Accomplishments from yesterday:  

Paloma - 2 loaves of bread, cookies (!!!), hid liver in hamburgers (yay, me!), alllll the laundry, soap, cleaned the kitchen 4,012 times.

Cas:  Didn't harm anyone, no bodies to hide.  May have showered.

Winner of most accomplished for the day:  Cas.  Reason:  Family and friends had lost their minds.  And the whole shower thing.

Everyone survived - mostly.  It was a good day.

Cookie recipe:
Two 8 ounce cans almond paste, finely crumbled
1 cup confectioners' sugar
*  2 tablespoons honey
*  1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon
*  Pinch kosher salt
2 large egg whites
1 lemon, zested
*  1/4 cup pine nuts

Oven temp: 350 degrees F. 

Line sheet trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

With mixer,  beat the almond paste on high speed to pea-sized crumbs. Add confectioners' sugar.  Mix on slow speed until well combined.  Clean up counters and walls from NOT starting on lowest speed.  Change shirts.

Add the honey, cinnamon, salt, egg whites and lemon zest. Beat on medium speed until a thick dough is formed.

Use a small (one inch'ish) ice cream scoop (or your hands, but be warned, this stuff is sticky) and place scoops on prepared trays, about 1 inch apart (these don't spread much at all).  Place pine nuts on top of cookies, 4-5 per, and press lightly to flatten.  Threaten family members who try to steal pine nuts.  Bake until the cookies are golden, 12 to 14 minutes.

* Usually, I just pretend to measure.  "Enough" is a valid measurement!

Some pairings don't happen easily in nature.  Apples and cheese.  Lions and hares.  You get the point.  So, when a wannabe OCD introverted mom of a ton of kids meets up with a haphazard, social butterfly mom of a few, it's a bit surprising when that best friendish, sisters under the skin thing sort of takes over and sticks fast.  It happened, though.  The resulting chaos is irreverent, occasionally sarcastic, and always a whirlwind.

We are Cassie and Paloma.  Two crotchety old women who compliment each other well while we badger, beat, and carry each other through the rough spots, even separated by half a country.  Our husbands shake their heads and stay out of the way, our children treat us as co-moms, and challenges get met - sort of.


Buckle up.  Sometimes it gets a little odd around here.