Nursery Plans

The one thing I had known for sure when I got pregnant was that I wanted to do the nursery in mint and gold. It's pretty, it's gender neutral and it doesn't need to be overdone to be great!

I had pinned a ton of ideas over the last year (way before we decided to get pregnant!) that I really loved and some of them will definitely end up in the nursery!

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I am CRAZY about this wood wall hanging! Can't you just picture it with a soft mint background ;)

I am not a huge fan of the chevron trend, it's cute, but I am over it! But I still love the way it looks in these colors.

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You can never be wrong about a cute dresser with a fun pop of color AND a wall of cascading gold polka dots! This must happen!

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1. Print, 2. Palette; Mint, White and Gold, 3. Custom Baby Blanket (from my sweet friend Natasha), 4. Gold Polka Dot Wall Stickers, 5. Crib, 6. Gold dot changing pad cover, 7. Changing Table/Dresser, 8. Glider and Ottoman, 9. Print

Samantha
Flour De Lis

20 Weeks

I am officially halfway through this pregnancy! It's so crazy to say that, I feel like I JUST found out! It's already gone by so fast. 

I am not really tired, but I have no energy if that makes sense. Making cookies seems impossible just about every day, but I have so many ideas that want to be created! The mr got me a sewing machine for Christmas so I plan to start on my lengthy list of crafts instead! 

I bought this picture frame over a year ago and painted it in a lovely mint green shade. It's been sitting in our spare room for ever! After finding Charlene's blog Becoming the Barrs, I decided I was going to use the frame to document baby's growth month to month. 

We're currently super excited to watch the NFC championship game today! GO HAWKS! 

I can't even remember how many of these cookies I made this week! Seattle is a great place to live and a great place to watch football!

So here is how I am doing this week, 

• How far along: 20 weeks on Sunday, already halfway done baking! 
• Baby is the size of…: a mango, a banana or an eggplant depending on which one of my pregnancy apps you believe
• Weight gain: 10 pounds
• Baby Bump: Oh yes! Been showing for several weeks now and my belly button is getting close to being an outie!! 
• Stretch Marks: None yet!
• Exercise: I try to get at least 35 minutes on the elliptical and low intensity stretches and weights several times a week.
• Cravings: Fresh fruit, loft house sugar cookies, girl scout cookies, waffles, starburst, dates, anything grapefruit...
• Mood: Happy and tired, but mostly HAPPY :D
• Sleep: A little more would be great, I am sleeping pretty well at night, but having CRAZY dreams and waking up sore. 
• Wedding Ring: On
• Baby Name?: We've got baby girl covered, but not for a boy...
• Gender Prediction: Girl
• Movement: I think I am feeling movement, several times a day and at night!
• Maternity Clothes: I found some great maternity clothes at Pink Blush and luckily scored some awesome deals on cyber Monday. 
• What I am looking forward too: Finding out who baby will be 
• What I miss: Sleeping through the night (on my back!)
• Favorite thing this week: A totally sweet mint and gold surprise from my awesome friend Natasha! It's so perfectly perfect and unexpected and I just can't wait for baby N to get here and enjoy it!

1. Bringing up Bebe, 2. Pinterest, it's really helping me keep everything organized these days! 3. Fig Newmans 4. Belly Butter, 5. Jessica Simpson maternity leggings, 6. Pink Blush Maternity sweater, 7. Origins Clear Improvement Charcoal Mask, 8. Yogi Mother to Be tea, my sister gave me some when I was visiting her and I love it!

I m seriously in love with the cocoa butter belly butter! It's AMAZINGLY smooth and rich and my skin is so soft!
I am getting really excited to see baby's room come together! I'll share my ideas soon :)

Samantha
Flour De Lis

Brownie Bottom Raspberry Coffee Cake

I could eat coffee cake every day, it's one of my most favorite things. It's delicious any time of day, and it's a perfect portable treat for office parties, brunches or just because you feel like baking and want to share it! I really love the crumb topping and soft texture of the cake. Extra points for fresh berries or a ribbon of cream! This recipe pairs the perfect texture of coffee cake, with a delicious crumb top, a ribbon cream cheese, fruit preserves and (that's right AND) a rich, decadent brownie bottom! What could be better?!

This coffee cake is super simple and absolutely delicious! You can start with any brownie recipe you like, or even grab a box mix if you really want to simplify! The other half is my favorite coffee cake recipe. It's so tasty and so versatile!



For the brownie bottom,

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the coffee cake,

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. For brownie base, combine butter, sugar and vanilla in mixer bowl. Add eggs and mix until well blended.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa baking powder and salt. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture and beat well between each addition.
4. Spread brownie batter evenly into bottom of greased 9x12 pan or 18 muffin cups.
5. For coffee cake, combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and blend with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs. 
6. Set 1 cup of crumb mixture aside. 
7. Add baking powder, baking soda to mixture and blend.
8. In a separate bowl mix sour cream, vanilla bean and 1 egg.
9. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just moistened.
10. Pour mixture on top of brownie base and spread evenly.
11. In another bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla extract, 1 egg and 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture on top of cake batter. 
12. Spoon dollops of raspberry jam onto top and gently run the spoon through the batter to swirl in.
13. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture generously on top of cake.
14. Bake for 40-45 minutes or about 20-25 minutes if making individual coffee cakes in muffin pan.
15. Coffee cake will be done when edges turn golden.

I hope you enjoy these tasty treats as much as I did! These pregnancy cravings are bringing together some pretty delicious recipes ;)

*Tips*

The coffee cake batter is very thick, especially if you use greek yogurt, so I added a 2-3 tsp of milk to make it spreadable. You want the crumb mixture for the coffee cake batter to be pretty fine, but you want the crumb topping to be pretty chunky so when you reserve 1 cup of the crump mixture for the topping, I like to add an addition 1 Tbsp of butter and cut it in to the mixture to make the crumbs larger for the topping. I like to use coconut oil to grease my cake pans, it doesn't add any coconut flavor and it's so easy to rub into the pan.

Samantha
Flour De Lis

Happy New Year

Christmas this year was so fast and furious! I don't think I managed to take a single picture (aside from Instagram) of the 1200+ cookies I made! Between cookies, family visiting, traveling, and the holiday joy I am not sure I managed to get a much of anything productive done, but I sure had a lot of fun this year!
If you follow along on Instagram, you have probably already seen most of the picture to follow but I am sharing them here just to recap the past few months!

These were the very last set of Christmas cookies I made this season! Simple and festive!

600 gingerbread cookies for REI's holiday employee party! They smelled absolutely amazing and might be the most delicious cookies ever! If you haven't tried Sugarbelle's gingerbread recipe, YOU MUST! I am not even kidding when I say they are incredible :D

We put up our tree, hung our stockings and decorated the house, and on Christmas morning we had cinnamon rolls! Pretty much the same things we do every year, but this year we added a little something new!

An extra stocking!! Baby Ngy will be joining us in June and I am so darn excited!

We rang in the New Year in downtown Seattle, and watched the fireworks at the space needle! I may or may not have taken a nap around 10pm… Growing a person is tiring! At least that's what I tell my husband when he asks what I did all day ;)

Here's where we are now:

• How far along: 17 weeks, 18 this Sunday
• Baby is the size of…: an onion
• Weight gain: 10 pounds
• Baby Bump: Oh yes!! Been showing for several weeks now!
• Stretch Marks: None yet!
• Cravings: Fresh fruit, strawberry popsicles, miso soup, guacamole, cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, water (seriously, I can't get enough water!)
• Mood: Happy and tired, but mostly HAPPY :D
• Sleep: A little restless, I am a back sleeper and that's not working! Plus I have to get up at least once to use the restroom.
• Wedding Ring: On
• Baby Name?: We've got baby girl covered, but not for a boy...
• Gender Prediction: Girl
• Movement: None, I am so anxious! I spend a good part of the day checking ;) 
• Maternity Clothes: Yes. For about 3 weeks now. I can still fit in most of my tops, but not jeans. Leggings and maternity leggings are my best friend!
• What I am looking forward too: Finding out who baby will be and feeling some movement
• What I miss: Sushi! 
• Favorite thing this week: Spending time with my sister and seeing her new baby! It got me really excited to meet mine :)

1. Avocados!

2. YOU Having a Baby, by Dr. OZ. I finished it and it was great! 

3. Leachco Snoogle Pregnancy Pillow 

4. Vitafusion Prenatal gummies. I tried several other prenatals and these are the only ones I can stomach

5. No Bake Energy Bites from Gimme Some Oven. So delish!!

6. Organic Cotton Headwrap from Sweet Kiddo Co  on etsy.

7. Strawberry popsicles! I may eat like 3 a day! 

This year, New Years came pretty quickly! Maybe it always does, but it seems like the holidays just flew by today! I am not even sure I had time to think about a resolution!!  But I hope you did! They are fun and sometimes they work out ;)

I'll try not to let baby Ngy take over the blog, but I hope you don't mind if I keep you all updated in between cookies and crafts!

Samantha
Flour De Lis

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, I only made two sets of Thanksgiving cookies. These were the last set and they just shipped out today. 

The adorable little scarecrows are of course inspired by the amazing and generous Sugarbelle. Callye has done several great tutorials for different scarecrows over the years, I love these ones!

After I shipped these cookies off, I stopped at the grocery store to grab some milk and butter and maybe a jar of alfredo sauce (because it's delicious!). While I was standing in line, I glanced at the magazines and saw the December issue of Seattle Magazine. I spent about 20 minutes yesterday looking to see when it would hit store shelves and could not find an answer ( I guess google doesn't know everything). Anyway, I may have squealed a little out loud when I saw it and probably looked a little crazy buying more than one copy. But here is why, and I couldn't be more excited!

See those cookies?!? Those are cookies I made!! Seriously :) Just for this. And I totally forgot to take a single picture of them! So I'll have to recreate them to list them in my etsy shop!

I have so many things to be thankful for this year! 2013 has truly been an amazing year and there is still so much more to come!

If you are looking to order some cookies for your holiday parties or as gifts, you can find them in my  etsy shop or you can send me an email info@flourdeliscc.com

I hope everyone has a truly wonderful Thanksgiving this year!

Samantha
Flour De Lis

Easy and Kid Friendly Zombies

Hello cookie friends! I am making a quick guest appearance over on my friend Callye's blog!

Hop on over and take a look at these fun PG zombie cookies, they couldn't be easier to make. 

Samantha

Flour De Lis

Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies

Fall is just around the corner, it's a little difficult to tell today with the temperature soaring to almost 90 degrees here in Seattle!
But the signs are popping up everywhere else. I think a lot of us really get the first taste of fall when Starbucks reintroduces the pumpkin spice back into their lineup! I know I found myself digging in the back of the closet for my scarves and I even dropped my favorite jackets off to get dry cleaned the day after I saw the sign :)

Fall makes me think about warm clothes, warm drinks and warm spices! And it makes me think of that delicious smell of baking and spices filling the house. Apple pie, apple cider, warm gooey cinnamon rolls or maybe just a hot cup of spiced chai. All of those yummy things have at least one thing in common; cinnamon! For me, cinnamon, is the quintessential fall spice.

If you follow me on facebook, or instagram or really anywhere else, you already know that I am madly in love with baking, especially cookies! I also LOVE fall! Like, love, love fall. I have several boards dedicated to my love of all things fall. I am convinced there is nothing better than baking cookies on a beautiful fall day in the pacific northwest (with the football game on of course)!

This week, I got to thinking about how I never make drop cookies anymore. I am always so busy making my decorated cookies that I don't have much time for anything else, so I decided it would be fun to turn some of my favorite drop cookies into roll out cookies! And what could be better on a fall day than a nice snickerdoodle? You really can't go wrong, it's soft, warm, tender and most importantly has a mellow sweetness and a little cinnamon kick!

I honestly didn't try very hard with these cookies, I took my basic cookie recipe (I know, it needs to be updated desperately) and left out the vanilla bean and added a little cinnamon. I use Vietnamese cinnamon and I am telling you, if you have never tried it, it's cinnamon x10! Just opening the jar smells like walking into Cinnabon! It's the best cinnamon I've ever tried :)

Just look at that gorgeous dough, you can see those beautiful, warm flecks of cinnamon!

I loved the way the dough smelled as the sugar and butter and cinnamon blended together! Just heavenly!

The best part is that all the flavor of the cinnamon is baked right into the cookie and the extra little sprinkles of sugar and cinnamon just melt right into your mouth.

You can eat these beauties right out of the oven and they are already a perfect treat! But the little sprinkling of sugar does not interfere with decorating at all, so you can dress them up anyway you like!

I chose to go super easy with this batch and gave them a few quick details.

Aren't they gorgeous?!? And incredibly yummy!

If you're looking for a great new recipe for cut out cookies, that will be perfect for fall, look no further!

Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, cold
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon (this is my favorite) 
• 3-3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

additional tsp cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar for dipping

Directions:

1. Cut cold butter into chunks, combine in mixer with sugar and cinnamon until fluffy (about 1 minute).
2. Add egg and vanilla extract, beat until fully incorporated.
3. Here, I like to scrape down the bowl and then just measure and scoop all the flour directly into the mixing bowl, add the salt and baking powder and mix on low speed until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. This will only take about a minute and the dough will form a ball on the beater and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use your favorite cutters to cut out shapes.
5. Roll the edges of the cookie in the sugar and cinnamon mixture and then lay the top side down into the mixture. 
6. Line your baking sheets with parchment for even baking (and easy cleanup) and place cookies onto sheets.
7. Place baking sheets into the freezer for about 10 minutes while the oven heats to 350 degrees.
8. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes depending on your oven.
9. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating or just enough to eat without burning your mouth :)

If you're looking for some other fall perfect cut out cookie recipes try these:

Pumpkin Spice Roll Out Cookies, from Life's A Batch

Brown Sugar Roll Out Cookies, from SugarBelle

Spiced Brown Sugar Roll Out Cookies, from Annie's Eats

Happy fall and happy baking friends!


Samantha
Flour De Lis