easter

the kids were so excited this year for easter. collin was up really early looking for his basket and eden's too! after hearing the comotion, eden woke up and found her basket right away. rather than being interested in what was in the basket, she just wanted to put on her new chapstick! she got 5 DORA chapsticks in a little tin and was just on cloud 9! she also got a bubble gun that spouted out hundreds of bubbles...which was the hit of the basket. collin got some new Mario pj's, some flipflops, bubbles, and the game "Sleeping Queens" which was his favorite. here are some photos from easter morning, and easter Sunday...which we spent at my mom's house!

i love this kid...

i came home from work on friday, and this is what i found. c stumbled upon these plastic glasses (sans the lenses of course), complete with black duct tape on the sides. he wore them all day apparently, and continued to wear them to dinner, to jiffy lube, and to the grocery store.

simple pleasures in life. he makes me laugh. he makes me smile. he makes me frus-ter-ated (which is how he pronounces it). he challenges me. he takes care of me. he's sensitive. he melts my heart daily. he makes life worth while.

oh Banana Bread...how i've missed you! actually let's be honest, i miss any kind of bread. whenever i do extreme low carb dieting, i tend to miss the following: tortilla chips, ritz crackers, and banana bread. and why i'm torturing myself with posting this recipe, i don't know. and yes, it feels like this is turning into a recipe blog...but trust me, i'll entertain you with more than just fattening foods! (although this is what i do best...)

Shannon's Amazing Banana Bread

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
3-4 over ripe bananas
2 tsp imitation vanilla
2/3 cup sour cream
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Nuts (optional...pecans or walnuts are best)

Preheat oven to 325. Cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time. Add in bananas (if using a stand mixer, just throw them in, if using a hand mixer, you might want to smash them first). Add in vanilla. Take dry ingredients and sift together. Add about 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix well. Add in sour cream and mix well. Finally, add in last of dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into 2 pre-greased, AND pre-floured bread pans. Cook for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven. best banana bread you'll ever eat. the secret is in the cinnamon and sour cream. if the tops of your bread seem to brown easily (like mine do) put some foil lightly over the top of the bread for the last 15 minutes.

Grandma B's Sugar Cookies

as a little girl, i grew up in southern california. we'd spend a week or two during the summer at my grandma b's house in spanish fork. i have a bunch of great memories from these times at her house, which all involved eating, of course. eating captain crunch while watching "price is right", getting fish and chips from Glade's Drive Inn (which still has the best fish and chips), and of course munching on her sugar cookies with the pink frosting.

i was home sick yesterday and for some reason, when i'm sick...i love to bake. granny b's sugar cookies were the result yesterday! here's her recipe:

Granny B's Sugar Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon extract

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 cups flour

Preheat oven to 400. FIRST: take the cup of sour cream and mix with the baking soda. Set aside. Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time. Add in lemon and vanilla extracts. Sift together the salt, baking powder and flour. Add in a little at a time, alternating with sour cream mixture (which will be light and fluffy and HUGE). Once it's all combined, remove from mixer and wrap in saran wrap. Chill for 4-5 hours until firm. Roll out dough with extra flour, and bake for 4-5 minutes until the bottoms are BARELY tan.

TIPS: I roll out my dough pretty thick, about 1/2 inch thick. And I cook mine for about 4 1/2 minutes. They will be big and soft!

Almond Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting (not granny's recipe, but my own)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar

4 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 tsp imitation almond flavoring

2-3 TBSP heavy cream

Whip butter until light and fluffy, add in 2 cups of powdered sugar until fully mixed. Add in cream cheese and almond flavoring. Continue to mix in 1-2 more cups of powdered sugar slowly, watching your consistency (you don't have to add in all of it, just as much as you want). Add in heavy cream to thin it out to perfection! Frost and enjoy with sugar cookies!

World Famous

okay...so maybe not WORLD famous, but you get my drift. i get weekly requests for my cookie recipe. and i'll boast...it's incredible. my own recipe. i tweaked, changed, and flubbed this recipe for over a year to make it perfection. so here you go...

shannon petersen's world famous chocolate chip cookies...

• 2 sticks UNSALTED butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 2 tsp IMITATION vanilla (i've tried the pure stuff, doesn't taste good to me)
• 3 heaping cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt (kosher salt is good too!)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 bag of SEMI SWEET (or bittersweet if you're like me) Chocolate Chips (and another trick, i found the Guittard brand melts the best. if you can AVOID using Hershey brand chocolate chips. and don't EVER use milk chocolate. sorry, it tastes gross)

Preheat to 375. Cream the sugars and butter together until very light and fluffy. Add in 1 egg at a time while mixer is on low. Add in vanilla. Next add in dry ingredients. I do it 1 cup at a time, and on the 2nd cup, i add in the soda, salt, and powder. When everything is mixed, and you taste it of course, hand FOLD in the chocolate chips. Bake for 5-6 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine takes exactly 5 minutes and 45 seconds. And if you've had the pleasure of personally eating my cookies, you know i ALWAYS burn a batch. USE A TIMER! :)

i'll post my banana bread recipe next...it's just as incredible!

crazy C

since i did a post about "e", i thought i'd follow up a post about collin. he's crazy. it seems like he's at the age where he has a hard time smiling for the camera. he'd rather just be silly. he's smart as a whip, and this kid knows his number and alphabet as good as any 2nd grader. he's sensitive like his mom...he feels bad when someone has their feelings hurt or gets physically hurt. he's a great debater, and loves to make "deals" with me. he constantly asks, "mom, what's more important?" and then poses 2 different questions:

for example: "mom, what's more important? helping me play club penguin or cooking dinner?" he expects me to say helping him play is computer game...which is so funny when my answer ism't what he expects.

we recently acquired a Wii from a very sweet friend of mine. he gave us his Wii for free since he figured we'd use it more than he would. collin is on cloud 9. i was planning on getting one for Easter since I get a bonus at work come May. he loves to create Mii's for everyone he knows, play Super Mario Bros. and show me all the "cool" things he can do. i've been very diligent in tracking his time on the Wii, i don't want him to become one of those kids that just play video games. there is too much world to explore to be inside all day long. thankfully, spring is almost here. my tulips are coming up, the garden is getting tilled, and i'm ready for some warmth!

silly E

sometimes when i get home from work, e is in a really silly mood. sarah (her babysitter) did her hair so darn cute yeterday, and she was so happy to see me, i broke out the camera. my external flash is broken, so i tried a little sunlight and i think they turned out cute. at 2 years and 2 months, this little girl has SO MUCH personality and spunk. she's so opinionated and wants to be independent in everything she does. she loves her brother and they enjoy playing "kitty and dog" together quite frequently!