Are you in a book club?

Are you in a book club? My friend Jessi and I started one last fall, and we love it. Neither of us had ever been in a book club before, but we each invited some friends or co-workers who we knew loved to read, and that was the start of it! Each month we meet and discuss the book we read: what we loved, what we didn't, etc. It's very casual. We always have something to munch on, and we take turns hosting or meet up at a local coffee shop.

So far we've read:

One Plus One
The Rosie Project
Big Little Lies
Orphan Train
The Signature of All Things
At the Water's Edge

Caleb still teases me every month about leaving the house to go to book club, but I secretly love the book nerd side of me. What about you - would you ever join or start a book club?

(photo via here)

Fallen Chocolate Cake

I made this cake months and months ago (before I was pregnant, actually), but it's too good to not share. This is such a great recipe because it's one dessert that you actually want to fall. I made this for company, so I could make the cake earlier in the day and let it cool and fall all afternoon while I finished up dinner. I always try to have a combination of make-ahead and last minute recipes for when we have company, and this one is a winner!

Fallen Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces, plus more for pan
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar, divided, plus more for pan
10 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (61-72%), coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 eggs
2 Tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt

for the topping:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
3 Tbsp powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 9" springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out any excess.

Combine chocolate, oil, and 1/2 cup butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove bowl from saucepan.

Separate 4 eggs, placing whites and yolks in separate medium bowls. Add cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and remaining 2 eggs to bowl with yolks and whisk until until mixture is smooth. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into chocolate mixture, blending well.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until frothy. With mixer running, gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar; beat until firm peaks firm.

Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture in 2 additions, folding just until incorporated between additions. Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar.

Bake until top is puffed and starting to crack and cake is pulling away from edge of pan, 35-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan (cake will collapse in the center and crack further as it cools).

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Remove sides of springform pan from cake. Mound whipped cream in center of cake and serve. Serves 8-10.

source: barely adapted from Bon Appétit, March 2013

Skin care routine

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Do you switch up your skin care routine frequently? I tend to stick to my tried and true favorites but find that new products often end up in the routine and stay for several months. This is what I'm currently doing:

I wake myself up in the mornings with Origins GinZing scrub cleanser. The citrus-y scent perks me up (and the caffeine helps too!), and I like using a gel that exfoliates for the mornings. Afterwards I apply a little bit of Origins Plantscription anti-aging serum. It's never too early to start fighting those wrinkles that are bound to appear at some point! I finish the morning with Origins GinZing moisturizer. Again, I love the GinZing line, and this moisturizer offers good coverage without feeling greasy.

I shower in the evening to save time in the morning (sleep is too precious to me!), and I use Origins A Perfect World cleanser after shampooing and conditioning my hair. My skin has been insanely dry this pregnancy, so before bed I apply a little Origins Drink Up Intensive overnight mask to replenish my skin and keep it from being so flaky.

Disclosure: Origins has no idea who I am, and I was not asked to write this or compensated in any way. I just love Origins products!

Peanut Butter Fudge Pie with Salted Peanut Butter Caramel

I have always had quite the sweet tooth, but this pregnancy has taken "sweet tooth" to a whole new level. Although in the past month I've drastically cut back on my sugar intake (doctor's orders - eek!), this pregnancy has been filled with lots of delicious treats, both homemade and store-bought. I made this pie several weeks back when we had friends over for dinner. There were just four of us, but Saturday night company warrants a decadent pie, in my (pregnant) mind. THIS pie. This PIE. Peanut butter + chocolate is forever the best combination, and throwing in some salted caramel seals the deal. This pie is pretty easy to put together, and I even used a store-bought pie crust, because I'm pregnant and I'm allowed to take shortcuts like that :)

Peanut Butter Fudge Pie with Salted Peanut Butter Caramel
1 pie crust
1 cup unsalted butter, softened and divided
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups flour, divided
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 (12 oz) jar caramel ice cream topping
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the pie crust and fit it in a 9-inch pie plate. Flute the edges as desired, then place the pan in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to fill.

In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the softened butter, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, and 1/2 cup flour. Cut together until combined, then stir in the peanuts. Freeze for 15 minutes.

In a double boiler, combine the chocolate and remaining 3/4 cup butter. Heat until melted and combined. Alternately, place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals until they are melted and combined. Whisk in the sugar, cocoa, and 1 cup of remaining brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla, salt, and remaining 3/4 cup of flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust.

Take the peanut butter topping from the freezer and crumble over the top of the chocolate layer.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes, or until the center of the pie puffs and sets. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the caramel sauce, the remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter, and the sea salt. Drizzle 4 Tbsp of the caramel over the pie, then allow the pie to cool completely. Serve with the remaining caramel sauce for drizzling over each slice, if desired.

source: taste & tell blog, originally from Country Living, November 2014

It's finally spring!

I am so happy that spring is finally here! The winter is my least favorite season, so I always long for spring from about January 5 until it finally gets here. The beginning of spring couldn't have given us a better start: Saturday was a gorgeous day, so Caleb and I took advantage of the weather and did a lot of yard work. I got a pretty good sunburn, and we finished off the day by grilling out with some friends. Today the high is 73 degrees and I am LOVING it. Nothing says spring like a good floral pattern, so I've rounded up a couple of my current favorites to celebrate the start of this beautiful season.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

The Best Cinnamon Rolls

Are you tired of the snow wherever you are? We've only gotten a tiny bit of snow/ice once last week and once this week, but it sure is pretty to see it fall! The first time it started icing I was already at home with the day off, and I was in the middle of making these cinnamon rolls. It was the perfect snow day (sort of) activity: the snow was falling outside and I was inside all warm and cozy with my dough rising. These cinnamon rolls are the best homemade cinnamon rolls I've ever had, no lie. They rose beautifully (I'm very picky about that) and had just the right amount of filling and icing for each cinnamon roll. This has become my go-to cinnamon roll recipe. I hope you have a warm and cozy weekend, complete with fresh cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Icing
for the dough
1 cup whole milk
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast
4 cups flour, plus more for rolling
1 tsp salt
1 egg

for the filling
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

for the icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 Tbsp whole milk

Prepare the dough:
Heat milk and butter in a small heatproof bowl in the microwave until warm. Stir in sugar. Transfer milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Sprinkle yeast on top of warm milk mixture and let rest for 2 minutes. Gently stir together. (Temperature of liquid should be between 100-110 degrees when using Fleischmann's and between 120-130 degrees for Red Star active yeast.)

Add 3 cups of flour, salt, and egg and mix on low until combined. Switch to the mixer's dough hook. Add remaining cup of flour and knead dough for a few minutes until it pulls away from the bowl. If needed, add another tablespoon of flour to help all the dough completely pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Spray a medium bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Remove dough from mixing bowl. Knead dough a couple of times by hand and then shape into a ball. Place in coated bowl and turn over to coat each side. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let rise in a warm spot for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until dough doubles in size. If dough reaches top of the bowl, punch down.

Prepare the filling:
Butter two 8x8-inch pans. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Keep extra flour handy to coat your rolling pin, hands, and work surface if needed. Roll into a roughly 14 x 24 inch rectangular shape with the longest side closest to you. Roll so that the dough is almost 1/4 inch thick.

Drizzle melted butter on dough, spread around to coat, leaving about a 1/2 inch uncoated along the edges. Sprinkle both sugars and cinnamon all over surface of the dough.

Starting from the side opposite you, roll dough tightly towards you to form a long cylinder of dough. At the end, pinch the seams together and turn so that the long seam side is down. If needed, gently squeeze or shape the dough to help form more equal sized cinnamon rolls. Cut dough shape into 18 1-1/2 inch sections with a serrated knife and place nine cinnamon rolls in each pan. There will be a little space between each roll.

Let rolls rise a second time in a warm spot for about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees and then bake rolls for 15-17 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, prepare the vanilla topping. Sift confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Whisk in melted butter, vanilla, and milk until completely smooth. Remove rolls from the oven and pour topping evenly over cinnamon rolls while warm. Makes 18 cinnamon rolls.

source: bakerella

House Tour: Laundry Room

Today I'm excited to share another little piece of our house tour! Next up is our laundry room. Here's a little side-by-side before & after:

When we first looked at the house, I had issues with the laundry room. The biggest problem was that the door opened right into the washing machine, meaning you had to squeeze through the half-opened door, then shut the door behind you to finally be able to access the washer. I also didn't like the lack of cabinets and the one lone shelf around the entire room. I'm not a big yellow fan, but this shade especially was too dark, making a small room look even smaller and darker.

To fix the problem, Caleb took the laundry room door off the hinges and cut it in half to make double doors that opened into the kitchen. He cut the door right down the middle and hung new hinges. Since we didn't know what color of paint the door was, we took a kitchen drawer of the same color to Lowe's and they matched it exactly for us. Caleb painted the double doors and added new dummy door knobs to the front. He also put a little magnetic strip at the top of the door frame to keep the door closed tight.

Caleb removed the shelf that was in the laundry room to begin with. Then he painted the whole laundry room with a couple of coats of white paint. The walls and ceiling are the same white, since I just wanted a fresh, bright room. He built a cabinet with two interior shelves, and then built and mounted L-shaped shelves to go around the rest of the laundry room. There is a TON more storage now, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

All I had to do was get a little rug and find cute baskets to store all of my cleaning supplies. And actually when it came time to do that, I realized I had SO many extra cleaning products stored under my kitchen sink. I would just buy extra cleaning supplies thinking I needed them, since I couldn't really see what all I had shoved under there. This resulted in my finding 8 tubs of Lysol wipes - whoops! I'm glad that I now have a clear view of what I have on hand, so that I can replace only what we need.

I am so pleased with how our little laundry room turned out! Cutting the door and making it into double doors made the biggest difference! It was so much cheaper than buying new doors, and I love the way the double doors look. Like usual, Caleb did all of the hard work to make this laundry room a happier, more efficient space, and I'm so thankful for all his efforts!

sources: paint: Valspar Signature Paint + Primer in One in "White" | 

cabinet + shelves: designed + built by Caleb | 

rug: Target | wire baskets: Target