Oh my goodness. We can’t stop with the banana cream pies! If you’re following our Instagram feed, you have all the proof you need (not one, but two pies in one week!)… and no joke, there are perfect bananas on the counter and plans for another pie (fortunately we have guests ready to dig in – we’re not that crazy).
It’s been almost two years since we shared a room spray, which is surprising because these are so easy to make and do a fantastic job of freshening up a room without any of the overbearing artificial fragrances found in many store-bought sprays.
Whereas the rosemary and peppermint created an energizing combination, the lavender and vanilla combination in this spray provides a calming aroma. I added some fir balsam to this spray because I wanted something a little more complex. The fir balsam essential oil does a great job of bringing some of the outdoors in when it’s still a touch too cold to have the windows open here in the mountains.
To further enhance the vanilla aroma of the spray, I used our vanilla-infused vodka for the alcohol.
Pour everything into the bottle, give it a good shake, and spray away! You will have to shake it before every use. Really, it’s that simple!
And as we mentioned in the previous room spray post:
Right after Sarah and I picked vanilla as the ingredient of the season, this recipe for a double vanilla butter cake was published on A Cup of Jo, and I knew we had to try it! This cake is so delicious served plain, but we also enjoyed ours for breakfast with a side of berries and as an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee. Calder said that it reminded him of cakes he was served in Germany… and while I don’t have a specific example in mind, as soon as he said that, I couldn’t agree more, and was immediately transported back to my time there, having a snack on a train or stopping in to a little cafe for breakfast.
The original recipe called for both vanilla extract and vanilla paste, thus the double in its name. I didn’t have paste, and at first I wanted to make some, but after looking up a few different recipe and seeing that each one used different techniques, I felt unprepared to waste my precious beans on something I wasn’t sure about. Maybe I’ll do a bit more research and discuss vanilla bean paste in another post. Instead, I took the author’s advice and substituted vanilla extract for the paste, but then I used vanilla sugar (details at the end of the post) to dust the pan, keeping with the call for two types of vanilla.
I made a bottle of vanilla vodka last week, as you’ll see below, it’s super easy to do, and it’s even better than the store-bought vanilla varieties because this is made with 100% real vanilla, nothing artificial here… and then we added candy-coated malted eggs.
Truth be told, vanilla vodka has never been on my radar, but since I’ve experimented with making the tea infused and rosemary infused vodkas, vanilla and vodka seemed like an obvious pairing. It wasn’t until after I made it that I wondered what to do with it. Calder said “throw it away”. Thanks. Then I did a Google search and came upon a comment board where multiple people recommended giving it away. What’s wrong with everyone?
There’s nothing like a good breakfast (and a strong cup of coffee) to get your week off to a great start. Do you agree? Somehow/somewhere a few months back, my breakfast routine completely vanished. I wasn’t interested in my spiffed-up bowls of oatmeal, eating cereal didn’t fill me up and tasted a bit too sugary (we all make bad choices in that aisle!), and I didn’t have the time or patience to scramble eggs. So I just didn’t eat, which is the worst plan when your mornings start with a bang and you’re running after two kids.
It took me some time to identify the problem. Maybe I did a little of the five whys? Alex definitely does a whole lot of the 500 whys every day now. Anyway, I realized that I needed to find a healthy breakfast that I could pick up and go. I’m definitely not a fan of processed bars, and I don’t even like that a “grab-and-go” option is what my breakfast urges are calling for right now, but if it fills me up, it’s better than a hangry hangover.
What a beautiful week we’ve had! And I know it’s just a snippet of what’s to come. This week we spent every morning out on the deck before Calder would leave for work. We would drink our coffee and the conversation would always turn towards future projects and ideas. We talked about everything from the mundane, like cleaning the pond, to the more exciting, like what fruits and vegetables we want to try growing at home this summer. And then there are the more long-range plans, like what sorts of hidden nooks we want to develop in our wild mountainside (secret hammocks and benches for relaxing, rope and tire swings for playing, etc.). There’s nothing like a few warm days to make you think you can conquer the world.
Today our plans turned towards the weekend. I’ve been looking forward to this one for about a month now. Tomorrow I’m taking a class on how to make my own makeup using natural ingredients. I’m so excited! I don’t even wear makeup regularly, but it’s going to be fun, and I’m sure I’ll share some of what I learn on the blog!
Happy weekend*
We’re coming up on a year of living in our house, and I’m still organizing things. Unfortunately (for me) one of the last places to get some special treatment has been my office, but I just recently spent a couple of days unpacking the final boxes and during the process I thought about the things I do around the house to encourage creativity (mine, the boys’, and visitors).
Sarah and I grew up in a house that encouraged creativity in all aspects of life, and I’m working to do the same now, whether it’s trying a new recipe, playing musical instruments, working in the garden, knitting or sewing. So even if you aren’t “crafty”, I hope you’ll find some useful advice in this post.
Hey there, we’re women. Hear us roar. See us move mountains. Read about the women who’ve inspired us.
What are we talking about? Today is International Women’s Day! We thought it would be a fitting day to talk about some of the women that have inspired us.
Of course, we’re so thankful for the examples of the strong, creative, industrious women in our family and community growing up (thanks mom! and flossie-mom!), but today we wanted to talk about some of the women that struck a cord within us and perhaps changed the trajectory of what we thought was possible, encouraging us to pursue our passions with even more vigor.
If you knew me as a kid, you might remember my love of The Parent Trap. I still have a deep admiration for Hayley Mills. How could she seamlessly play the twins in the parent trap so perfectly?! I watched that movie every weekend. Until I discovered Gorillas in the Mist.
When you saw this post title, did you have a gut reaction? Are you excited for all things vanilla? Or are you thinking “ugg, how plain”? In the past I’ve definitely thought of vanilla as a plane-jane flavor and would skip it over something more exciting, but lately I’ve come to appreciate vanilla’s warm and calming scent and flavor.
We’re looking forward to a season of vanilla projects, from the simple vanilla sugar sweetening our morning coffee to experimenting with vanilla-scented homemade perfumes and air fresheners. What do you say? Are you game to play along? Any favorite uses for vanilla beans?
I think Sarah and I are both suffering from a case of seasonal identity crisis, for lack of a better term. We excitedly anticipate spring on every warm day, and yet, aren’t quite ready for winter to end. I think it’s mainly because the year just seems to be passing so quickly and we have so much we want to accomplish, all while snuggling with these little boys that are growing right before our eyes. Are you in the same boat? Do you feel like the year has pulled the rug out from under you? Or are you just ready for spring to arrive in all of its blossoming glory?
