jars from heaven in the woods.

Well, chocolate heaven. If you’re into that sort of thing.

Mr. Woods, who NEVER requests anything specific, asked for brownies.

Ohhhhhh did he get brownines.

Why send conventionally cooked brownies that would likely be dried out by the time he got them, when you could send moist gooey brownies in jars?

Well, you wouldn’t. Which is why I didn’t.

Step 1: Make brownies from a box. I’m kinda busy sometimes, don’t judge.

I chose Ghirardelli, based on Cooks Illustrated’s recommendation.

Pour batter, minus the 5 spoonfuls that you ate, into the jars.

Cook according to the box. I cooked mine to 90% doneness so they were extra gooey for my chocolate lover :)

Step 2: Boil the heck out of the lids and rims.

Step 3: Strain the lids and rims.

Tidbit of advice: don’t try and take pictures while dumping boiling water in your sink.

Step 4: WITH AN OVEN MITT OR SOMETHING NOT YOUR HAND (trust me.) quickly put the lids and rims on TIGHTLY.

Once you think they are tightly screwed on, make them tighter.

Step 5: Wait for the button to pop.

Once it pops, let the jars cool completely, or it might melt the bubble wrap you’re using.

Step 6: Include spoons and napkins.

Send overseas :)

Mr. Woods said these were the best brownies he had ever had.

Of course I immediately felt guilty because I didn’t really even “make” them. BUT, I had two good take-aways from that.

1: He was happy. That means I’m happy.

2: Ghirardelli brownies are really good.

Not my first rodeo…

Here is a picture of Mr. Woods from last year, eating his birthday cake (that I also cooked in jars) on his first deployment.

That package included cake, a tub of frosting, and sprinkles.

I can’t wait to stop baking things in jars one day.

put that down in the woods.

Recently, a friend paid me a wonderful compliment- that I am really good at laughing at myself.

Even more recently, the Woods family and I rehashed a specific weekend where my fashion choices left much to be desired.

Let’s mash those two conversations together.

We’re going to play a little game.

It’s called, “put that down”.

Round 1:

Put that down: BOTH collars. And the salty snack you overdosed on that made you insanely bloated.

Round 2:

Put that down: The collar, again. AND your tweezers. You only have 1.5 eyebrows.

These pictures are from Parent’s Weekend at the Naval Academy in 2004. Yes, I am aware that 2004 was not that long ago. And yes, I was certainly old enough to know better, on all accounts.

For good measure, check out how young these babies look below!

boom in the woods.

An awesome vacation in the woods, actually. ‘Boom’ was just the unofficial, unexplainable theme word.

Mother and Father Woods invited me down to spend a few days with them on Tybee Island. Yes, please!

Here is a pictorial recap of the awesomeness.

The beach house.

Fishing, an activity I did not participate in.

Reallllllly cold white wine, cheese and my amazing new book. An activity I did participate in.

Delightful.

Great minds think alike. SK knows what’s up.

Love birds on the beach.

Host and Hostess with the most and mostess.

Insert Sister Woods and Mr. Woods, please.

Introducing, sassy.

Then there was that night where we played cards. For about 5 hours.

The kind of cards that involve the consumption of adult beverages.

I do believe this is where “boom” was born.

A busy bartender. Also, a great bartender.

Yup.

My big smile can be attributed to many things. See that bag of marshmallows on the counter? That is one of those things.

Lots of good conversation.

As well as lots of good singing.

And lots of good snacking.

If it is possible to laugh too much, we did this weekend. In the middle of all the relaxing, eating, and laughing, the group was able to skype Mr. Woods (thank you iphone) for 25 minutes. Definitely a treat for everyone. We missed him all weekend in addition to Sister Woods, too! Hopefully after Mr. Woods safely redeploys home, we can get everyone in one house at one time.

So grateful to be part of such a fun and wonderful family. I’m pretty spoiled, huh?

*The vast majority of these pictures were completely stolen from SK. Thanks, girl.*

brother times in the woods.

Brother, along with the ‘Big E’ are home from deployment!

OK, this ship, an aircraft carrier, is impressively massive. As she pulled into port, the Sailors (and chosen family members previously invited aboard) lined the bow of the ship, as you can see in the picture above. Mama and Dadsy were among those chosen.

And there they are!

And there is Brother! Looking insanely handsome. Home after his second deployment in two years. Absolutely an accomplishment worth celebrating.

With beer at the Bier Garden.

The rest of the weekend was filled with relaxation, laughs, food and a trip to the zoo!

Familyness.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Later that evening we headed to Doumars BBQ, the fine establishment responsible for the creation of the first waffle cone in 1904!

Check out those hefty prices.

Now you see it.

Now you don’t.

The weekend, despite missing a few family members, was delightful. I am so grateful for the opportunity to welcome home Brother, as well as the other (over) 3000 Sailors aboard the Big E. I could not be more proud of him. Really.

cursing in the woods.

Something I try not to do.

But, I’m not perfect. I know that may come as a shock to a lot of you, so please take your time digesting that.

As of late I have been working on taming my tongue, and honestly, being with Mr. Woods has greatly helped that cause.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the kitchen on Tuesday when I hastily carefully tried to prepare my pre-workout nutrition.

When this happened. How? GREAT question. The plastic topper took a vacation into the blender, and introduced himself to the spinning blade.

Foul.

Adapt and overcome, right? Well, I decide I’m not wasting this perfectly measured, nutrient rich supplement. So, I pour it in a big cup, and grab a straw. My logic, which you are about to find out was extremely poor, told me there weren’t any pieces of plastic large enough to fit up the straw. Not so much. I’m sure when I meet those pieces of plastic again it won’t be a pleasant experience.

My next brilliant idea- use a strainer. That went well until I got overzealous and allowed the strainer to overflow and spill. I love cleaning up unnecessary messes.

So worth it. Not.

Here is what I pulled from the strainer. The other 1/3 is most likely in my stomach.

There was a lot of cursing Tuesday.

8766 hours ago in the woods.

One year ago, today.

slumberparty in the woods.

In the midst of a crazy, crazy week, I was able to have a slumber party with a college friend. We spent 2 years in the same major and 2 more years working together. She was “in town” (an hour and a half away) helping her grandparents move and I was able to steal her away for a day.

We spent 24 hours catching up, beaching, snacking, hanging, eating, drinking, sleeping in, product sharing and shopping (at Ulta for too long). I forgot what it was like to hang with an “old” friend. She knew me before I was Mrs. Woods!

The only picture I thought to take.

This is also my first post via iPhone and I have no idea what it’s going look like. :).

rewind in the woods.

26 June

News rolls in that Mr. Woods will be staying on deployment longer than we had originally thought.

What do I do?

Pray. And find another half marathon.

29 June

This happened. THANK YOU MR. WOODS. Life will never be the same, for the better. And no, that is not an overstatement.

30 June – 5 July

Hangin’ with Mom in sunny rainy Florida!

Beach for the 4th of July :)

Cheesin with Dadsy.

5 July – 10 July

Mommy-training. While KT (who I nanny for) had/was recovering from surgery, Mrs. Woods played Mom.

FULLTIME MOM.

Breakfast to post-bedtime.

Wow. That was tiring. And actually pretty fun.

Here are the only four pictures I managed to snap amongst the madness.

Chuck-E-Cheese. I was the 25 year old-first-timer. I was also the person who smuggled in grilled chicken and kale in an attempt to maintain my clean eating regime.

What started as this,

ended as this.

Beating the heat.

One rule for playing with the hose-the kids can’t get me wet.

Raise your hand if you think I got wet.

frozen muffins in the woods.

Yeahhh, you read that title right.

For reals, make these muffins.

They are whole wheat banana with dark chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Then once they cool, bag ’em up.

Then, put them in the freezer. Those popsicles in the back are my third, and finally successful, attempt at avocado lime pops!

Remove from freezer. Devour. They are so dense and good and cold.

Almost too cold; Mrs. I-use-sensodyne-toothpaste over here usually needs to slow her roll when biting into the frozen treat.

They are really good warm and normal, too.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Dark Chocolate and Macadamia Nuts

adapted from Whole Grain Gourmet’s Banana Bread

Need:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

3 mashed over-ripe bananas

1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Do:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Grease or line muffin pan.

Combine flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Whisk and set aside.

In another large bowl, combine butter, honey, and sugar and beat.

Add the eggs and beat until just combined.

Mix in bananas and vanilla.

Gradually beat in the flour mixture in thirds.

Dilute baking soda in ¼ cup hot (not boiling) water, then beat into batter.

Stir in, the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes.

If you choose to listen to my awesome recommendation, let cool, bag and freeze.

tomatoes in the woods.

I have no life right now. And a lot of tomatoes.

I’m calling it my “crop”.

And I didn’t even buy the Miracle Grow soil because I’m too cheap.

What have I been doing with them? Glad you asked.

No joke, that is about 1/4 of what I picked in 2 days.

Tomatoes, garlic, onion, cannelloni beans, basil

Tomatoes, salmon, lemon, olive oil, dijon, garlic

Tomatoes, garlic, shallots… that I just put that on a piece of bread. And ate it too fast to take a picture.

Tomatoes, onion, spinach, cannelloni beans, whole wheat ditalini

Tomatoes, shallots, garlic, kale

Not shown because I inhaled it:

Tomato salad

Vegetable fritatta

Tomato sauce (froze that for a lazy day)

Tomato, onion, bell pepper and feta omlettes

Lentils, tomatoes, red onion, parsley