Bread and Butter by Erin Mckenna

 As I sat in the sweltering heat, waiting for people to make purchases at my garage sale-- Bread & Butter was the book I flipped through. The fact that anyone has been able to crack the code of baking both gluten-free and vegan is pretty incredible to me. What are pastries without butter, flour and eggs? Thanks to Erin Mckenna, they aren't tasteless bricks.

This book is spunky, feisty and fun. I can only guess that it is a reflection of Mckenna herself. The colors are all vibrant shades of pastel. Babycake's retro-glam style definitely shows through in this book. This photo of Erin in a puff of flour is my absolute favorite image of the book. There is just something so joyful and fun about it.


I kept finding recipes I wanted to make-- only to realize I didn't have any of the ingredients on hand. I find myself in sort of a hard place with this book. I bake gluten-free often, but I am not vegan. For me to make these recipes I would have to invest quite a bit of money into various flours, xanthan gum, etc. Most of the recipes require a mix of different flours, so you really need to own them all. I just don't know if that is really worth it to me.

That doesn't make it a bad book. It would probably be a fantastic book for those who are gluten-free/vegan. I can see it being an indispensable resource for a small audience. For now though I think I'll stick with baking sourdough. I love David Lebovitz, who did the forward and whose quote is featured on the back.

He says "It's bread that is the stuff of life, and I'm thrilled that Erin has created this collection of baked goods not just for the wheat-free crowd, but for everyone who enjoys good, fresh, honest food as much as I do."     

Perhaps he should have added-
and doesn't mind dropping the money to buy all the additional ingredients to make the recipes.

All of that aside, I think Erin certainly needs to be applauded for this book. I can't imagine how much recipe testing went into getting these recipes perfected. I get frustrated trying to make recipes gluten-free and often give up. She certainly accomplished something impressive with this book!

I received the book for review purposes from Blogging for Books, however opinions are my own.

Keeping a Daily Journal

As a teenager I was an avid journaler. I documented every detail of my dramatic existence. There were poems and drawing and lamentations. While they are somewhat painful to read, I am thankful I have them. It's pretty neat to read about the first time I met my now husband, our first date and first kiss. They are sort of ridiculous and angst-ridden but they're a reflection of me at the time.

Over the years I slowly stopped journaling. It started to feel a little silly. I felt pressure to come up with something to say. I slowly fell out of the habit. I just didn't feel like I had anything useful to write. At the same time, it made me sad that I wasn't documenting my life in some fashion.

I came across a daily journal, by the now defunct Paper Coterie, and it seemed feasible. It had three rows for you to write in everyday. Only three small rows. I felt like I could do that. I kept track of all things domestic- what I cooked (and if we liked it), what we did, what the kids are learning, who we saw, what the garden was doing, short and long term goals, kids quotes and etc. It was easy to adapt to whatever season of life we were in.


I am on my third journal right now. With Paper Coterie out of business I just purchased a regular journal-- with a pretty cover, of course. I enjoy having a little more space to write if I want to add more details. Reading over my old journals is really rewarding. It is also really helpful practically. If I want to know the date of anything we did, I can find it. Like when did we move to this house? When did you start that job? When did my daughter take her first step? When did the garden go in last year? This has come in handy so many times.

If you want to document your life in some way, but find it hard to keep on a journal-- a daily journal might be just the ticket for you!

Tips for keeping a daily journal-

-Just start with what you have. Maybe all you have to use right now is an old notepad, but sometimes the best way to start is to jump right in.

-That said... Having a cute journal does make things more fun.

-Keep writing! Some days it feels like I have nothings to say about my day. I pretty much do the same things most days, so I feel like I'm just repeating myself. To keep things from getting to monotonous I write silly things the kids say or do. The kids are always changing. I also write about any new projects I am doing or thoughts I am having.

-Try to write everyday. My goal is to have an entry for each day. However, I do sometimes cheat and do a few days at once. I try not to get to far behind because I tend to forget what we did.

-Reread them regularly. I have journals from the past three years. I love sitting down and reading about my life then. It is also really helpful to see what remains interesting to me years later, and what details I don't really care about. Like, why did I write about the weather 5 days in a row? I am thankful for the times I wrote about what dinners we were enjoying or the kids milestones. I try to then add more details like these in my current journals.

-Have fun with it! You are doing this for you, nobody else. Write about the things that you care about. No detail is too small if it matters to you.

June Garden

 Every day I ask myself "are there any projects I need to do in the garden today?" most of the time the answer is no, I'm usually caught up on all my weeding/watering. However, without fail I wander out there. I love it, like a cucumber beetle on my beans, I can't get enough.

Last year I really wanted raised beds. My husband busted out his chainsaw and made these log beds for me. We won't be in the house forever, so they are a good temporary solution. I have four raised beds- behind them is a huge plot where I planted all my overflow.

The tree near the middle of the photo is Eucalyptus. I planted it last year... Perhaps not by best decision to place it there. It was so tiny when I  bought it, I never thought it would grow so big so fast. Things are far from perfect. I have battled it out with slugs and cucumber beetles. Plants have lost their lives. I love having a "before" photo of the garden. I took this photo last week and the plants are already considerably bigger. So here it is, the garden in June!

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

So I may have mentioned my starry-eyed love for A Modern Way to Eay by Anna Jones. As a reward for my hours of slaving away in this pigsty, I made up some cookies. I flipped through the recipes I had tagged until I came to the Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. The cookies are the perfect mix of macaroon and oatmeal cookie. They came together in about ten minutes.

The cookies are made with coconut (or spelt) flour, oats, unsweetened coconut, brown sugar, coconut oil and maple syrup. The recipe called for raisins as well, but I left them out-- because for me raisins ruin everything. Me eating a cookie with raisins-- oh it's a chocolate chip-delicious chocolate-oh wait it's a raisin-barf. Anyways.... raisins aside, they were super simple cookies to whip up. I only dirtied a measuring cup, 2 bowls and spoon. No need for a mixer here.


Next time I make them I will probably substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar. I almost did this time, but I wanted to give the recipe a try the way Anna had intended it. I am guessing the coconut sugar will work fine.

I always love finding recipes that use coconut flour- it so much cheaper than most flour alternatives and I love the taste. It is so dry, but it works perfect in this recipe. I have found it most successful when cookies are kept round like these. It seems like when you flatten them they have a tendency to get even drier.

Also, just a a warning, do not give these to a 2 year old in her freshly laundered bed... They are a little crumbly and the 2-years-old's vice grip will likely turn them into a huge mess

Monday

Monday means....

Dishes, dirt and laundry. Messes, spills and sticky substances. Laundry, did I say laundry? And dead mice your kitty kills and leaves for you to clean up. Children coming down off the weekend high and disappointment that daddy went back to work today.

And me, slightly disheveled, and tired because I stayed up too late watching Burn Notice with my husband. And not quite ready to tackle the mountain of work that lays ahead of me.


It was a good decision, years ago, when I decided weekends were for playing. Weekends are for spending precious time with my family, not cleaning up like a crazy person. Because, I am a crazy person and I love the clean- need the clean. My family though, needs me on the few days we can all play together. It doesn't always work out great, but it works out good enough.


And so.. here we are, with mountains of laundry and dishes and messes. It's Monday again and time to clean up the weekend. I get out my good smelling homemade cleaner, and diffuse some oils. The music, is of course, on and loud. The children are outside trying to make their bikes work on our gravel driveway and grass.

And a second cup of coffee is beckoning.

Next Review in the Que, Bread & Butter.

The next book I get to review for Blogging For Books is Bread & Butter By Erin McKenna. I am SO excited to try out some of these recipes. Erin is the fabulous founder of BabyCakes NYC and Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC. All the recipes are gluten free. Baking gluten free bread products is a realm I have only dipped my toe into. I love to bake and my trusty sourdough start gets a lot of action. I'm hoping this book expands my knowledge of gluten-free flours and techniques. I got an email today saying that my book was shipped, so I should receive it in the next week or so. Keep and eye out for a full review then.

Influenster Nurture Box

I got a sweet purple box in the mail today! A box filled with goodies from Influenster. The Nurture Box contains

-Hada Labo Tokyo™ Ultimate Anti-Aging Facial Mask

- A coupon for Uncle Ben's

-Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen Sensitive

-Dramamine Non-Drowsy Naturals

-Skinfix Diaper Rash Balm

-Red Vines

-A coupon for Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Easy Fries and Tater Tots

-ATTITUDE Little Ones Shampoo

I totally spaced getting the Dramamine Naturals in the picture-- I already gave it to my husband. He gets very sea sick. Poor guy spent his entire time halibut fishing barfing. Hopefully the product will help him next time he goes out.

So far our favorite product is the Attitude Shampoo. It has a light, natural fragrance. The product left my daughter's tangley hair super manageable and soft. Not having to brush knots out of a two-year-olds hair-- WIN.

"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."