Hey friends. I’m so excited to get back in the kitchen, get creative and show you all some summer (!!) recipes. After the craziness of the last few weeks, that is all I can think about.

But before that, I have to tell you what a blast BLEND was. It’s such a joy to see something you’ve worked (really hard) on for almost a year come together and then see people enjoying all of that work. It was a weekend filled with so many hugs and laughs. A weekend full of great exercise and amazing food. It really doesn’t get better.

However, after four solid days of lifting boxes, setting things up, tearing things down, (awesome) GPP workouts, hiking, traveling, and not sleeping in my own bed…my body feels like it got hit by a truck. I am bone tired. But my heart is so full. Thank you to all of the sponsors and attendees for making it an unforgettably fantastic weekend. (and to my partners in crime – Janetha and Lindsay – there aren’t words for how much I love you guys).

Springtime is finally here. Not a day too soon. We’re now joining the rest of the country in sundresses, flip flops, sunburns, garden planning and green vegetables for dinner. Hallelujah. Amen.

Weirdly, I’m not a huge pasta person. I like it (a lot). But eating a bowl makes me want to take a nap. Actually, it makes me NEED to take a nap. (I had to lay on the couch for twenty-minutes after this dinner. At 6 o’clock. I couldn’t even stand up to clear the table. It’s weird.). I also know NOT A THING about shrimp or seafood. Quite frankly it all intimidates me. But…I asked the nice person in the seafood department at the store for some help on this one, and this little primavera just threw itself together in no time.

Asparagus Leek Pasta Primavera

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• 2 leeks, sliced, layers separated, and washed
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4 baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 C vegetable stock
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, and cut into 1 inch pices
• 1 C frozen peas
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 C parmesan cheese
• 1/2 pound spaghetti
• salt and pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.

Heat the olive oil in a big skillet over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook for one minute. Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook another few minutes until they are tender. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Then add the shrimp and the zest of the lemon. Cook just until the shrimp are beginning to turn pink, then add the asparagus and peas and cook until the shrimp are cooked through (about 2 more minutes).

Add the butter to the pan and half of the cheese. Stir to combine.Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss it all with the cooked/drained spaghetti, squeeze lemon juice over each serving, and add more cheese for garnish (if you want).

On this day last year, my mama died.

I’ll tell ya what. There are moments when it’s really hard to be a mama without a mama of your own to guide you.

It’s not as if I don’t have a handful of wonderful women who have stepped up and been right by my side, loving me, encouraging me, mothering me throughout this last year. I am so grateful to say that I do have these women in my life.

But there are days when you just want to call your mama, you know? Just want to know the advice that she would give. Just want to cry to her. Just want to laugh with her. Just want to share things with her.

Rightly so, mother’s day is magnifying my handful of mixed emotions. This year I’ll admit I’m feeling a little more weepy than I’d like to. A little more wounded than I expected. But I’m hoping and praying that in years to come, I can wake up on Mother’s Day without wanting to cry so much. Without feeling so heavy.

But even through the pain, I can say I am wondrously grateful to my mom for all that she gave to me. All she taught me. The extent to which she loved me. I can never tell her what it means to me that she was the absolute perfect example of a mother. Something I strive to be for Adrienne. But that’s okay…I think she knows. And I know she knows how much I loved her. When I think about what a gift that is, and what a gift it is for me to be a mama myself, I am able to smile and tell you all…Happy Mother’s Day. Please go tell your own mama that you love her, and hug her for me if you can.

You’d think salad would be safe from those grabby little hands, but not so. (actually, I think she was going for a chickpea. Or some cheese. Or maybe even a strawberry. I can say with almost certainty that it wasn’t the spinach.)

But me? I’m loving the spinach right now. I tried to plant some in my garden last year, but it was the worst, bitter-tasting spinach ever. Blech. Send your spinach gardening advice pleeeeaaase!

Until then, I’ll buy it by the truckload and make this salad everyday until September. It’s dern good.

Favorite Spinach Salad

• 2-3 C spinach
• 4 strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 medium cucumber, chopped
• 1 C chickpeas, roasted (I do them just like this, except I leave out the oil)
• a few curls of provolone cheese (I use my carrot peeler to make the curls)
• a handful of chopped chives

Start with the spinach and layer the rest of the ingredients on so they look pretty. I promise you, it will taste better if it looks pretty.

Dressing

• 1 T coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• a squeeze of honey

Shake (in a jar) or stir all ingredients together and pour over salad.

Gasp, freak out, cry, get excited, jump around, freak out again.

Our little girl baby mcgee turns two years old on Saturday.

And you know what, (almost) two year olds are amazing. The way her little brain works is fascinating. She is such a little PERSON, ya know? She has her own thoughts and her own opinions. Her own likes. Her own (strong) dislikes. Oh, and she can tell me about all of them. With her own words (what??!).

Sometimes this means a big, giant, planking, feet-stomping tantrum. But other times this means toddling (she still toddles like a little ducky) up to her mama, fastening her arms securely around my neck and saying, I love you so, so much. (she really does say so, so much…I almost die of cuteness and overwhelming love every time.)

But, HONESTLY. Two year olds are fantastic. I refuse to ever refer to this year as the terrible-twos. That’s just silly. Of course there will be challenges, probably at ever age. But can you imagine someone saying about you…Oh that’s Katie. She’s 28, just ignore her. Since she’s 28, she’ll probably just be wretched for a whole entire year. Wouldn’t you feel…uh…terrible?

I’m determined to call out her good behavior. Not her terrible behavior. Not only does doing so change my attitude about parenting, but it’s such a huge part of building her identity. (aaack, sometimes the pressure of building a person’s identity is just the teensiest bit overwhelming). Meeker is especially good at this. Every single day of her life he sits on the floor, looks in her eyes (no matter what her behavior is at the moment) and tells her these three things: I love you and I like you. I approve of you. You are a blessing.

There are times when she does ACT terribly, though. Like when she asks for eggs for breakfast and I set eggs down in front of her three minutes later and she throws herself out of her chair and on to the floor Scarlett O’Hara style. HOW DARE YOU GIVE ME EGGS WHEN I JUST ASKED FOR EGGS!?!?!? Or when she screams in a grocery store because she wants to walk, not ride in the cart, and when I let her walk she takes off sprinting and knocking things off of shelves. That’s terrible behavior. Not (even close to) a terrible little girl.

On the flip side, there are days when she sings every single word of Marry You by Bruno Mars correctly and then asks me to marry her. There are moments before bed when she asks if we can pray for her cousins and her Poppy and her dog and our neighbors. Her brain astounds me. The rate at which she soaks up new information is just plain crazy. She knows how to spell her name. She can draw a circle. She can recite entire books. She (usually) remembers to say PLEASE and THANK YOU. She plays with my hair, rubs my back, and says MAMA, FRUSTRATED? When I am indeed frustrated. She is my little tiny best friend. As far as I’m concerned folks, she hung the moon.  Meeker and I often look at each other and just say can you believe how awesome she is?! I mean, we are her parents, so we’re sorta kinda biased. But seriously. Two year olds (especially mine) are the bee’s knees.

I just want to state, for the record, that I don’t think raisins ever belong in cookies. Especially when they look like chocolate chips. A single bite into that cookie is one of life’s greatest letdowns.

Raisins in cookies…downgrade.

But covering raisins in chocolate and peanut butter….upgrade!

Chocolate covered raisins were always a special little treat in my house growing up. We took them hiking, to the movies, and on long road trips. I have nothing but love for raisins coated in chocolate.

Turns out, they’re just about the easiest treat on the planet to make at home. (I mean, covering them in chocolate, not actually making raisins from scratch. Hours of the day don’t grown on trees, people.) Tedious, but easy peasy.

So here’s how how one makes chocolate covered raisins at home…as if any five year old couldn’t have come up with this. (sheeesh, pumping out recipes like this is how I know I’ve been busy. Nostalgic comfort food that takes five minutes.)

Chocolate covered raisins for the win (and maybe your next long car ride).

Peanut Butter Chocolate Covered Raisins

• 1 C chocolate chips
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 T peanut butter
• 1 C raisins

Melt the chocolate, coconut oil, and peanut butter together. (I used a double boiler, but you could just do it in the microwave).

Separate all your raisins so there aren’t any clumps. You want as large of a chocolate to raisin ration as possible.

Drop the raisins, about a handful at a time, in the melted chocolate, roll them around and fish them out with a fork or slotted spoon. (If you melted your chocolate in the microwave, you may have to re-microwave it if it starts to harden up between raisin batches.)

Put them on a plate or cutting board lined with parchment paper transfer to the refrigerator until set – about an hour. Also, they need to be stored in the fridge (or freezer) as they get melty and messy pretty quickly.

The winner of the BLEND Retreat Ticket + Lodging Giveaway is Angela from Nutty for Life. Congratulations! I’m so excited to meet you!! Please email me and we can chit chat about the details.

For the rest of you, I hope that little face up there eases some of your disappointment. I know it does a number on my heart.

The rest of the country is skipping around in sandals singing about puppies and rainbows and flowers, while I’m over here making a casserole with frozen spinach.

It’s the darned snow. I’m actually not going to complain about it because we had the most dry, fire-raging summer last year, so I am hoping this late spring snow is a sign of a little more moisture this year. If snow now means no fires in August…I’m down.

But really. Snow on May 1st. Ridiculous.

This little spinach bakey thing isn’t totally winterized though. I tried to throw some colors in there. Spring it up a bit. It turned out deliciously. Perfect for those thirty-degree days in May when you’re stuck inside the house and the last thing you want is a salad.

Three Cheese Spinach Bake

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• half of a red onion, thinly sliced
• 5-6 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 t olive oil
• 2 (10 oz) packages of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 C cottage cheese
• 1/2 C parmesan cheese
• 1/2 C cheddar cheese
• 3 eggs
• 2 T flour
• big pinch of salt
• 1/2 t pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and then add the onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Cook until all are tender.

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, all three cheeses, the eggs, flour, and salt/pepper. Mix well. Then stir in the onion mixture when it is finished.

Spread into a 9×13 dish sprayed with non-stick. Bake for 45 minutes, or until edges start to brown.

Hey all. I just got back from a quick trip to Park City, Utah (where the BLEND Retreat will be held in just three short weeks), and let me tell you. It is going to be rad. I am so crazy excited about all the fun things we have lined up for you.

I am so excited, that I want MORE of you to come. That’s why I’ve decided to give away one ticket + lodging expenses to one of you. That’s a $300 value, folks. (for more info about what goes on at the retreat, see this post) If you win, the only expense you will have is your plane ticket. It’s kind of the best thing ever.

To enter, just leave a comment! I will pick a winner on Friday. Good luck!

(^^see the finger swipe in that frosting? Adrienne was napping. That was all me.)

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The man of the house turned twenty-eight yesterday. And the ladies of the house super adore him, so we made him a really fancy birthday banner (Adrienne painted the whole thing. I bet you can imagine the fanciness), made him his requested dinner (chicken + mashed cauliflower + spicy green beans), and whipped him up a pretty nice cake.

This is the most basic cake ever. I got the original recipe from my great aunt Jean, but have tweaked a few things over the years (including the addition of a million sprinkles). It’s a keeper.

Yellow Layer Cake

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• 2/3 C butter, softened
• 1 2/4 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 t vanilla
• 2-1/2 C flour
• 2-1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1-1/4 C milk

Cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk. Add to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the 1-1/4 C milk.

Pour into two greased and parchment lined 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until center of each pan looks set, and a fork inserted in the middle of each comes out clean. Let cool about 15 – 20 minutes in the pans, then remove and let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 1 C chocolate chips
• 3 T water
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1/4 C water
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 C butter, softened
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 C powdered sugar

Combine the chocolate chips and the water in a small bowl and microwave for one minute. Remove, stir until smooth, and set aside to let cool to room temperature.

In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add a couple of tablespoons of the hot sugar/water to the egg yolks and stir. Then return all to the pan, stirring constantly (this is so you don’t get scrambled eggs when you add them to the hot mixture).

Cook for about two more minutes until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature (you may get a thick layer on top after it’s cooled. If so, just pass it through a strainer, or skim it off the top with a spoon)

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in the cooked sugar mixture. Then beat in the powdered sugar. Then stir in the vanilla and the melted chocolate. Mix until all is smooth.

Spread in between cake layers and over the top/sides of the cooled cakes. Then cover the sides in sprinkles by cupping a handful and sort of splashing/pressing it on the sides of the cake.