Now that the holidays are over, clearly the Christmas blog layout had to go. Although I do always hate to part with it! :)
Keeping with the season, though… I give you Heather Drive’s new winter design. And with the temperatures around these parts lately, it’s definitely winter (I’ve been freezing my buns off).
You’ll notice some new shades of blue, and lots and lots of snowflakes. I even updated the header with new pictures and it got some “snow” as well.
Now I just have to start brainstorming for spring!
I have so many recipes to share from this week! It’s going to take me a while to get caught up. I hope you guys are up for all of these food posts. :)
For New Year’s Eve, we were going to a couple of different parties, and of course, we couldn’t go to either one of them empty-handed. For my brother’s party, I decided to make a dessert. I went through several starred recipes in my Google Reader, looking for something relatively easy, but wonderfully tasty. After putting my “finalists” up for votes from Michael and Cristina, we settled on these caramel cocoa crispy bars.
These “fancified” rice krispy treats flew off of the platter at the party. They’re irresistible, and were a wonderful treat with which to welcome the new year. The cocoa krispies cereal is mixed with melted marshmallows and butter, pressed into a pan, drizzled with melted caramel candies, and topped with mini chocolate chips. Start your year off right–make these!
Caramel Cocoa Crispy Bars
(Source: Adapted from Annie’s Eats)
Ingredients:
– 3 tbsp. butter
– 1 (10 oz.) package marshmallows
– 6 cups cocoa crispy cereal (brand name or generic, both work fine)
– 20-24 caramel candies, wrappers removed
– 1-2 tbsp. milk, half-and-half, or cream
– handful of mini chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Prepare a 9×13″ pan by greasing with butter or nonstick spray.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the marshmallows, stirring until completely melted. Remove from heat.
3. Working quickly, add the cereal and stir until it has been evenly coated with the melted marshmallow mixture. Pour the treats into the prepared 9×13″ pan. Using a heavily-greased spatula (spray generously with nonstick spray), press the cereal mixture down into the pan evenly.
4. To make the caramel topping, place the candies into a heatproof bowl. Microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted. Before the last interval, add 1 tbsp. of the milk/cream, heat, and then stir to combine. If necessary, add another tbsp. of milk/cream to make the caramel easy to drizzle. Drizzle over the top of the cocoa crispy bars. Sprinkle the handful of mini chocolate chips immediately, and press down lightly to help them adhere to the caramel.
5. Allow the bars and the caramel topping to set completely. Cut into bars for serving.
I have been wanting to try to make homemade cinnamon rolls for about a year now. No joke. It’s just that they require quite a bit of advanced preparation, so you have to plan ahead. Because of all that prep, they’re also a bit time-consuming, so it’s hard to muster up the motivation to make these. And then we’re just not that all into breakfast in this house. While we love breakfast foods, most mornings we prefer simple cereal.
But as Christmas was approaching, I decided that I’d make cinnamon rolls–not once, but twice. Once on Christmas morning for our big breakfast with my family, and then again the day after that for a brunch at Michael’s sister’s house. I bought all the ingredients, read through the recipe to prepare myself, and then… well, it didn’t work out. I didn’t make them for Christmas morning, and I didn’t make them for brunch the following day, either. There was just too much going on and not enough time to devote to these cinnamon rolls.
So when we had my sister-in-law (home on holiday break from college) come over to hang out with us and spend the night earlier this week, I knew that I just had to make cinnamon rolls for the three of us to enjoy in the morning.
I had never attempted homemade cinnamon rolls before, so this was all new to me. And I’m always worried about working with yeast, so this was kind of challenging! But it all worked out in the end. The cinnamon rolls? Absolutely amazing. The only thing left to figure out is when we’ll have the opportunity to make these again!
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
(Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride, adapted from Food Network)
Yields 12 rolls
Ingredients:
Dough:
– 4 large egg yolks, room temp
– 1 large whole egg, room temp
– 1/4 cup sugar
– 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
– 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
– 20 oz all-purpose flour (approximately 4 cups), plus additional for dusting
– 1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) instant dry yeast
– 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
– Vegetable oil or cooking spray
Filling:
– 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
– 1 1/4 tbsp. ground cinnamon
– pinch salt
– 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Icing:
2-3 tbsp. milk
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
1. For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined.
2. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
4. For the filling: Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.
5. To assemble: Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle.
6. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough.
7. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness.
8. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.
9. Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.
10. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
11. When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 25-30 minutes.
12. While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the milk and powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.
I think I’m in love with 2010. Well, so far.
First of all, 2010 is a nice, even number. And it looks nice written down. For my anal retentive self, that’s a big deal. But that’s not really what I’m talking about when I say I *love* 2010.
You see… 2010 is full of possibility and promise, and so much of what will happen this year is yet to be known. As of today, this first day of January–this first day of a new year–2010 has not let me down.
I feel refreshed. I feel hopeful. I’m upbeat.
The book has been closed on 2009. The past twelve months of my life are filed away in my mind. The past twelve months of posts are now in the blog archives.
The new page, it is blank. I’m ready for 2010. Although 2009 wasn’t a bad year, I still believe that 2010 could be a better one. And so I greet it, with arms wide open.
What is meant to be will be, and I have good feelings about the next 364 days.
Bring it, 2010. BRING IT.
As I sit here, six hours before the new year, and look back on the past twelve months, I find that a lot happened this year. Nothing earth-shattering or life-changing (in a good way or a bad way) occurred, but it was a good year nonetheless.
The ability to reflect is actually one of the best things about keeping a blog. It’s easy to go back in the archives and remind myself of all of 2009. So, let’s review, shall we? :)
January
January brought my first “serious” photography purchases. I didn’t know then what I would be getting myself into, but when I bought these items, it was the starting point of what would become a big part of my life. The initial purchase was a good lens. (And it is so hilarious to look back on those first photos now. SO BAD.) Then, we bought an external flash. The first photos I ever took with it were of food. Specifically, this recipe.
On a particularly frigid day, shortly before leaving work for the day, I visited CNN.com and saw the breaking news that would become the Miracle on the Hudson. This story really affected me for some reason. Even now, I see the TV specials about it and I can’t help but cry (happy tears). It’s just such an amazing story and I cannot believe that “Captain Sully” saved all of those people with his ability to handle a crisis.
For the first time since I started voting, I saw my guy get inaugurated as the President of the United States. I watched the entire thing streaming live on CNN.com from my desk at work, and I loved every minute of it. It was a magical and historical day.
February
In February, we jet-setted off to Las Vegas for a fun trip with friends. It was colder than we were all expecting, but it was fun and it was great to see everyone. We came home tired, but unfortunately, not any richer. :)
Against all odds, Tessa turned three. We didn’t know if she would ever see her third birthday, so it was an enormous blessing to us. Can’t believe she’s almost four now…
On February 13, we woke up to terrible, horrible news. A plane crashed just outside of Buffalo, and all on board had perished. It hit very close to home (literally and figuratively), and is still difficult to believe.
Later in the month, I reunited with my girls for the first time in six months. Thankfully, we’ve been much better about getting together as of late. We make sure to schedule something every two months!
March
We welcomed a beautiful baby nephew on March 2. We went down to meet him on March 6, and found him to be every bit as perfect as we had imagined.
I started doing a weekly grocery run, instead of going on an as-needed basis. It changed my life. Now, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
Marie and I hosted a “bugs” baby shower for Kara, who was expecting our nephew. It went perfectly and I was so happy with how all of the special little touches turned out.
April
We celebrated Easter with my family. (And I made really cute cookies and cupcakes for the occasion!)
After a deep thaw, we grilled for the first time of the season. Can’t tell you how good that feels after a long winter!
I moved offices at work. It sucked. I had to say goodbye to the coworkers who had become really close friends. Even though we keep in touch, it is definitely different. Eight months later, we’re not as close. I have adjusted to my new location, but look back at those as “the good ol’ days.”
May
Swine flu became a huge deal. A partnership between Oprah and Kentucky Fried Chicken caused pandemonium and dominated the news.
We honored moms.
Tessa and I got caught in a downpour.
We got passports!
We welcomed baby nephew #3, Hunter. I was honored to be asked to photograph his birth, and witnessing his entry into the world is one of the best moments of my entire life.
June
I almost burned our house down.
I did my first “real” photo shoot, which was Hunter’s newborn photos. I sort of cringe looking back at them, because I feel like I could do so much better now, but it was a starting point for me. I enjoyed it so much that it really took me to the next level in my photography journey. It was at that point that I really started taking it seriously.
We took a wonderful trip out west, visiting Seattle and San Francisco.
We marked our first wedding anniversary.
Michael Jackson unexpectedly died.
We watched my sister-in-law graduate high school.
July
We celebrated the U.S.A.’s independence (and my brother’s engagement). Oh, holy hell. That was some party. Incidentally, July 5 was spent nursing the worst hangover I have had in a loooong time.
I decided I wanted to cut my hair. Drastically.
I paid off my car. Woohoo!!
Heather Drive had its first birthday.
I made the choice and embrace and love Terrell Owens as a Buffalo Bill.
We took our annual trip to the Poconos.
August
I officially chopped off my hair. (And donated it.)
I started my 101 in 1001 list.
I blew out 27 candles.
Our nephew, Brendan, turned two. As is tradition, I made his cake.
My photography really started falling into place.
September
We took a cool day trip to ride a really fast boat. And get soaked.
We went on an awesome weekend trip to Chicago, and loved it.
I had several paid photo shoots.
We started a newlywed map.
October
My brothers celebrated a birthday.
I declared the Buffalo Bills to be losers. AGAIN.
I suffered through jury duty.
My best friend’s baby turned one.
I marked the second anniversary of my LASIK eye surgery. Yay!
November
My dad came to visit, which was fun. It’s always nice to have the opportunity to see him.
Buffalo Bills Head Coach Dick Jauron got fired. Thank GOD.
We said goodbye to a precious grandparent.
As usual, Thanksgiving was a family affair. Times two.
December
Sort of randomly, we decided to visit Texas. We spent a long weekend exploring San Antonio and Austin.
I took some adorable photos of a “Santa Baby.”
I found my first gray hair. Horrible.
We celebrated Christmas. A few times, actually.
And that brings me to the present. As you can see, it’s been quite a year. I wish you all a very happy new year… with all good things to come in 2010.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
