Coffee Talk

Coffee Talk #8: a chance to catch up on the little things in life—both sweet and salty! November 2018

Hello, friend! How’s your fall going? Is it a tad chilly, but also warm and cozy due to all of the piles of chunky knit sweaters and super cute knee-high boots you’re rockin’? It’s crazy to think that the last time we spoke, it wasn’t even Halloween yet! Anyway, it’s the time of the month again where we catch up, chit chat, and swap life updates. 🙂 Grab your favorite hot beverage, perhaps a fresh-baked plate of cookies, and let’s jump in.

Visited Monica… This year, we actually visited my sister Monica and her husband Kevin for Thanksgiving. She lives in the Midwest, where the winter *might* be even more harsh than it is here in Boston. 😉 Jury’s out though! My other sister, Penny, and her husband, Andrew, and my mom also came to join in on the fun. It was really nice just catching up, chatting, and seeing everyone again. The last time I saw Penny, she stayed with Erik and I, and we had the best time chatting about everything, including this lil’ ol blog. She’s a huge, huge supporter, and besides Erik, probably the most enthusiastic reader I’ve ever met. Yep, my sister’s a reader of BB!! How cool is that?

Meanwhile, Monica and Kevin have the most beautiful home. They’ve been DIY’ing it since they bought the fixer upper a couple of years ago. They’re basically my family’s Chip and Joanna. Lol. I mean, they redid both bathrooms (tiling, paint, tubs, the whole shebang), redid their entire backyard, the kitchen (including cabinets, gorgeous flooring, beautiful backsplash), the living room, and decorated the heck out of their home. It totally inspires me and Erik to get our home in an equally gorgeous and cozy state. <–However, our Boston-charmingly-tilted floors are really cramping our style. 😂 Just imagine the tile work on those!! 😱

Since we had Thanksgiving at Monica’s place, my mom got a chance to chill a bit on her usual kitchen duties. Even after all these years, she’s still trying to whip up the biggest feasts for at least 10 people. But it always makes me a bit frustrated because I really want her to be able to relax and let others do the work—since she’s been doing it for too many decades. Do you have a mom or other family member that’s the same way?

Anyway, we missed my other sister, Jenny, and her kiddos, Dylan and Kai so much. But we were able to FaceTime them for some quality video chatting. 🙂 How was your Thanksgiving? Did you celebrate it?

Sneak Peek: NEW RECIPE!! Can you guess what it is? 🙂

Kitchen Testing times… So I finally started testing those Oil-Free, Fruit-Sweetened, and Blender recipes! It’s been quite the treat. Super interesting and challenging in a new way. Gonna start with no bake versions of these goodies first, then progress to baked treats as we go. Reason being: no bake can be easier and quicker to test.

Anyway, I’m super excited to see how it all goes! Let’s just say there’s a bit of dark chocolate… perhaps a brownie… and some super, super chunky granola involved. 😉 Tell me: what kind of dried fruit would you like to see in these fruit-sweetened recipes? Dates? Raisins?

 

Sunrise Alarm Clock… so if you’re anything like me, you have ALL the trouble waking up every morning. This issue has become especially troubling in light of… well, there being no natural light in the morning. It’s the craziest thing that you can wake up at 6am, and there’s barely a sign of the sun until, if you’re lucky, 7:30am!! What in the? Needless to say, my wakeup issue coupled with the whole it’s-doom-and-gloom-outside business did not equal a happy me in the morning.

So I finally, finally got one of those sunrise alarm clocks! Have you heard of it? It’s a round clock with a circular light fixture on it that turns on as your alarm. The best part? It slowly turns on about 30 minutes before you’re due to wake up. It starts at 10%, then increases to 100% by the wakeup time. It’s the BEST. It has completely changed me and Erik’s whole wakeup vibes. It feels more natural, less forced, and less… eh, resentful. Lolol. We’re even using the whole birds-chirping track as our wakeup sound and it’s actually pretty pleasant.

What techniques do you use to help you wake up easily in the morning? Any morning or nighttime routines that help?

Christmas!! Winter fun… Omigosh… can you believe it’s already time to start our Christmas/Holiday shopping?!? Did you engage in any of that Black Friday or Cyber Monday madness? Erik and I dabbled, just a bit. 😉 We were mostly torn about when to put up our Christmas tree, do decorations, and swap wishlists. We decided on decorating a bit on Black Friday and a whole bunch on Saturday. That was AMAZING! We made a few yuletide drinks, put on our favorite Christmas tunes and just decorated for hours. We even put on cute Christmas socks! (What is it about holiday socks that are so much fun?)

We’re still planning out our Christmas edible gifts menu (aka the Annual BB Candy & Cookie Factory pop-up shop opens). We’re thinking about doing some fudge, almond joys (always a big hit), paleo brownies, and a platter of cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip, vegan peanut butter, and peanut butter coconut oatmeal) to give out.

How about you? Have you started decorating for the winter holidays yet? Have you started shopping for gifts, or perhaps drawing up your holiday dinner menu?

 

Popular Recipes this month… it’s always super fun to see what recipes are popular during the month of November. It’s only our 3rd holiday season doing the blog, so we’re still learning what folks like and what recipes pick up this time of year.

• 4 Ingredient No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
• 3 Ingredient Healthy Rice Crispy Treats | Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
• Gluten Free Vegan Pumpkin Bread | Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
• Paleo Apple Coconut Crisp | Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars | Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Pie Smoothie | Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
• Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe | Maple Pecan Pumpkin Muffins
• Easy Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins | Best Vegan Brownies

Latest Recipes… In case you missed them, here are all of the yummy recipes that came out these past couple of weeks!

• Healthy Gluten Free Cookie Dough Bars | Sweet ‘n Salty Nut Clusters
• Ultimate Chewy Coconut Cookies | Salted Dark Chocolate Clusters
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies | Cinnamon Raisin Quick Bread
• Chai Spice Granola | Dark Mint KIND Bars
• 4 Ingredient Gluten Free Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Phew! All done for me. What are your updates? What kind of recipes do you hope to see in 2019 on Beaming Baker? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! In the meantime, wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful, love-filled holiday season, filled with sweet moments—both edible and not. 😉 ‘Til next time…

In case you wanted to catch up with a few past posts: Coffee Talk 7, Coffee Talk 6, August, July, June, May, April, Catching Up 2, Catching Up 1.

Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️

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