Whoopie Pies

February 19, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Seriously, I can’t even type that title without laughing outloud.

Who the heck named these things?

Makes me think of a fart or something.

Sorry if that’s TMI. 😀

So we had some friends over for dinner tonight, and I speculated…based on some things I’d seen on Facebook…that they had a slight (or not so slight?) obsession with whoo pie

pies.

So I decided to make them.

I went with the Red Velvet recipe that my blogging friend posted on her site a few weeks ago.

Holy cow, were they good.

For my first attempt, they turned out ok. (Meaning how they looked.) I made the cookie parts Way.

Too. Big. But that’s ok. :) And the cream filling would have been better (and probably thicker) if I’d had a mixer… but we are mixer-less in the Schroeder house.

So it kind of ran everywhere, but

it tasted good anyway.

And there was some left over…hello me + spoon when no one is looking!

😀

It will probably take a few more attempts before I can get it right.

But here ya go…a whoopie pie. (HaHaHaHaHa!!!!!)

Big laughs.

Sig

Filed Under: food, friends

Friday Coffee: Cafe Firefly

February 18, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

So a couple weeks ago I said that some friends and I were going to try out different coffee shops and let you know what we find.

I realize this is (pretty much) useless information for anyone who doesn’t live in the Chicago area…but maybe you’ll be passing through someday. (And if you do, please let me know so I can meet you for coffee!)

And if you are from the area, consider it your own personal guide on where to find the best java by someone who loves the stuff.

:)

So I need to set some criteria, otherwise my coffee house reviews will have no rhyme or reason…although I do tend to have a random brain, so maybe I should just fly by the seat of my pants on these reviews.

We’ll see.

So a little background before I get going on my first “official” coffee house review.

Every other Friday afternoon Maelie and I go to coffee with our friends Alison and Kirsten.

It’s more just social time than anything, but I always come away from our time feeling encouraged in some way, so it’s definitely good for us. And Maelie really likes coffee dates, even if she’s too young to k now it right

now. Haha :)

A couple weeks ago, Kirsten mentioned something about me blogging about the different places we have coffee…and I figured, hmmm…that could be fun. So let’s give it a try! I mean, I live in (or close to) the suburbs of Chicago…we definitely aren’t going to run out of places to have coffee!

So here we go… (and I apologize for not having pictures with this one…next time I will take my camera!)

Today was Cafe Firefly in Algonquin, which is just about a ten minute drive from my house in Carpentersville.

Atmosphere: We fell in love with the atmosphere of the place immediately.

It’s small…but cozy, and we were lucky enough to grab the two big couches in the back.

Coffee: I’d give it a 9 out of 10…and I’m a coffee snob, so that says something. I had a Mexican Mocha (made with spicy chocolate), decaf (of course…I want my daughter to sleep!), skim. I left the whip on it because it’s Friday. I don’t usually let myself have it, though, because so much of the bad-for-you fat comes from the whip.

It was really, really good…I think I will have a hard time going back to Cafe Firefly and NOT ordering that drink.

Food: I don’t always order food when we go for our Friday coffee, but I hadn’t had lunch today, so I had the chicken salad, and my two friends had the tuna. I think if I order food there again, I would go with

the tuna. It was good… but the drinks were better.

(But that IS why it’s a coffee shop. :))

Prices: About average for a coffee shop. For a sandwich and coffee I paid around $10, which is not extremely cheap, but not on the outrageous side, either. Since I have a (pretty) strict coffee budget, I probably won’t be eating lunch very often when we go for our Friday coffee, but it was okay today.

Extras: The owner is really friendly. I love small coffee shops for that reason…it’s more like a f

amily atmosphere. They have a lot of board games if you like that kind

of thing. Tonight they also had Open Mic…which was really tempting–I’ m hoping they have it again.

Now I just need a friend to go with me… :)

Recommended: Definitely. I’ll go back for the Mexican Mocha if

for nothing else. And if they have another Open Mic night

? I’m totally there.

So for our first “official” Friday Coffee, Cafe Firefly was a good choice.

Give it a try if you’re ever in the area!

Sig

Filed Under: coffee, food, friends

Woot Woot!

February 7, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Ok, so I had unofficially decided that Mondays would be my what I’m learning/Bible blogging day of the week.

However, THE PACKERS WON THE SUPER BOWL YESTERDAY, and we must celebrate!

So theology will have to wait until tomorrow. And it gives me another day to think about what to write anyway. :)

I don’t really follow football other than through my huge Packer fan of a husband. I can take it or leave it–I enjoy a good game but at the end of the day, there are things I’d rather do with my time. (Like hanging out with my girl or talking with friends or blogging…although Mae does enjoy football and has “watched” several games this season with her daddy.)

I have learned A LOT about life being married to a huge Packer fan.

Like how I should cheer for the Packers to win so I will have a happy husband. Or how I should NEVER, ever say, “If the Bears make it to the Super Bowl instead of the Packers, I will cheer for them.” Or how I should not ask Tobin to feed Maelie her cereal (or really ask him anything) while the game is on. :)

All that to say…somehow the last few weeks of football have been fun. I love watching the underdog do well in something.

Five weeks ago, no one really expected the Pack to make it to the Super Bowl much less win the thing.

So it makes me smile.

And I’m happy for Tobin, I really am…he’s been a faithful fan through some less-than-stellar seasons.

So it was really fun to be able to watch them in the Super Bowl yesterday.

We had some friends over, ate too much food (my stomach is still reeling from all of that pizza and too many brownies), had some great laughs at some of the commercials, and celebrated the Pack’s win. And I’m pretty sure I had the happiest husband in the world this morning…and it’s an even sweeter victory since we live in Bear Country. ( But we know better than to rub it in.

:))

Congrats on a great season, Packers!

And I’ll be back tomorrow with what I’m learning. :)

Sig

Filed Under: football, friends, Tobin

The Healing Power of a Coffee Date

February 5, 2011 by · 1 Comment

I don’t know what it is with women and coffee.

Give us a cup of java and a good friend and all is right with the world.

A few weeks ago I had an almost-meltdown.

It had been ages (we’re talking months) since I’d gone out for coffee with a friend. For the last five years, that’s how I’d dealt with the stress of life–I’d grab a friend, jump on a motorbike (or in a car, depending on where we were living), and head to Starbucks. I can’t begin to count the number of times I spent hours

having coffee and talking about everything with a friend in Indo.

Then we moved to a place we didn’t know anyone.

And I don’t know why, but it took me forever to get up the courage to ask someone to go have coffee with me. It was almost like I needed to make sure they would want to.

Well, duh…we’re women.

Anyway, back to the almost-meltdown. It had just been a rough week…fussy baby, stuck in the house for four days straight…yeah, it was time to get out. At the end of Bible Study one Thursday morning, I was on the verge of tears. To save myself, I just threw out, “Does anyone want to go get coffee tomorrow?”

Amazingly, a couple friends were like, “Sure, we’d love to.”

Again, duh…we’re women. We drink coffee and talk…it’s just what we do.

And so we went…to a new place I’ d never hear

d of. (And can’t remember the name right now…I love mommy brain. :)) Good coffee but even better conversations.

Some serious, some fun. It was so incredibly healing for my heart… I just needed some time to sit with friends, talk, and process the million things racing through my brain.

So good…so good that we’ re going to make it an every-other-Friday tradition and check out some other cool spots to grab coffee.

(I will let you know what we find!)

I was blessed with two more fun coffee dates this week.

Yesterday Alison and I hit Starbucks and the mall for a couple hours.

And this morning my friend Kris and I headed to Caribou for what could have been longer, but we only stayed three hours. :) (And as a side note, we know that Maelie is truly my daughter when she can be an angel the entire time.

Yep, coffee dates already agree with her!

:))

It’s almost like sitting down with a cup of coffee gives us freedom…to laugh, cry, share stories, get frustrations out, talk about the good stuff…and the tough stuff, too. I love it. And I need it.

So here’s to coffee, good friends, and lives that are worth sharing.

And being blessed.

Sig

Filed Under: coffee, friends
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