Breaking Records at 34 Weeks

It's official, Austinites.  Hottest summer on record.  I just wanted to say it...

If you're having a hard time taking my word for it, just read this article.  Want the short version?  Here's my favorite quote:

"Austin has seen 70 days in triple digit temperatures so far this year, nudging past the previous record of 69 set in 1925. With a week left in August and the rest of the year to go, we’re likely to make this record tough to beat."

*Sigh...

34 Weeks Pregnant

 
This week, baby girl has graduated to the size of a cantaloupe.  On some websites, there's only one fruit size left (queue Jaws music) - A WATERMELON.  Please take a moment to wrap your mind around that.  I've taken many moments, and I still just can't quite go there.

Thoughts at 34 weeks:

-I put on socks a whole new way.  Picture me rolling on to my back with feet in the air to put on socks.  Not a pretty picture, people.

-I would very much like to clean every single portion of my house from top to bottom, as well as reorganize every kitchen cabinet and closet.  I lie awake thinking about it at night.

-I like Babys R Us even less than last week.  Don't ask...

-My husband is joining beard clubs and watching YouTube videos about beard competitions.  I'm beginning to fear he's falling in love with his beard and I may never see his face again. 

-I get to celebrate my sweet friend Jonni this weekend by throwing her a shower for her baby boy or girl.  Rest assured, there will be cupcakes involved.  For the record, I firmly believe she's having a boy.  I believe Jonni will have a house full of boys in a few years!

Coconut Pie - Fail

I have discovered that it is indeed possible to have too much coconut in a dessert.  I am also disappointed to report that my pie turned out nothing like the pie I had at Z' Tejas.

I ended up using the custard recipe from Cakespy.com.  I will definitely use it again - it was delicious!  The pie crust from Allrecipes was also yummy.  However, combined together, there was just too much coconut.  A buttery pie crust would have been a much better balance with the custard  I used, so I plan on trying it in the future.

I topped my pie with my own creation: Coconut Vanilla Whipped Cream.  Then, I toasted coconut, sprinkled it on top, and drizzled the pie with chocolate.  Think I put enough coconut in this pie?  Major overkill...

Here's how it looked:

Baking with Green Chiles

It's hatch green chile season in Texas, so the grocery stores are brimming with them.  Outside of Central Market last week, there was a guy roasting green chiles, so we couldn't resist picking some up.  Central Market also had a great iPhone app with all sorts of ways to cook or bake with green chiles, so I'm going for it!  I'm going to make...

Hatch Green Chile Cupcakes!

Some of you might think this is a little too "out there", but I just have to try it.  Here's the recipe, which by the way, almost won in Central Market's contest last year:

Ingredients

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking soda

1 tbsp Saigon cinnamon

1 13.6 oz can unsweetened coconut milk

1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

1 1/2 cups Smart Balance omega oil

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup roasted Hatch chiles, peeled, seeded and diced

Cream cheese frosting or powdered sugar

---

Cooking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease muffin tins or fill with paper baking cups.

Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together oil, eggs, vanilla and coconut milk. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until well combined. Fold in pineapple and chiles.

Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Frost with your favorite cream cheese icing or dust with powdered sugar. 

I can't wait to see how they turn out!   To check out all the spicy recipes, go to the Central Market website!

What I'm Learning This Week

"Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:8
 

Maternity Photo Shoot

We had a great time with Tanya from Cozy Impressions Photography last weekend.  We went around to a bunch of spots on South Congress, one of my favorite parts of town.  If you'd like to check out the pictures, go here.   Check them out quickly - the slide show expires August 23rd!

Tanya will be photographing our baby girl just days after she's born, and again at 6 and 12 months.  I had something like this in mind for her "on camera" outfit:

Who can resist ruffle-butt bloomers?  Have mercy...

Peanut Butter Surprises - Success!

Thank you, Martha, for yet another successful recipe.  If you like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, you'll love these cookies.  A lot.  I found them fairly easy to make, but as you can see, mine didn't show off the peanut butter surprise nearly as well as Martha's.  I packed as much peanut butter in there as I could without it becoming a part of the chocolate.  Overall, this would be a great homemade gift at Christmas or when you're in desperate need for a chocolate fix.  

The Ultimate Coconut Cream Pie Dilemma 

 

A few years ago, Harlan and I celebrated a friend's birthday at Z' Tejas.  That night, I had the MOST delicious Coconut Cream Pie I've ever had.  The chef doesn't make it all the time, and the recipe varies from location to location (I tried it at another one, and I was very disappointed).  Ever since, I've wondered how to make it.  Before trying this pie, the only coconut cream pie I had was at Luby's Cafeteria.  Not high on my list of desserts to eat. 

What made this pie special:
- Coconut Crust - The crust of this pie was almost chewy, cookie-like, and made completely of coconut. 
- Flavor - The pie just oozed coconut flavor.  Some coconut cream pies taste more like pastry cream than coconut.
- Other - You know that nameless factor some things have that you can't quite put your finger on?  This pie had it!

And so, I've been on the hunt.  Shame on you, recipe writers, for using store-bought pie crusts with your coconut pies.  Once you've had that coconut crust, you cannot eat this pie with a store-bought crust. I've now been forced to piece together a pie that may or may not even compare to Z' Tejas.  Only time will tell!

For the crust:  Allrecipes has a crust recipe that sounds just like the one I had, and check out the ingredients:

1.5 cups flaked coconut
Butter

For the filling: I don't know!  I can't seem to find one I'm really happy with.  Here's a few I'm considering:

Emerils's Best Ever Coconut Cream Pie

Epicurious' Coconut Cream Pie

Baking Bites Coconut Cream Pie

Cakespy.com Coconut Cream Pie

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Did You Know?

*There are 53 days left until my due date.  FIFTY THREE DAYS!

*The baby weighs as much as a jicama.  That's 3.75 lbs, for those of you who haven't been weighing your jicamas lately.  By the way, what's a jicama?

* We're already halfway through our birthing class and will be learning about stage 2 & 3 of labor this week.

* I have learned that, when in pain, breathing actually does help a lot.  Now I just have to remember to do it when in labor...

*I don't like Babys R Us, and this baby's not even here yet.  Their coupons really only work on maybe 2 items, and they're rarely the ones I need.  There's more, but I'd have to write a novel to cover it...
Anyone else not a fan?

*My husband turns the lamp on in our baby girl's nursery every night when it gets dark.  Is he not the most precious ever?

More fun, useless facts next week!

Beardisms

Harlan found a blog he thought fitting to share with you, given the amount of hair currently growing on his face.  We had a good time reading through some of the posts on The Beardly and highly recommend browsing around if you need a good laugh.  Here's one of my favorites:

And speaking of beards, it's about time you got an updated picture of Harlan's:

There have been moments the amount of hair on his face leaves me speechless....

I'm truckin' along at just about 32 weeks.  I've decided not to even mention the weather in Texas anymore.  There truly is no point, as I will undoubtedly spend the remainder of my pregnancy with 100+ temps every day.  What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?  Here's my 32 week belly:

And the marathon continues...

I'm really hoping September will bring calm, peaceful, quiet evenings and weekends where we have the opportunity to say, "I'm bored!" and actually mean it.  As for August, we've had no such luck!  My neighbor has some baby girl clothes for me to look through, and I haven't even had the time to get over there.  I promise I'm coming soon, Amy!

So far, we've celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, enjoyed both family and friend reunions, and still have more to go!  We had our 2nd shower this past weekend, and I must say, we are blown away.  I think there's maybe one or two items still needed on our registry.  The rest has been taken care of by the generosity of our friends and family.  We are so undeserving of these amazing blessings!

I conquered yeast!

Yeast.  A word that used to immediately fill me with fear.  I find a recipe I want to try, see it contains yeast, and immediately move on to find something else.  But no more.  I have successfully baked with yeast and feel a new-found sense of freedom.

Another co-worker celebrated a birthday last week and requested cinnamon rolls.  My schedule's been so busy I just didn't know how I'd be able to make them, but I was determined.  I used Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls recipe, following the directions exactly.  The reviews were really mixed, which made me so nervous!  People's experiences ranged from hockey puck-like rolls to tiny ones that didn't rise.    I had no backup plan, so thankfully, they turned out even better than I could have hoped.

I timed these so they'd still be hot when I brought them to work.  It didn't leave much time for photos, so my apologies to all you photography buffs out there.  You may also notice one is missing.  You have to test things before other people eat them!

I'm still debating what to make this week.  After baking banana bread for 9 shower hostesses, you can rest assured it will have nothing to do with bananas.  Martha's been silently calling my name for weeks, so I'm thinking about these:

They're called Peanut Butter Surprises and they look delish.  We'll see if I have time to fit them in!

Reality hits at 3am

I am beyond excited to meet my beautiful daughter.  She has decided to train for the Olympics in utero, so one night I found myself awake at 3am and never did go back to sleep.  We prayed for this baby girl, know she's a miracle, and are anticipating some red hair on her sweet head.  However, at 3am, I was struck with the enormous weight her arrival will bring with it.  A human life.  I will be her mother.  For the rest of my life.  Whoa.  Quite a bit to absorb.

I know these thoughts are normal, but they have again brought me to my knees.  I know I can only be the mother she needs with lots and lots (and lots) of prayer.  I had to share with you a prayer one of my shower hostesses wrote especially for my sweet girl:

Father, thank you for the child You have placed in my care.  Guide me to teach her about Christian obedience.  Let me be a worthy example of Your love, discipline, mercy, and grace.  Help me nurture her so she becomes the person You planned.

As she grows and develops into the person You designed her to be, I pray for understanding to accept your design and for wisdom to nurture it.

She came into this world

Innocent and small.

She needs my love,

She needs my guidance,

But most of all

She needs to know

That there's a God above

Who loves her so.

How will I teach her?

What will I tell her?

One way is sure...

I'll have to show her.

Just as parents are kind to their children, the Lord is kind to all who worship Him. (Psalm 103:13)

Why Can't I See My Nursery Floor?

I can't really see the carpet in my baby girl's nursery.  That could mean one of two things:

1.  We're having some major plumbing or foundation issues.
2.  I was ENORMOUSLY blessed at my baby shower this weekend and am overwhelmed with items to make this baby girl's entrance into this world much easier.

Check this out!  Harlan and I just stared in disbelief for a while!  We are speechless by the generosity of our friends and family.

This shower was not your typical one.  I've mentioned countless times that this pregnancy is a miracle, especially in light of the struggles with infertility and pregnancy loss we've experienced.  Reflecting on God's goodness to us was a theme of this shower, and boy, I was thankful I kept my emotions fairly in check and didn't "ugly cry" all over the place.  What an amazing day of celebration (and yummy food, I might add).  Here's a few snapshots of the day:

A few of the mom's-to-be, in order of due date. 

The adorable blanket made by Sleepytime Rags that matches the artwork Harlan designed!

The grandmothers (Mema & Gammy)

Baking: 

I made that evil peanut butter pie I posted last week.  Why am I calling the pie names, you ask?  IT WAS SO GOOD!  I am my own worst critic when it comes to my baking, but I can tell you, this one's a keeper.  I have GOT to start taking pictures before it's too late.  Unfortunately, the only evidence of this pie is an empty pie pan...So delicious, it just has to be wrong.

For my amazing shower hostesses, I knew I wanted to make something special.  I found a great recipe for banana bread, which can be pretty boring, and spruced it up a bit.

The recipe calls for dusting the pan with cinnamon and sugar first, which peeked my interest right away.  It also called for sour cream, which made the bread super yummy and moist.

Recipe:  Allrecipes Sour Cream Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I used mini disposable loaf pans and had Harlan design the cutest label for them.  I hope the ladies who worked so hard on this shower felt the love in every banana-cinnamon-sugar bite!

Still More To Come!

This weekend, I get to help my grandparents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary!  Pretty amazing, huh?  The next day, I have another baby shower to look forward to!  I'm seriously one blessed mama-to-be!

"Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
         how good God is..." Psalm 34:8 (The Message)