In addition to emptying out the fridge in anticipation of our Ohio excursion, I also baked some munchies to take along with us. This was the perfect opportunity to try making cheese crackers, which has been on my to-do list for quite a while. Even better, I found a recipe that called for sourdough starter, which I had just fed really well to help it survive our absence. Made in the food processor, the dough took just minutes to put together, and I was able to store half of it in the freezer in a twist of waxed paper, in order to have cheese crackers at a moment’s notice. I almost thought better of this idea when the first batch of crackers came out of the oven, however; cheesy, buttery, and tangy, the warm crackers were so addictive that I started thinking that we wouldn’t have enough to take along on the trip!

I also got ambitious and decided to make a big batch of decorated sugar cookies in honor of a family cookout on the 4th of July. This recipe was a Daring Bakers challenge last September, and it is a perfect choice for traveling because the cookies are sturdy, and the royal icing decorations are both striking and rock-hard. We lost the points of a few stars, but I didn’t hear complaints from anyone! We left the party with just a few cookies to tide Nolan over for the flight home, and a good thing too, because upon arriving back at DIA, we got caught in a severe thunderstorm that put a ground stop on the airport and left us waiting for our luggage for a good two hours.

I won’t bore you all with family photos (that is what our personal blog is for!), but I couldn’t resist sharing this one of Nolan with his great-grandparents. My grandpa spent a large portion of our visit trying to get Nolan’s attention, not an easy thing to do by any means. He figured out the trick eventually, though—bribing my little nibbler with slices of cheese!