Long over due...

I have been such a big slacker when it has come to blogging lately. So I feel like I need to place a "WARNING": This is not going to be a great (or even a good) post, but I thought that it's better than nothing.

Saturday was one of the best days in a long time. To start off with it was a sunny 55 degrees which meant that we were actually able to get outside and enjoy ourselves. Saturday was also the first official day of Nick's spring break and it is great to not see him stressed out or really to see him at all. In the morning Nick and Andrew made a fort in the living room, I'm not sure who had more fun but it sure was cute watching them play together. Then we decided to get out and explore the south shore a little bit. We drove down to Scituate because we have heard from several people that there are some charming stores and nice restaurants. We first went to the harbor where we had lunch and window shopped, then we headed up to North Scituate where we had remembered seeing a nice playground, which Andrew ended up loving. You can definitely tell that I am a mom to a toddler because I got so excited about this playground. A lot of the playgrounds are on the bigger side for Andrew still, but this one was made for toddlers. It was so cute, we ended up staying for a couple of hours until Andrew had to tell us he wanted to leave by repeatedly walking over to the fence and pointing to the car, he then promptly fell asleep for the drive home.


The boys doing their thing


At the playground


Nick and Andrew looking at the ducks


This ramp kept Andrew busy for a good 20 minutes while I went in to all the shops I wanted. He was really sad when we left it.


Andrew and Elliot playing in his crib (one of their favorite activities)

I made these delish sugar cookies today with my left over Ricotta cheese. Heres the recipe:

Ricotta Cheese Sugar Cookies
Makes 3-4 dozen

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
1 16-oz. container whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 c. flour

Glaze
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
A few drops almond extract (optional)
2-4 Tbsp. milk, half-and-half, or cream
Sprinkles or colored sugar, for decorating

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Using a mixer, combine butter and sugar until well blended. Mix in ricotta, eggs, and vanilla. Add baking soda and salt. Then mix in flour.

The dough will have the texture of mashed potatoes that have been sitting out too long. In fact, it looks like that, too. But it tastes very different, I assure you.

3. Drop teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 12-14 minutes, until cookies are golden on the bottom but still very light on top. Remove from pans and place on cooling racks.

I then made a lemon icing (powdered sugar, lemon juice, and a little milk until consistency you want) and dipped them or drizzle icing on top.