Hey, friends. How are you doing? It hasn’t been too long since my last “Crumbs” post, but I thought maybe we could use both a little break to chat.
I’ve been busy here, and honestly I’m grateful to still be able to be so busy in the kitchen.
It’s only been possible thanks to the help of two of my sisters. At the very beginning of all the madness, my sister Jaclyn (in the blue, below) moved in and has been helping to watch Luke during the day so that I could keep testing recipes.
I wanted to quickly turn around recipes that would be useful to those of you who are having trouble finding ingredients, so her help allowed me to quickly test and publish recipes like flourless peanut butter cookies, egg noodles, crazy cake, and no-yeast bread.
My other sister, Casey (in the black, below) joined us a little bit later after quarantining herself for two weeks. She’s been helping me in the kitchen with testing recipes (and washing dishes!). It’s been great having her here to help. I’m sure it’s not as exciting as her actual job that’s currently on hold (she was working on a spinoff of The Walking Dead), but I’m glad to have her here.
I’ve been wanting (/needing) some help in the kitchen for a while, and Casey and I grew up baking together so it’s nice that I can trust her to help test my recipes. Mostly trust her, anyway. Once she made brownies out of beans and it took a long time to come back from that 😉
Both Casey and Jaclyn brought their puppies, so we have a full house here, but it’s honestly been fun and it’s so nice to have the help. Without them I don’t know that Zach or I would’ve been able to get anything blog-related done.
Other than that, not too much is new around here, except that we got bees!
This is Zach’s new project, he took classes over the winter in preparation and is now the proud parent of two beehives. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we can keep them alive through the winter (and that we’ll have plenty of honey next year!).
Now that the weather has been warming up we’ve been able to get outside a lot more often and I am so grateful for that. The dogs love the walks, it gives me a nice mental break, and Luke absolutely loves to be outside (even if he’s just being carried the whole time).
This kid is just a complete and total delight. He’s 5 months old now and his second (!) tooth just started poking through a few days ago. In addition to walking, he loves testing out his voice by shrieking, and loves bouncing in his jumper. And he’s so, so funny. I didn’t know a 5 month old could have such a good sense of humor! He keeps us laughing, for sure.
Around the Web
Here are some fun things I’ve found recently that I think you might find interesting.
- Stuck at home and bored? Animal lover? Have you considered being a pet foster parent? Obviously this isn’t for everyone, and it can be a lot of work, but before we had Luke, Zach and I fostered over 13 dogs/puppies and it was one of the best, most rewarding experiences ever. We look forward to getting back to fostering when life settles down a little bit.
- Everyone is baking banana bread. Are you? (I have a killer banana bread recipe if you’re looking for one). What’s been your favorite comfort food bake during these times?
- My new favorite dinner: Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Tacos from Pinch of Yum. We’ve been in a dinner rut recently so these were a simple and so tasty change.
- Candles! For some reason having candles lit in the house truly drops my stress level a few notches (having fresh flowers helps, too). These candles from Milk Reclamation Barn are my current favorite and how cute are the little milk bottles that they’re made in? My sister introduced me to these and I love that they’re a small (and local-to-me) business. Front Porch Lemonade is my favorite, but I’m yet to meet a scent I don’t like. Hint: great Mother’s Day gift idea!
None of these are affiliate links, I just wanted to share.
Alright, thanks for joining me for a chat this morning. This morning is warm and slightly sunny right now but threatening rain, so Zach, Luke and I are going to try to sneak in a walk before the thunderstorms start. Stay safe! <3
Ivana Grace
What am I missing here..? The title says ‘CRUMBS’, but try as I might, I’m not finding any other mention of that topic in this blog?!
Lovely photos and family references, but where are the aforementioned ‘Crumbs’ which I am curious about creating/using in my cooking/baking~? Thanks for directing my search~!
Sam
Hi Ivana! I’m not sure what you mean, this post is just one of my occasional life updates on the blog, not a recipe for crumbs 😉
Anna
Hi! I have some questions about your baking supplies/tools because everyone is asking what TYPE of baking supplies I want for my birthday, and I’m hoping to get some newer and better products.
What type of hand mixer would you recommend? Do you know of one that has a pretty low speed because mine right now is plugged in and everything splatters all over the place. It’s mostly used for whipping egg whites, etc.
Also do you have any ‘mixing bowl suggestions’? Sorry if that sounds like a weird question but I’m currently using these white glass ones, but they scratch up from the electric mixer, and prefer using the hand mixer than the stand one.
Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Anna! I have plenty of recommendations. For the mixer, I am guessing you mean a hand mixer? I actually have 2 that I use pretty frequently, one is a kitchenaid hand mixer and the other is made by Hamilton Beach. The Kitchenaid mixer is a 5 speed mixer and I find it to be a lot slower and not so powerful. The Hamilton Beach is a WORKHORSE! It is very very powerful, which sounds like what you may be trying to avoid here. The kitchenaid works very well and will do everything you need it to. For mixing bowls, I use Pyrex glass mixing bowls. I have like 6 of them in my cabinets! They will get a little scratched up by the mixer, but honestly that is just the nature of baking and use. You can see the pyrex bowls in just about all of my videos where I use a bowl. They make them in a lot of different sizes, but they are very durable. A few of my other favorites are OXO gold baking sheets. They are sturdy and haven’t warped. I also like Chicago metallic baking sheets. I have a kitchen scale, which is pretty cheap on Amazon, I absolutely LOVE! It is made by Ozeri! I use it for everything, all the time. One final thing I don’t think I could live without are a set of magnetic measuring spoons. I don’t know what brand they are but if you type in magnetic measuring spoons on Amazon you will see a bunch of them. You never have to search for measuring spoons because they are ALWAYS together. It’s so convenient. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Joanna
Im glad that you and yours and happy, healthy and doing well!
I’ve always loved baking and loved your recipes! I’ve done your Best Banana Muffins a couple times now! I love how a batch only takes 3 bananas and I can easily freeze half after the bake – and portion control is always good! LMAO The latest (today) was with chocolate chips mixed into 1 batch and then toasted coconut shreds and maple extract instead of vanilla in the 2nd.
Sam
Thank you for your sweet comment, Joanna! Those muffins are one of my FAVORITES! I love your additions, going to have to try the coconut myself! 🙂