I made these two ways – as a cookie and as a cookie bar. They’re great either way! I’ll provide specifics on how to make each one at the bottom of the recipe. Oh, and you can also substitute dried cranberries for the pomegranate seeds, but I really do recommend the pomegranate for this recipe. Trust me. (Just break a pomegranate open in a bowl of water, and gently pop the seeds out. I got my pomegranates delivered to my door by Full Circle Farms, by the way. And they were fabulous.)

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Chocolate Chip Pomegranate Cookies/Cookie Bars

Adapted from a recipe in Kiwi Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2009

• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light olive oil (or canola)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Lightly oil two large baking sheets or an 9×13 glass baking dish (depending on whether you’re doing cookies or bars) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oats, walnuts, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, flaxseed, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, oil and vanilla until well combined.
4. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients, and stir until just moistened.
5. Gently fold in the mini chocolate chips and pomegranate seeds.
6. For cookies: use a tablespoon to scoop batter then firmly pack it into the measuring spoon. Place on the prepared baking sheet in a mound. Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to wire rack.
7. For cookie bars: pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Bake 18-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool completely in the dish before cutting into squares.

Also, remember how excited I got about my first delivery day from Full Circle Farms? Well, this is one of the recipes I devised to use the organic celery and pear I received in my box. Anyway, here’s the recipe…

Wild Rice Quinoa Pilaf with Celery, Pear and Walnuts

• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 pear (Bosc or D’anjou are fine), diced
• 1/2 large onion, minced
• Handful or two of chopped walnuts (toasted would be yummy, but plain is good too)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wild rice with two cups boiling water. Cover and bake for one hour. Fluff with a fork and set aside. (You can complete this step ahead of time if you wish, or make a big batch for another meal and save some for the pilaf.) After rinsing the quinoa, add it to two cups of water in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil for about 15 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let stand for about five minutes. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Saute onions until almost translucent. Add celery and cook for about two minutes. Add the wild rice and quinoa and cook until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, mix in the diced pear and chopped walnuts. Enjoy!

But then, I remembered! It was delivery day!

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that Full Circle, a farm-to-table organic delivery service, had chosen me to test their product. They were about to launch their delivery service in Boise, and asked that I blog, tweet or post about the experience in return. Organic food, delivered to my door? I was like, where do I sign up?

So. Back to that crummy morning. I flipped back the covers, switched off the humidifier at my bedside (thank goodness for those things – I would have been mouth-breathing all night if it weren’t for that gadget) and shuffled to the front door as fast as my groggy legs would take me. There it was. A large Full Circle box, placed right on my welcome mat like a present.

The only thing that would have made me more thrilled about this discovery is if the entire box were filled with chocolate instead of organic produce. Because, hey. I may be a vegetarian, and I like my veggies, but I LOVE me some chocolate. Still, waking up to a week’s worth of produce on your doorstep is a beautiful, beautiful thing. I’m telling you – no lugging the kids to the grocery store, no agonizing over which kinds produce to buy, how much it costs, and which items look the best. No transfer from cart, to checkout, to cart, to car, to kitchen. It’s just there. On the doorstep. Like magic.

As the kids ate their breakfast, I popped open the box. It was crammed full of organic goodness. Here’s what I got:

• 3 lbs. red potatoes
• 2 sweet dumpling squash
• 2 bunches of celery
• 6 gala apples
• 1.25 lbs. carrots
• 6 D’anjou pears
• 1.25 lbs. brussels sprouts
• 3 pomegranates
• 1.25 lbs. green beans
• 1 bunch green kale
• 1 bunch green leaf lettuce

So, yeah. Lots of good stuff in there. Now, if I can just decide what to make with all of it…

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This pumpkin smoothie is like a piece of pumpkin pie in a glass, with a lot less sugar. And it’s a perfect way to use up a bit of leftover puree from a pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread recipe!

I have to say — this is the comfort food of smoothies. There is something so soothing about it. I’m battling a nasty cold right now, and somehow, a pumpkin smoothie makes me stop thinking about how miserable I am. Plus, it helps me squeeze in some extra fluids and vitamins.

Pumpkin Smoothie

• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup chilled pumpkin puree
• 4-5 ice cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1-3 teaspoons of oat bran, wheat bran and/or ground flaxseed meal

1. Put pumpkin puree in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours or in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
2. Place ice cubes, milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, honey and bran and/or ground flaxseed in a blender and blend until smooth.

This makes a generous amount for one person, or an average amount for one adult and one child. I would double the recipe if I were making it for two adults. Enjoy!

If there’s one thing I love about fall, it’s the leaves. I’m just stunned by their colors – each one is like a little piece of art. I’m always tempted to preserve them in the pages of a phone book, but that gets old after a while. But this year, I came across the most amazing book: Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert. All of her books are gorgeous, but I especially love this one because of the way she uses real leaves (well, color photocopied leaves) to create people, animals, and even a vegetable garden! At first glance, your eyes just see a page of beautiful foliage, then you realize there’s a picture within all that beauty. Genius!

Anyway, after reading this book to Kellan a couple times, I realized that we had all the supplies we needed to make our very own leaf people and animals, right in our own backyard. So we set to work, gathering up glue, pieces of cardboard, and the loveliest leaves we could find. Before long, we had all kinds of creatures that we turned into puppets. You should try it too! It made for two straight afternoons of fun activities, between all the leaf gathering, designing and puppeting.

What you need:

• Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert (Actually, this is not necessary for the project, but it provides some great inspiration.)
• Several pieces of cardboard
• Regular white glue
• Several sticks, about 5-6 inches in length
• Duct tape
• Lots of leaves, berries, acorns and pieces of bark – whatever will make a good leaf person!

We each made several puppets, choosing mostly leaves for arms, legs, bodies and heads. Berries made for good eyes, and we have some small, curved seed-like things in our backyard that made perfect smiles. After gluing them all together and letting them dry for a couple hours, I cut the cardboard around each person. Then we duct taped sticks to the back. Lo and behold – leaf puppets!

Our playset provided the perfect puppet theater! Kellan and I each took turns putting on shows for each other, then we teamed up for a grand performance once his daddy got home from work. What a great way to spend a fall afternoon.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Wanna make your own? Be sure to visit this page to get the how-to instructions, and if you’d like a few more cute Halloween craft ideas, check out this free ebook: 8 Halloween Kids Craft Ideas. My Ghostly Ghoul Wreath is one of the 8 projects featured in the ebook, and the other ideas in there are really cute!

About five minutes into the rare Saturday afternoon viewing session, I walked into the living room to return our camera to its regular (and rather odd) place on top of a stereo speaker. Both kids were sitting so sweetly on the sofa that I said, “Smile!” and snapped a picture before I put the camera back. Ella didn’t smile for the first picture, and then she scrunched up her face and whined as I took the second. I said something to the effect of, “Awww, what’s the matter, Sweet Pea?” and walked over to give her a little cuddle.

Then I saw it.

A light brown substance all over her hands, all over her diaper, all over the couch. As I dropped the camera on a nearby chair and screamed, “WHAT IS THAT, WHAT IS THAT!!!” the first thought that came to mind was puke. She had puked her guts out! And then the realization slowly dawned that no, this was not puke, it was 1,000,000,000,000 times worse.

Feces.

I did not gag. I did not puke out my own guts. I simply picked her up, held her as far away from my body as my arms would stretch, and screamed, “MICHAEL!”

I think the sheer alarm in my voice, not to mention the decibel level, told my husband that this was no help-me-corral-the-dog or please-come-light-the-grill-for-me-because-I-have-two-hungry-whiny-kids-attached-to-my-legs kind of scream. He was there in an instant. “She had a blowout!” I said as I whooshed past him, and just for effect, a chunk of smooshed-up poo fell from Ella’s leg and onto the carpet at his feet.

I put Ella, poopiness and all, right into the tub. I think this is why bathtubs were invented. They are the hazmat cleanup solution for the modern American household. After the strip-down, rinsing and sudsing, I proceeded on to Stage 2 of the hazmat cleanup: the TV remote. As you can imagine, this was no easy job. Apparently, after Ella tired of playing with her own poop, she moved on to one of her favorite pastimes – pushing the remote buttons. The entire thing was smeared with a thin layer of feces, and I had to finesse a disinfectant wipe in between the buttons to get it all out.

Next up: the cushions. Michael noted that the poop was ground into the fibers of the fabric, and he was concerned that simply throwing the whole thing into the washing machine would just mean that the cushion would swish around in a bunch of filthy water. Being the Head Diaper Washer around here (this position should come with some sort of gas mask, by the way) I assured him that the way to clean it is to run a rinse cycle first, then a hot, soapy cycle, and then do it all over again if you’re still worried about filth. We then speculated on how the fabric would even fare in the washing machine. Michael went back to the scene of the crime to examine the couch for the “fabric care” part of the label. And wouldn’t you know it? The label was ripped off. The only information we could gather was, “This fabric can become stained, so never–”  Never let a child with a propensity to make giant poops sit on it with just her diaper on? Check.

In the end, we opted to place the cushion cover outside to dry, so that we could then shake the poop off into a trash can before washing. Let it be noted that this is not a good option. Allowing ground-in poop to dry only leaves you with dry, ground-in poop that doesn’t go anywhere with a good shake. So as Head Diaper Washer, I took charge of the situation and threw the whole thing into the washing machine. Genius idea. It all came out without a hitch.

So now I know from experience how to handle the impact of a giant diaper blowout on a couch. You can bet that I now make sure there’s at least one layer of clothing on top of Ella’s diaper to help contain any future blowouts. I also gathered a very important piece of information during the whole hazmat situation: a 4 year-old sibling who normally acts as the “town crier” whenever his sister is concerned (”Ella is standing on my keyboard!” or “Ella is trying to climb the dresser!”) will suddenly become completely disabled by a television and lose all ability to notify the household of any disastrous baby behaviors. In fact, you’re lucky if he even moves to the end of the couch when the hazmat cleanup begins.

The Boise in 10 Local Blogs list also includes some pretty great blogs written by Boise folks, so I highly recommend checking it out.

I guess I can understand the gray hair thing. I have genetics and two small kids to blame for that one. But I seriously cannot wrap my head around how it is that my kids are growing so quickly.

I had to cut Kellan’s hair the weekend before his first day. He was constantly pushing it out of his eyes, so it was time. The cut took a while – I never said I was a good barber – and when I was finally done, Kellan couldn’t wait to get up and run around. As I watched him dart around the backyard, I thought about how now we’re cutting his hair shorter. No more moppy toddler head. And he looks like a totally different kid. An older kid.

And then, on the first day of school, I decided it was a good idea to let him choose one of his new T-shirts to wear. That only made me feel worse. Not only did my kiddo have a “big boy” haircut, but he trotted off into his classroom in a shirt I’m not familiar with. One that I haven’t put through the laundry 100 times and worked hard to get stains out of. It’s like I hardly knew the short-haired, stripey-shirted boy strolling in to greet his teachers.

When I picked him up, it was just like all the other pickups of his last preschool year. His new teacher handed me a delicate, still-wet piece of art to take home, and we were the last ones to leave because Kellan always has “just one more thing” to tell a handful of different people. It felt comfortable, like we’ve been doing these lengthy preschool pickup sessions for years and years.

But in the back of my mind there is this nagging voice, reminding me not to get used to it. Soon I’ll be wondering where the time went, as I pick him up from his last day of preschool. And he will change this year. He will learn new words, ask me new questions, make new friends. Once next summer comes, he’ll be a little bit taller, a little bit more confident, and a little bit less of a little kid.

It is bittersweet, this parenting thing. And I will never stop wishing that it comes with a pause button.

Road trip! We set sail for Seattle in late May, where we searched for seashells at Alki Beach, saw Bono and the boys perform at Qwest Stadium, and took the kids to the top of the Space Needle, like true tourists. We also hiked in a Pacific Northwest rainforest, ate the most incredible cupcakes of our lives at Cupcake Royale (I still have dreams about the Salted Caramel cupcake), looked at elephants and other amazing creatures at Woodland Park Zoo, and examined dinosaur fossils at Burke Museum. Oh, and we also walked around Pike Place Market and took a gorgeous harbor cruise. Incredible trip. And we had two sets of great friends to stay with while we were there. Doesn’t get better than that.

Morel hunting in the mountains! We were fortunate enough to find about five pounds (yes, pounds!) of gourmet morel mushrooms in the mountains this year. I can’t tell you where. But I can tell you that they were big, and they were amazing! We had a couple of delicious feasts, that is for sure.

Huckleberry Heaven There’s only one thing I love more than morel mushroom hunting, and that is huckleberry picking. The late start to summer made for an atypical huckleberry harvest this year, but my family and I did find a pretty amazing crop high in the mountains, and I picked until my fingers were purple. The ensuing whole wheat huckleberry pancakes and huckleberry muffins were divine. Oh, and have you ever had huckleberry pizza? I make a mean Huckleberry Pizza with Endive and Arugula and another yummy dessert version with sweetened ricotta. Mmm. Didn’t have enough for those recipes this year, but next year…

Singing and dancing and acting – oh my! My son has made it his mission to become a triple threat – he’s a singer, a dancer, an actor. This summer Kellan learned how to perform in a musical, perfected the art of street dance, and busted some sweet breakdancing moves. He loved every second, and continues to practice his skills on an almost daily basis. I am not kidding you when I say that the lyrics sheet from his musical performance and giant piece of cardboard for his breakdancing moves are now his most prized possessions.

Ella’s First Birthday This summer also marked one year since Ella came into our lives. We celebrated with a lovely garden party in our backyard, and I once again pushed my cake-making abilities to the limit! (In fact, I nearly ruined it. I don’t know why I suddenly fancy myself to be an expert baker every time a kid’s birthday rolls around.) Ella continues to delight and amaze me every day – lately, she shocks me with just how many signs she knows! Ball, hat, shoes, phone, all done, drink, banana, monkey, giraffe, elephant, kitty, dog, bear, fish, flower…the list just keeps growing.

So, there you have it. My excuses for my online absence this summer. I hope your summer was a great one too, and I hope to see you around a little more often.