i'd rather be baking

Why have I never made a soda bread before?! There’s certainly plenty of Irish in my blood (though only my sister has the hair to prove it). My great-great-grandparents changed their last name from O’Flynn to Flynn when they came to America in hopes of avoiding prejudice…because Flynn doesn’t sound Irish at all…

But truth be told, I’ve never put much thought into St. Patrick’s Day. I have no problem wearing green, ever, as it’s pretty much my best color…but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. But this year I’m ready. When we moved to Portland last summer, many people told us that The Rain lasts from Halloween to St. Patrick’s Day. Clearly I don’t expect the weather to strictly adhere to this calendar…but I am hopeful. It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day! We’ve almost made it!

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Do you have a favorite Little Debbie? I always loved the oatmeal ones, but the Valentine ones are my favorite! They were special treats growing up and I honestly can’t remember that last time I ate one. And then I saw this recipe on Pinterest and lost my ever loving mind.

We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day — it’s just a week before my birthday and Ryan’s birthday comes afterward  in quick succession. But I do love a little bit of pink silliness this time of year. And I know I’m a little early, but I couldn’t resist!

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I bought these candy cane kisses before we even got our Christmas tree. Have you seen these things? They taste like Christmas-flavored rainbows and unicorns! Magical.

I’ve had these little beauties stashed in the freezer since Thanksgiving, and have been slowly sneaking them one at a time for a little bite of Christmas. I am obsessed. I didn’t love white chocolate…until now. It just needed a pepperminty best friend.

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This time last year, I was spending many hours a week decorating cupcakes. I miss the frosting! I’ve had a hankering for cupcakes for awhile now, and at this point piping frosting is such a familiar task that it’s kind of therapeutic. So yesterday I put on my apron and made some cupcakes.

Foodbuzz recently provided me with some cake mix coupons and I finally put one of them to good use. Although I usually bake from scratch, a good cake mix is always handy and comes together so quickly. And this one looked so fancy — I was excited to try it!

They basically had me at caramel. I decided to add some fresh apple and cream cheese frosting because, well, it just seemed like a good idea. I stirred up the cupcakes, unloaded the dishwasher while they baked, and went for a quick run while they cooled. There’s nothing quite so fun as coming home from a run to fresh cupcakes. I’m just saying.

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We’ve been a little slow to get back into the swing of things post-Thanksgiving. Ryan had two four-day weekends in a row and we were sad to see them end! But our holiday was lovely and we ate lots of good food.

I was so excited to make these crescent rolls! They were a bit time-consuming but insanely delicious. I may have created an every-holiday-monster here.

I’ve been about 99.9% vegetarian for over a year but made this turkey breast for Ryan — and ended up loving it! This recipe is a winner and I’ll definitely be making it again.

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