Back in March, my roommate Peggy & I instituted "birthday week" in honor of our other roommate, Janelle. The plan was to love Janelle in some small way every day during the week of her birthday. This tradition has continued, and so this past week was my "birthday week." SO FUN. I cannot thank my friends here at Covenant enough for making me feel so loved and special during this past week! :) Here are some of the highlights: On Monday (the official start of birthday week), I got back from my normal early-morning gym workout to find a balloon and mini-latte made by Peggy. Later that day, I was surprised with BEAUTIFUL roses from Eric. Thursday (my actual birthday), started off with breakfast made by Peggy, and an early-morning skype session with my co-birthday-girl, Jessica. It was so fun getting to see her on our birthday and open presents together. I really missed celebrating with her this year, and I've resolved that twins should never spend their birthdays alone. Having her with me is a fundamental part of how I think my birthday should be celebrated, and it was really sad for her not to be here with me. After class, I went to lunch with my dear friend Taylore, and Eric took me out for dinner later that night. Friday was the official party day. My friends threw me an AWESOME dinner party. You all need to let Janelle cook for you - oh my goodness, was it amazing! Homemade bruschetta, shrimp scampi, and chicken alfredo (yes, she made her own sauce); I couldn't ask for a more delicious meal. I felt so loved by all who planned and came to celebrate with me! We ended the evening at a pub called McGurk's in Soulard (downtown-ish St. Louis) with a huge crowd of Covenant students. Peggy got everyone in the bar to sing to me, which was such a special way to end the night! Sunday was the official close to birthday week. Eric treated me to lunch and then a cupcake at Jilly's cupcake bar. SO YUMMY. This place is a must if you come to St. Louis. Jilly's was on Food Network's Cupcake Wars and WON! They are going to be on the show again in a couple of weeks, I believe. Thank you, everyone for all of the birthday love this week. It has been so fun for me to celebrate with all of you, and I appreciate the love and affirmation you have showered me with this past week! :) I couldn't ask for a better way to start my last week of classes and finals.
Definitely not the best Taylor Swift song...but considering that I have 5 days left being 22, I thought it was appropriate! :) Birthday week starts tomorrow!
I've never written a food blog, but I was so excited about this baking experiment, I thought I would share it with you! How many of you have heard of Speculoos? You may have heard it called Biscoff Spread or Cookie Butter (made by Trader Joe's), but I will forever call it by it's French name - Speculoos. I was first introduced to this glorified peanut butter during my semester abroad. As some of you may remember, I gave up chocolate for Lent that year, and Lent quite inconveniently fell over my Spring Break trip to Paris. So, my dear friend Cathy bought Speculoos for us to eat with fruit and bread, since I could not have Nutella. Ever since, we have all been hooked! I came back to the states and scoured every grocery store to find this product! At the time, I could only find it at one store - Fresh Market. Now, only two years later, it's available at almost every major grocery in the country, in addition to Walmart and Trader Joe's (who have formed their own label of Cookie Butter). So, for awhile, I've been wanting to modify a standard recipe for peanut butter cookies (substituting Speculoos for peanut butter). I know, I know, you can buy Biscoff cookies at the store... But making your own is so much more fun, and you get chewy cookies instead of crunchy tea-cookies. I did have to modify the flour content - because Speculoos and peanut butter don't have quite the same consistency, the batter turned out very sticky, and my test cookies were thin and didn't rise properly. So, here is the recipe I used (courtesy of the old Better Homes & Garden cookbook): 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (this is 1/4 more flour than the peanut butter cookie recipe) 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup margarine (or butter) 1/2 cup Speculoos 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together flour, baking soda & salt - set aside. In a mixer bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds. Add Speculoos, granulated sugar, and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat until well combined. Shape dough into 1 inch balls; roll in granulated sugar if desired (I did not do this last part, but it's definitely worth trying!). Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet before removing to cooling rack. Can I just say, the cookie dough for these is DELICIOUS. The cookies were good too, but I'm looking to get more opinions on that before I make them again. If anyone happens to try them, let me know what your thoughts are!
Back in March, my roommate Peggy & I instituted "birthday week" in honor of our other roommate, Janelle. The plan was to love Janelle in some small way every day during the week of her birthday. This tradition has continued, and so this past week was my "birthday week." SO FUN. I cannot thank my friends here at Covenant enough for making me feel so loved and special during this past week! :) Here are some of the highlights:
On Monday (the official start of birthday week), I got back from my normal early-morning gym workout to find a balloon and mini-latte made by Peggy. Later that day, I was surprised with BEAUTIFUL roses from Eric.
Thursday (my actual birthday), started off with breakfast made by Peggy, and an early-morning skype session with my co-birthday-girl, Jessica. It was so fun getting to see her on our birthday and open presents together. I really missed celebrating with her this year, and I've resolved that twins should never spend their birthdays alone. Having her with me is a fundamental part of how I think my birthday should be celebrated, and it was really sad for her not to be here with me. After class, I went to lunch with my dear friend Taylore, and Eric took me out for dinner later that night.
Friday was the official party day. My friends threw me an AWESOME dinner party. You all need to let Janelle cook for you - oh my goodness, was it amazing! Homemade bruschetta, shrimp scampi, and chicken alfredo (yes, she made her own sauce); I couldn't ask for a more delicious meal. I felt so loved by all who planned and came to celebrate with me! We ended the evening at a pub called McGurk's in Soulard (downtown-ish St. Louis) with a huge crowd of Covenant students. Peggy got everyone in the bar to sing to me, which was such a special way to end the night!
Thank you, everyone for all of the birthday love this week. It has been so fun for me to celebrate with all of you, and I appreciate the love and affirmation you have showered me with this past week! :) I couldn't ask for a better way to start my last week of classes and finals.
