baking

Friday Thoughts

1. Baking. Yesterday I made oatmeal cookies from one of my favorite cookbooks and whipped up a batch of challot (challah knots) earlier this week. I’ve been having the hardest time finding yeast in stores. Has anyone else had that problem lately? I used up the last of my yeast supply on the challot but they were so worth it!

Challot Challah knots

2. Fall Decorating. We’ve been having some rainy weather here in Pittsburgh the past couple of days and it’s making me feel like fall is slowly ushering its way in. Do you decorate for fall? I have in the past, but I don’t know if I will this year.

In a spurt of minimalism, I got rid of a lot of outdated fall decorations in 2018 and now I have just a wreath and one wall hanging. I enjoy decorating, but I don’t know if it’s worth the money end effort for fall. I like the idea of Sadie having warm memories of the house decorated for different seasons, though. Hmmm. What’s your opinion?!

3. Vlogging. I’ve been having so much fun vlogging lately. There’s just something about looking back on what our days looked like a week, month, or year ago that is so special. Our latest vlog is here and includes gardening, cooking, baking, cleaning, and a trip to Sam’s Club!

Mom and toddler daughter smiling

4. Reading. I think I’ll always want to talk about reading. I just finished up this book by Beverly Lewis and added it to my growing list of Amish-based books I’ve read and enjoyed. 

5. Niva. Niva has been doing so well since being spayed! She somehow got her cone off all by herself so we decided to give her some freedom and see if she would bite at her stitches and she hasn’t so far. She goes for her followup appointment on Monday and I’m so thankful this has been a good experience and that her days of going into heat are behind us 🙂

Fall decorating: yay or nay?

What’s the last thing you baked?

Duck Eggs and I Understand Now

When I was growing up, I never saw my mom buy anything for herself. She would take me back-to-school shopping and not even glance in the women’s department. I would always ask her why she didn’t buy herself clothes, or maybe a purse? A pretty necklace? Her response was always that she wanted her kids to have the new clothes, fun items, etc. rather than herself.

Since becoming a parent, I finally understand what my mom would always tell me. I would much rather buy Sadie a new shirt than myself. I think I can count on one half of a hand how many items of clothing I’ve purchased for myself since I’ve had Sadie, and most of them have been nursing bras. It’s just so much more fun to buy clothes for my child than myself!

Garanamals leopart toddler long sleeve shirt from Walmart

Like the above shirt. It was $4.50 at Walmart and Sader Tot is in need of fall clothing so I picked it up for her. While we were in the store, I didn’t even glance at the women’s department. I’m becoming my mom, haha. Not really, though, because I don’t have too much trouble using my spending money on books 😉

I just finished up Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus and wow, what a (true!) story. It deals with adoption, deafness, and identity. It had so many twists and turns that I had a hard time putting it down. I’m also working my way through Hannah’s Song, which is a Bible study on the book of 1 Samuel. While I don’t agree on the author’s viewpoint oo salvation, the rest of the book has been very insightful.

Onto duck eggs.

My brother and his wife bought a few chickens and ducks this spring and they’ve been getting eggs lately and passing some on to me. They know they way to my egg-loving heart ❤

Duck eggs and chicken eggs

Can you guess which ones are the duck eggs?!

My brother said he heard duck eggs are excellent to bake with because the high fat content results in fluffier baked goods. I asked them if they wanted me to bake them anything with some of the eggs as a thank you and they requested challah. Can’t wait to make it 🙂

In other news, we had a normal day over here at the Zottola Zoo. Sadie learned about the color orange and did some painting.

Toddler painting with orange paint

I went on an organization spree while she went down for a nap. Our linen closet is one of the spaces in our home that slowly becomes a catchall over time and today was the day I decided to finally tackle it.

I ended up nailing baskets and old plastic containers to the door to add some extra storage and it helped clear up a lot of space inside the actual closet!

Closet organization with baskets on door

Time will tell if it all holds up 😉

Yesterday was Niva’s first birthday and tomorrow she is getting spayed. Poor girl. It was so hard to see Mavis struggle after she was spayed (I’m going to blame my crying on the pregnancy hormones in 2018, lol) and I’m hoping it’s a better experience for everyone involved this time!

Do you have any catchall spots in your home? Our linen closet, basement, and a few drawers in our living room are our places.

Do you like to buy clothes? I would much rather spend the day in a bookstore than clothing store, but enjoy getting Sadie clothes.