the donuts to end all other donuts.

i've made donuts at least a dozen times. not from scratch, no. the gloriously easy and equally delicious ones from grands biscuits. i think the fact that they are so easy makes them all the more delicious, and made in our house that much more often. but today when i woke up, after what was probably the longest night of sleep fighting ever {the baby, not me}, i decided to kick it up a notch. because i didn't want donuts, i wanted donuts covered in a glistening, mouth watering, chocolate glaze. if i hadn't earned them the night before i don't know that i ever would.

here's what you'll need:

 canola oil, grands buttermilk biscuits {i used the mini biscuits because that's what we had on hand, and because there's a lot less guilt when you eat the whole batch}, whipping cream, butter, powdered sugar, and chocolate chips.

{not pictured--vanilla extract}

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begin by cutting holes is all your biscuits. i don't have any fancy means of doing this, i use a jumbo frosting tip! 

voila!

 pour some oil in a skillet and throw in a couple tablespoons of butter. because, it's butter and these don't stand a chance at resembling healthy. 

 test the heat with a couple of your donut holes. they should fluff up nicely when dropped in.

 next the big guys. don't they look so golden and buttery?

and while these beauties sit, we'll make the glaze!

start with 1/4c of whipping cream heating on the stove. i'm told this can also be done in the microwave but i have yet do accomplish the take without making an overflowing mess.

1/4c chocolate chips in the food processor.

when the cream is heated pour over chocolate chips. let sit just long enough to snap a picture.

blend. and boom! chocolate ganache. 

pour into a bowl that you can fit your hand into, as this is where you'll be dunking the donuts.

sift some powdered sugar into your chocolate. i'm guessing i did about a cup.

whisk. taste. this is where i decided a little vanilla was needed.

dunk donut into glaze. wiggle around.

repeat.

admire their sheen. soon the plate will be empty. 

pour yourself a cold glass of millk, and go to town.

please note that husbands appreciate when you save them more than one. i have learned this the hard way. also learned--a chubby baby hand makes any picture cuter.

happy saturday!

on growing teeth and matching leggings

 yesterday, sometime between the first nap that little miss fought off with the most unwavering of gustos, and the time she rested her sweet little head against me to fall asleep, her second tooth arrived. the first one cut through last thursday so we were hoping this one would make its appearance soon as well. i don't know if it's been the teething or not, but for about a week or so now liza has decided she wants to sleep on my chest again. and can i tell you, it's even more amazing and heart-melting than before. i never missed a chance to snuggle my naked little newborn on my chest, and when she stopped wanting to sleep like that it broke my heart that she was out of that stage. but this, this is her sleepy little brown eyes finding my face, blinking that heavy tired blink, and deliberately nuzzling into me. add to that matching leggings that i sewed for her and my heart just might skip a beat. or twenty.

running shoes

remember when workout clothes used to be used for working out? me neither. the most action my "running shoes" see these days is a sunday trip to lowe's, pacing the aisles for drywall anchors so that we can hang the curtains we bought months ago. or watching people get paid the big bucks to run with a pigskin on TV while my much too squishy bum sits on the couch and watches them, thinking if someone wanted to pay me to run I probably would. not that I mind their current state of retirement. sure, I miss running. maybe? yes, I think I do. although not as much as I miss being able to run up a flight of stairs and not be out of breath. I might not be able to knock out a 3 mile run like I used to, but I can rock a 2am sway like nobody's business. and these days, that's much more useful. 

change

i hate change. let's just get that out in the open. that's why i have an iPhone. because even when they "change" it's just slight enough that's really it's still the same. 

that picture is one of my favorites. it's from liza's first week of life, when her little head was covered in dark hair and she spent her days as a perfect little burrito, always held and snuggled. and somehow, always sleeping. well two nights ago we decided it was time liza made the venture across our tiny hallway and into her crib. she's spent the last five months splitting her time between our bed (as pictured) and my dad's cradle that resides in our room. and if we had a bigger bed, or maybe a bigger cradle she would probably stay in those places another five months. or five years, who's to say. anyways, we plopped the guest mattress down on the floor of her room and geared up for a long, first night of unswaddled, crib sleeping. and then she did something we weren't expecting at all. she slept. from 7pm to 8am waking once in between to eat. there was a whole two times that her bink fell out and she needed help finding it. it was pure madness. and pure bliss sleeping for an eight hour stretch.

on one hand, i'm so thrilled and proud that my little baby can sleep by herself. it gives me comfort that she feels safe enough to close those perfect brown eyes and give in to the sleepiness that fills them. but at the same time where did my tiny baby that needed to feel me close to her and hear the sound of my voice go? and when exactly did she leave? there's so many things i feel i've already forgotten, and so much i wonder about the person she's becoming every day. is she going to wiggle out of my arms so that she can walk, or want to be carried until she's five? will she be shy around new people and hide between my legs, or will she find them more fascinating than she finds me? i'm so thankful for a child that is healthy, and growing up in the way that she should. i just hope that the changes come subtle enough for me to be graceful about them.

a resolution

this year, i'm making a different kind of resolution. in years passed it's always consisted of something like "eat healthier", "no more soda", or "save more", and while those are fine and dandy, by february first i'm back in that taco bell drive through, ordering a dr.pepper, and spending money while there's perfectly good food at home. so this year, i am resolving to make no resolutions. obviously i am going to make an attempt at eating healthier, simply because that beautiful sleeping baby is going to start noticing what i'm putting in my body and i would like for her to have better habbits than the ones i've accumulated over the years. but when it's 6:30 in the evening and i'm crying at the ingredients that should be assembling themselves into an edible meal and she's crying because being a gassy baby is so not the stuff, i am going to get that taco with pride. or send my husband which is probably more accurate. point is, i'm going to not sweat the small stuff, in order to enjoy the small stuff. if liza decides that she's going to nap for thirty minutes versus two hours, i'm going to relish the fact that she spent those thirty minutes sleeping in the exact position i do. i'm going to not read those mommy comments on those baby sites and think that because i don't read my child 3 books a day she's never going to succeed. i'm going to rock her to sleep even though the books tell me not to, and cherish that beautiful smell she's got going on because i know one day i'll wake up and suddenly realize it hasn't been there in weeks. i'm going to do my best to cook dinners and budget wisely, but know that it's ok to fail at that every once in a while too. i'm going to go to bed every night thanking god for getting us through one more day. when i pay the bills and there's twenty dollars left i'm going to rejoice in the fact that we had twenty dollars more than we needed. i'm going to do what works for me and my family. more importantly, i'm not going to be overwhelmed with what others are thinking about it. and maybe, just maybe, i'll sit down and blog about it.