Wren's First Birthday

Wren turned 1 on Tuesday of this week!!!! It is so amazing how far she's come in a year (walking, some talking, etc). In fact, I never remember a year going by so quickly, and it's not like I don't have enough years under my belt at 27. We spent the day together playing and snuggling. She's a riot! Her new thing since she started walking a few weeks ago is grabbing a 4-pack of toilet paper from the bathroom linen closet and carrying it through the house.

Wren's bday party is this weekend at my IL's house, and with Wren and my dairy issue I decided cake was out of the question. There are WAY to many people attending who would complain because the cake I'd make from scratch would not be like the Betty Crocker mix. I don't need the stress or negative comments, so I'm making Apple-Pear Crisp. I can't do just Apple Crisp because, again, people have expectations around names. If I do something that's not quite 'normal', ie adding pear, I remove some of the stress of failing expectations of 20+ people. It tastes pretty good, and I'm not a fan of Almond Flavoring. It doesn't have cinnamon, a standard in most crisps on either side of the family. Bonus........ It's vegan. I need to work on the 'sauce' though. It's too runny. Once I get it perfected, I'll post the recipe. In the meantime, I'm having apple-pear crisp every morning for breakfast to get rid of it before it goes bad. This is why I stopped making baked goods after I got married. BigDaddy's momma is a baker, so everything I make is compared to her versions. Mine fail his standards, even though I'm still in a testing phase, and I end up having to eat it all or it goes bad. Part of learning to be frugal (read 'wise with your money') means eating food you spend money and time on. *Sigh* At least it's healthy and not like the boxed brownies I used to make.

I also plan on making some vegan granola tonight while my mom watches Wren. She LOVES to eat the granola I make. I think it helps that the granola is crunchy, so it's not like the other foods she eats on a regular basis.

Pictures and recipes to come. Stay tuned.

In the meantime.......

Happy Birthday goofy baby!!