Bake Sales + Shenanigans + Blogaversary

It's bake sale time again at (insert Craig's place of work). We're sooper secret like that and don't reveal all of our cards. Adds a certain air of mystery to our boring lives, eh? Craig Smith: International Domestic Man of Interest and Intrigue With a Boring Computer Job In an Office Without Windows.

Ahem.

Bake sale time means that today I'll be donning my baking hat and creating a monumental mess in the kitchen. I'll probably find chocolate in my eyebrows, cookie batter on the cupboard door handles and flour dusting the front of my shirt.

I measured out all the ingredients last night, placing them in appropriately labeled baggies. This is completely anal, I know makes a baking day MUCH easier and eliminates SOME of the mess. And you know how I feel about messiness.

I'm going all out today with four different recipes.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars, courtesy of my beloved Ina Garten.

Cream Cheese Swirl Heath Bar Brownies




Cake Mix Biscotti.

I'm doing a snickerdoodle version with a white cake mix, cinnamon chips and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Perhaps a white chocolate drizzle to pretty them up for sale.

And last, but not least, my favorite winter combination of white chocolate and cranberry.





White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies


I'm going to be really busy today and here I sit in my pajamas, unshowered, at nearly 9am.
I'll get there; it's not like I have anything else to do today.


I mentioned shenanigans in the title because "shenanigans" is my new favorite world. Unfortunately, my life is shenanigan-less, but it doesn't hurt to dream. Craig actually lived a shenanigan filled life before he met me. It's pretty safe to say that immediately upon meeting and then marrying me, Craig's excitement and shenanigan levels took a hard, fast nose dive southward. While I'm thankful for the brain cells that I kept intact from not drinking my early twenties away, I'd be somewhat remiss to admit that I wish I had better stories to tell of my youthful escapades. I suppose you could have youthful escapades that didn't revolve around a bottle of Crown Royal, but I don't even have that. Blergh.


Anyway, as far as I know, Craig might have been up to his old shenanigans last night; with my encouragement, of course. He went to visit his long time friend, someone he's known for 18 years or so, last night to say good bye before embarking on his extended "vacation." However, at nearly 39, the recovery from such shenanigans is much slower and more painful, so ca-ray-zay nights almost never happen. Which, don't get me wrong, is a good thing. Craig would, I'm sure, agree, as well.

Instead, Caroline and I had shenanigans of our own last night. She made name cards and drawings for all her Webkinz and I ate roasted vegetables for dinner and sat at the computer, reading mindless drivel, until bedtime.



And lastly, I "think" it's my Blogaversary.


I started this blog in January, but didn't tell anyone about it for a few weeks so that I could ensure that I'd keep it up. And then back in March, in an effort to do a little inbox housekeeping, I "accidentally" deleted two months worth of blog posts. Evidently my brain function in March wasn't any clearer and sharper than it is now. It really is a shame that I lost those two months because I documented Caroline's awesome Snowflake Birthday party, our trip to Mt. Vernon and wrote a great post about my distaste for drippy Valentine's Day celebrations. It was gold, I tell you. Gold.


Oh well, your lives will go on just fine without having those written bits of treasure hiding in the archives.

Hopefully my second year of blogging will be as equally exciting as the first.

Thanks for reading!