Lovin in my Oven...

I had plans to go to a pumpkin patch with Princess H, One, and Tiny, but someone (Princess H, I’m looking your way) got sick and put a hold on my holiday merriment.

Two things about this photo 1) I'm not sure what happened to my picture, but I LIKE it!
2) I did indeed take my cookies to the porch for a glamour shot

But I wasn’t about to let a 2 year-old with a weak immune system ruin my day, so I set to work making one of my favorite cookies. They’re luscious and chocolaty with a fruity punch from the wine and dried fruit. As my trusty stand mixer Yenta transformed the butter and sugar into fluffy peaks, I realized how grateful I was to have her in my life. A lot of people choose to wait until they’re married before they taste the forbidden fruits of the Kitchenaid mixer, but I’m too impatient, too reckless, too hungry. So I succumbed, and satisfied my desire. And you know what? I haven’t regretted it once.

The Top Five Things
in your kitchen
that shouldn’t wait for marriage

5) Storage containers. This might sound silly, but, I don’t like flimsy little glad-wares that I can never find the matching lid for. Buy some that you’ll like and use, and then pack tomorrow’s lunch in ‘em.

4) An enameled caste-iron pot. I recently acquired one, and while it’s not the Caribbean Blue Le Creuset that I lust after, it was about 1/6th the price and still makes a mean loaf of bread.

3) A good blender. Brother C got me one for my birthday a couple years ago, and I use it constantly. In the summer I make smoothies (and milkshakes), and in the winter I probably eat pureed soups 2 or 3 times a week. I love me some liquid nutrition!

2) A Kitchenaid. Guys dig kitchenaids. or maybe it’s the cookies that seem to spring fully formed from their gears...

And finally, the Number 1 kitchen tool no single person should be without...
Knives! Who needs a man(or lady)-o-steel when you’ve got a block-o-steel in the kitchen keeping you safe.