Our (Neurodiverse) Family

News flash: Laura is a lame blogger. I'm really sorry to any faithful readers I have, if there are any left after my absence. I have depression, which for the most part I'm able to manage. But sometimes, it hits in such a way that nothing can get done. Depression = no motivation whatsoever. I'm doing okay now, and some old high school classmates wrote to me on facebook telling me how much they love my blog, and that really helped me motivate myself to get something here today. I didn't actually bake yesterday because I made these cookies last Thursday. I came home that night from my knitting/crocheting group feeling the urge to bake something chocolate-y. When you get that urge, there is no ignoring it. So, I decided to make some of my mom's famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I don't really care for chocolate chip cookies that don't have oatmeal in them. They have no character, and are usually waaaay too sweet. And yet, so many people here where ...

It wasn't dessert this Sunday that was sweet, it was breakfast. On Saturday night, I decided to start some cinnamon rolls to bake in the morning. Just because. Instead of giving you the recipe and giving you pictures, I'm just going to be lazy and link you up to The Pioneer Woman's and show you the picture of mine. Summer induces laziness, didn't you know? Here's a link to Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls . There are a couple things I did differently: I didn't put coffee or maple flavoring into my icing. I also used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil in the dough. Despite these changes, they were the gooiest, most delicious cinnamon rolls I EVER had. My husband agreed. Here's a picture of mine: My hips are not thanking me, no sirree.

Man, I've been bad about posting. Is anyone still out there? Anyone? *crickets* I'll explain eventually what happened last week, but not in this post right. We shall move on to more delightful things, like chocolate cake. From scratch. Wait, you like cake from boxed mixes better? Oh, what am I going to do with you? Once you make this cake, you will wonder why they make boxed mixes in the first place. Seriously, it isn't very hard, and probably takes no more time than the boxed stuff. Just a couple more ingredients, is all. This recipe is more or less two recipes in one. Both came from  Pioneer Woman . First, is her chocolate sheet cake recipe (also used for her Death By Chocolate cupcake recipe). The second is her chocolate ganache frosting recipe (minus corn syrup) used for said cupcake recipe. It was delightful. The only modifications I made for this were so I could use as few bowls as possible, thereby reducing the number of dishes to be washed ;) Oh, and if y...

I, Laura, the Sushi Snob, do not like brownies made from boxed mixes. There, I said it. I mean, I'll eat them, but I don't care for them. It seems like most people prefer them, but I don't. You see, I grew up with brownies made from scratch. Actually, the vast majority of desserts that were prepared for my family's weekly Sunday night dessert were made from scratch, hence my love for homemade desserts.  My problem with boxed mix brownies is that they are usually too cake-y, too dry, and there's this aftertaste taste that seems to scream: "I AM FROM A BOX!" These brownies that I am about to show you, are indeed made from scratch. I know it's a little more effort than pouring out the boxed mix, but I assure you that it is more  than worth it. This recipe is adapted slightly from the Classic Brownie one on  Cooks Illustrated . The only deviations from the original I made: I didn't use aluminum foil and I didn't use nuts.  No pictures except f...

Before I got married, I didn't like mint. Don't ask me why, I just didn't. But I married a mint loving man, and I got the Mrs. Fields cookie cookbook as a wedding present. He begged me to make these, and well, I actually liked them, and have slowly started liking other minty desserts. And since peanut butter desserts are forbidden from my in-laws' house , these are what I am known for. My mother-in-law keeps asking me for the recipe, but I keep telling her she already has it, since she has the same Mrs. Fields cookbook that I do. This recipe is the Mrs. Fields, except with how I approach it. In the original, you have to mix things in different bowls and then combine them in one big bowl at the end. I hate those recipes, because I don't like washing lots of dishes. So here is my modified one-bowl approach. Preheat oven to 300 degrees 1 cup of butter, softened 2/3 cup white sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon mint extract (or more, if you really like your cookie...

I'm famous for these cookies. Whenever I make them, my name is uttered with reverence, men propose to me after taking a bite, children become angels, and there's peace on earth and good will towards men. I've occasionally thought that these cookies could solve all of our world's problems. Okay okay, all joking aside, these are really good cookies. But my husband *did* propose to me after sampling the batter. True story. He grew up in a household where peanut butter desserts were nonexistent because his dad and his brother are allergic to peanut butter. You've got to keep the peace, after all. I guess these cookies couldn't solve the world's problems because of peanut butter allergies *sigh*. I can dream, can't I? Of course, he was already planning on proposing to me that evening anyway, but telling people that he proposed after tasting the peanut butter cookie batter makes it sound better ;) So, if you want to increase your popularity, here's...

Another blog series I'm starting. Like the title? Hubby and I came up with it together. I make a sweet pretty much every Sunday, only now I'll be blogging about it. I am going to try to make a different treat every Sunday, to broaden my dessert horizons. Stephan is not complaining one bit. Without further ado, I present to you... Lemon Cream Bars! I found them on  Tasty Kitchen  a few weeks ago when I was wondering what to make for our weekly dessert. So simple, and I was wondering what to do with all those cans of sweetened condensed milk I had. Here are the instructions! And believe me, they are really easy. So preheat your oven to 350 degrees and let's begin! First, you've got your sweetened condensed milk. I may or may not have licked the can.  Then you've got your lemon juice. Of course, you can also squeeze some lemons, if you have them (I didn't) Mix them together. Set that aside, and move on to the crust! Add one cup of flo...