Mishaps of a housewife

For a week, I have thought of writing this story. For a week, I haven’t known where to start, so I haven’t written anything at all. I’ve finally decided just to start with the basic, raw, painful truth of it, then continue from there. Last Thursday, August 29, I had a baby. My baby was a little boy and he was beautiful, but he isn’t with me now, except in my heart. I was almost 16 weeks pregnant, and there was no chance he could survive. We named our son Joseph Aaron. I went into labor around midnight. When we got to the hospital, Joseph’s heart was still beating strong. But nothing could alter the chain of events. It was too early. Devastating. Crushing. Terrifying. Impossible, until it wasn’t. Here are some things I know about Joseph: * He was 7.5 inches long * He weighed 3.2 ounces * He was born at 8:30 am * He has an older brother who never met him and will never know him on this earth * He was unbelievably beautiful * He was tiny * He was perfectly, fu...

In honor of my sweet, sweet boy's six month birthday, I want to share how he made his debut into the world. I've been wanting to do this since he was first born, but... if you have had a baby, you know how that goes! Keep in mind, this account is long. It is primarily for my sake and Oliver's sake, so he can know the story leading up to his birth, and because I feel it is a type of catharsis for women to share their birth stories. This tale is also for those of you who knew what type of birth I wanted and may be curious how things ended up going, if you don't know already. So with that disclaimer in mind... My due date was October 25, 2011. I told myself from the very beginning of my pregnancy that I would not, under any circumstances, start to hope that he would arrive early. Yeah, right. That lasted until I was 32 weeks along. That was the very defining moment when I told Randy, "I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore." Incidentally, th...

This is my new favorite recipe for buns, and it's very adaptable. I use my bread machine for the dough. Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups milk 1 beaten egg 2 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup white sugar* 3/4 teaspoon salt 3 3/4 cups bread flour** 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast *You can substitute turbinado sugar or honey crystals **I use 2 cups of bread flour and 1 3/4 cup of whole wheat or white wheat flour Directions: Place all ingredients in pan of bread machine according to manufacturer's directions. Select dough setting. When cycle is complete, turn out onto floured surface. Cut dough in half and roll each half out to a 1" thick circle. *** Cut each half into six 3 1/2" rounds with inverted glass as a cutter. Place on greased baking sheet far apart and brush with melted butter. (I skip this step) Cover and let rise until doubled, about one hour. Bake at 350° for 9-12 minutes. Once done and cool enough to handle, slice buns. ***For hot...

Ina Garten's chocolate layer cake: INGREDIENTS 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee DIRECTIONS Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper; butter the paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out any excess. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, mix the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt at low speed. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the oil, eggs and vanilla. Slowly beat the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just incorporated, then slowly beat in the hot coffee until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick i...

These are quite tasty, and the smell as they bake is intoxicating! Healthy Oatmeal Cookies 1 c whole wheat flour 1 1/2 c old fashioned rolled oats 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t baking powder 1 t salt 1 T cinnamon (optional) 1 c molasses crystals (or brown sugar, if you don't have them) 1-2 T honey 1/2 c oil 1 egg, beaten 2 T- 1/4 c water 1/2 c raisins or craisins (or more, if desired) 1/2 c walnuts (ditto) Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. In a separate medium bowl, mix together wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, then add the walnuts and raisins. Mix well. If the mixture seems to wet, add a bit of flour. If it is too dry, add more water (or an egg white). Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown.

The other night, I made the "healthy" cookies from an earlier post. My advice: TRY THEM!!! They were delicious. I particularly liked them straight out of the oven, as they were still a little crunchy on the bottom and the dark chocolate was oh so melty! Here are the alterations I made (those of you who know me best can attest to the fact that I always change something in a recipe... I'm a rebel). 3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or olive oil) *I used regular olive oil and couldn't taste any difference 2 cups rolled oats 2/3 cup almond meal (this can be done in a food processor, just don't go so long that you get almond butter!) *I found pecan meal at the grocery store, and it was great! 1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt *regular salt is fine, but, like I do with m...

For years (literally- I've been making banana bread or at least helping my mom with it for as long as I can remember), I've been faithful to a banana bread recipe in the old red and white checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I'm now a convert. I recently made a new banana bread recipe from the same cookbook I described in the last post. It's from another character in the Mitford series, Puny Bradshaw. It's the best banana bread I've ever had. It's dense and cake-y, not overpoweringly banana-y, is moist on the inside and has the most delectable outside. It's good hot, room temperature, or cold. I also did the entire recipe in the food processor, so I didn't have to mash the bananas beforehand. I'm all about shortcuts! Puny's Banana Bread 1 1/4 cup sugar (or honey crystals, if you have them- they're fantastic!) 1/3 cup oil 2 eggs, beaten 3 ripe bananas, mashed 1 1/2 cups all purpose (White Lily, if you have it) flour ...