Confession: my love for Mama Shook’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe is so great that until last week, I’d never baked regular chocolate chip cookies (seriously, have you had her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies?!).

I had a midweek craving for something sweet and came across this recipe in this cookbook (a delightful cookbook that was a gift from one of my favorite families - thanks Van Dykes!). It was a crazy easy recipe, and the cookies came out perfect - soft and chewy.

I’ve been digging old school Dixie Chicks lately, so this was my soundtrack (who doesn’t love Cowboy Take Me Away?).

Ingredients:

Butter and sugar ready for mixin’:

The part when I wanted to stick my fingers in it (I refrained, for the most part):

Adding the chocolate chips:

Spooning out the dough (and sneaking little bites of dough - I have no self control):

Ready to go in the oven:

Making my apartment smell delightful:

Cooling (maybe I burned the top of my mouth on one because i didn’t let it “cool” properly - or at all):

Maybe I had them for breakfast all week. Maybe.

I wasn’t joking when I said I showed my sewing machine some love this weekend. I was probably a little sewing crazy.

I decided to tackle another project in my One-Yard Wonders book - the Organized Bed Pocket.

The soundtrack for this project was a little different than usual - a Pandora station based on these guys (a serious guilty pleasure of mine - I like to think they’re a step above Rascal Flatts).

Cutting the pieces and prepping:

Sewing the pocket together:

Pinning the pocket onto the backing:

Pinning on the double-fold bias tape:

Cutting the no-slip piece:

Pinning the no-slip piece to the pocket:

Almost finished (!):

How cute is this? (and functional!):

Good thing I’ve been letting my sewing machine rest this week. She’s probably a little worn out.

So I busted out the sewing machine again this weekend. Rural Missouri owned my life for a bit, but I fought back this weekend. I showed my sewing machine plenty of love.

I am in love with the One-Yard Wonders book that my friend Hope showed me months ago. I got it for Christmas when I got my sewing machine, and it’s the source of all my sewing projects to date.

One of the first projects I attempted was the quilted laptop sleeve. I’ve made a few laptop sleeves now, and this one is by far my favorite. Congrats LM - you get the cutest one!

The soundtrack for this project was chosen with my favorite redneck riviera resident in mind. They keep me company in rural Missouri most weeks.

Assembled flap:

Pinning the pieces together before quilting:

Marking lines for quilting:

Sewing on the finishing bias tape:

Finished product (so cute, right?!):

Maybe my body knew the Masters was this weekend before my head knew because I’ve been thinking about pimiento cheese sandwiches all week. The deliciously cheesy, sweet and slightly spicy spread that is so distinctly southern. (It should be noted that I have cravings for southern food all the time lately - see also: fried pickles, grits, peach cobbler and so many other treats. Those will probably end up here soon too. Just sayin’.)

My favorite redneck riviera resident (LM) reminded me about a simple recipe from our favorite magazine. The hardest part of this entire project was finding pimiento peppers in St. Louis. Seriously.

Also, this was my soundtrack for this project - he makes my heart melt. As do most boys in cowboy hats.

Ingredients:

All chopped up and ready to mix:

So it ain’t the purdiest spread:

But look how cute these sandwiches are! And whole wheat bread makes it healthy, of course:

And a little purdy plating never hurts:

Craving officially satisfied. Thanks to the Masters for reminding me of such a delicious treat.

I love peanut butter and peanut butter cookies. It’s my second favorite cookie behind oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. So when I came across this recipe that used whole wheat flour, raw cane sugar and natural peanut butter, I had to give it a try.

Also, this was my soundtrack for this little project - I can’t get enough of The Head And The Heart right now.

Ingredients (pretty basic, huh?):

Butter and sugar before beating:

Everything but the flour:

Final dough - ready to be rolled into balls (it was a pretty crumbly dough, so I think I’d add more peanut butter if I made these again, just to be a little more creamy):

Rolled out cookies (recent discovery: parchment paper is amazing - use it for all your cookies!):

Smushed cookies are ready to bake:

Cooling (and smelling delicious):

Done!

They’ll keep me company in rural Missouri this week, I’m sure.

Nothing makes me want to cook and bake more than a long week of travel. And this week was crazier than usual (Florida, Michigan, and rural Missouri). Something about creating a tasty treat is therapeutic in spite of my crazy travel schedule.

So I needed a good project tonight. I tend to like baking more than cooking, but I realized that I haven’t actually made anything from my Giada’s Kitchen cookbook (which I’ve had for over a year - tragic). Plus I wanted a hearty dinner tonight because I ran for 48 minutes - a personal best!

Here’s the recipe (yes, I’m currently too lazy to type it all out). It was delicious and filling, and I will definitely make it again!

It was a rough week in rural Missouri, so I needed a project to look forward to this weekend. I’ve recently become a fan of smitten kitchen (thanks to Bob!), and this blood orange olive oil cake recipe was the perfect project (oranges remind me of sunny FL).

It was easier than I expected, and delicious with the honey orange compote and whipped topping.

- 2 sticks margarine (or butter - I used 1 stick salted and one stick unsalted)

- 3 eggs

- 1 box brown sugar (or 2 1/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar - learned this is the equivalent today)

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 2 3/4 cups self-rising flour

- 1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325

Melt the margarine in a 13”x9” pan while the oven is preheating (this will keep the squares from sticking - make sure to coat the sides when the butter is melted). Beat the eggs in a large bowl and mix in the brown sugar. Add the margarine and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix well. Pour the mixture into the coated 13”x9” pan and bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes (until golden).