When the Bakery is Closed, Make Your OWN! (Homemade Mini Donuts)

For the past three and a half years we've been super blessed with in-OUR-home childcare, but all of our regular sitters are growing up and had to cut back their days and hours for more classes or because they are starting their careers.  So this semester we have had THE hardest time finding regular helpers the days that we need them-- today was one of those days so I took the day off to be with the kiddos. (I'm not complaining too much about this, my heart is at my home with my babies, always!) Well this morning, I saw that storms were expected pretty much 90% of the day and I wanted to do something special with them. We have a new bakery just a couple blocks away from us so I thought, Hey, let's walk to the bakery! We've driven in the past but the kids could use the fresh air and maybe it'll tire them out for a better nap. (PS. It didn't. They both only slept an hour. What can do you do). 

My sweet two and three-year-old walked for twenty minutes, jumping over mud puddles, talking about the different kinds of donuts they were going to enjoy. Reese wanted sprinkles and Pierson was craving chocolate. Every other crack in the sidewalk they asked, "Is that the bakery? Are we there yet?" Just keep walking, I told them. Finally, we arrived and to my dismay, the blinds were all closed and the sign on the door read, Tuesday: Closed. I kid you not, the two of them sat down on the sidewalk and whimpered for several minutes; to them of course they felt they had just walked for hours and the reward was going to be a donut. I had to find a way to lure them back the same way we came, without having to switch off carrying them both (they are getting SO BIG!) Then I remembered: we have a mini donut maker at the house! Pierson and Reese, I excitedly said. We have a donut maker at home, I think we can make our own donuts!  It worked (for the most part. I still had to carry them on and off several times but at least I didn't have crying toddlers!)

We enjoyed a short pit-stop at the playground and then once home, I quickly googled "easy donut maker recipe without a cake mix." Baker Bettie's website came up and she had what looked like a fairly easy (and kid friendly) recipe. I let the kids watch an episode of Curious George (thank you, Netflix) and got busy in the kitchen getting out the ingredients we needed--luckily we had them all.

Ingredients: For Donuts
5 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1½ cups all-purpose flour
Ingredients: For the Topping
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Once I had all of this out and ready it was super easy to call the kids into the kitchen to have their 'help.' Pierson pulls over a yellow step-stool and dumps the ingredients as needed and also can turn on the standing mixer. Reese climbs ON to the counter and watches, handing me measuring cups or the ingredients we need next. Here are the directions:

1. In a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix until just combined (mixture will look curdled).
2. Add in the baking powder and the salt and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the flour just until combined. You don’t want to over-mix.
3. Turn on the mini donut maker and spray it generously with cooking spray
4. Spoon big drops into the donut maker and allow them to bake 3-4 minutes (or in my case, until the green light came on telling me "ready." Allow to cool just slightly before dipping in topping.
5. Melt the butter for the topping and combine the cinnamon and sugar. Dip each donut lightly in butter then roll in cinnamon and sugar.

The original recipe says it made thirty mini donuts-- I'm not sure what I did differently or if my donut maker is just a different size, but my batch did NOT turn out to be thirty. When the donuts came out of the maker, they were a dark brown and super soft. I dipped them into the cinnamon mixture and told the kids they could enjoy them after they ate their lunch. I prepared a little spot for them at the table and they were so excited for this sweet treat!

Next time I try to haul the kids to our neighborhood bakery I will definitely be checking online to see if they are OPEN or not, but this morning still turned out to be such a sweet one- literally! My kids are always inspiring me to try new things and I think our first time baking our own donuts turned out to be quite the success. I hope you enjoy them as much as we will!

Just Us

We have been blessed to have really happy and obedient kids, you know, the whopping three years total that we've been parents. But if you're one of those who may think transitioning from one to two kids has been simple for me, well it's honestly been nothing but a giant learning curve.

Pierson was our summer baby. The one we spent three months trying to get pregnant with, the babe we had an entire summer with, just the three of us and our pets, in our new-to-us home; relaxing, cuddling, napping, walking, and oohing and ahhing over single move he made. I documented every single stage, including the time he rolled off the changing pad and we made a trip to the ER (#firstimeparents).

He was sweet and simple; not a crier, an excellent sleeper and a very giggly, happy baby. When he was seven months old, my world was rocked when we found out I was again pregnant. I sobbed my eyes out, knowing that my then napping baby had no idea what his mother just found out and that he would have no idea that it ever used to be 'just us.' I know this has the potential to sound terrible to those reading, but I don't mean it that way. I don't hate our second child (duh, look at her!) and things turned around later in my pregnancy with her-- but there was heartache for me thinking that I wasn't given enough time. I was just figuring out this whole Motherhood thing, I was recovering from Thyroiditis and plain and simple; I felt guilty. "He didn't ask for this!" I cried to my own mom. "He didn't say he wanted a sibling!" The trivial nonsense I bothered myself with is surreal. (What child asks for a sibling? And what about the kids who are second and third and fourth children?)

My daughter Reese was born, almost fifteen months to the day that he was. I was released two days later and it's like when the nurses and doctors were discharging me, they were patting me on the back saying, "Here you go, Mama. Now you have two babies to raise. You have two tiny humans you're in charge of. You'll be fine." My role as Mom to Pierson changed drastically. Before she came, I was his everything. Not that my husband wasn't present (because he is, immensely); but that no other child relied on me. Now I had a tiny baby girl, who needed me for all of her meals, every three hours , no matter what we all may be doing. Pierson had to learn how to play independently, was shushed when I was scared he would wake her, or scolded if he tried to crawl into my lap while I re-learned how to breastfeed. Over time I got better and I learned how to live as a mom of two. But still he was immediately 'the older child' and was required to step it up a notch or two, or twenty by being so.

My husband would often play with him while I nursed or bathed her. It wasn't until she got to be quite a bit older that it became easier to parent together again, instead of mostly apart. Life started to slow down after her first birthday- well, slow isn't the right word. Nothing is slow with toddlers. But we have our routine and thanks to Babywise working for our kids, they love and thrive on them.  I can again intentionally focus on being Mom to Pierson. Some days we use the phrase "divide and conquer" and to us this means that we need to separate the kids. They are together all day, every day, and they literally do not know life apart from one another. To Pierson, Reese has been with him forever and for Reese, well, that's actually the case. She loves to grocery shop with her Dad and the photo above represents Pierson's most current mom and son hobby: baking.

I am learning so much about him and his three and a half-year-old self.  Cooking is my husband's thing and baking is mine, so when at ten o'clock in the morning this Saturday Pierson said, "Mommy, I want to make chocolate chip cookies with you," that's what we did. Reese went to the store and Pierson sat on our yellow step-stool, helping me measure brown sugar and flour and turning the standing mixer to the right speeds to mix. We scooped the dough on to the cookie sheets and set the timer; he sat on the kitchen floor for a few seconds and watched as their shape started to change. They began to warm and spread out, fall a little and then rise. I stopped rinsing the measuring cups and paused to take him in. The once newborn baby, my once only child. The big brother and the incredibly loving and gentle soul that started our family. I didn't know that he would become a big brother so soon and while I adore being Mom to both my children, my heart very much skips a beat when it's just us.

Thank you, Pierson, for helping me bake these cookies. Thank you for your grace, forgiveness and love. Three years sounds so short to many, but in Mom Time, it's much longer. They have been slow at times but fleeting overall; to think that in three more you will be six, well, I can't even imagine. Your helpful heart and eagerness to learn make me swell with pride. I am so thankful for every single ounce of you, even and especially when I am not strong enough to show it.

Valentines Goodies Brought to You by Shari's Berries©

I can't believe Valentine's Day is in just a couple weeks! I was so excited to partner with Shari's Berries this month because now I can show you the perfect gift to send your boo- (or kids, or bestie, or mom, or whoever!) I don't know about YOU, but gourmet dipped strawberries are right up my love language alley. There is such a huge selection to choose from; from hand-dipped football berries, hand-dipped caramel apples and classic dipped cherries! I got these delectable berries in the mail and photographed (and ate!) them a day later- they were still as fresh as can be! 

Paired with some sparkling cider, (champagne would of course work too), talk about YUMMY. The kids requested 'pink milk' so that's what they got. As they were finishing their berries, they looked at one another and said, "Cheers!" (Reese's favorite thing to say thanks to our many tea parties). These two and three year olds definitely approved!

Run, don't walk, to your computer or phone or whatever device you want to use and place your order for Valentine's Day! I promise you won't regret it!

Miniature Apple Crisp Pies

Baking is starting to be something I live for on the weekends. Snowy or cold days in general just really motivate me to put on some sweats and get out the standing mixer. Okay, who am I kidding, I don't really need motivation for sweats because they're kind of my at-home staple :/ But anyway! One of my friends made an apple pie and she put it on Facebook this past week (thanks, Rebecca!) and I thought, "Well now I want to make an apple pie!" My husband informed me he actually prefers apple 'crisp' to a crust covered pie so I started looking up recipes with that in mind. At the store he found mini pot pie tins, six came in a package, and they were the perfect size for the personal pies I had in mind! 

I found several recipes and the one that I went with most consistently was one from Pillsbury. There's was a 9-inch Cinnamon Raise Apple Crisp. I didn't want raisins and I actually added some brown sugar to the filling, which theirs doesn't call for. (Look at me, getting creative! HA!) Even though there's is for a standard pie, the filling worked out perfectly for four miniature pie tins. I should have doubled their topping ingredients so I am going to write it for that (x2). Mine just didn't end up being as filled to the brim as I had hoped, but they were still SO good. And then lastly, I looked up a homemade caramel recipe and the Pioneer Woman has SUCH an easy one to follow; that too turned out delicious.

I used store bought frozen roll-out crust that I let thaw in the fridge before using. And then I outlined the pie tins with a knife and cut them accordingly.

The ingredients for the pie filling is this:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups thinly sliced peeled apples (I used four Granny Smith)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
*I was able to almost perfectly divide the filling into four miniature pies with no filling left over*

Pre-heat the oven to 350°
In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Stir in, tossing it all to coat the apples well and then fill the pies. 

For the topping:
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or nut of your choice or omit entirely if you just don't like them)

In medium bowl, mix the topping ingredients except the pecans with pastry blender or fork until crumbly; stir in pecans and sprinkle generously over filling.

Bake on cookie sheet 20 minutes. Place sheet of foil over pie to prevent excessive browning. Bake 20 to 30 minutes longer or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

These not only smelled irresistible while they were baking, they are among my favorite pie creation thus far. As soon as they came out and I was letting them cool, I decided a warm caramel topping would be the perfect final touch.

Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 stick Butter (4 Tablespoons)
1/2 cup Half-and-half Or Cream (cream Will Make It Thicker)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
 Pinch Of Salt

Instructions:
Mix all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thicker. Turn off heat. Serve warm or refrigerate until cold. If sauce is thin, just continue cooking for a few more minutes. (Mine took around 12 minutes total).

Now it's time to just DIG IN! My husband walked in the kitchen as soon as I was wrapping up. I literally poured the sauce over the mini pie and handed him a fork. He can vouch for it's pure wonderful taste and I am so excited we have a few of these to eat for dessert this week.