Blueberry Dumpcake

My most sincere apologies for no picture. Perhaps I will update with a picture the next time I make this amazingness.

Blueberry Dumpcake
1, 20 oz, can crushed pineapple, juice reserved
3 c. blueberries, frozen or fresh
1/4 c. sugar
1 box yellow cake mix, dry
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/8 c. sugar
chopped pecans if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain the pineapple juice and combine with the melted butter. Spread the pineapple on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Layer the berries next, followed by sugar (amount can be adjusted), the dry cake mix, the butter/pineapple juice mix, a sprinkling of sugar and chopped pecans if you wish. Bake for 30-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Serve with or without ice cream. Don't be alarmed if the entire dish is consumed within an hour.

NYT chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe was found here

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from The New York Times, David Leite and Jacques Torres
submitted by Melanie

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

•2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour * leave the TBs in for high altitude*
•1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
•1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
•1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
•2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
•1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
•1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
•2 large eggs
•2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
•1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
•Sea salt
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (about 1/3 cup) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.
**When I make these I use my favorite semi sweet or milk chocolate chips--I like guitard, but sometimes I use the big bag of Nestle semi sweet from Costco.

Nap time sleep problems. Help!

I feel so conflicted.

I've read several baby sleep method books and done research and all that about getting babies to sleep. Our biggest problem is naptime. Blake spends about 40-50 minutes eating, then I have to burp him, then change his diaper, and swaddle him up for a nap. The whole process takes between an hour and a little more. Then when I lay him in his crib he kicks and plays and wiggles like crazy. I take him out, rock him, give him a binky and he gets totally drowsy. Then when I lay him down he wakes right up. If I leave him he can usually try to work things out for a few minutes, but then after 5-20 minutes he starts crying and screaming. We try to soothe him with a binky, rocking him, patting his back, etc. He gets drowsy, then wakes up and the whole process repeats. This goes on for awhile until he finally falls asleep. By the time he crashes he's been awake for around 2+ hours. Then he sleeps 40-60 minutes before waking up again. Sometimes he can fall asleep, most of the time he can't. But he doesn't seem really hungry, just still tired.

I don't know what to do! I know nap time is SO important during the day and it helps them sleep better at night. Yesterday he had a 2 hour morning nap in his car seat (after finally falling asleep on his own in the crib, and I had to move him 10 minutes later). Then I fed him and did the whole swaddle and try to get to sleep routine. Once again, after 2 hours of being awake, I finally resorted to putting him in the swing to sleep. He slept there for maybe an hour and then woke up to eat. Scott fed him a bottle so I could nap, then he was awake for 2 hours again before we tried to put him in the crib. Once again he kicked and played and didn't fall asleep. So Scott put him in the car seat and we ran some errands. He slept for almost an hour. Then he ate again. Then I did the whole swaddle routine. After he'd been up for 2 hours again, he finally fell asleep in his crib and slept for 5 1/2 hours. I fed him, he was up for 2 hours (shoot me) and then he slept for another 4 hours.

I feel like he gets so tired being up for 2 hours that he can't take a good nap. And obviously he can't take a good nap because he is only sleeping for 45 minutes. I don't know how to get him to nap longer. I don't know if it's because we've moved him into the crib to sleep. Or if he's so used to being rocked, swinged, or vibrated to sleep. Or if he's relying too much on the binky. Or if he is so over tired that he can't sleep well.

Is it okay or normal for him to be awake for 2 hours and then only take an hour nap? I feel like he needs more sleep than that in a day! That's only 3-4 hours of day time sleep with 9-10 hours of night time sleep. Is that bad? Good? Okay? I don't know. :-/

HELP!!!!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I had to post this so I could find it again easier! Shadow gave us this recipe. SO yummy!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 2 cups parmesan cheese

• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cream cheese
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Mix together Parmesan cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.

Combine remaining ingredients and mix with spinach mixture.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with crackers or toasted bread.

found here:http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Spinach-Artichoke-Dip-1209

Winger's Wings Sauce

My good friend gave us this recipe for the Winger's wing sauce from the Utah restaurant. We made it today and it was delicious!!

6 TBL Frank's hot sauce

4 TBL water

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Bring to a boil. Boil for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and sauce with thicken as it cools. Pour over wings and enjoy!

You can find Frank's hot sauce at Wal-mart in the BBQ sauce aisle. It's the original flavor. Also, we bought a bag of frozen chicken wing pieces and baked them in the oven. It's also good if you deep fry the wings. Also, I halved this recipe for us. It makes quite a bit of sauce. Yum!