Our latest project

a little less than 2 weeks from now will be my last day as a nanny of 5. 

i have very mixed emotions, as i have been with this family for almost 6 years, 

and 3 of the childrens' entire lives.

but i am VERY excited to have more time to devote to my little cookie business, 

The Cookie Kiln

and to have a little extra time to work on some of the many projects 

that have been on my list for months.

but I am most excited about preparing for what is definitely my favorite thing that i have ever had part in creating. ;)

my husband and I cannot wait for our newest family member to arrive in february!

we had my friend jennifer wakefield from J. Catherine Photography take some family photos for us to make our announcement this week. she is SO incredibly talented and was so patient with the dogs.

if you ever need a family, child or pet photographer, i would highly recommend her!

here are a few of my favorites~

so excited to add another member to our little family!

{i loved that she was able to get this shot with no cars in it}

this was at the beginning of the photo session when the dogs were still somewhat behaved.

this one just makes me smile. 

love these 2!

'we're going to have a baby!' 

{unfortunately i think that they probably thought that i was saying something about treats}

i absolutely LOVED this one. 

the sky was gorgeous that evening.

amos loves to stand up like a real boy, paisley is usually pretty hesitant.

me and my baby girl, paisley jaye

topher and his boy, amos hawke

paisley and amos, soon-to-be big brother and sister!!!

{they have NO idea what is about to happen to their little worlds}

we let the balloons go off the top of the parking garage.

sending them up to heaven to the baby that we lost in december. 

we are so thankful and feel so blessed that God has given us this precious gift! 

praying for and looking forward to meeting our healthy baby in 7 months.

i put together this little announcement for on my facebook profile:

i used a picture from a few months after we started dating,

a picture of our cake toppers from our wedding day, 

and then i asked my dad to knit me a tiny hat and 'sweater' for our little peg baby.

i made the little stroller with some wire, leftover bridesmaid dress fabric, tires off of a toy dump truck, and nail polish for the handles and the wheels. 

my dad is amazing! 

i thought that it turned out perfectly. 

favorite things (thank you hormones)~

it has been kind of ridiculous the things that i have been craving since being pregnant.

the first few weeks literally all that i wanted to eat was sour patch kids and diet root beer.

now sour things don't really sound good to me at all.

sweets however are still sounding really good.

here are a few of my most-craved/favorite things since pregnancy hormones 

have taken over my body:

i eat an embarrassing amount of skittles each week!

i am loving fruit! peaches are my favorite, 

but i have been devouring lots of cherries, blueberries and grapes too.

i cannot start my day without a yogurt, or 2.

so very thankful that i am still allowed a little caffeine.

my 1/2-caf, nonfat white mochas are definitely a splurge that our budget would appreciate me quitting.

so glad that they make caffeine-free diet dr. pepper!

and then there's the salty.

if i don't develop gestational diabetes by the end of my first trimester,

 i will likely swell up like a balloon from my sodium intake.

i have to admit, at least 1/2 the stereotypical 'pickles and ice cream' pregnancy cravings 

has proven true for me,

 i have gone through an insane number of pickles in the past 2 months!

i discovered these chips which taste almost exactly like the ones that they serve at Chili's!

they are so thin that they practically melt in your mouth. 

caution, they're addictive! 

but in all honesty, i only use the chips as a vessel to get the salsa into my mouth. 

salsa is by far my most craved food for the past 8 weeks. 

i decided to just make a huge batch of my favorite salsa {recipe here} to save my poor husband from my daily requests to go out for mexican.

(i do not lie, we had mexican for 8 meals last week!)

i love going on walks with these 2!

(or 3)

and i figure that it is good for all of us to get some exercise to work off all of the above cravings.

and i just thought that i would add a few pictures of my babybump so far.

this was last weekend at 10 weeks. 

i kept thinking that it was just 'bloat', 

but i was very excited when the doctor told me tuesday

 that it was definitely my baby making that little bump. :)

and this is saturday's weekly picture. 

it is pretty exciting to watch this little miracle happen.

we are SO thrilled about this new addition to our family.

10 random things

i haven't blogged in quite a while, so i thought that tonight i would just do a fun one.

i decided that i would share 10 random things about myself...

just because.

1. i am incredibly and shamefully addicted to candy.

{generally sour patch kids, sour patch watermelons, or some other type of sour candy,

but there is an embarrassingly long list of my 'favorite' candies}

2. i believe that if i didn't have sensible parents, and now a sensible husband to keep me on track that i would have a serious animal hoarding problem.

 it really is a miracle that topher and i only have 3 pets.

i LOVE animals. especially baby animals.

possibly due to the fact that throughout my childhood we had:

*5 cats

*2 guinea pigs

*a rabbit 

(i also rescued a baby rabbit in college that lived in my purse in my dorm room)

*more fish than i could count

*more parakeets than i could count

*numerous baby birds that we attempted to rescue

*a rescued squirrel

*2 ducks

*2 salamanders

*a crab

*3 turtles

and i am sure that i am forgetting some.

i cannot even look at the animals that need rescuing without feeling an intense burden to go adopt them to save their lives. 

as if i am their only possible chance of finding a good home.

fortunately i have done my share of pet sitting

 to give me a healthy reminder of what life with 5 or 6 dogs and cats would be like.

which makes me appreciate our little family of 5 again.

3. my favorite flower for as long as i can remember,

 and certainly as long as i knew of its existence, 

is the ranunculus.

these beautiful, tight, little blooms just make me happy!

i was so glad that i was able to have them in my wedding flowers.

4. i cannot stand to be touched where my knees and elbows bend. 

i think that it is somewhat due to the fact that i associate inner elbows with giving blood and having an extreme needle phobia, it just nauseates me to be touched there.

i shuddered just thinking about it as i typed this.

5. that being said, i am not ticklish at all. and i consider that a great strength. ;)

6. i have difficulty sleeping in past 6:30 AM. even on the weekends.

topher was slightly annoyed by it when we were first married, 

but now he realizes that it is just how i am and as long as i sometimes let him stay in bed it's ok.

(although he is up before me most weekdays)

7. i LOVE turquoise. like, seriously i would own only turquoise if i didn't think that i would get bored with it. i am really glad that my husband didn't hate it, because when we met about 85% of the things in my kitchen were turquoise, most of which have remained in our current kitchen.

i have a white kitchen-aid mixer, but i would love to get a second one...

along with all of the other kitchen-aid appliances...

...in turquoise.

8. i always use to joke that whoever i married had to have a last name with 'O' as the second letter.

my name was Nora Joy Loach, 

and my nickname was NoJoLo, 

so i said that i had to make sure that my new last name would still work.

turns out, Collogan is my last name. 

i am now NoJoCo

or NoJoLoCo.

it was just another confirmation that i married the right man. 

9. i am allergic to myself.

well, i have a hormone allergy so every time that my hormones change 

(which being a woman is about 12 times a year)

i break out in hives, itch and if it progresses too far before i can take my medicine, 

my eyes and face swell. 

10. i am not a good liar and therefore i cannot keep secrets well at all!!!

even to the point that if i buy gifts, i generally do not make it to the holiday without either telling the recipient what the gift is or giving it to them early.

i do not like surprises at all. 

or maybe i should say that i do not like knowing that there is a surprise. 

surprises are fun if they are complete surprises.

well, that's 10.

and now you know 10 things that you may or may not have cared to know about me. 

hope that they make you feel better about yourself. 

haha.

Cinco de Salsas and a Contest Winner

I didn't have time to announce the winner of the cookie contest on wednesday, 

and my many attempts to do a blogpost on my iphone were unsuccessful.

( i really need to keep working on that, 

because i would definitely post more often if i could blog from my phone). 

anyways... the random winner of the dozen cookies for mother's day is christina neal.

christina, please email me your mom's contact information so i can get her cookies to her next weekend.

thank you all so much for your participation and support. i have gotten SO many orders in the past few weeks. it has been encouraging to see this tiny little cookie business become a reality.

and i also thought while i was actually at a computer that i would post about our cinco de mayo celebration.

i love mexican food... i would eat it about 5 times a week if i was the only one influencing our dinner decisions, so any opportunity that i get to make it is welcomed. 

i decided for cinco de mayo that i would make 

5 kinds of salsa for our 'lunch'.

so i thought that i would share those 5 recipes with you.

here, in no particular order, are our 

'cinco de salsas':

starting top right and going clockwise:

 traditional fresh salsa, roasted tomatillo salsa,

black bean and corn salsa, creamy avocado salsa, and mango salsa.

I have already done a blogpost about the first one. 

it is just a traditional fresh tomato salsa, and is probably my favorite.

here is the link: 

garden fresh salsa

i thought that i would also add a few pictures of how to easily peel the tomatoes for this salsa.

begin by cutting a very shallow 'x' into the skin of the tomato.

drop the tomatoes into boiling water.

boil for about 1-1 1/2 minutes. 

remove the tomatoes from the water once the skin begins to loosen at the 'x'

immediately place the tomatoes into ice water to 'blanch' them.

once the tomatoes have cooled in the ice bath, the skins will easily peel off.

Combine the tomatoes and the remaining ingredients and process well in food processor.

next i will share the

roasted tomatillo salsa recipe:

begin by peeling and rinsing 7 or 8 tomatillos

half and seed 2 or 3 jalepenos, 

and peel 3 or 4 garlic cloves.

place vegetables 4" under the broiler on a baking sheet or pan with raised edges.

broil about 4 minutes on each side, (turning to broil each side).

 remove from oven and cool, reserving juices from roasted tomatillos.

Once cooled place broiled vegetables and juices in blender with 2 T. chopped cilantro.

(i used my immersion blender)

Blend well and then add 1/4 c. finely chopped white onion 

and 1 t. salt.

Chill before serving.

One of my favorite salsas/dips is 

black bean and corn salsa

whisk the dressing ingredients:

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1 1/2 T. olive oil

3 T. honey

3 cloves garlic, pressed

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. cumin

dash of pepper

then add 

1 can (or 2 c. thawed frozen corn)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion, chopped finely

2 green onions, sliced

combine all ingredients with dressing 

then add 6 oz. crumbled feta cheese

and let sit for several hours or overnight.

this saturday morning we went to the Greenville, SC saturday downtown market.

 it is one of my favorite things to do on the weekend,

 and this was the first saturday market of 2013 so i was very excited to go.

the saturday market combines so many of my favorite things.

i love fresh, quality, organic food and produce.

i love supporting small, local business.

i love our downtown.

and i love people watching. ;)

one of my favorite booths at the market is the

spinning spider creamery booth

they have the most delicious goat cheese. 

my favorite is the spreadable fresh chevres.

i usually can't resist the garlic dill chevre and the rosemary fig chevre. 

my summers in France gave me a ridiculous love of cheese!

but this week i decided to get the aged feta 

since for some reason in the past few weeks i have been eating feta by the pound. 

spinning spider has quite a few aged cheeses, which are very strong, but delicious!

they have samples of all of them at their booth, so you don't have to blindly invest in a cheese without knowing whether you will like it or not.

my favorite of the 5 salsas that i made today was the

creamy avocado salsa

combine in blender:

(i used the immersion blender)

1 avocado, pitted and removed from peel

1 c. water, 

1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped

1 t. white vinegar

3/4 t. salt

2 t. cilantro, chopped

2 t. white onion, chopped

blend until smooth and creamy and chill.

and the 5th and final salsa recipe:

mango salsa:

2 mangoes, peeled and chopped

1/4 c. red bell pepper, finely chopped

(i used 3 small sweet red peppers)

2 green onions, sliced

2 T. cilantro chopped

2 fresh jalepenos, chopped finely

1/4 small red onion, chopped finely

2 T. lime juice

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 t. salt

combine all ingredients and chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

i also made some guacamole deviled eggs

 since avocado makes everything seem mexican.(?)

first i boiled 8 eggs, cooled them, 

then halfed them length-wise.

i removed the yolks and added them to 1/2 of a pitted, peeled, and mashed avocado

then i added

1 t. red wine vinegar

1 t. yellow mustard, 

1 T. mayonnaise

1/2 t. salt

dash of pepper

i combined all of the ingredients with a fork until it was smooth.

then i placed the yolk mixture in a small zip-lock bag.

i cut the corner off the bag and 'piped' the guacamole-yolk mixture into the boiled egg whites.

i garnished the eggs with paprika and some chopped cilantro leaves.

don't they look festive?

so this was our 'cinco de salsa' lunch.

what did you do to celebrate cinco de mayo?

the cookie kiln

once again it has been months since i have blogged.

and again, not because we have had nothing worth blogging about, 

quite the opposite actually. our life has been beyond busy.

on a daily basis i think about multiple things that i should blog about, 

not because anyone else would want to read about it, 

but because i know that someday i will want to remember it.

so today i had a little down time and i decided that i would do a little blog update.

several months ago, with a little (actually, more than a little) encouragement from my husband,

 i decided to open a part-time, custom sugar cookie business out of our home.

my husband came up with the name,

 'the cookie kiln', 

which i thought was rather clever, 

as a kiln is just an extra-large, extra-hot oven for baking pottery.

i created a facebook page, 

www.facebook.com/cookiekiln

so that i would have somewhere to post pictures of the cookies that i had made

and to have a place to direct anyone interested in seeing my cookies.

i honestly didn't think that i would get many orders at all, 

and in a way i hoped that i wouldn't get many,

 as i am fairly exhausted after working 50-60 hours a week as a nanny to 5 very active children.

but i thought that i would just give it a chance and see what happened.

i have been overwhelmed with the number of orders that i have gotten, 

mostly word-of-mouth by friends and family.

it has been a very fun, tiring, and incredibly exciting few months.

i honestly never could have hoped to see this kind of response 

without actually marketing my little business in any way...

 facebook and friends are amazing things. haha.

we are praying about the next steps to take in growing this little business. 

but for now i am just enjoying all of the fun, creative orders that my clients have been sending my way.

i will post a few of my favorite orders from the past few months.

i actually made these little onesies for a baby shower last fall.

it was after this shower that my husband really started pushing me to try to make a business out of my baking.

i LOVE paisley!!! 

so i made these for a sweet mommy who was  in the hospital on bedrest,

awaiting the arrival of her baby boy.

these little paint palettes were for a 6-year old's art-themed birthday party

i thought that these little birthday cake cookies were pretty fun.

and a great option for those who dislike cake.

i had several easter cookie orders. 

they were a little time-consuming because of all of the colors, 

but they were SO much fun to make.

and these guitars were for a highschool student's senior thesis presentation.

he actually made that guitar, which i thought was really awesome! 

i had 2 bachelorette party orders the same weekend. 

i thought that they were pretty fun. :)

and i never would have imagined that an upside-down heart-shaped cookie cutter 

would have made such adorable lingerie.

these cute little mommy and baby giraffes were for a baby boy shower this past weekend.

mother's day cookies-

 i did a mother's day cookie give-away on my facebook page.

i ended up giving away 3 dozen because there were too many deserving moms nominated

that i felt like i should give more than one of them an opportunity to win.

another mother's day cookie set

and this was probably one of my favorite cookies that i have made.

i love paisley, and turquoise and seafoam are my favorite colors.

so that is a little bit of what has been going on inside my kitchen walls.

there is so much more going on in our lives beyond the walls of my kitchen,

but i will stop for now.

and just because i am feeling extra generous this year, i thought that i would give away one more set of a dozen cookies on my blog. 

send me a comment either on the blog or on my facebook page telling me about a mom 

(either your own mom, or a friend who is a mom)

that you think should win a dozen cookies.

i will have the random drawing wednesday evening.