on gratitude

roasted brussels sprouts

Thanksgiving is a time to pause — to gather with those most important to us, to prepare a celebratory feast, and to reflect on our lives and recognize what we are most grateful for.

Gratitude seems simple, at first — it is easy to feel grateful for family, friends, favorite foods, good books, funny films, good health, and the privileges associated with a first-world lifestyle — clean drinking water, access to nutritious food, relative physical safety, ease of transportation, important work for which we are compensated, and time and energy to pursue hobbies, interests, and passions.

However, I believe, gratitude is much more complex.  It is very, very difficult to feel grateful for stress, transition, pain, illness, and loss.  Why should one try?  Stress, transitions, pain, illness, and loss are unpleasant at best, and at first glance, seem contradictory to the spirit of gratitude.  In fact, I have noticed many over the years encourage others to “get through” periods of stress, transition, pain, illness, and loss by practicing gratitude — by focusing on all of the good things they still have in their lives.

mini nut loaves

In my opinion, this type of gratitude practice is spectacularly unfair to the person going through a challenging time.  Yes, we do always have plenty to be grateful for, but, in my opinion, ignoring, distracting from, or “gratitude washing” that pain is disrespectful to that person’s experience, and leads to incomplete healing after that period of stress, transition, pain, illness, or loss has come to its conclusion.

Why do we practice “gratitude washing?”  Because, I believe, the alternate choice — coming to a place where we are truly grateful for that stress, transition, pain, illness, or loss — seems impossible to many.  How is one supposed to feel grateful for the loss of a job at a time of economic uncertainty?  How is one supposed to feel grateful for the death of a loved one?  How is one supposed to feel grateful for a miscarriage?  How is one supposed to feel grateful for cancer?  How is one supposed to feel grateful for a divorce that you didn’t want?

It’s tricky, and in my experience, it takes time.  I’m here to tell you, however, that it is entirely possible to feel grateful for a divorce that you didn’t want.  How, you ask?

creamy corn pudding

Simply, I refuse to live my life with regrets.  I have made a million mistakes in my lifetime, some of them big, some of them small, but I choose to never play the “if I could go back in time” game.  Why?  Because all of those mistakes I have made have been mine, and have made me the person I am today.  I would never choose to go back and erase bits and pieces of my life — who knows what would happen?  If I knew three years ago what I know today, I would likely make all of the same choices I made, in regards to my marriage.  (If you had asked me that question three months ago, however, I’m certain I would have answered differently.)

So, how is it that I find myself in a place where I feel grateful for a divorce that I didn’t want?  

I am grateful because of how much I have learned about marriage, about love, about life, about others, and about myself.  I am grateful because I have landed in a season of “radical self-care.”  If I hadn’t had this experience dealing with a divorce I didn’t want, I may never have learned the importance of self-care, and exactly what I need to do to take care of myself fully and completely.

spiced sweet potato casserole

This seems like a silly thing to say at the age of 35, but I am realizing I am just beginning to learn how to take care of myself properly.  I got the basics at a younger age, obviously — I shower, go to the doctor and dentist, eat reasonably, stay active, etc.  However, in processing the loss of my marriage, I found that I really hadn’t been taking all that good of care of myself, despite knowing “the basics.”  

At first, I found myself almost feeling “lost” without my husband — without someone to take care of.  As a woman working in a helping profession, you can imagine how much time I have devoted over the years to caring for others — so much time, in fact, that it comes second nature to me.  Self-care seems to be practiced by few teachers, I believe because it is looked down upon by so many in the field — many believe the children should come first, always.  Work yourself to the bone, skip your breaks, come in early, stay late, shovel in your lunch as quickly as possible so you can get back to work, because, after all, it’s FOR THE CHILDREN.  I disagree, wholeheartedly, with this attitude.  Why?  For two reasons: first, because if the children always come first children learn to be selfish, and second, because it is physically and emotionally impossible to always put another person’s needs before your own.  Sometimes, you just need to eat a snack, take a break, go to the bathroom, or have a bad day, regardless of whether another person needs you at that particular moment in time.

caramelized onion and herb stuffing

In retrospect, I believe I entered my marriage physically and emotionally depleted from years of teaching and not practicing proper self-care.  My cup was empty, and I looked to my husband to fill it.  Others can “top off” our cups from time to time, but expecting another to fill our cup is unreasonable and a recipe for disaster.

True story: that disaster happened to me.  And here I am, on the other side, just now learning how to fill my own cup.  I spend an incredible amount of time alone, walking, reading, practicing yoga, cooking, journaling, and just thinking.  I wallow in my introversion, and do not feel guilty for a second.  I have always been a healthy eater, but I have never been so planful, so careful, so thoughtful about the meals I prepare for myself as I have lately.  I floss.  This seems like a ridiculous thing to be proud of, but hey — I’ve had dentists telling me to floss for 35 years, and I now, for the first time in my life, floss regularly.  I get monthly pedicures.  I buy myself little treats from time to time.  I make exercise a priority — I get out for walks even when the weather is lousy, even when I am tired, because I know I need to.  Even though I spend so much time alone, I say “yes” to more and more than I ever did before — more regular attendance for church choir, more meals and outings with friends, more responsibilities at work.  And surprisingly, I don’t find myself dreading this “more” any more, complaining about these joys in my life like I used to.  Why was everything so hard before?  Because I was depleted.  My cup was empty, and I didn’t have the energy or resources to fill it.

scalloped poatoes

No longer.  I am learning how to fill my own cup again.  Once I feel like I’ve got the hang of this, I will let someone else in again; this time, someone who knows how to fill his own cup, and who can help top off mine from time to time.

For now, I practice gratitude for this season I am in.  A season of radical self-care.  This is why, despite four different invitations to join others for Thanksgiving dinner, (all of which I am grateful for,) I chose to stay in and cook for myself this year.  I am choosing to remind myself that, in my world, I am the most important person.  I am grateful for myself.

the feast

And pie.  I’m always grateful for pie.  :)

crustless pumpkin pie

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday.  The perfect excuse to have an all-out cooking and eating extravaganza!

This year was no exception . . .

BREAKFAST:

Light and simple, and easy to make ahead.  Not that I didn't want to spend my day cooking on Thanksgiving; rather, I didn't want to spend my day washing dishes!  I did much of the prep in advance, which was a very smart idea, in my opinion.  We enjoyed Pumpkin Muffins (using my favorite baking ingredient . . . buttermilk!) and a beautiful fruit salad with some fresh mint from the garden for breakfast.  I used half whole-wheat flour in the muffins to increase their nutritional value a little bit; otherwise followed the recipe as written.  These muffins are FANTASTIC!  They call for very little oil, yet are moist and tender from the pumpkin and buttermilk.

LUNCH:

I decided we'd snack on a variety of appetizers for lunch, as we were possibly expecting company and didn't know what time they would show up . . .

Brie topped with Double Cranberry Chutney . . . so delicious!  I always want to make cranberry for Thanksgiving, but always end up with a huge amount of it leftover and never know quite what to serve it with.  This was perfect!

Deviled Eggs!

Veggies!  (With hummus, not pictured)

Spanakopita Triangles:

Using Ali's recipe as inspiration, I ended up simplifying a little bit . . . used one egg, one package of spinach, feta, juice and zest of half a lemon, and a little salt and pepper for the filling.  Perfect!  Now, what to do with all that leftover filo?

DINNER:

The big feast!  I really wanted to make everything, but I didn't want TONS of leftovers, (since I was likely cooking for just John and I,) so I selected my recipes, cut them in half (or sometimes in quarter,) and made most everything in 8-inch loaf pans.  Bonus feature?  Our entire dinner fit in the oven at once, even though John only has one rack in his oven!  Woo-hoo!

(P.S. I made everything, except for the mashed potatoes and gravy, in advance, covered the unbaked things with foil, and froze.  Everything thawed and baked up beautifully!)

Spiced Sweet Potato Casserole:

One of the most important parts of Thanksgiving dinner, in my opinion.  :)  I love, love, love this version from Cooking Light -- it is subtle in its spiciness, just sweet enough (although I do cut down the sugar to 1/4 cup in the full-size recipe,) and lively from the orange juice concentrate.

Creamy Corn Pudding:

This pudding may join the ranks with sweet potato casserole and compete for most important role!  We always had some kind of corn pudding in my family for Thanksgiving, and even though most people don't think to add it to their Thanksgiving repertoire, I want to keep a bit true to my heritage, ya know? This recipe is INCREDIBLE.  (With all that butter and heavy cream, why not?)  ;)  Slightly sweet, creamy and comforting, like a softer, smoother cornbread.  Mmmmmm.

Mashed potatoes and gravy:

I mashed my local yellow potatoes with garlic, butter, buttermilk, chives, salt, and pepper.  They were so flavorful on their own, they almost didn't need gravy!  (I said this to John, and he replied, "no, no, no."  Ha!)  A big batch of mushroom gravy on the side -- 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp olive oil, plenty of sliced mushrooms, 1/4 cup flour, 2 tsp soy sauce, and 2 cups mushroom broth.  Simple and VERY delicious.  A perfect vegetarian gravy, in my opinion!

Caramelized Onion and Herb Stuffing:

This has been a repeat my last several Thanksgivings, for a couple of reasons . . . first, it is super-delicious and super-easy, but most importantly, no sage!  I don't care much for sage, especially in stuffing, and it's hard to find a recipe without it.  This recipe is a keeper for me!

Creamed Spinach Casserole:

A new recipe this year, and a good one -- both John and I love spinach, and this was a simple casserole to prepare in advance.  Rich but not heavy, and a beautiful burst of intense dark green on the plate!  (I switched out the traditional cheddar for white cheddar in my version, otherwise prepared the recipe as written.)

Nutloaf:

This may be the best vegetarian entree for holiday meals EVER.  Rich, filling, and "meaty," delicious on its own, smothered in gravy, dolloped with cranberry chutney, or leftover on a sandwich with ketchup.  :)

My plate:

And don't forget about dessert!

John requested pecan pie this year, and although it's not my favorite, I was happy to oblige.  I tried this recipe from Real Simple, and although I generally find pecan pie too sweet, both John and his roommate were happy gobbling down slices.  They reported it was lighter and less dense than many pecan pies they have had, and his roommate stated it was the best she's ever tried!  Score!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed some time off from work with important people.  Now, I better get started planning my Christmas cookie baking!  ;)

blog-worthy?

From the looks of this blog post, it would seem as though I didn't do much cooking over the weekend.  I promise we ate well, although not necessarily blog-worthy.  :)

Saturday night veggie burgers:

I really like the black bean burger recipe from Veganomicon, and we had 'em this weekend on toasted wholegrain buns with mayo, spinach, tomato, and some melted tilsit.  Roasted garden veggies (green beans, cherry tomatoes, and green onions,) and chips and guac on the side.

Sunday night soup:

I have been having good success focusing on one cookbook at a time when I do my meal planning, and this past weekend, it was Veganomicon.  The "Midsummer Corn Chowder" was a huge hit, with both John, myself, and his parents.  What's not to like, really -- it's basically a huge pot full of in-season produce!  Yum.

And a couple of baking projects . . .

First, I turned Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread into muffins:

I was really pleased with how this recipe turned out.  The only change I made to the original was subbing in half whole-wheat flour for some of the all-purpose, and I'd consider upping to even 3/4 whole-wheat next time, as well as reducing the amount of sugar called for.  However, these muffins are light and flavorful, without tasting too "healthy," you know?  They make great quick, portable snacks.

Second, I have been looking for more recipes lately that call for buttermilk, as I have been reculturing my own for a few weeks now.  Here's some Cinnamon Streusel Buttermilk Coffee Cake:

Not only is this recipe incredibly delicious, it's EASY.  You know how recipes that call for a streusel often require a lot of extra mixing and dirty bowls?  Not this recipe.  You make a base crumble with butter, flour, sugar, and some nutmeg, pull out a cup of it and add some nuts and cinnamon for the streusel, and add an egg, some buttermilk, and some leavening to the rest for the cake batter.  Easy!  I think I had this cake ready for the oven before it was preheated.  I might try baking it in a square pan next time, as I'm never a huge fan of springform pans.  (I just don't trust them not to leak.  Perhaps it's time to invest in a higher quality springform?  Eh.)

Busy week ahead . . . wish me luck!  Thankfully, I have plenty of leftovers.  :)

getting caught up

In no particular order, here's what I've been cookin' up as of late . . .

In exciting kitchen-related news, I bought a waffle iron!

I've realized that the thrift store is a great resource for purchasing goofy appliances for my kitchen. I don't really need a quesadilla maker or mini-cupcake baker any time soon, (I was quite surprised by some of the kitchen appliances out there!) but the popcorn popper and waffle iron I've picked up recently have both been stellar finds on the cheap! I made a batch of "Amazing Overnight Waffles" from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe this past weekend, and they were as spectacular as I remembered. I spread mine with peanut butter and drizzled them with syrup, and enjoyed a few Breakfast Sausages on the side. I followed Vegan Dad's directions for maple-glazing the sausages this time, and I can't imagine NOT glazing sausages in the future. :) I still think the sausages could be a bit saltier and a bit spicier for my palate; I'll play around more with the recipe next batch.

I've been sick (AGAIN, ugh,) so John and I made some soup last Friday night:

Chickenless Noodle Soup, containing olive oil, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, vegetable broth, egg noodles, salt, and pepper. No more, no less, and it's downright perfect in its simplicity.

A somewhat fancy, healthy, impressive, yet speedy Monday night dinner:

Seitan in mole (using seitan I made late last week and mole from my freezer) over brown rice, with sides of sweet potatoes and chard. This also made a fantastic lunch leftover today! (Shout out to John for delivering my lunch to work for me today, as I forgot it in his fridge this morning! Double shout-out, as he included chocolate with the lunch delivery. :) I didn't realize we were celebrating Valentine's Day, but there you go! A lovely Tuesday surprise!)

Another weekend breakfast:

Eggs scrambled with onion, garlic, spinach, tomato, and feta, with a side of banana pancakes. Pancakes AND waffles in the SAME weekend? Hell yes.

Last, more soup:

Corn Chowder with Roasted Poblanos

with "Vermont Cheddar Bread," from AB in 5, on the side:


Consider me all caught up. :) Off to work through the leftovers!

fried rice

Fried rice is one of those meals I tend to forget about -- probably because, when ordered from a restaurant, it is often greasy, overly-salty, and marginally healthy. However, when I make it at home, I have control over the amount of oil I use, (just a few teaspoons to keep everything from sticking to the pan,) the amount of soy sauce I use (usually only a couple of tablespoons of the low-sodium variety,) and most importantly, the variety of veggies I use!

Last night, I dug through my fridge, cupboard, and freezer, and found a whole host of veggies that were begging to be added to my fried rice!

After warming some garlic, ginger, and chile-garlic sauce in a couple teaspoons of canola oil, I went a little crazy! Cabbage, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, corn, edamame, broccoli, green onions, and water chestnuts all made their way into my dinner, along with brown rice and a few beaten eggs. I finished the dish with two tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, and a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Perfect! Healthy, high-fiber, high-protein, and packed full of vitamins, but still so delicious.

What are your favorite fried rice ingredients? Do you love that greasy, salty, take-out goodness, or do you prefer to make your own?

it's my birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me! With all of the craziness that is my life these days, (you know, new job, new apartment, etc.) I was thinking my birthday was just going to pass me by this year, relatively quietly, filled full of packing or some other kind of work. Not so! I have been able to see friends, (although we haven't done much except hang out at my new place, eat peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes -- thanks, Courtney! -- put up new curtains, line shelves, and wait for IKEA to deliver some new furniture,) and eat great food!

Here was my fabulous pre-birthday dinner last night:

For the main course . . . TACO SALADS!


And dessert . . . APPLE PIE!


(Don't think I went too crazy for myself on my birthday -- the crust was store-bought, and I had a bag of filling in my freezer all ready to go from last fall! Delicious!)

Today should be filled with more good food, and hopefully some hiking, if the weather clears up this afternoon (which it's supposed to.) Hope those of you who have a long weekend are enjoying it! If you feel compelled, have a slice of cake (or a cupcake) in my honor! ;)

What do you get when . . .

. . . you take a big pile of whole grains and veggies, cover them in a gorgeous cheesy bechamel, and then bake the whole thing in the oven?

DINNER! Rachel Ray's recipe for Tex Mex Barley Bake caught my eye not too long ago, and I threw it together for dinner last night.

To start, let's just say that I wasn't sure about this recipe . . . barley? In a cheese sauce? With sugar snap peas? Yeah. It seemed too weird to be good. So I swapped out the sugar snap peas for a couple of chopped bell peppers, and I think this was a good choice. I think the snap peas would have gotten overcooked in the casserole, and the bell peppers fit better with the Tex Mex theme, in my opinion. Eating more barley has been a goal of late, though, so I left that alone, especially since that was what originally caught my eye about the recipe. And cheese? Well, I like cheese. :) (A lot!)

Other things I did? I cooked the barley up ahead of time so I could get the casserole into the oven much more quickly last night, and I also didn't bother pre-sauteing any of the veggies -- just threw everything in a big bowl, combined it with the cheese sauce, and baked away! Simple enough, right? (P.S. I drained a can of diced tomatoes, instead of using fresh ones -- just seemed to make sense, given the season.)

Result? This was FANTASTIC!!!!! I was shocked by how beautifully the barley translated to a cheesy casserole, and Dan loved the crunchy, cheese-n-chips topping. We enjoyed this for dinner last night and for lunches today, and there's still plenty left for at least one more meal for us. (This reheated beautifully, too, which has not been my experience with most cheese-sauce based things.)

What pleasant surprises have you discovered lately? Unusual ingredients that went well together that you wouldn't expect? Recipes that you weren't sure about that were a huge hit? Do tell!

And, happy Friday night to all!

A Very Vegan Thanksgiving Part 6: Corn Pudding

Corn Souffle? Scalloped Corn? Corn Casserole? Corn Pudding? I don't care what you call it . . . put some on my plate!

I've had a difficult time finding a recipe that re-creates the corn casseroles of my childhood, but my heavily modified version of "Southwestern Corn Pudding" from VCON comes mighty close, people! Essentially, I removed the southwestern-type ingredients from the original recipe, (red bell pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, and cayenne,) and increased the corn to five cups. I also top my casserole with panko, because, well, aren't casseroles better with a crunchy topping? I wasn't blissfully happy with this year's casserole, (my home-frozen Farmer's Market corn was so sweet, I shouldn't have used the full 2 tbsp maple syrup called for in the original recipe, and I also over-baked my casserole a little bit,) but, given Dan really liked this one, (and I quote, "even though it's sweet, I love it!") I think we'll call it a success!

I seem to be the only person I know that eats corn casserole at Thanksgiving. Anyone else out there include this in your family's tradition?

Yoga Month!

I learned today that September is "Yoga Month!" That's exciting! Check out my sidebar for a link to the official Yoga Month website, where you can enter to win prizes and learn about free classes offered in your neck of the woods. Exciting!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to get into the habit of doing yoga this year . . . I had mixed feelings about making this resolution, because I knew I would "fall off the yoga wagon" during the summer. We are just so dang BUSY, I knew I'd have a hard time fitting in yoga -- and I was right. I'm using Yoga Month as an excuse to get back into the habit! I pledge to do at least twenty minutes of yoga per day, EVERY DAY, for the month of September! Woo! Care to join me? (At whatever frequency and level of participation you desire, obviously.) :) I plan to blog about my yoga daily, or as often as I can, so stay tuned!

~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the last of the weekend food fun . . .

Lunch today was Summer Squash and Corn Chowder, from Cooking Light:

If you click through to the recipe, you'll notice bacon is the first ingredient . . . I substituted a little olive oil for the suggested bacon drippings, and added 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika to the soup, which worked beautifully! In fact, next time I might add 1/2 teaspoon -- there was barely a whisper of smokiness in today's batch, and I'd definitely like a little more presence in the future. Overall, this is a wonderful recipe! I don't much care for summer squash, truthfully, but it is a fantastic addition to this creamy, yet light, corn chowder.

Dinner also featured summer squash!

Broiled summer squash and eggplant, lemon-garlic whole-wheat couscous, and "Mediterranean-Style Baked Lima Beans," from Veganomicon. Oh, those beans are so rich and creamy! Even though Dan doesn't much care for beans, he's a big fan of this dish.

We did both manage to save room for dessert . . .

We've had a bounty of local plums in our fridge for a couple of weeks, and the remaining half-dozen needed to be used today, or else! Enter, Plum Upside-Down Cake, from Cooking Light! INCREDIBLE! I love the contrast of the tart, flavorful plum with the rich, sweet butter cake. This cake will appear again and again in our house, I fear, featuring any seasonal fruit available. (For some reason, grapefruit upside-down cake just popped into my head . . . good idea? YES!)

Sliced . . .

Please don't attack your computer screen with a fork! :)

jam-o-rama

I woke pretty early this morning, (I guess that's what happens when one goes to bed somewhat early,) so I decided to get to work peeling and slicing my peaches -- they had magically ripened overnight! So, as I was peeling and slicing, peeling and slicing, I realized I had a LOT of peaches. After I filled three trays for the freezer, I ended up chopping the last eight cups, plopping them in a pot, adding a cup of agave nectar, and covered them to cook later for jam.

Off to the farmer's market! Look what I found:

Not cheap by any means, but the way I see it, it's a once-a-year treat! For perspective:

These may have been the largest blackberries I've ever seen. Incroyable!

After finishing up my errands, I came home, unpacked the groceries, and set the jams a-bubbling:


A couple hours later:

4 cups of blackberry and 5 cups of peach . . . hooray! If you tally up all of my jam making this season, (strawberry, one jar of raspberry with a couple of ill-fated cartons that dumped over on the way home from the FM, blueberry, blackberry, and peach,) I may have more than enough to last us the winter! (Dan and I really like jam toast for breakfast in cooler weather. Plus I think Dan sneaks spoonfulls sometimes.) :)

And if you're curious, yes, I did save one pint of blackberries for fresh eating. We had them for dessert tonight, tossed with a little sugar. (They were quite tart on their own!)

Dessert? Wait! What about dinner?

"Black Bean Burgers" from VCON, oven-roasted sweet corn, quick pickles, and sweet potato fries. Yum summer!

So tell me . . . what would you do with all of those blueberries, peaches, and blackberries?

beautiful salads

Inspiration struck! I made gorgeous salads!

This first one is loosely based on an Asian-style slaw recipe I found on a blog:

Green leaf lettuce, shredded, and very finely shredded cabbage, topped with slicecd cucumber, carrot, red bell pepper, sugar-snap peas, green onions, peanuts, and fried tofu cubes. I made an Asian-style vinaigrette, (switching up my favorite basic recipe from Crystal,) which I also used to marinade the tofu in. The whole salad was so crisp and refreshing and delicious! A perfect, gorgeous summer dinner.

My coteacher sent me a link with something like 15 different salad recipes the other day, and I swear to you, I wanted to make every single salad on the list. Here was the first one I loosely copied:

Now, I really didn't follow the recipe at all, except that I did use 6 ears of fresh sweet corn and 4 ripe heirloom tomatoes. It was WAY too hot and humid to cook the corn last night, so I just left it raw, chopped the tomatoes, added some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, chopped basil and parsley, and a half-log of goat cheese, crumbled, at the very end. Another crisp and refreshing hit! This salad probably won't keep well, though, so find someone cool to give the leftovers to (we unloaded the last 2 cups on Dan's brother, who has been saving my butt lately with Oliver. Let's just say our home life has been disrupted for the last month and a bit due to pest control issues, and Oliver has had lots of sleep-overs at Ryan's. Plus, Ryan always comes over to feed him when we go out of town! Shout out to Ryan!)

welcome to the bake-a-long!

Victoria and I have started our Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day bake-a-long this week! We decided to start with the recipe for "Olive Oil Dough," which can then be turned into many different tasty concoctions.

Since choosing what to DO with the dough is up to the individual baker, I decided to take my first lump of olive oil dough and turn it into Olive Bread!

So beautiful! So easy! (As one comes to expect with AB.) So delicious!

Sliced up, ready to be enjoyed with dinner:


I served the olive bread alongside Corn Chowder with Roasted Poblanos, from The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook:

Best corn chowder recipe, I swear. Not too rich, not too heavy, and if you use local home-frozen sweet corn like I did, the corn practically tastes like candy! Yum.

And, what's dinner without dessert, right?

Mixed-berry crumble, to be enjoyed with vanilla ice cream here in a little bit, once we settle into the couch and a movie for the rest of the evening!

Stay tuned for more bake-a-long fun!