31 days of letters... in 2012

I'm joining in this fun writing exercise with the nesting place for the month of October...

It's a challenge to write for 31 days straight, every single day, about one topic.

I love to write, and I don't feel like I push myself enough in this area, so I wanted to join this challenge.

The topic I chose:

Yep, starting tomorrow, there will be 31 days of letters.

Letters to my daughter, my sons, my husband, my parents...  at this point I don't exactly know.  Maybe not all to my family, but mostly, and we're all really family right?  All I know right now is that there will be letters.  Lots of them.  31 to be exact.

And don't worry, I will still be posting recipes.  So that means there will be multiple postings some days.  But I love writing and couldn't resist this challenge for myself!

If you're interested in joining...  Go to nesting place and check it out.

Oh, and I'll be linking all the posts back up here so that we can find them all easily in one place!

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31 Days of Letters

  (day 1)  a letter to my sons...
  (day 2)  a letter to
  (day 3)  a letter to
  (day 4)  a letter to
  (day 5)  a letter to
  (day 6)  a letter to
  (day 7)  a letter to
  (day 8)  a letter to
  (day 9)  a letter to
(day 10)  a letter to
(day 11)  a letter to
(day 12)  a letter to
(day 13)  a letter to
(day 14)  a letter to
(day 15)  a letter to
(day 16)  a letter to
(day 17)  a letter to
(day 18)  a letter to
(day 19)  a letter to
(day 20)  a letter to
(day 21)  a letter to
(day 22)  a letter to
(day 23)  a letter to
(day 24)  a letter to
(day 25)  a letter to
(day 26)  a letter to
(day 27)  a letter to
(day 28)  a letter to
(day 29)  a letter to
(day 30)  a letter to
(day 31)  a letter to

pumpkin pie coconut macaroons

As if the name doesn't tell you enough...  these are a chewy, moist, delicious little coconutty bite of pumpkin pie bliss in a macaroon form!

And to make things even better (for me at least! Ha!), they are dairy-free!  (And even gluten-free too, I think!)  YAY!

I have been so grumpy lately without my dairy.  Baby Girl isn't showing any great signs of improvement yet, but it's only been a few days so I guess we've still got a ways to go on that.

I am so hoping this helps her feel better, but at the same time I am hoping it doesn't help at all.  :o/  Selfish, huh?

Anyways, these little dairy-free gems (all macaroons are dairy free, so I didn't do anything sneaky to these, in case you were wondering!) really are delicious.  Super simple to throw together and taste like a little bit of autumn-joy in your mouth.

Especially with a big cup of coffee...  because we all know coffee makes sweets taste better, right?

Right?!

Pumpkin Pie Coconut Macaroons Recipe
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
makes about 2 1/2 dozen small cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup pumpkin purée

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325ºF.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, pulse the coconut for about 1 minute.  Add in the sugar, spice & salt and pulse for another minute.

Pour in the egg whites while the food processor is running and continue to process for another minute.  Add in the pumpkin and pulse a few seconds to combine.

Drop with a small scoop onto the prepared baking sheets (the cookies won't spread much).  Bake each sheet for 25-32 minutes, until the cookies are light golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and cool completely on the baking sheets.

These are one of the very few cookies that, in my opinion, actually store better not in an airtight container...  they stay crispier on the outside while still nice and chewy inside that way!

Enjoy!

grasping...

Joining Lisa-Jo and gang for Five Minute Friday again...

No editing, no censoring, etc...  just raw, focused writing for 5 minutes.

And...  GO:

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Grasp.

I am grasping at threads in this new life of mine.  This new normal we are trying to establish with a new member in our family.

 My boys are grasping at their past and their comforts.  I am grasping at a dream of what will be.

Once we get through this struggle.  Once we get to the other side of this race, this marathon...  this ironman that is parenting babies and toddlers.

Yes, I know that older kids, tweens, teens, adults...  all posses their own intricate difficulties, but I am so looking forward to that difference.
I love my children so much.  I don't love this stage that is whining and crying and not-able-to-reason or even understand sometimes what we are saying to them and trying to teach them.

I don't love diapers and potty training and endless sticky messes of oatmeal on hands and faces and hair and tables and chairs and floors and everywhere else they can get to before we catch them with the rag.

I am so excited for parenting my little family:  stage 2.  And even though that stage seems so far away from us...  I know it will be here before we know it.

And so, for now, I am focusing on none other than rocking, snuggling and holding my sweet babies.  

Because, you know, they just don't keep.

No matter how hard we grasp.