust layer on. If you want to get fancy you can use a pastry cutter (or butter knife) and cut a lattice top. I just cut a simple design in mine. Do cut at least a small x in the center to allow steam to escape. Take a fork and press together bottom and top edges of crust.
6. Brush top with egg yolk to get a golden crust. Sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

Worth pulling over for

Worth pulling over for

Posted by Brit

Kansas sunsets... Can't beat 'em.

It's been a long day. Coming home feels good tonight.

Road Trip

Road Trip

Posted by Brit

Last week Lauren, Tia, Sage and I took a road trip to West Yellowstone, MT for Farm Fest 2012 (click the link to see some of the bands)!  We had three Wichita bands there whom we are friends with: The Calamity Cubes, Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy, and the Slaughter Daughters.  It was unbelievably awesome!  We left Wednesday after work, picked up Sage along the way and drove straight through the night, arriving at noon on Thursday.  We got to drive through Yellowstone National Park on the way there and back.  On the way home we took our time and drove through Big Horn National Forest as well.  Here are some pictures from the trip!  I've linked the bands in the captions, so check them out!

A Wyoming sunrise

Lauren enjoying our sunrise stop

Buffalo Bill State Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone Beer - Golden Ale

1st Night

Our Campsite

The view from the stage grounds

Sunset at our camp

Mr. Joey Henry of The Calamity Cubes playing a song at our camp

Phillip Roebuck

Lauren - Sage - Tia

A game of wiffle ball amongst old friends
Willy Tea Taylor at the pitcher's mound

Tyler Grubb at bat

Joey Henry at bat

The Harmed Brothers of Oregon

Willy Tea Taylor

Family

The Calamity Cubes

Rev and Tyler Grubb of Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy

Jared Starling, Zach Starling, Brody Wellman and Matt Dreher of Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy

The Goddamn Gallows

Geysers in Yellowstone

A buffalo makes his way down the road

And then off of the road

Big Horn National Forest, Wyoming

Almost out of Big Horn

Lightening over the Badlands, South Dakota

On my front porch

On my front porch

Posted by Brit

I promise more vacation pictures soon!
Until then here's some fresh lemonade. Brandon added lime and it was perfect.

Wyoming and Montana skies

Wyoming and Montana skies

Posted by Brit

Currently at the farmageddon records music festival in West Yellowstone, MT.

Saturday

Saturday

Posted by Brit

Today I unpacked in my new home. I didn't finish. It's overwhelming, interesting. Different.

It rained but the sun stayed out.

.

.

Posted by Brit

Well it's been a busy spring and now summer is pretty much here, and it's hot. Starting sometime in February I managed to spend nine weekends in a row out of town for at least part, if not whole, weekends. Visiting friends. Watching disc golf. Mourning and celebrating a life. It's been a whirlwind. I've taken some pictures along the way that I'd like to share. Of course I hope to keep up with the blogging throughout the summer. I've got no huge summer plans, but Tia, some friends and I may go to West Yellowstone for Farmageddon Fest - a music festival.  I recently got promoted at my job and I'm settling in.  I've got a busy couple weeks coming up with quarter end!

Brandon and I traveled up to Holton, KS in early spring to visit friends Joel and Julie.  We took our time traveling and stopping to play a couple of disc golf courses along the way.

Tia and I went to Lawrence and met up with some Bethel folk.  We saw William Elliot Whitmore at the Granada.

We also saw Drakkar Sauna at the Granada.

In March I visited my dear friend Ashley who is now living in DC.  She showed me around town properly with cupcakes from Crumbs.

Peanut Butter Cup cupcake!

Oh, and no big deal, but Ashley and I set court side at a Washington Wizards/Portland Trailblazers NBA game.

Ashley also got to come home in May for her family's big auction.  Josh, Ashley and I went to see the Avengers in IMAX 3D while she was home.

Visiting grandpa.  Such a loving, caring, wonderful man was lost.  He was always proud of the things we had done.  He was willing to help anyone out.

Despite the sadness surrounding us we were able to love, bond, and hold each other close.  I cannot describe how thankful I am for this family.

And baby Gavin is about the cutest little genius around.

Tia, some friends and I camped out on a farm east of Newton for String Break, a benefit mini festival for Kirk Rundstrom.  Here's Tia ready to go.

Camping, Drinking, Music.

Brandon and I also traveled to several of his tournaments this spring, with more to come.

Brandon, Nathan, and I went to the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine, KS to watch Tim O'Brien play a show.

The weather was great.  We had a slight breeze and some cold beers to keep us cool

.

For $10 you got to see the concert and tour the arboretum.  You could bring in your own cooler with food and drinks, which is what we did.  I did have to splurge on a $5 BBQ plate too though.

We through a party for our friend Gen's birthday!

Measuring cups made a substitute for small beverage glasses.