carrot walnut pancakes

sundays are made for lazy mornings in your pajamas.  sundays are also made for pancakes.  these pancakes are the perfect way to start a sunday morning . . . especially when you are still in your favorite cozy pajamas and you aren't quite awake yet.  they're reminiscent of carrot cake, without being as sweet as carrot cake.  the addition of the chopped walnuts in them provides just the right amount of crunch too.

so go ahead and start your morning off with some carrot walnut pancakes, you know you want to :-)

carrot walnut pancakes
prep time: 5-10 minutes
cooking time: 10-15 minutes
yields: 10 medium pancakes
adapted from joy the baker cookbook

ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 large egg
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups carrots, finely grated
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

directions:
in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, egg, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.  stir in the carrots and the walnuts.

heat a lightly buttered griddle or frying pan on medium heat.  pour 2-3 tablespoon of batter onto the griddle for medium-size pancakes.  flip the pancakes when they start to bubble.  cook until each side is golden brown and the pancakes are cooked throughout.  serve hot with maple syrup and dusted with powdered sugar.

enjoy!

love, laurie

a surprise 98th birthday party

over the weekend, we took a break from stuffing our faces with thanksgiving leftovers to celebrate my great-great aunt's 98th birthday.

my great-great aunt lives in florida, but she is currently up north visiting family for the holidays.  since saturday was my great-great aunt's 98th birthday, her daughter threw her a surprise birthday party.  so, on saturday, we took a trip to east rutherford, new jersey with my parents for her surprise birthday party.  we really enjoyed seeing my great-great aunt and celebrating this milestone with her.  we also met several family members who we had never met before too.

hope everyone had a great weekend!

love, laurie

giving thanks

{our cute turkey table favors}

after work on wednesday, we headed down to my parents' house to help my mom prepare for thanksgiving.  we took leko with us, and he had a blast spending the last two days with us at "grandma and grandpa's house."

we enjoyed cooking, baking, spending time with family, and of course eating way too much.  we had a wonderful thanksgiving celebrating with the ones we love.  today we will be at home, staying far away from the craziness of black friday.  we sure are looking forward to polishing off thanksgiving left overs all weekend long too!

{rolling out the pie crusts}

{making the pumpkin pie filling}

{pumpkin pies ready to go into the oven}

{a very busy oven}

{a little relaxation and watching the macy's thanksgiving day parade}

{the table all set and ready for dinner}

{a turkey at each place setting}

{carving the turkey}

{kitten licking his lips}

{just a few of the many side dishes}

{gathered around the table}

{dinner time}

{my amazing parents}

{a very full dinner plate}

{sweet potato pie, apple pie, and pumpkin pie}

{enjoying the whipped cream}

{a very spoiled kitten}

. . . 

hope your thanksgiving was lovely too!

love, laurie

happy thanksgiving!

image source

i have so many things to be thankful for, and i love that we have a day set aside each year to reflect on what we are grateful for in our own lives.

today i am looking forward to cooking thanksgiving dinner with my mom and ryan, spending time with the people i love, and of course eating way too much.

have a wonderful thanksgiving!

love, laurie

make your own pumpkin pie spice

thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means it is prime time for pumpkin recipes.  so many pumpkin recipes call for pumpkin pie spice, however, there really is no point to buying a separate container of pumpkin pie spice at the grocery store when you can simply mix your own to have on hand in your kitchen whenever you like.  every time i make a recipe with pumpkin, i always use the same five spices to jazz up the flavor of the pumpkin: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice . . . and these are the five spices that make up pumpkin pie spice.

you can use this pumpkin pie spice in pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cupcakes, and pumpkin pie, among so many other things.  so go ahead and mix up some pumpkin pie spice for your next fall baking project.  by the way, if you mix up a few batches of this spice and put it in cute containers, it would make great fall gifts for the bakers in your life too!

pumpkin pie spice
prep time: 5 minutes
yields: 4 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice

ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

directions:
whisk together all of the spices until well combined.  store in an air-tight container.

enjoy!

love, laurie

nyc: the american museum of natural history

while we were in nyc over the weekend, we visited the american museum of natural history.  ryan had never been to the museum before, and the last time i was at the museum was in november of 2002 for a high school trip.  (i can hardly believe that was exactly ten years ago!)  since it was a bit cool outside, we thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to spend some time in the museum.

we took our sweet time and leisurely explored each floor of the museum, making sure to see all that there was to see in every nook and cranny.  we saw the planetarium show and we also saw the imax film too.  it was both a fun and an educational trip!

love, laurie