Welcome to the Peña barn house kitchen! The very first show my Isla girl ever sat through in its entirety was HGTV’s Fixer Upper. I don’t know if it was how silly Chip was or how beautiful and emotional it was to watch the reveals but Isla became a huge fan and I quickly followed her lead. To pass the time during the neverending COVID quarantine, Joanna Gaines challenged her good friends Abner and Amanda (the powerful duo behind JOHNNYSWIM) to a bake off of the famous Bevie’s Chocolate Roll. Isla loved watching this challenge so much we decided to find this recipe and join the challenge ours ..read more

Welcome to the Peña barn house kitchen! I really struggled with whether to post this episode … it’s not easy to watch… at times. Over the last few months COVID has taken its toll and although we have not “suffered”, we sure did “struggle” the particular week this episode was shot… a lot. In just a few short days I wrote 3 blog posts… all hard… all sad… all somewhat disturbing… then I deleted them. You see I choose very carefully what and how I share on social media and the last thing I want is for anyone to think we are “perfect” but also for anyone to “pity” us. It’s a tough balance beca ..read more

The following is in actual, real online conversation: FB Momma: It’s pretty sad special education children are allowed to attend five days a week but other children can only go two days! FB Response: Because they can have spaced areas to learn vs a class of 25-30. Can’t maintain 6ft per the guidelines schools were given. FB Momma: It’s very easy to manage the class size and have them all attend. Not going to debate this with you. The kids that are going further in life aren’t the special ed kids sorry to say but it’s the truth. FB Response: So you’re saying kids in special ed don’t deserve to ..read more

A little over 12 years ago I laid down on a comfy cot in a room with dimmed lights and a large projector. Lullaby’s were playing softly in the background. There was cold blue jelly all over my growing tummy and a gentle hand moving a wand all around it trying to find your face. We were promised a 3D image. Those were all the rage back then. Maybe they still are. Not sure babe. Your daddy was there. He was holding my pudgy hand which, by that point, was twice the size he was used to holding since he was 15. Then across the screen the gentle hand typed… G. I. R. L. I turned my head and star ..read more

Welcome to the Peña barn house kitchen! Today June and Isla will be attempting a brand new recipe to help us cope with a serious craving for brownies! This epic dessert is 3 recipes in 1 so hold on tight and let’s get started. To start us off Isla will attempt her first ever homemade salted caramel from scratch. She will begin by heating 1 cup of sugar in a dark nonstick pan and will stir consistently with a wooden spoon until it turns a warm amber color. Then stir in 6 TBSP of real butter along with 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Now add 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of salt and it’s DONE ..read more

Welcome to the Peña barn house kitchen! Today on a special 4th of July episode, we are baking with lemons and berries! We are going to try a new cupcake recipe for the first time! Let’s start with the lemon cupcake batter. You will need to add 3 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup buttermilk to a medium sized mixing bowl. Now for some zesting fun! Using a fine grater, add the zest of 2 lemons. Be very careful to only zest the top bright yellow part of the lemon. The white part of the rind can make the batter bitter. Whisk until smooth. Now add one box of white cake mix ..read more

Welcome back to the Peña barn house kitchen! Today we are attempting a summertime (or wintertime) favorite… our HUGE version of the beloved S’mores! Let’s start with the crust. You will need to crush 12 graham crackers in whatever creative or hard or easy way you prefer. This will make the required 2 cups of crushed graham crackers for the crust. Next add 2 TBSP of brown sugar and a 1/2 cup of melted butter to the crushed graham crackers and mix well. Feel free to use a spoon… that is just not Isla’s preference. Now pat the mixture down so that it is even and fills as much of a glas ..read more

Welcome to the Peña barn house kitchen! Today we are making the “perfect” apple pie. Yup! You read that right. We are bold in our word choice for this episode. Ha! Let’s start with the pie dough. Over the years this busy momma has come across tons of pie dough recipes but my fast and easy default is the Pillsbury Deep Dish. I choose deep dish so that there is more yummy dough on the bottom and the top of the pie. These packages come with 2 pie shells and we will need both! One will be the pie shell and the other will help us create a super easy lattice on top. Make sure to take these pie sh ..read more

Welcome back to the Peña barn house kitchen! Today we have a no-bake recipe that has so many of my favorite things! But before we get started you will need a unique pan called a springform cake pan. First up is the Oreo crust… seriously yum. Crush 12 Oreos in the most creative and safe way you can think of. Next, mix the crushed Oreos with 1/2 cup melted butter. FYI, we use the real deal when it comes to butter my friends, no margarine in this casa. This mixture is the first layer to go into the springform pan. Make sure the layer is spread evenly and pop it in the freezer while you wor ..read more

“What’s her thing?” the man asked me. “Excuse me?” “What’s her thing? Like what is she really good at? Last week I saw this boy with autism that couldn’t speak but he could sing so awesome and he won some contest on TV. It was pretty extraordinary.” Yeah. Extraordinary. I knew what he meant. He didn’t have to explain. In fact, I kinda said “excuse me”, somehow hoping to completely avoid his unnecessary explanation. The socially awkward guy who is a brilliant doctor. The girl who can’t speak but is a genius painter. The boy who mumbles inaudibly but writes intricate math formulas and theori ..read more