Holiday Baking: Eggnog Crumb Cake

 

First, we need to get some formalities out of the way: namely, I almost never bake from a mix!  I've evolved to be a snotty brat that way.  After we got married, I started discovering how to cook and bake, and the first time I made an actual cake from scratch, I was shocked.  It tasted NOTHING like the boxed cakes I had previously made up to that point.  It tasted so much richer, so much more simple and basic but at the same time more complex.  I also decided that, if I'm going to go through the hassle of busting out my mixer, cracking eggs and adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients, I might as well go the whole nine yards and make everything from scratch.  At that point, it's already a project, so it makes more sense to use pantry items instead of a pre-packaged mix.

All that being said, I've come to find that Trader Joe's Baking Mixes are essentially like the real thing.  They save time during the holidays, but they also require the use and addition of real ingredients like butter (instead of oil or shortening) and milk (instead of water) to keep the cake tasting completely homemade.  I've been happy with their brownie and blondie mixes, and I am thrilled with their Cinnamon Crumb Cake, pictured above.

After making it once, I decided to switch things up for the holidays and add eggnog to the base of the cake.  The recipe calls for milk, so I made a quick substitution.  Since eggnog is so thick, I still added 1/3 cup of milk to the batter until it reached a good consistency (as for any cake.)  The finished product was delightful!  The eggnog wasn't overpowering, but at the same time it had a strong presence in the cake.  It went along beautifully with the cinnamon crumb top.  This cake was perfect for a holiday weekend morning with a cup of coffee.  I need to go back to Trader Joe's and stock up on some more to make for this weekend and maybe next weekend!

I'm going to remind myself of this tip next year, to substitute eggnog in baking products for the holidays.  It's an easy way to put a holiday flourish on an everyday treat!

Next Time You're at Target, Pick This Up!

 

A post devoted to hand soap?  Yes.

I have been loving this hand soap ever since I picked it up on a whim a couple of weeks ago.  I was searching for a holiday-scented soap for the kitchen and while I was at Target, I went strolling through the aisle to check out what they had.  I discovered this line by Motif.  They have several holiday scents, but the one I picked up was Peppermint Bark.

It is the best soap ever!  Sometimes peppermint-scented things can be super strong and almost clinical smelling.  This one combines a soft peppermint scent with some white chocolate and milk chocolate undertones.  It smells like a snowy day in December when you're about to start baking some cookies.  Seriously.  I know how hyper cliche that is, but it's true.  It's just the perfect December scent.

I tried to post a link on here but there isn't a direct link to Target.  When I googled Motif, I found some press releases from 2010 announcing that they would start carrying their holiday scents at Target.

The best part?  This hand soap is only $2.99!  It's a revelation...pick it up in the Peppermint Bark scent and prepared to be thrilled each and every time you wash your hands!

A Dinner Suggestion

No, I don't have a photo of this, but yes, I think you should absolutely make it for dinner sometime soon.

This is the world's most simple sandwich, and I can't believe I didn't discover it until just this year.  

To set the scene:  Mr. My Blog for Bonnie and I went on an early anniversary trip to Niagara Falls this spring.  We got to Niagara Falls all the time.  Like at least once a year, if not twice. We just love it there and can't get enough!  Our time there traditionally falls into two categories:  we spend a day at Niagara Falls, and then the next day we head to little villages in Canada further away from the Falls, like Niagara-on-the-Lake.

It was here (actually in the nearby village of Virgil) that we stopped at a random little bakery cafe that our friends recommended to us when they went on a weekend trip the area.  My husband ordered this sandwich, and it was heaven on earth.  This is what it is:

Brie and Ham.

That's basically it, y'all.  (yes, I just used that term and, yes, I'm a resident of Ohio.  But maybe I can get away with it because my dad hails from Texas and one of my besties lives down there? No?)

What makes this so exquisite is its simplicity.  Here's what you do: buy a small wheel of brie from the grocery store and cut it into thin slices. Get good quality ham from the deli.  And get long sandwich rolls, like the type for subs, hoagies or whatever you want to call them.  Put a slice of brie on each side of the long roll and the ham in the middle.

This is so, so good and it never ceases to amaze me.  I think what works is the combination of the saltiness of the ham with the creaminess of the brie.  And the brie with the soft white bread certainly adds to the Wowza Factor. (actual term).

I guess you coullllld add a healthy element and put arugula or some other type of greens on it.  But really, it's so perfect as it is.  You'll feel like you're eating in a tiny bistro bakery in Canada, but really you're in your own kitchen on a crazy weeknight with a thousand things to do after dinner and the holidays looming.

Try it!

5K Playlist for the Last Run in Awhile

 

So I decided to work out on Sunday, for the first time in about a month.  October was essentially a month of bizarre viruses in my house, and while I'm not totally convinced Mr. My Blog for Bonnie and I had the flu in its conventional definition, I will concede that what we had was way worse than any cold I've ever experienced.  While I only had a low-grade fever for a couple of hours during the multiple week ordeal, my husband ran a fever for many of the days, which leads me to think that maybe it was indeed the flu virus in a non-traditional form, popping up for an October Surprise that derailed our entire month.  While I'm feeling 100% better, I still have daily signs that things aren't exactly as they used to be.  For one, ever since getting sick, I've been fatigued more often, usually crawling into bed a half hour or so before I usually do, even on the weekends.  I've always been a huge proponent and devotee of naps, but whereas before I'd take a quick 20 minute cat nap, lately I've been falling asleep for 45 minutes to an hour on the weekends. Blissful, I assure you, but just not "right" in terms of my everyday pattern! 

Usually after being sick, I am beyond eager to jump back into my routine at full force.  This time, however, I was unlike myself for so long that I didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize the progress I was making in feeling better.  So, no working out.  This is usually difficult for me.  Since getting in the habit of regularly exercising, I'm almost always that jerk who "just doesn't feel right" if she skips a workout.  This time around, I wasn't hard on myself at all.  I lost a few pounds during the illness and maintained the loss (and my weight in general) over the past four or five weeks by making sure I really watched what I ate.  It's kind of been a revelation for me that I was able to maintain it just by doing that.  I'm so used to combining watching what I eat with exercising that it was glorious to see that keeping just one end of the bargain got me results.  And, in a way, it makes sense.  I was doing P90x up until getting sick, which was such an intense program that it actually warns you to make sure you're eating enough calories everyday to compensate for all the ones you're burning.  While I wasn't going overboard in the eating department, I certainly did fall into the occasional pattern of being like, "I can totally eat this! After all, I'm going to work out for an hour tonight!"  I've heard that overcompensating that way when you're a daily exercise enthusiast is pretty common.

Regardless, I know exercising is good for me and I really love the feeling after a great workout.  Since I've been putting it off for so long, I was kind of nervous about going for my first run in a long time.  But I really couldn't resist:  Sunday was another bright, sunny day with temperatures in the low to mid 60s.  It was probably the last really good "running weather" we'll have until next March.

I laced up my running shoes and hit the pavement.  While I couldn't bust out as many miles as I usually can, I still felt really good after running one mile and walking about another half of one.  The best part is, I got to listen to my 5K Playlist!  I'm sharing it below because I think there are some really great tunes to run along with in here.  Enjoy!

My Blog for Bonnie 5K Playlist

Rock With You (Single Version)    3:23    Michael Jackson   
Billie Jean    4:54   Michael Jackson
Bigger Than Us    4:43    White Lies   
Ready for the Weekend    3:38    Calvin Harris   
Ready for the Floor    3:55    Hot Chip   
Howlin' for You    3:12    The Black Keys   
You Are A Tourist    4:47    Death Cab for Cutie   
Speed of Sound    4:49    Coldplay   
(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame    2:08    Elvis Presley   
Houdini    3:20    Foster the People   
Ridin' Solo    3:36    Jason Derülo   
Rock Your Body    4:27    Justin Timberlake   
All of the Lights    5:00    Kanye West  
Lost In the World    4:17    Kanye West & Bon Iver   
Electric Feel    3:50    MGMT   
Roll Away Your Stone    4:21    Mumford & Sons   
The Way You Move    3:54    OutKast & Sleepy Brown   
West End Girls    3:59    Pet Shop Boys   
Stay Too Long    3:42    Plan B   
Yeah!    4:10    Usher featuring Lil' Jon & Ludacris   
Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5)
Take On Me    3:49    a-ha   
Pretty Lil' Heart (feat. Lil Wayne)    3:35    Robin Thicke   
Lights    3:32    Ellie Goulding   
Life On a Chain    3:47    Pete Yorn   
American Boy (feat. Kanye West)    4:45    Estelle
Feel So Close (Radio Edit)    3:28   Calvin Harris
Cameras    3:33    Matt & Kim   
Charlie Brown    4:45    Coldplay   
Children of the Revolution    2:30    T. Rex   
Don't Look Back In Anger    4:48    Oasis   
Eyes Wide Open    3:11    Gotye   
Friday I'm in Love    3:38    The Cure 
Heartbeat    4:31    Childish Gambino   
Ho Hey    2:43    The Lumineers    The Lumineers   
I Am Not a Robot    3:35    Marina & the Diamonds   
Just Like Heaven    3:32    The Cure      
Pack Up    3:11    Eliza Doolittle   
Right Down the Line    5:28    Bonnie Raitt         
Sleepyhead    2:55    Passion Pit   
So Emotional    4:39    Whitney Houston 
Tongue Tied    3:38    Grouplove   
We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)    3:36    Rihanna   
Easy Way Out    1:58    Gotye   
Like the Weather    3:57    10,000 Maniacs   
Man On Fire    4:19    Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros   
Is It Any Wonder?    3:06    Keane   
Knock Knock    3:59    Band of Horses   
I Will Wait    4:37    Mumford & Sons  
Overdrawn (Estate Remix)    4:23   White Sea   
Some Nights    4:37    Fun.   
Sheila Ki Jawani    4:44    Sunidhi Chauhan & Vishal Dadlani  
Rhythm Nation    5:31    Janet Jackson         
Feedback     Janet Jackson
Dancing On My Own  Robyn