File this under one of the best and easiest cookies on planet earth. The first time I made them I doubled the batch and was very happy that I did. I found  the recipe  on the New York Times Christmas cookie roundup. Of the 24 or so listed there were many that seemed very enticing.... but this is the only recipe I could get in front of the paywall. The other benefit is I only needed one more ingredient in order to make them - miso paste. One quick Amazon Prime delivery later I was ready to make these cookies.  I'll absolutely consider these to be my favorite peanut butter cookie on record. There is something extra special about the flavoring and they taste AMAZING fresh out of the oven. They are wonderfully, perfectly, heavenly soft and chewy.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add miso and peanut butter to the mixing bowl, and continue to m...
Every January my body feels a sudden urge to declutter every aspect of my house. I try to save it for the coldest, grossest winter days but it's hard. The urge to purge is strong. Last January, Ashley from The Gold Hive got the internet started on decluttering our houses with a wonderful checklist . I took her lists and made a few changes - but largely this is her work... just updated for 2021 and with a few changes.  I'll be working my way through this checklist myself. Ashley has several blogposts and videos with demos on how she's tackled these things herself as well. The cord organization item will change your life... and perhaps make you a little bit crazy.  Here is a printable checklist . Go wild. ...
I'm in this serious nesting phase right now where I want to make aspects of my house feel more like a cohesive design. After over a year of living here, I finally bought window treatments. Then of course the corona virus hit, and the window treatments could not be installed... but that is still progress in my book. While I did not determine a specific budget for this home improvement challenge, a zero dollar project is absolutely a win. Here's the story: storage ottoman was purchased in Fall 2014ish from Wayfair I specifically picked this one because of it's length. Most storage ottomans at the time were about 8ish inches shorter. I was putting this at the end of my bed, so the length made it seem less like a postage stamp in the middle of the room. Why recover this ottoman? The existing fabric needed a refresh, not only was it darker than the rest of the room.. it was also a bit beat up. Eleanor the cat had given it some scratching attention several years back. Wh...
Ever since the beginning, I've wanted to added a little something extra to the upstairs hall bathroom . It always just felt like it needed something.   I had originally planned to do some trim to the bathroom during the original installation but... you know... money. So naturally, it felt like the perfect project to take on in the midst of a global pandemic and quarantine.  All in, I would say this was an incredibly manageable project. Whenever people asked me how it went I would say that anyone who can measure could do this - and I stand by that. Before this project I had never painted a wall or used a nail gun. For sizing, I went with 2 1/2 inches for the stiles and 3 1/2 inches for the top line. I played with a bunch of different options but this felt the best to me. Pinterest is incredibly helpful in seeing different proportions play out. What were the challenges: figuring out where all the stiles should go crooked house not having a miter saw What could be better the next tim...
  To be clear, I still love bacon and eat meat - but I'm trying to improve my diet. Normally I would have made a traditional bolognese like this one but was inspired to make a vegetarian version. And that is the reason why I bought tofu for the first time in my life. I figured that when I started to look for a vegetarian option I was going to get stuck with lentils, but that was not that case here.  This recipe came from Camille Styles. An expected win for this meal was that it is super affordable. The unexpected win was that it was INCREDIBLY delicious. I was beyond surprised at how flavorful and tasty this was without meat. I even made the jump to a vegan cheese - and that was good too. While it will be hard to get some people in my life to knowingly eat tofu, I think that I can trick them into it.  I do think there are a couple things that you really must do to have success here. One is chop the veggies relatively small. Not mince them or anything like that - but small, especial...