Heidi Herrera Studio

Simply Thankful

This year I have so very much to be thankful for.

I am so, so, so, very thankful to still be carrying my baby girls. I cannot be more thankful, despite the discomforts, the weight gain, the couch sitting and hanging up my beloved home chef's hat...I would do it all over again and more just to get this far.

 
I am so, so, so very thankful for my husband. He is my superhero. He has not only picked 
up the chef's hat that I've had to put down, but he has worked constantly to keep the house picked up. He has researched items we need for the twins, he has done the shopping, the fetching, and most importantly the loving that our family needs so much right now. He is our beloved glue, holding us all together.

Our family! I couldn't be more thankful for my family right now. The giving, help and love they have for us is just as a family should be and more than I could have ever hoped for as our family grows even more. And (of course) they're feeding us our Thanksgiving feast and I don't have to lift a finger! Yumm!

And finally, simply, I am thankful for my knitting needles and the time I am being given to use them. I know, it's seems a little strange...but it has been my creative outlet for the last month or so. If it weren't for the needles I would be stir crazy by now. My girls aren't used to mommy being so limited. Mommy isn't used to mommy being so limited. My girls know that I am cranking out fun stuff for them and their little sisters and that makes it a bit easier to handle all the changes that are happening.

There is anticipation in so many aspects of our life right now. I am simply thankful. I hope everyone has many reasons for thanks today. I hope everyone has some wonderful family to spend the day with as well. Happy Thanksgiving!

Unintentional Cravings Spark New Cookie Recipe!

 
 

I was making PB&J for my girls the other day and I happened to get a dollop of pb on my finger, which I then of course had to lick off and for some reason it set off this overwhelming response of "omg, that is SO good, I must have more!" I wasn't craving it until I tasted it and then I just couldn't imagine not having it but WITH CHOCOLATE!

 Peanut butter and chocolate is literally one of those heaven sent flavor combos for me. It's an occasional treat that just hits the spot. It brought to mind peanut butter cups, but these days I can no longer imagine myself scarfing down Reeses, my sweet tooth has been seriously tamed over the last several years and they are over the top sweet to me. Plus, I wasn't about to drag my pregnant self to the store!

So then I thought of peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips, but really they wouldn't be hearty enough, still a bit on the sweet side and hardly any fiber to speak of (yes, you know you're getting old when fiber begins to seem important!). So, of course, the natural progression from there was to add oats. They're filling, they have additional fiber and they help cut down on the whole sweet factor. Perfect!

Except that I had yet to come across one of these cookie recipes that I actually liked. I'm not saying it's not out there, but I am not so very patient when it comes to searching for recipes while I'm in craving mode. So...why not...I made my own. These cookies turned out SO yummy! They're pretty too!

 

 

Aren't they pretty? They're chewy with slightly crispy edges. They can be super chocolatey or not, depending on the amount of chips you add. I added a whole 12 oz bag and, surprsingly, my husband who is not a huge chocoholic made no mention of there being too many chocloate chips in his cookies...it was a first! Seriously, you should try them!

 

 

Oatmeal PB & Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour (or unbleached white)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt (I used kosher) 
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (or less depending on taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir to combine.

Place butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and whip until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix to combine. One at a time, add the eggs and vanilla extract, mixing to combine after each additon. Finally, add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop heaping teaspoons of the cookie batter and roll into a ball, spacing evenly on a cookie sheet, you should be able to get 12 cookies per sheet. *Note: you could probably just drop heaping teaspoon full size dollops of dough on the cookie sheet. However, I liked how uniformly they turned out when they were rolled buuuuut it does get your hands fairly messy!

Place baking sheet in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the edges of the cookies are a lovely golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

At this point you can now devour them and be sure to share with your family and friends because this recipe makes about 3 dozen and you really don't want to eat all of them by yourself, or maybe you do, but you know you really shouldn't! :)

I'm not a huge nuts-in-my-cookie fan, but these might be really good with 1 cup of raw or roasted peanuts and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Totally up to you!

Hope you enjoy!

I'm still here

Really, I am. I'm still blogging in my head at the very least. I think of many things to write, but it never makes it here. Why? I dunno. I'm uncomfortably preggers at this point. A little over 6 months now. The babies are doing very well. Growing and kicking each other, vying for space. As of the last ultrasound they were both head up...mommy can only hope that at least Baby A turns head down before they decide to make their appearance. But, really, that's a post for another day.

As it stands, I've got dr. appts. every other week and ultrasounds every single month (which would make any normal person tired). But I'm not complaining, because it's so amazingly different from my other two pregnancies. It's really a blessing to see my two girlies on ultrasound so often, very reassuring.

 
 

This is from the 20 week ultrasound, when we found out we were having two more girls. Their ultrasound pictures are so different! I love it. We have no clue if they are identical or not, we'll just have to find out when they arrive. So, at least there's still a bit of suspense for us.

I have to admit to being a bit shocked finding out they were both girls, despite the ribbing and assurances from friends that all we make are girls...ehem...thanks guys. Seriously, I will admit that it took me a full day to process the news. The day after the ultrasound we took our older girls to the park and there was a family with three very rambunctious little boys already playing. The youngest of the boys actually made my little Emma cry...that was before she turned around and gave him the "what's what" of course. In that moment though, I  was over it...I was perfectly content with having all girls. Plus, how many families do you know with four girls? I know none, so I'm thinking this is going to be amazing. I just won't think toooooooo far ahead into the future.

For now I get to think of all the cute and amazing outfits I get to dress them in. I'm dreaming of all the photographs that I'll be taking, the crafts and cooking that I'll be teaching them, the bonds that all four of them will form, the bonds they will form with me. I could cry... *sniff*. I can hardly wait to see what they look like, what their personalities will be. My oldest two are so very different, I can only imagine what this dynamic little duo will have in store for us.

Current this is my view...

 
Not even the tip of a toe to be seen. They are growing like crazy and I am growing right along with them. I'm almost afraid to see just how big I get...eeek!

As I write about my experience, growing with my little ones, I cannot help but think of another mommy that I recently became friends with on Facebook. I've been thinking of her and her two little girls constantly for the last week. She delivered her twin baby girls very early at 23 weeks. Her girls, Violet and Maera, are considered micro preemies, they are two strong little ones facing some challenges and have a long road ahead of them. I've been thinking of them, sending love and strength their way so often...if you could as well, please send loving thoughts and prayers their way. They can use all the healing energy they can get.

Maybe I Should Rename My Blog to the Mishap Chef

Ok, I say that in the most humorous way possible. But sometimes navigating myself through the culinary world, that exists in my kitchen at least, becomes quite an adventure!

I have two little ones. One is four, the other is two. They continue to amaze me with their interest in the kitchen, they always want to know what's on the stove or in the oven. They always want to help in some way. As a mom who wants to share the wondrous fun of the kitchen, I try to involve them in any way possible.

Of course, I do the prep work like warming stuff, dicing, chopping...the typical dangerous to little hands and fingers type stuff. I really get a kick out of letting them play with their food though. So, last night, they topped their own pizza! Super fun for them and no danger to anyone...or so I thought!

First the cheese!

Then a nibble!

Then tomatoes, olives and mushrooms!

And another nibble! (That's the best part about helping mommy in the kitchen!)

Then bake in the oven at 500 degrees until the crust turns all brown and bubbly! But a word to the wise! If you happen to like to get your crust paper thin like this...

...please make sure your toppings are as dry as possible!!! i.e. use a very thin layer of thick sauce, don't pile the cheese and toppings too high! And most of all, make sure to remove those tomato seeds from those tomatoes!

I didn't remember to follow any of my advice and I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of the girl's pizza as I was taking it from the oven...the middle pulled right out of it on one side and cheese seemed to make it's way into the far depths of the oven. Oh, the pizza was still yummy and edible and we were able to salvage enough of a decent slice for a few pictures. But I gave myself a mentally forehead slap! Next time the girls help me make a pizza, I will be sure to keep the dough nice and thick!

That's the girl's pizza in the background, the parent's pizza up front...I forgot to take the tomato seeds out of our tomatoes too! Another mental forehead slap! Duh! Amazing how you forget things when you take a month or more off from making it. Perhaps a recipe card with tips for pizza making would come in handy in the future! :)

We rounded out our meal with watermelon topped with fresh mint, honey and rosewater...super yummy unless you're Lily and, well, she prefers hers plain thank you!

 
All in all, having the girl's help in the kitchen was the highlight of my evening. The pizza could have have been even more disastrous but it still would have been worth it to have those little hands helping. My goal is to get them involved a little more every day! Someday I might actually want to take a break from the kitchen and I'm gonna need a few little helpers to whip something up for dinner! *wink*

The pizza dough recipe I work with is from Fine Cooking Magazine's, Real Italian issue, and I love it because it rises anywhere from eight hours to three days in the fridge and is made all in my kitchen aid! With kiddos, fast and easy is best!

Happier Without the iPhone???

I spent the entire weekend off of my phone. So, how did I fare?

Well, first off, it occurred to us as we sat in traffic that we could check to see how slow the roadways were. Maybe knowing how slow the roadways are can help you keep your patience in check but really you're going to be irritated stuck in traffic no matter what. So we didn't check. 

Roadway entertainment usually consists of Slacker radio blasting out from phone to car but not this weekend. We were blasting good 'ol FM radio this time and we had a bit of static but no dead air...we have dead zones along our route and always lose phone service. This time we had music from point A to point B, a bit stat-icky at times, and the radio gets a bit repetitive, but all in all, good music to sing to! We could have been more prepared with CDs. But they rarely see the light of day anymore...now that's a sign of the times!!!

Checking Twiter, Facebook, and just surfing the internet for no good reason weren't too high on my list of things I cared to accomplish. Not that I didn't want to check in on my peeps, especially the long lost side of my family that my sister just discovered on Facebook, but I felt that today, Monday, wasn't so far off, and look here it is!  Plus, my Twitter and FB updates stated I would be on techno hiatus...bases covered!

The whole weekend I wanted to check the internet for only one thing...the location of the nearest fabric store. Feeling quite savvy in my desperate need, I simply asked someone else toting around their iPhone to look something up for me. They were happy to oblige. Cheating? I think not!!!

My kryptonite was the insistent email "dings" singing from my phone. This was ultimately my downfall! I gave in and checked my email from time to time. I didn't respond to a single email but I had to know what was hitting my inbox...if I leave it for too long, I end up with more emails than anyone can easily deal with in a week. It might be time to unsubscribe to a few things!

I'm so used to having my phone in my hands from time to time throughout the day that it felt strange for it to be sitting so far away from me at times. Did being off my phone this weekend make a huge difference in my life? I can't say that it did. I suppose I was more "present" and I didn't feel guilty once for being lost in my phone and ignoring everyone else, which was nice. I could imagine if I was a gamer, playing Farmville or trying to keep up an aquarium, my response to my phone being off limits would be quite a bit different, which is partly why I don't get hooked on those games!!! 

But I do have to keep busy...it's just my nature. So, I filled my time with knitting bunnies. Four of them to be exact, the initial bunny that wasn't so great since I used two different yarns, the next one for my niece which turned out super cute and then two more for my own girls.

I think overall if I went back to a phone without all the bells and whistles I would survive. The iPhone and all other phones like it are nice to have around and are definitely a convenience at times but shutting them down and walking away is doable and even feels pretty good! Plus, putting it down gives you way more time for things like bunny knitting marathons! I highly recommend it!

Cherry Pie Despite Me

I started cleaning like mad lately (nesting already?) and this morning was no exception. The kitchen has been my main target these days. So much happens in there, so it always needs cleaning! By the time I got to pitting cherries for my pie I think I was already a bit tired, but still determined. We have so many cherries, I can't stand to see them go to waste! So whatever we have post pie making is going in the freezer...for more pie of course!

Pitting cherries is tedious work. I tested out the straw poking method and that was a major flop and I could think of nothing better than cutting the cherries in half and pulling out the pit! T.e.d.i.o.u.s.! But I got to eat a few along the way and had plenty to share with the girlies.

My next major test came with the rolling of the dough, it just kept tearing...why oh why? Wetter dough maybe, better rolling pin pehaps, or just more practice and improved technique?

Then it seemed I didn't have enough filling...I think I could have doubled the cherries and still not filled the pie too full (I was feeling a little discouraged and thinking the worst at this point!). But, what's a girl to do when the dough is all rolled out and the filling all made? Well, I forged ahead! I poured in the filling that I had, topped it with my rolled out dough, crimped and baked!

And the house began to smell amazing!

And the pie baked beautifully!

And it looked amazing topped with vanilla ice cream!

And it tasted awesome! Just ask my husband! :)

Even I was impressed!

It truly pays to persevere! So, when you think it's all just gowing to fall apart or blow up in your face...you might come out the other side amazed and pleasantly surprised! I sure did!
  

Resurrecting My Creative Self

I'm beginning a journey. I really do hope it turns into a long, creative, fulfilling journey. One in which I learn plenty and open myself up to my own creativity instead of pushing it away. I feel a little crazy starting this journey, I've started and stopped it so many times and I feel like I have so many paths to follow alrready that it's difficult to keep them straight. There are no guarantees, just a glimmer of a promise to myself. Keep dreaming. Keep creating. Keep expanding!

 

 

What I've learned in the last week of art journaling is that it's freeing. I resurrected my journal using an image of a weed that I had drawn sometime on 2008, and I could picture myself bringing it to life, bringing my whole journal and my creative self back to life...it felt really good.

What I went on to accept as I did the next journal pages is that I had no preconceived ideas of the final image that would evolve. My daughter asked me what I was painting and I honestly said, "honey, I just don't know." I felt like I was playing! Just like my girls do whenever they paint! They have no care as to the final outcome, they just enjoy getting their fingers into the mess. Their bellies too!

My new motto:

~ Dream. Create. Expand. ~

Happy 4th!

 
So much amazing fun to be had this long weekend, and most of it centered around water! Our drive to the East Bay was beautiful, we drove along the delta, as we always do, which is one of my favorite drives, I know I've said that before but it really is!!! I had Alex pull over so I could jump out and snap this shot and when I traipsed back into the car, I smelled like anise and sunshine...sigh...

The following day, Alex and I took full advantage. We left the kiddos behind and ran right to San Francisco, aka. "the City." So nice and cool and busy and just oodles different than our little suburbia. I really think I was meant to live in the City...or maybe I did in a past life. We had the best lunch, and I actually ate the whole thing, which is rare for me since the babies are playing havoc with my appetite these days! Seriously, though I think it would have been a shame to leave behind any part of my BLT...I was so busy eating it, I forgot to take a picture...oops!

From there we walked and I received a message from the universe...

Yes, I know, I've been a slacker! I'll get back to it, I promise!

On we went until we arrived at Pier 1 and discovered that the Ferry Building has such great shops!

Like cheese! Even Fromage Blanc and Creme Fraiche. Heaven!

Mushrooms! Think they even had Chanterelles...never tried them before, but someday I will!

Tasty Salted Pig Parts? ...my husband was in love!

There was also coffee, gelatto, an oyster cafe, some awesome knick-knacky places and a french patisserie (more on that later).

From there we boarded the Ferry to Sausalito which lies across the bay...yay, ferry ride!

 
Adios SF! See you again in a few hours!

Snack time! Chocolate meringue anyone? This and two others were my splurge from the french patisserie...mmmmmm.

 
Hello Sausalito! Isn't it cute? I love this town! I only wish I owned a houseboat here!

The last time we were here, we watched a man stacking rocks along the water...looks like he's still around. We sat on the rocks for a bit watching the bay, enjoying the breeze.

We wandered around the Marina and then slowly made our way back to wait for the ferry.

By this time I was getting pretty tired, but the universe told me to smile, so I did!

As we meandered along people began arriving to take their boats out on the bay for the weekend. What fun would that be to watch the fireworks from the bay!?!?!?

 
The boats started taking to the water en-mass! Beautiful!

Return of the ferry! And off we went, back to SF, so many beautiful boats around us...it was a cold trip back but well worth it!

Goodbye Sausalito!

 
The next day I was so beat from trekking around that I spent as much of the morning as I could in bed, which is the epitome of luxury since everyone else took care of the girlies! I finally got out of bed and got ready to take the girls to see Toy Story 3 in 3D! I almost cried at the end! It was so darn cute! I loved it! We had a blast with our friends and their daughter. Emma was a little antsy during the movie but I made her feed raisinettes to papa and that kept her busy! :)

 
Then....happy 4th! We spent most of the next day in the water with the fam! No matter how much they shivered, the girls did not want to leave the water! It was so fun and super draining...we made it home by dark and watched the New York fireworks on TV...first time in years I didn't see any real ones, but I heard plenty of the illegal variety being enjoyed all around us, it made it really seem like the fourth!

Phew, it was a super fun jam-packed weekend but it feels good to be home and slow down a bit.

Chance to Win an Amazing Photography Workbook

I have been wanting one of these workbooks for a while now! Since I am starting up my photography business it would be as close to working side by side with an amazing, talented, extremely knowledgeable photographer as I will possibly ever get. So, this workbook, by Skye Hardwick is, and will continue to be, on my list of needed photog resources until I either win it or I can afford to buy it. Such a wealth of information! Lucky for me she's having a giveaway on her blog right now!

Not only that! But she's partnered with Florabella Collection, which is such an incredibly beautiful collection of textures and actions for use with Photoshop! I have loved Florabella actions from afar for a long time now, winning a $250.00 giftcard would be sooo awesoooooome!!!

There Are No Rules in I (period)

 

For the most part I stopped painting when the girls were born. Part of me felt overwhelmed that they required so much of my time. Moslty I felt like something had to give and, well, children don't just raise themselves, so I gave up painting. I think I may have painted a thing or two here or there but nothing consitent. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about painting during this time either. I was very angsty whenever I did paint, as if there were rules, guidelines I knew nothing about, a perfection to strive for. Hmmm, sounds a bit like my journey with photography!

As with photography, however, I've realized that there are no rules for "I", me, you or anyone else. There is just what comes through my lens, off my brush, through my keyboard, even in raising my girls. It is whatever feels right, right now.

Last week I challenged myself to finally get out those messy finger paints, that was followed by me pulling out my paint brushes and what followed that was even better. I inspired my girls into an art revolution of sorts!

First it was watercolor, Lily's favority! Then, I put a glue stick in the hands of my two year old and I have never seen a little one handle glue so deftly!!!

 

Lily decided it was a bit sticky, but still lots of fun!

So, we now have watercolor and paper collage masterpieces made by Lily and Emma...

...and I have never felt less guilty of the time that I am spending on the computer or with a brush in my hand. The times that I am not doing something for me, I am doing something with them. No angst or guilt on any level! It's amazing, like I've broken down a wall of sorts. It feels good. So off I go, a little jig in my step, feeling more dreamy the last few days than I have in awhile. It's good to feel free to...