tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45355020940091460202024-03-26T23:37:34.397-07:00Boys, Buildings, Books and BerriesDaniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.comBlogger169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-85042587052156142932018-05-20T23:12:00.001-07:002018-05-20T23:12:54.355-07:00Baby Girl ShowerConfession: now that I have three boys and have been solely in the boy-camp for a lot of years now, I find myself completely and totally overwhelmed in the baby girl section of any store. I pretty much freeze and am unable to pick anything out for gifts. I am just so far out of my comfort zone. It's a little bit funny. In fact, the further away from having a baby I get, the more overwhelmed I am by the purchase of any baby stuff.<br />
So, when I decided to co-host a baby shower for a friend who was having her first girl, I decided to make her gift from me be the diaper cake which served as the décor for the shower.<br />
I had never made a diaper cake before, but decided to do some research and figure it out. It turned out to not be a big deal to construct. I had come up with how I wanted it to look, and went to work on it.<br />
This cake required 118 diapers (two packs of 59 size 1 Babyganics diapers), a wood dowel cut into a couple of pieces the height of the cake for stability, a $2 charger plate from Michael's, a spool of ribbon, and 3 identical silk bouquets from a $5 bin at Michael's. The mother liked peonies, and the flowers I chose seemed like they could either pass as peonies or roses. I loved the color scheme - sort of peachy-pink, hot pink, and red.<br />
To construct the cake:<br />
1) Roll all diapers individually with a rubber band, tucking the colored band inside so that most of what is visible is just white diaper. <br />
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2) Then group the diapers in rounds, wrapping a rubber band around each ring. Create each of the three tiers this way. <br />
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(This is the bottom layer with the charger underneath.)<br />
3) Stack them on top of the plate, individually. <br />
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4)Work the dowels down into the cake and cut them off so that they are flush with the top of the cake. The dowels keep the cake remarkably sturdy.<br />
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5) Wrap the ribbon around the center of each cake layer tightly, and hot glue the ribbons together, but if possible, do not hot glue to the diaper (it won't be usable which is not the end of the world, but not the goal).<br />
6) Arrange the flowers around the cake and if necessary to anchor with glue, try to hot glue the flowers to the ribbon, instead of the diapers, again, so that the diapers remain functional.<br />
And that's it! It looks great, makes a nice centerpiece, and gives the mom-to-be a boost on diapers! I'm totally going to make another one of these if I get the pleasure of hosting another shower one day.<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-46411902220726070362018-05-02T13:41:00.000-07:002018-05-04T20:30:26.369-07:00Break Out the Mos Eisley Canned Tuna! It's Star Wars Day Food!<div>
A few days ago, knowing that May was fast-approaching, I asked my Facebook friends for ideas of what to serve my Star Wars-loving children on Star Wars Day (May the 4th). A very talented and awesome friend went to town with some amazing puns and got so into it she lost some sleep over it. Since lots of her friends wanted a way to pin her incredible list of ideas, I volunteered to post this absolutely amazing list on my blog so that many more people could partake of her exhaustive list. So without further ado, here is the list of Star Wars food options - even lots of ethnic options! - to make all your May the 4th dreams come true (as posted to Facebook by the incredible Margaret Peterson):</div>
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<u><b>"For all of your May the Fourth (Star Wars Day) dining needs:</b></u></div>
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If you’re in the mood for Italian there are many Wampas-tas to choose from: Boba Fetticinni, Obi-Wan Canolli, or Bow-tie Fighters. Or maybe you’d prefer Pizza the Hut*, Rey-sotto, or Poe-lenta.</div>
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French maybe? Try DeathStarGo, Coq au Finn, RataR2Dtouille, Princess Souffléia, Lardon Calrissian, Wilhuff Tartine, Cheese Fondooku, Macaron Solo, BouillaRebelBase, or Emperor PalpaGratin.</div>
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How about Indian? Darth Vada, Darth Dahl, Obi-wan Tandoori, Padmé A-masala, Laddu Calrissian, Rose Tikka, Lamb Finn-daloo, SaMos(Eisley)as, Cucumber Rey-ta, Padowan Papadum, Princess Lassi, Saag Poe-neer, aLuke Gobi, and Naan Solo (or maybe Alder-naan) are all good choices.</div>
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Would you rather eat Mexican? Try the Huevos Kylo Rencharros, Darth Verde, Maize Kanata, Rose Taco, Flan Solo*, Admiral Ackbar-itto, Barbacoa Fett, Poe-zole, Chile Rey-leno, EnchiLeia, Dulce de Luke, Darth Molé, Chewie-changa, Lando Chorizo-an, and EmpanYodas. Or go Tex-Mex with Fritos Stormscoopers and Seven-Leia Dip*.</div>
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Would Chinese hit the spot? WonTaunTauns (also known as Padowontons* or Obi-Wanton Kanobi), C3POrange Chicken, Rey-king Duck, Egg Foo Yung Padowan, ChewBakChoi, Mon Mothma-po-do-fu, Szechuan Solo, Fortune Wookies, Kung Poe Chicken, and Shark Finn Soup are all great dishes to make in your E-wok.</div>
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Or maybe Japanese food like Rey-men noodles, Supreme Leader Poke, Bento Solo, YakiYoda noodles, Udon Jinn, a Tatuna-ine Roll, General Leia Onigiri, Katsu Ren, or Tem-Poe-ra is more your style.</div>
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What if it’s just all Greek to you? Then try Tzatziki-Gon Jinn, Han-akopita, Count Dooku-scous, Hummus Eisley, Souv-Luke-i, Boba Ganoush, Philo Ren, Padmé Ama-dolma, Mox Moussakanata, and some Chewbaklava for dessert.</div>
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But what if you just want to eat at a good old American Diner? Start with some Chicken Finn-gers and Mashed Poe-tatoes. Or maybe you’d rather have X-chicken-wing fighters and some Fry Fighters. Admiral AckBar-B-Que, Darth Taters, Hoth Dogs, or an R2-DTuna Melt made with Mos Eisley Canned-tuna. Order an Iceberg Wedge Antilles Salad, Yodagurt, Endor-itos, or Watto-melon on the side. On the light side, try a Bagel-bah with Lox Kanata. Wash it all down with a Captain Fanta, Yoda Pop, Qui-Gon Jinn and Tonic, or Iced Emperor Palpa-tea. And for dessert, choose from Banantha Cream Pie or a big slice of Aunt Baru-barb pie.</div>
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Hope that got some Endor-phins flowing!</div>
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(most of these are from my demented brain, but the * ones were shamelessly stolen from other people, but I can't remember where I saw them- obviously, there are many people on the internet who have also independently come up with many of the other ones that I think are my creation, so I'm happy to be one of the great minds that thinks like you if I've inadvertently stolen them - MP)"<br />
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Some more random ones that I came up with:<br />
Aunt Beru-berries, BB Tom-8-oes, Hoth Chocolate (served Luke warm???), Jakku-cumbers, Obi-Wan Corn-obi, Tuscan radishes. And of course, Calamari is always a good choice for May the 4th.<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">One of my son's lunches:</span><br />
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You can download a decently convincing-looking Star Wars font for free if you google "Free Star Wars Font." I just typed out these foodie-puns onto labels, added some Star Wars stickers, and voila! A very festive lunch.<br />
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For dinner, we went with a "Mexican" theme (in quotes, because what's more American than a burrito?).<br />
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We had Admiral Akbar-itos. The ingredients were: Maize Kanata (a nice fresh salsa made with roasted corn, cilantro, onion, and green pepper), Lavender Cal-rice-ian (have you tried purple rice? If not, you should because it has great flavor - find it in bulk food sections in stores like Whole Foods), POE-rk, Han Solo Cream (lame, but it worked), C-3Pico, Cheese-bacca, Tractor Beans (a runner up was REY-fried beans), and Darth Verde sauce.<br />
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Also, we served Yoda Soda, which was a little bit of sprite with a small scoop of sherbet in it (I could only find rainbow, but lime sherbet would definitely work better).<br />
Dessert was Storm Scoopers of the Dark Side Sundaes (AKA: dark chocolate ice cream) with a Wookie Cookie, and topped with Mace Whip Cream. </div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-71930138957723335122018-03-17T22:25:00.002-07:002018-03-17T22:41:16.451-07:00Believing in GraceAt church, I have been given the opportunity to work with the teenage girls of our congregation. As such, one of the things I take turns doing is teaching Sunday lessons. Since a minor stroke of genius occurred here, I decided to share it on the blog. Grace can sometimes be a tricky concept to understand in the LDS church, and so maybe someone out there will find this lesson idea (and accompanying handout I will post at the end) useful.<br />
Introducing the Topic:<br />
I'm going to start out my lesson with an object lesson that I'm pretty sure I found on Sugardoodle. I have bought a bounteous variety of candy and candy bars and I am going to lay them out on a table and tell the girls they are each fifty cents. Then I'm going to hand them a packet of coins to "buy" them with. Each girl will have a slightly different amount of money, but none of them will have fifty cents. The rule is that they can't share money. There has to be another way of getting to fifty cents. While they are looking in their packets of coins, I'm going to pull out some coins and lay them on the table by the candy bars. The point is for them to ask me for the money they need to make up the difference.<br />
After everyone has their candy, we are going to dissect the heck out of this object lesson. <br />
What do the candy bars represent? <br />
What does the money they started with represent? (Including the shortfall.)<br />
What does them asking me for money represent?<br />
What does my money represent?<br />
Why can't they share money?<br />
Why am I so willing to give them both money and candy?<br />
What if they were too afraid/embarrassed to ask me for money?<br />
<br />
Read 2Nephi 4:17-21. Emphasize that Nephi wasn't a bad or wicked person and yet he still felt weighed down by sin. He chose to trust Christ, though, and that helped him feel supported in his afflictions and filled him with love. That thing that helped and supported him was grace.<br />
<br />
It seems like grace is really easy to explain and understand when related to money. I also want to go over another great analogy for grace was written by Stephen E. Robinson (a professor at BYU that I took a New Testament class from a long time ago) called The Parable of the Bicycle. It can be found <a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/04/believing-christ?lang=eng" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Also, if you've never read it, I highly recommend reading <u>Believing Christ</u>, which is the book he wrote that the story originally appears in. It is a very in-depth look at the Atonement including a whole lot of information on grace from many different angles.<br />
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Then we're going to talk about the difference in believing that Christ can help us attain salvation, and actually trusting him to make up for our shortcomings. We will probably also discuss what it means to attain perfection and also what it means to try our best to work towards it.<br />
<br />
At the end, I'm going to send them home with a little reminder, because I truly believe that a lot of us struggle with the concept of grace - in that we don't allow ourselves to be imperfect and to need help to attain salvation. We are so hard on ourselves and we forget that Christ is there to partner with us and make up the difference.<br />
<br />
I pieced this handout together from a few pieces of clipart I found on the web. For my class, in the blank space under the Young Women logo, I have added my signature as the "treasurer" of the bill. I removed that for the sake of posting it for the wide world.<br />
Just right-click on the image to download it. Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-10484392263163971742017-09-05T21:55:00.000-07:002017-09-05T21:55:21.978-07:00Bundt Cake a la Mario Bros.This thing was such a labor of love that I don't have any photos of construction (my hands were mostly covered in sticky stuff), but if you are interested in creating a Mario Bros. themed cake, this might be some good inspiration. It wasn't too difficult, I'm just a fondant novice (first timer!) so I had to get the hang of it. <br />
I enjoy "architecting" cakes. This time around, I decided to surprise my son. He asked for just a lemon bundt cake (my favorite recipe <a href="http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/lemon-bundt-cake/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">HERE</span></a>). I thought I'd kick it up a notch. <br />
<br />
How did I make this?<br />
<br />1) I bought a lovely green porcelain pot at the grocery store that fit perfectly in the center of the bundt cake. I filled it with pressed rice krispie treats, then covered that with Oreo crumbs. I used 8 bamboo skewers sticking out of that, and placed four green plastic straws (two skewers per straw) over the skewers. <br />
<br />
2) I pressed rice krispie treats into two plastic rice bowls, then stuck them together to create a sphere. Then I rolled it a little more to make it extra round. <br />
<br />
3) I cut out a pie-shaped wedge (sort of pacman style) out of the ball. <br />
<br />
4) I covered it with red fondant and smoothed it out as best I could.<br />
<br />
5) I filled the mouth area with pink fondant and then fashioned a tongue. To get one layer of fondant to stick to another, brush a VERY little water on the spot and it acts like glue.<br />
<br />
6) I rolled out the green fondant and used it to cover the straws and make a couple of big leaves (if you make the leaves out of flat rolled out fondant, you can roll up a bunch of extra into little balls and sort of place them under the leaves to give them some dimension and hold them up a little so they don't look sad and wilted.<br />
<br />
7) I cut a bunch of circles out of white fondant, then rolled out a big long tube of white (to go around the mouth). Then I cut out a bunch of triangles for teeth, doubling them up on the bottom half so they would stick up properly. <br />
<br />
8) I placed the teeth on the mouth, then covered them with the white tube to shape the white lips.<br />
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9) I placed the head onto the skewers (keep that plant stem fairly short and make sure the skewers don't stick up more than a couple inches out of the top of the stem or else (as I found out the hard way) they will stick out the top of the head).<br />
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10) After the head is attached, add the spots. (You are getting the benefit of my hindsight wisdom here. I put them on before I attached the head and it was a big disaster that I had to rectify as best I could.)<br />
<br />
And that is it! Even though it came out far from perfect, this is one of my favorite cake themes I've ever done. I just think this guy has so much character - just like my now 8yo!<br />
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(I had to re-do the stem because the first time it was too long to hold up the head. I actually liked it better shorter.)Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-82370506575558267562017-04-27T20:10:00.002-07:002017-04-27T20:10:53.162-07:00Brunch Quiche and Dreams of ParisThe day before Easter, I bought two dozen medium eggs to boil and dye. I like to dye the medium eggs because they are cute and less of an investment - nobody here really likes hardboiled eggs. Our Saturday got away from us and we never had time to actually boil or dye eggs, and Sunday was even busier. I found myself with two dozen medium sized eggs in my fridge that needed to be used. <br />
At the same time, I had a serious craving for ham with Herb de Provence. When I was in Paris last summer, we bought some ham at a local grocery store, just for making quick sandwiches with, and I was amazed at how amazing the flavor was simply because it was seasoned with a little Herb de Provence. It is such a wonderful aromatic combination of herbs (hello, lavender!), and seems to pair well with ham. <br />
So, I decided to delight my husband with one of his favorite foods of all times, and make him a quiche that he could eat throughout the busy work week. I decided to experiment (because that's what I do!) and came up with my own quiche recipe, and let me tell you: this was the best quiche I have ever had. I HIGHLY recommend making it if you are a quiche-lover. It's definitely not low-calorie, but would be great at a brunch, or a protein-rich start to your day. <br />
And because I'm not a huge fan of blogs that are so filled with photos of the food that you have to scroll forever to find the recipe, here it is right at the top, for your ease. <br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b>Ham and Herb de Provence Quiche</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">Preheat oven to 400*</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 pie crust prepared and in 9" pie plate</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>(I prefer homemade. An easy recipe is just 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup butter, a pinch of salt and sugar, and a couple tablespoons of very cold water - enough to get the dough to stick together. Add flour, butter, salt, sugar, and combine using a pastry cutter or fork until dough is sticking together in pea-sized chunks, add water little by little until dough sticks together. Form ball, chill for about 15 minutes before rolling out.)</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">12 medium eggs or 10 large eggs</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 cup heavy cream</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 t Dijon mustard</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1/2 t salt</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1/2 t pepper</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 t Herb de Provence (you can find it in the bulk spice section of most higher-end grocery stores)</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 T finely chopped chives - more is not a bad thing if you feel like it (just use kitchen shears for ease)</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 cup fresh grated Jack cheese (yes, I know, not traditional Swiss like most quiche, but Jack is creamier, trust me)</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1 cup chopped ham of your choice - the better quality, the better the flavor</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">2 T fresh parmesan cheese</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">1. In a large bowl, crack eggs, add heavy cream, and mustard, and blend with an immersion blender until it's a bit frothy - at least a minute, two is okay. </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">2. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently combine so the cheese disperses (you don't want it all clumped up). </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">3. Pour egg mixture into pie crust. You can top with extra Jack cheese if you want. </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">4. Bake at 400* for 20 minutes, then turn oven down to 375* and bake for 25 more minutes (total of 45). </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">5. Pull it out, and give it a little jiggle. If it doesn't move, then double check by gently pressing down on the top middle. If it feels firm, take it out immediately and cool on a rack. You don't want to overcook a quiche - that's how it gets rubbery. </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">In this case, after 45 minutes, it was set, but the middle was a little soft when I cut into it. That actually makes it really delicious. This quiche has a very creamy texture.</span> <br />
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Originally, I made this quiche mostly for my husband, but I ended up eating almost as much of it as he did. It was so good. <br />
And since I'm really missing Paris, let's relive that trip with a couple of photos I took while I was there. It was glorious. I would go back tomorrow if I could. Maybe you can look at them and pretend you are in Paris while you eat the quiche. Au Revoir!<br />
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(We were there for Bastille Day - this was shot from the balcony of our AirBNB.)<br />
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(This is a Chateau in a tiny little town outside of Paris called Maintenon. So very Cinderella.)<br />
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(This is inside the dome of Sacre Couer.)<br />
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(This is the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte - also a little ways outside of Paris and well worth a visit.)Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-83709365384798080412017-04-10T14:01:00.003-07:002017-04-10T14:01:58.597-07:00Baked Raspberry LemonadeI had the opportunity to make cupcakes for a friend's birthday recently and decided to experiment a little with a cupcake creation. It turned out amazing, and as far as I know (I confess I haven't scoured the web to see if an identical recipe exists), this is an original recipe. I modified my favorite yellow cake recipe into lemon cupcakes, with a fresh raspberry filling and a lemon buttercream frosting. <br />
These are a little bit of work, but they are really delicious and anything but dry and boring. They taste like a little bit of summer in your dessert!<br />
One of the things I hate most on recipe blogs is having to scroll WAY down to the bottom to find the recipe, so let's just dive right in! (Photos at the bottom.)<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b>Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes - makes 12</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Preheat oven to 350*</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Cake:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/2 c coconut oil (melted)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1 c sugar</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1 t vanilla</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">2 eggs (separated)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">zest of one large lemon</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">juice of half lemon</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/4 t salt</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">3/4 t baking powder</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1-1/2 c flour</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/2 c buttermilk</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Instructions:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1. In a stand mixer, cream coconut oil and sugar until well combined and a little fluffy. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">2. Add vanilla, both egg yolks, zest of lemon, juice of lemon and mix to combine. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">3. Add salt, baking powder, half of flour, and mix until just combined.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">4. Add half of milk, mix until just combine.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">5. Add second half of flour, mix until just combined.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">6. Add second half of milk, mix until just combined.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">7. Add egg whites and gently fold until just combined. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">8. Scoop into 12 muffin tins with liners - spread batter evenly between cups, should be filled a little past half-way point. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">9. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cupcake comes out clean. I like to really baby them those last couple of minutes in the oven to make sure they don't get dry. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">10. Let cool on wire rack while making filling and frosting. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Raspberry filling:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1 6oz package of fresh raspberries, cleaned</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">juice of half lemon</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/4-1/2 c sugar, depending on how sweet you want it - I like it more tart</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/4 c cold water</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1 T corn starch</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/4 c heavy whipping cream</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><b><br />Instructions:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1. In a small saucepan on the stove, add raspberries, lemon juice, sugar. Bring to a gentle boil and stir occasionally until the raspberries have dissolved and the mixture begins to thicken a bit. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">2. Pour mixture through a strainer to remove most of the seeds (I like a few seeds in the final mix, because it feels more authentically raspberry, but I add back in maybe a teaspoon full). Place mixture back into saucepan and back on stove, back onto about medium heat.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">3. Mix cold water with corn starch. Add mixture to saucepan and whisk until thoroughly combined - this might take some vigorous mixing to make sure the cornstarch doesn't clump. Boil until mixture becomes thick, remove from heat. Cool until about room temperature. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">4. Add heavy cream to mixture, and beat using an immersion blender to whip the cream a bit, until well combined and a little thicker. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Frosting:</b> </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">2 c powdered sugar</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/2 c unsalted butter</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">zest of one lemon (If you don't want really lemony frosting, omit the zest for a more delicate flavor)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">juice of half lemon</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1 tsp vanilla</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1/2 c heavy whipping cream</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Remaining raspberry filling (I had about a teaspoon left after filling cupcakes)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Instructions:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1. In stand mixer with whisk attachment, combine remaining raspberry filling, powdered sugar, butter. (The little bit of raspberry filling will give the frosting a nice, delicate pale pink color to the frosting.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">2. Add zest, lemon juice, vanilla, combine again. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">3. Add heavy cream and whip on high until frosting gets nice and fluffy. (If it appears to curdle slightly, just whip it a little longer. Chances are pretty good it will actually be pretty smooth when spread with a knife or spatula.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Assembly:</b> </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">1. Cut a cone-shaped chunk out of the top of each cupcake (see photo below), then gently cut the point off. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">2. Scoop raspberry filling into hole, filling almost to the top, and replace the top of the cupcake (again, as shown). You don't want the filling to ooze out of the top. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">3. Pipe frosting however you desire. Top with fresh raspberry! (I was testing out a new tip and I definitely need more practice with it.)</span><br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-55874254250795060712017-04-01T10:42:00.001-07:002017-04-01T10:42:34.246-07:00Beautiful Auction ArtAs I mentioned in the previous post, our elementary school raises most of its PTA money through a big auction. One of the elements of the auction are individual class projects. These seem to go for quite a bit of money, so there's a little bit of pressure when creating them. I had a fun time doing one of them last year for my son's kindergarten class. This year, I decided to help my other son's third grade teacher with their project. She really wanted to the auction project to be relevant to their current curriculum, so they could possibly use parts of the art project for other assignments in class. After doing a bunch of research looking for ideas, I got my inspiration. We would do a sort of mosaic of drawings and turn it into a poster. <br />
1. I created a square in photoshop and then had a bunch printed out, so each child in the class could make two or three drawings. (Feel free to click on it and download it.)<br />
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2. The teacher decided on a theme: in this case, we went botanical, and the kids drew plants, flowers, and berries from a specific region they were studying in class. I could see lots of other potential ideas: animals, elements of the local city, fish, patterns, self-portraits, etc.<br />
3. Each child drew two or three plants, colored them with colored pencil, then outlined the drawings with a fine sharpie.<br />
4. I scanned all of the pictures and brought them into photoshop.<br />
5. I created the big grid in photoshop - the full-size poster with empty squares laid out the way I wanted it. <br />
6. I brought in each picture and placed them in the empty grid, making sure to mix up the drawings because there were duplicates.<br />
7. I brought the grid layer to the top, and switched it to the multiply layer setting so that the drawings would be visible underneath it.<br />
8. I cleaned up any stray colored pencil lines, and erased any drawing parts that fell outside the grid lines. <br />
9. I added the description text at the bottom.<br />
10. I had it printed through mpix.com.<br />
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One thing I like about doing auction projects digitally is that they can be reproduced. If an auction project is popular, the PTA can decide to sell a second or third copy for the same price as the first was bid on and double their money. These projects also make excellent end-of-year teacher gifts, or they have the possibility of being permanently displayed somewhere in the school. <br />
The teacher was able to use the scanned drawings for relevant reports the kids were working on, as well as to make some cute thank you notes for a guest visitor to their classroom. Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-34407237709325106172017-04-01T10:12:00.001-07:002017-04-01T10:12:56.747-07:00Big Auction DessertOur elementary school raises most of its yearly PTA funds through a big auction. We live in a fairly high-rent district (we are the poor people here - LOL), so we can't actually afford to attend the auction, but I can definitely help create the stuff that raises the money. This year, I helped with a class auction project, and then I created a special dessert for the Dessert Dash. <br />
I love an excuse to experiment with cakes - especially when I don't have to eat them (calorie-free experimentation!). This time, I decided to combine two of my favorites: chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake. Let me start by warning that this is a many-hours process.<br />
Here's how I did it:<br />
1. I made a chocolate cake from scratch in two 9" cake pans, cooled them and froze them overnight. Before freezing them, I made sure to cut them down a bit so they were both as flat as possible. I used <a href="http://thestayathomechef.com/the-most-amazing-chocolate-cake/" target="_blank">THIS</a> recipe (mostly because I had only cocoa powder, no baking chocolate).<br />
2. I baked a full batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies, making sure to bake a couple of giant ones (more than one in case one came out funky), and the rest fairly small (like a couple inches in diameter). I baked them a little more than I normally would because I wanted the crunch. Alton Brown's chocolate chip cookies are my favorite, recipe <a href="http://altonbrown.com/the-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
3. In the morning, I made a 1-1/2 batch of a really fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting. I used <a href="http://www.completelydelicious.com/whipped-vanilla-buttercream-frosting/#more-6065" target="_blank">THIS</a> one.<br />
4. Place one of the cakes on the plate with a little frosting underneath to cement it down. Cover the top of that cake with a layer of frosting. Chop up a few smaller chocolate chip cookies and arrange them on top of the frosting in a single flat layer. Top that with another layer of frosting.<br />
5. Place the second cake on top of the frosting, and ice the entire cake with most of the rest of the frosting (if there's a little left, put it in an icing bag). <br />
6. While the frosting is setting on the cake (which is nice and easy since the cake is still kind of frozen), make a batch of ganache. Let it cool a bit so it won't melt the frosting. <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/33647/chocolate-ganache/" target="_blank">HERE </a>is a recipe for basic ganache.<br />
7. Place ganache in some kind of squeeze bottle (I use the cheap dollar store plastic ketchup/mustard containers). run a line or two of ganache around the very outside edge of the cake so that the ganache runs down the sides. Embellish a little bit by squeezing dots at the edge of the cake where you want more drip. Then cover the entire top of the cake with a layer of ganache. You will have leftover ganache. Do find some other way to enjoy it. <br />
8. Arrange big cookie in the center of the top of the cake, and then embellish as you like with the smaller ones around it. If you had extra frosting like I did, I added some decorative frosting to the top.<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-53104197187415588392016-11-01T22:16:00.000-07:002017-09-05T22:18:40.155-07:00Building Pea Shooters Take TWO!This year, my boys ALL wanted to be various Pea Shooters, so we dressed my husband up as the zombie and it was great fun. Since I had created a Pea Shooter the previous year, I already knew what I was doing! Wahoo! So, here is an Ice Pea, A Fire Pea, and a Repeater Pea (just repurposed last year's pea shooter by adding eye brows and a couple more leaves - easy-peasy - see what I did there?). Tutorial from last year found<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="http://ds4bs.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-with-paper-mache.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">HERE</span></a>. And then here are a few construction photos I took along the way. The ice pea crystals were really hard to get to stay. I used a whole lot of tacky glue and then also thumb tacks underneath sticking into the foam core. I also brushed the Ice Pea with iridescent glitter paint. <br />
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I will admit we lost a couple of the crystals on our walk that I had to pocket and reapply. Oh well. It was also a little back-heavy, so my son had to kind of hold the face hold down.<br />
And the finished product. I am so glad our neighbor decorates her front yard so well for Halloween! Perfect for our theme! This was such a fun photoshoot. <br />
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(He wouldn't let me paint his face. HAHA!)<br />
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My kids told me they felt like celebrities, because so many people stopped them to compliment them on their costumes. <br />
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We are urban dwellers, so we trick-or-treat at businesses instead of houses. It's actually really fun.Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-42712475729920304722016-09-07T22:10:00.002-07:002016-09-07T22:11:43.520-07:00Birthday ZombiesThe final birthday cake request of the year came from my middle son. He wanted a Plants vs. Zombies cake. Again, I didn't find a lot of (amateur) PvsZ cakes on Pinterest, so I had to go my own route. This one is actually really easy to make as long as you own a set of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/BIGOCT-Plants-Zombies-Toys-Game/dp/B00MTITJBM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473311052&sr=8-1&keywords=plants+vs+zombies+figurines" target="_blank">THESE</a> - no, I didn't make fondant creatures because who has time for that???<br />
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So, here are the mechanics of the cake:<br />
1. I made my cake of choice (he wanted lemon with a lemon curd filling) in two standard-sized square cake pans. <br />
2. I frosted the cake with regular ol' white buttercream frosting. <br />
3. I scored a 6x6 checkerboard pattern into the top of the cake lightly with a butter knife. <br />
4. Using two different shades of green frosting, and a leaf/grass frosting tip, I filled in each square in different directions to create the "game board." <br />
5. I took the left-over green frosting and created grass blades on the sides of the cake, just to give it a little extra flair. <br />
6. I placed the figurines in a somewhat believable manner. <br />
Voila! PvsZ cake that took very little time. <br />
Here it is with its thrilled recipient!<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-2672860672488556552016-07-31T21:39:00.001-07:002016-07-31T21:39:50.786-07:00Buttercream Creeper CakeMy now NINE-year-old requested a Minecraft Creeper cake this year for his birthday. Since I love making these cakes for my kids, I agreed. I spent some time googling and looking on pinterest for ideas and was really surprised to only find about two Creeper cakes out there, so I was pretty much on my own after looking at how to get the initial shape (I am not into fondant for lots of reasons for these kid-cakes and that was pretty much what I saw). <br />
So, here is what I did:<br />
1. I made my favorite chocolate cake recipe and baked it in two 7x11 Pyrex baking dishes. <br />
2. I turned them out to cool and then on a cutting board, sliced longitudinally about 1" off all the way down both sides of one cake to create the body - removing the rounded edges. <br />
3. With the other cake, I created the head to be a little bit wider than the body, and square. With the rest of that cake, I made two feet, also square. <br />
4. I placed the cakes on a foil-covered cookie sheet and then iced the entire cake with green buttercream frosting (and it was really good buttercream frosting). <br />
5. Using green sugar-sheet, an exacto knife, and a metal ruler (I'm an architect, remember, always at home with a ruler and an exacto knife), I created a whole bunch of 1.25" squares.<br />
If you've never used sugar sheet, it's awesome! You can cut it with an exacto knife or scissors just like paper, then you peel off the plastic backing and stick it right on the cake. It is edible (though not terribly tasty). A great way to accomplish these sorts of designs without using fondant or going nuts with detailed frosting.<br />
6. I placed the squares throughout the body and feet in a somewhat random geometric grid pattern.<br />
7. Using black sugar-sheet, I created three more 1.25" squares for the eyes and part of the mouth. Then I cut a fourth square, cut it in half vertically, and used it to create the sides of the mouth. <br />
8. To clean up the edges of the cake a little bit, I piped a line of frosting around the base of the cake, and a narrower line to outline the different sections of the top of the creeper. <br />
9. I finished it off with a happy birthday message and green candles. <br />This was actually a pretty easy cake to make compared to that dinosaur I made back in June. And it was a hit!<br />
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<br />For my third son's birthday, I hear I am going to be creating a Plants vs. Zombies yard. Wish me luck! Be back in September. Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-10814312172156921472016-06-12T23:04:00.000-07:002016-06-12T23:04:13.454-07:00Birthday DinosaurWe celebrated my youngest's third birthday this weekend. More than anything, he wanted a blue stegosaurus cake. I enjoy a cake challenge (I really do), so I spent a good couple of weeks thinking about it and was really anxious to make it a reality. <br />
I didn't take any photos of the process, mostly because I had food coloring and frosting all over my fingers, but I can describe the process for anyone who might want to recreate it. <br />
Here goes...<br />
The body:<br />
~I started with three round 9" cakes and one 8" square.<br />
~I cut off about 1/3 of each of two round cakes for the body, and stuck them together with a lot of frosting. <br />
~The third round cake I cut out the tail (sort of a J shape, that I then had to tweak when I put the whole thing together). <br />
~Out of the left-overs of that third round, I cut the head - sort of half an oval that was two cake-widths wide. <br />
~I cut the 8" square into 4 equal pieces and then cut one leg out of each quarter.<br />
~There were some left-over chunks, and so I used those to add shape to the head and a couple of triangles to connect the flat tail piece to the hump of the body. <br />
~Then after I put the whole thing together, I frosted the heck out of it. <br />
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The spikes:<br />
~I created the shape of one of the spine on a piece of paper. Then I laid it under a large piece of wax paper on the counter.<br />
~I purchased a bag of candy melts at the craft store (in a dark blue color).<br />
~I melted them in a pyrex bowl in the microwave and then poured the contents into a squeeze bottle.<br />
~I traced the shape of the spines and then also filled them in with the melted candy. Moved the paper and traced over again. Repeated a bunch of times. Then I made a few smaller spines.<br />
~I stuck two toothpicks in each of the big spines lollipop-style, so I could easily connect them to the cake later.<br />
~I was having so much fun making stuff with the melted candy in a squeeze bottle that I made a bunch of embellishments that I wasn't sure what I was going to do with.<br />
~After everything dried, I took a knife and trimmed all the spines so they were nice and sharp.<br />
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After I frosted the cake, I added all of the spikes and threw on some embellishments. Then, because where the cake meets the plate/cookie sheet/whatever always looks messy, I added some "grass" and "dirt" with the leftover frosting. <br />
This might be my favorite kid-cake that I've ever made. I was really sad when we cut into it. Here is my masterpiece!<br />
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The birthday boy loved his cake!<br />
We also had stegosaurus fruit salad. It was a fun party theme!<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-22227556694238441302016-03-16T15:04:00.000-07:002016-03-20T11:24:24.208-07:00Big Bad RashMy middle son came down with a strange rash in mid-January and as of a week ago, we were STILL trying to figure it out. It was the kind of thing that started out small, concentrated to one area (on his rear end, unfortunately), and then spread like crazy. It became infected, and then it just spread and spread until he covered his whole body. It was itchy and painful, and I have no idea how he handled it with as much grace as he did. We went to the doctor SEVEN times over the evolution of the rash. SEVEN. The curious thing was that as it ran its course, the most stubborn part was (so embarrassing) in the shape of a toilet seat on his backside. It just wouldn't go away and it was blisters on top of blisters. <br />
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Finally, last week, the dermatologist (by the way, did you know it's almost impossible to get a kid in to see a dermatologist???) decided we should do patch testing to see if he had any skin allergies. Over the weekend, he had to wear this series of little patches (all stuck to medical tape) on his back, then after 48 hours, we could remove them and see if he had any reactions. It turned out, he had a pretty big reaction to something called methylisothiazolinone (abbreviated MI). It is an anti-microbial chemical found in SO MANY THINGS. SO MANY THINGS. After three days, he still has a red square on his back where that patch was. (Incidentally, the doctor ruled the Q15 reaction an "irritant" and not an allergy - probably should avoid that too, and it goes by literally 12 different names in products.)<br />
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What seems to have happened is that when he got the rash, I was worried it might be contagious, so I started furiously cleaning all bathroom surfaces frequently to keep the other kids from getting it. The Clorox (well, Kirkland) wipes I was using had this allergen in them and it was actually intensifying the problem. I ended up having to replace the kid-toilet-seat-topper (the one we had was kind of a spongey material that was potentially porous -ick) with a hard-plastic one and change my cleaning routine. The rash began to retreat almost immediately. This allergy also explained why he had had such horrible rashes as a baby when we used ordinary diapers and wipes. We had to move him to very organic stuff early on in life. Only a few brands didn't irritate him. Turns out those brands didn't contain MI. Through the years we have inadvertently shielded him from MI in most things just due to thinking he had sensitive skin and the desire to use organic/natural baby skin products on all of our children - mostly to avoid phthalates, actually. And I also went through and eliminated all triclosan-containing products from our house a few years ago too (scary stuff, it's even in toothpaste). <br />
After the test results, and confirmation of the allergy by the doctor, my research and label-reading began. I thought I would post what I learned here in case there are others out there who learn of an MI allergy. Obviously, it is probably healthiest to make as many cleaners at home from known ingredients like vinegar and peroxide, but I just don't have time for a lot of that right now - life is particularly stressful at the moment, so I needed to be able to purchase things quickly to get us by for awhile. <br />
Here are a few quick things to start with:<br />
1) MI is found in all sorts of soaps, detergents, and skin products mostly. <br />
2) MI is found in a lot of "natural" products, and there isn't a certain brand that I could find that is exclusively free of them - you have to pick and choose and read a lot of labels. Honest Co., for example, is currently being sued for being less than honest about what is in some of its products. I did find, though, that a lot of their stuff is MI-free - in fact, the only dish soap I could find at Target that was MI-free (include Seventh Generation, and Method) was Honest Co. <br />
I spent quite awhile reading labels at Target this morning in the "natural" section and most of this stuff contains MI! So sad!<br />
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3) As far as detergents go, powders tend to less-frequently contain MI than liquids.<br />
4) "Sensitive skin" and "fragrance free" products are less likely to contain MI, but not always a guarantee.<br />
5) Sprays tend to be MI-free while lotions tend to contain it. <br />
6) I learned that a lot of cleaning products are very vague as to what is actually in them. They are not required to list their ingredients on labels, so a lot of them don't, or they only list "active" ingredients. Greenworks is a particularly bad offender at false-advertisement. They do list ingredients, but in vague ways that don't actually let you know what chemicals their products contain. <br />
7) Just because it says "plant-based" doesn't mean it is totally safe. My beloved Aveda products (I am so addicted to their smell) have MI in them, I sadly discovered. <br />
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I also discovered that quite a few - perhaps MOST - Mrs. Meyers products contain MI. I was surprised and disappointed to see that. <br />
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I also spent 20 minutes at Whole Foods reading the labels of all their cleaning products and most of them contain MI, sadly. I think this one makes me the most angry. Look at the claims this container of wet wipes makes, but it still contains MI!<br />
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Here are a bunch of products I either purchased today, or had hanging around our house that do NOT contain MI. Note that I am not suggesting that all of these are pure and natural (though a lot are), just that these do not contain this one allergen that bothers my son and many other people out there. This is a pretty broad range of products that are not too expensive and get most of the job of cleaning self and house done. <br />
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L to R: Aveeno Baby Lotion (unscented), BabyGanics unscented bubble bath, Trader Joe's handsoap, Honest Co. dishsoap, Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes, Neutrogena Naturals face soaps, Method glass cleaner (in a refreshing mint scent), Method surface cleaner (but note that other Method products like hand soap and dish soap do contain MI), Aquaphor, Trader Joe's plant-based laundry detergent (only has three ingredients!), Dr. Baronne's Castille soap (the lavender stuff smells amazing - I am totally into lavender in the shower right now), Everyone Soap for Every Kid (LOVE the wonderful orangey smell of this stuff), Curel unscented lotion (note that only unscented doesn't contain MI).<br />
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L to R: Coppertone Pure & Simple sunscreen, Aveeno face sunscreen (though I don't like this stuff because of some other chemicals it contains), Target's Up & Up baby wash, Babies R Us vapor bath (great stuff for head colds), Johnson's baby shampoo, Kandoo sensitive skin flushable wipes (only the unscented kind), Biokleen bac-out carpet cleaner (Folex and Resolve do not list ingredients), Fizzy Tub color tabs (hey, what can I say, we went through a phase where that was the only way one of my kids would set foot in a tub without a tantrum), Cetaphil cleanser (awesome stuff anyway, even better that it has no MI). <br />
And here's to many years ahead of obsessive label-reading! Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-34665447809795185172015-12-25T14:00:00.000-08:002016-03-16T14:12:39.240-07:00Bring on the Cookies 2015 Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year's Christmas cookies! I was able to use my gingerbread skyline to decorate the plate, which I thought turned out really cool! I will have to remember that for future years. <br />This year I didn't spend a ton of time making Christmas cookies, although I gave more away than I ever had before, which was fun. I made (going L to R starting at the top):<br />
1. <a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/chocolate-crinkles/941e22b3-9a48-4fb1-bdb0-27479e76d484" target="_blank">Chocolate Crinkles</a> - it just isn't Christmas without these<br />
2. <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-marshmallows-recipe.html" target="_blank">Homemade Marshmallows</a> (if you've never made homemade marshmallows, do it NOW - coolest science experiment out there, and tasty too)<br />
3. <a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies/92eccbd8-33d2-4f05-a09e-ea6722d67786" target="_blank">Gingerbread Cookies</a> (this recipe makes A TON - as in 3 gingerbread houses, a gingerbread skyline and about 3 dozen cookies - so unless you want to make this many cookies, half it for sure)<br />
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4. <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basic-coconut-macaroons.html" target="_blank">Orange/Cranberry macaroons</a> - use this basic recipe and add zest of one orange, and dried cranberries to taste (about half a cup is fine)<br />
5. <a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/classic-spritz-cookies/aa68df04-bd64-4f1b-8421-0df82064bca4" target="_blank">Spritz</a><br />
6. <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basic-coconut-macaroons.html" target="_blank">Mini Chocolate Chip macaroons</a> (they taste like Mounds bars) - same basic recipe as above. Substitute almond flavoring for vanilla, and stir in about 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips<br />7. Fudge (I tried a new recipe. It was super-goopy. I don't recommend it. I'm not linking it.)Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-59674328985721184922015-12-23T22:56:00.000-08:002015-12-23T22:56:13.867-08:00Buildings of GingerbreadThis year's gingerbread creation - The Emerald City! Why do one house when you could do a whole city?<br />I still need to figure out royal icing, because this stuff was way too stiff to get very artistic with. Still, though, I think it turned out pretty fun. It is 4 layers of flat gingerbread stacked against each other and turned upright. Decent depth. I am going to have to try this again next year with some more thought and better icing.<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-42980304437917833282015-11-01T22:03:00.002-08:002015-11-01T22:03:46.451-08:00Building with Paper MacheI feel like this blog has become pretty much about holidays, but I don't seem to be all that crafty lately except when I have to be. <br />
This year, my boys decided they wanted a <a href="http://www.popcap.com/plants-vs-zombies" target="_blank">Plants vs. Zombies</a> theme for Halloween. The older two wanted to be plants, and the youngest ended up as the de facto zombie (he likes zombies, it worked well). These are not the sort of costumes one finds at the store...<br />
After much thought on how to build the plant heads (the majority of the costume), I settled on paper mache. I first tried crepe paper, thinking its weight and little bit of stretch would lend itself well to the round shape. I was wrong. It pretty much disintegrated. I moved on to small pieces of construction paper in the desired color. For the paper mache, I mixed about 3 parts glue, 1 part water, and painted both sides of the paper with it as I wrapped it around the balloon. Each head is made of a double layer of paper mache, followed by a round of modge podge to make it shiny and seal it. I used a regular balloon for the pea shooter, and then created the snout using cardboard with paper mache over it. For the chomper, I used a punch-balloon, since it has a slightly more round shape. The chomper teeth are made from craft foam, and the horns are a triple layer of foam core that is attached with tacky glue. The leaves at the backs of the heads are made with felt.<br />
I cut the neck holes a little snug, then reinforced them with the thicker (3/16") craft foam in a ring around the inside of the collar, and then wrapped them with felt that was glued and modge-podged in place. I figured this would make them sturdy enough to take on and off more than once, and also comfortable enough that they wouldn't bother sensitive necks.<br />
I took some pictures along the journey, in case anyone wants to attempt to recreate these. They were pretty fun, and the kids loved them. They found themselves repeatedly photographed while out trick-or-treating.<br />
The Pea Shooter:<br />
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The Chomper:<br />
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It was really hard to keep the chomper mouth from collapsing. The interior of this one is all sorts of purple duct tape and foam core, cardboard, basically whatever I found hanging around that I could use to support it. <br />
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In the end, these turned out to be remarkably sturdy. They survived repeat use by a 6 and 8 year old. The chomper even survived a fellow kindergartener who decided to beat up on it (punching it several times) while it was on my son's head. These also survived a rain storm while trick-or-treating. So I have serious respect for paper mache and modge podge.<br />
For the rest of the costumes, I painted a stem and leaves on black shirts, and had them wear black pants. Very easy. <br />
As for the zombie, his costume was acquired at thrift stores and a couple pieces I had to purchase new (the tie and blazer). The cone I found at a party supply store. I drilled small holes in it and attached thin elastic.<br />
And here is the finished product:<br />
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-2261393207624614982015-04-18T15:38:00.000-07:002015-04-18T20:18:01.693-07:00Brothers Share 100 Square FeetOnce again, we did another reorganization to accommodate some sort of new sleeping arrangement. For a good year now, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to fit all three kids into one room - a room that is just under 100 square feet (about 9'x11'). For a long time, I just sort of threw up my hands, called it impossible, and declared that we must move by the time the toddler turned two. Well, moving isn't an option at the moment thanks to many things out of my control, so I was forced to put my spatial-reasoning hat on (one that fits me really well actually, thanks to freakish innate ability and an architecture degree), and figure this out. The toddler was getting lonely in his closet, and we were a little tired of sharing a room with him. Last weekend, for the first time, he tried to insist on sleeping in one of his big brothers' beds, and so we knew that the time for transition was upon us. <br />
For awhile, I thought we'd have to do some major rearranging, including moving the bookcase into the hallway, installing a floating shelf up by the top bunk, buying an extra tall-skinny dresser, etc. After much consideration, and many other ideas, I realized that all I had to do was move the boys' dressers about 5" and then a toddler bed would fit in the corner under the windows. That was it. I was able to clear out the top dresser drawer in each boy's dresser to accommodate toddler clothing, so no new dresser was needed, and the bookshelf didn't need to move, because the bed didn't need to be oriented that direction. Seriously, I was a Tetris-master as a teenager, and it still serves me well.<br />
The best part about this was that, like the <a href="http://ds4bs.blogspot.com/2013/09/baby-in-closet.html" target="_blank">closet-nursery</a>, it cost us very little money. In order to make some room, I had to sell our play kitchen, and I got rid of our pack-and-play, because that era of our lives is over. Between the two of these things, the proceeds pretty much covered the cost of the toddler bed (by KidKraft, on Amazon, very easily assembled, and sturdy). I asked around and found a spare crib mattress in good condition that someone wanted to get rid of (so we can keep the crib assembled for a quiet nap-space). I cleaned out both the closet and the space under the bunkbed and did a bunch of reorganization/decluttering so that I could clear off the dresser for the changing area. I love how clean it all looks, and I feel like this is a functional solution that will get us through another year in our small space. It actually makes me feel like it really isn't necessary to have tons of space - organization, and living simply are way more important. When we eventually move, regardless of how many bedrooms we have, we will probably keep all three together until the older ones don't like the arrangement. Right now, none of them can imagine the idea of not sharing a room. They love the company, we love having our bedroom to ourselves again. It feels like such a luxury to be able to turn on lights and talk to each other when we are getting ready for bed. It's amazing, actually. <br />
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We moved him in a few days ago, on just the mattress, before the toddler bed arrived. He is doing flawlessly. He very obediently stays in his bed and goes to sleep, and he wakes up aright around 7, and has two brothers to chat with before he comes and finds us. He had a little bit of a hard time staying on his mattress, so I tucked a pool noodle under the sheet and that helped a lot.<br />
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Now that he is in a bed, I pulled out the amazing quilt my mom made for him. I love it so much - a quilt with buildings on it! The little taxi she added, matches the edge-fabric. If we had more wall space, I would hang it up, because I think it's pretty much a work of art.<br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-66281005846182137742015-01-19T20:55:00.003-08:002015-02-12T22:54:17.198-08:00Boy Valentines Part IIMy five-year-old son has recently developed a pretty intense Star Wars obsession. Since I was custom making his big brother's valentines, I decided to make some for him too. Sure, I could probably buy Star Wars valentines, but this is always a fun project for me.<br />
I did some research on Pinterest to see what else was out there, and then got out the DSLR and created my own. <br />
Since these are made with my own Star Wars Lego figures, I am going to assume these are fine to share. These are also formatted to Vistaprint's website. If you choose to print them that way, go to the site and go to Business > Stationary > Note Cards > 4x5.4 > Upload Custom Design<br />
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And the finished product, with the lightsaber candy I managed to find in the dollar section at Target:<br />
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(Glow in the dark candy??? Hmm...)Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-77080596059878149832015-01-19T20:43:00.002-08:002015-02-12T22:58:10.284-08:00Boy ValentinesI love making custom Valentines for my kids. Every year they seem to have some interest that generally is something I can't purchase pre-made. They have unique interests. My oldest son has had a Plants vs. Zombies obsession for the last couple of years. Last year, I customized a Valentine that PopCap published on their blog. Otherwise, Plants vs. Zombies valentines are pretty hard to come by.<br />
This year, my son wanted something more specific: a Pea Shooter valentine. I found the Pea Shooter on the web and then customized it to make it all cute and valentine-ish. My son loves it.<br />
My husband is an attorney, so I asked him about copyrights and trademarks, and whether or not it would be okay to post this for others to use. He says its a gray area, but probably okay since I'm not profiting from it. So, feel free to download and use, just make sure you give all the credit to PopCap, not me. This is sized to be printed using Vistaprint.com. If you choose to use the website, go to Business > Stationary > Notecards > 4x5.4 > Upload Complete Design.<br />
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And the finished product with candy. I went to our local candy store (<a href="http://www.sweetmickeys.com/pages/about-us" target="_blank">THIS</a> adorable place - we are on a first-name basis with Randy, the owner), and bought a whole bunch of Peas & Carrots (about 1-1/2 lbs). Then, I separated out all the carrots. I suppose green jelly beans or gumballs might work just as well, but my son was very set on peas.<br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-29328361834501667392014-12-23T09:45:00.000-08:002014-12-23T09:45:04.845-08:00Baked ArchitectureI have been stuck at home with sick kids this holiday season, thus bored. I decided to try out something I have wanted to do for a very long time: make gingerbread houses from scratch. I created the patterns and made very simple houses for my older two boys. Then I decided to make my own mid century modern-inspired gingerbread house. I am a novice with gingerbread structures, so this was just a first attempt. And my frosting was not cooperative. I think next time I might go for a butter-based frosting instead of the traditional royal icing, which was thick and difficult to work with. Also, to prevent a bunch of frustration, I did hot glue the pieces together initially (all in discreet places that would never be noticed). And here was my MCM gingerbread house in progress and the final product. I have to say that I was totally pleased with the way the beams fit into the structure - they were actually quite sturdy and support the roof! Other tips I can offer: pez make excellent bricks, chocolate neccos work well for that slate-walkway style, and gumballs work great for those globe lights. If only I could have found a way to suspend the globe light from the roof, that would have been truly awesome.<br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-84769350385161106272014-06-15T20:52:00.003-07:002014-06-15T20:52:26.827-07:00Birthday Monster BashDusting off the ol' blog here. It has been a LONG while since I posted mostly due to the little munchkin who's birthday celebration got me thinking I should write something again. I hope to write another post about colic, because that has made this past year memorable - and not in the best sense.<br />
Anyway, our littlest guy turned one this past week and so we had a big party for him - since, after all, it is our last first birthday party. My older boys call him "monster" because he crawls and wrecks all their stuff, and the aforementioned many months of colic, so we decided to have a monster-themed party. I did a lot of research on pinterest to get ideas and then I gave it my own interpretation. I knew I wanted to made a "furry" orange monster smash cake. I knew I wanted a monster-watermelon fruit salad. We had to serve Odwalla C-monster drinks because he is our little C-Monster. The rest just sort of evolved as I was preparing for the party. It was great fun and I think it might be my favorite party theme of all the parties I've thrown for my kids. <br />
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I tried out marshmallow fondant for the first time. It was fairly easy to create and work with. Pretty easy stuff. I halfed the recipe I found online and had more than enough to create noses, horns, eye brows, etc. It is simply half a bag of marshmallows microwaved with 1 tbsp. of water, then you stir in 2-3 cups of powdered sugar and the color of your choice. Then stir and knead until you get a workable consistency. You have to keep it covered constantly or else it begins to dry out instantly. I also tried out a new frosting tip to create the fur. I like how it turned out but that particular tip (usually used for grass) requires a lot of strength. The whites of the eyes are two halves of a big marshmallow. And that is a small cake-sized paper plate - so it's not a huge cake.<br />
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The cupcakes were a lot easier. I used halves of small oreos for the eyes, with a mini chocolate chip for the eye.<br />
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The full spread. We chose to serve foods that are favorites of our birthday boy. He loved dinner.<br />
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I thought the fruit salad was really the crowning achievement. I love how it turned out. Secret to creating fun watermelon creations: use one of those cheap little pumpkin-carving knives. It worked SO WELL. Then I scooped out the insides and filled it with the salad.<br />
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Our birthday boy with his party hat. I bought cheap party hats at the party store and embellished them with monster eyes. He wore it for exactly long enough for me to snap a single picture, so absolutely no need to spend a bunch of money on one of those custom-made first birthday hats. I feel lucky to have the picture.</div>
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A happy birthday to our littlest one and hopefully I will think of more things to blog about soon.</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-77022933940890007292013-12-31T23:05:00.000-08:002014-01-01T21:24:27.223-08:00Bonkers for CookiesHere is the annual post on what I baked for Christmas.<br />
I went a little nuts this year. For some reason, I had it in my head that I had to make a whole bunch of cookies. I wanted to make a few deliveries. This year, I attempted toffee and it was fabulous. I also made three different batches of peanut butter fudge. I am totally hooked on candy-making.<br />
Here is the list:<br />
1.<a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/chocolate-crinkles/941e22b3-9a48-4fb1-bdb0-27479e76d484" target="_blank"> Chocolate Crinkles</a> - my childhood favorite Christmas cookie. This recipe comes from the original Betty Crocker Cooky Book from the 1960s. They were indeed as good as I remembered. The cookie batter is even better.<br />
2.<a href="http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2013/03/almond-meltaway-cookies/" target="_blank"> Almond Meltaways</a> - this was a pinterest find. I give them a meh. They were kind of boring.<br />
3. <a href="http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2012/01/06/oatmeal-carmelita-bars-recipe/" target="_blank">Oatmeal Carmelitas</a> - I got this recipe from a college acquaintance. They are another favorite of mine. (I use walnuts and instead of caramel candies, I use a jar of caramel topping mixed with a couple tablespoons of flour.)<br />
4.<a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/russian-tea-cakes/3af8664b-6c3e-4022-b686-cd961521e59b" target="_blank"> Russian Teacakes</a> - Also an old favorite. <br />
5. <a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies/92eccbd8-33d2-4f05-a09e-ea6722d67786" target="_blank">Gingerbread Cookies</a> - Every Christmas, I like exactly one gingerbread cookie. So I made a batch that required a ton of flour. This pretty much describes my unexplained insanity this year. Be warned that this recipe makes A LOT of dough - it is easily halfed.<br />
6. Peppermint cookies - I modified a recipe I found on pinterest and I LOVED them. I am posting it here so that I can make it again next year.<br />
7. Peanutbutter Fudge - As mentioned above, I made quite a few batches of this in an attempt to try to perfect the recipe. I figured it out and it is FABULOUS. Love it.<br />
8. <a href="http://www.piarecipes.com/2012/11/ghirardelli-english-toffee-recipe.html" target="_blank">Toffee</a> - It does require a candy thermometer, but aside from that, it is SO easy. The one problem I had was that I couldn't get the chocolate to stay on top of the toffee. I must research this.<br />
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And here are the recipes:<br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">Peanut Butter Fudge</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">(This makes a 9x13 pan of fudge. This is A LOT of fudge.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">Chocolate Layer:</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1/2 cup butter</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">4 cups sugar</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1 can evaporated milk</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1 tsp vanilla</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">18 large marshmallows</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">16 oz. chocolate (I used a big ol' block of Trader Joe's dark chocolate)</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">Peanut Butter Layer:</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1/2 cup butter</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">4 cups sugar</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1 can evaporated milk</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1 tsp vanilla</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">18 large marshmallows</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">12 oz. bag of peanut butter chips</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">4 oz. chocolate chips</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">A big scoop of your favorite peanut butter</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">1/2 cup finely crushed salted peanuts</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"></span><br />
<em><span style="color: #783f04;">For both layers, follow these directions.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #783f04;">1. In a saucepan, heat butter, sugar and milk to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil on medium for 8 minutes. (If it starts to brown before 8 minutes, get it off the heat FAST.) Remove from heat, add vanilla, marshmallows, stir fast to melt. Add chocolate (or chips and peanut butter) and again stir to melt. </span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #783f04;">2. Make chocolate layer first, after combined, pour quickly into a greased 9x13 pan. Touch it as little as possible.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #783f04;">3. Make peanut butter layer second, and pour on top of chocolate layer. Again, touch as little as possible, but smooth it out. Press peanuts into the top. </span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #783f04;">4. Let cool completely and cut into approximate 1" squares.</span></em><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Peppermint Cookies</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">(</span><a href="http://hometoheather.com/2012/12/peppermint-sparkles-christmas-cookie/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">HERE</span></a><span style="color: #990000;"> is the original recipe)</span><br />
<span id="zlrecipe-ingredients-list"></span><div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-0" itemprop="ingredients">
<span id="zlrecipe-ingredients-list"><span style="color: #990000;">1 cup butter </span></span></div>
<span id="zlrecipe-ingredients-list">
<div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-2" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">1 cup powdered sugar </span></div>
<div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-3" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">1 egg </span></div>
<div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-4" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">1 tsp vanilla </span></div>
<div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-5" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">2 1/2 cups flour </span></div>
<div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-6" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">1 tsp salt </span></div>
<div class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-7" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">red food coloring (optional) </span></div>
<div class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;">1 bag of Andes' candy cane chips</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Crushed candy canes (optional)</span></div>
<div class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<span style="color: #990000;"></span> </div>
<div class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<em><span style="color: #990000;">Preheat to 350.</span></em></div>
<div class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<em><span style="color: #990000;">Combine butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and again stir until fluffy. Add food coloring if you feel like it. Add flour and salt and stir until combined. Chill dough for 15-30 minutes. Remove dough from fridge, and roll into a big log with about a 2" diameter. Slice into about 1/4" thick discs. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. </span></em></div>
<div class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<em><span style="color: #990000;">In a double boiler, melt entire bag of candy cane chips until smooth and fairly runny. Gently frost cookies with melted chips. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Let frosting cool and harden.</span></em></div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-78814582883434444292013-10-19T21:54:00.002-07:002013-10-19T21:54:25.841-07:00Baking for OneA terrible thing happened to me. Yes, ME! My son's pediatrician asked me to lay off the dairy for a week or two to see if that might improve the tiny (well, he's not tiny) one's disposition and penchant for barfing. Ever since he was born I have been keeping my low blood sugar regulated with copious amounts of cheese and I have the most amazing sweet tooth while breastfeeding. Did you know that practically all chocolate sold in stores contains some sort of dairy? Milk fat, milk protein, lactose, butter, etc. It is making my life difficult. And yes, this is all about me. On top of this, my husband is attempting to diet, so when I have a sugar craving, I need to keep it to a single portion.<br />
Awhile ago, I found this very handy idea on pinterest: a single-serving chocolate chip cookie recipe. It can be found <span style="font-size: large;"><strong><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=1536620807&group=0&frame_type=b&blog=6519699&link=aHR0cDovL3RoZXN0eWxpc2hiYWtlci5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20vMjAxMy8wOS9zaW5nbGUtc2VydmluZy1jaG9jb2xhdGUtY2hpcC1jb29raWVzLmh0bWw&frame=1&click=0&user=0" target="_blank">HERE</a></strong></span>. I have now tested it with both coconut oil and canola oil instead of butter. I recommend using less coconut oil if you need dairy free - perhaps by as much as half. It makes for incredibly rich, slightly crunchy cookies. I actually preferred the canola oil substitute and the ratio remains the same.<br />
I love to experiment with recipes. I tweak everything to test the limits of a recipe and see if I can make something I like even more. This time I chanced upon something truly wonderful AND dairy free. Here is some incredibly rich, fudgy goodness:<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Double Chocolate Chip Cookies</span></strong><br />
2 Tbls canola oil<br />
2 Tbls white sugar<br />
1 egg yolk<br />
1/4 tsp vanilla<br />
1/2 tsp milk (I used almond)<br />
pinch of salt (kosher)<br />
1 Tbls cocoa powder<br />
1/4 tsp baking soda<br />
1/4 cup flour<br />
2 Tbls chocolate chips<br />
<br />
<em>Preheat oven to 350.</em><br />
<em>In a small bowl, mix oil, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla thoroughly. Add all dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add chocolate chips and mix again.</em><br />
<em>Bake for about 9 minutes.</em><br />
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Note 1: I bake these on a small pampered chef stone - which happens to be the perfect size for exactly three cookies, which is what this makes.<br />
Note 2: These would be great with coconut oil, but cut it by half.<br />
Note 3: I discovered a brand of chocolate chips that does not have any milk in them: Guillard. <br />
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Enjoy!Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-65492577374290914542013-09-29T18:40:00.000-07:002015-04-18T15:51:41.320-07:00Baby in a ClosetI have taken a huge hiatus from this blog - mostly because I have not done anything creative of note except have yet another baby boy. I am now insanely busy with THREE boys and I pretty much feel like I'll get back to fun crafts in about 18 years. Anyway, the newest addition arrived in June and has been quite a handful (our first experience with colic - not fun) and I feel like I am just starting to pick up the pieces of my life again now that school has started and we are forced into a routine.<br />
The new pace of school has added to my exhaustion and I knew I had to do something about it. Having a baby sleep next to me is never restful for me. Especially one that is not cuddly, just demanding. He turned three months earlier in September and I decided it was time to carve out some space in our apartment for him. He is a very light sleeper and quiet darkness seemed like the way to go to get him to sleep a little better. We live in the city - a fairly expensive city - and our oldest just started Kindergarten. So, moving is not really an option for us until at least the end of the school year. We love our place and our location, and we have a reasonable amount of space, so we are fine making it work. I have reorganized and "found" more space over and over again here, and it was time to do it again. This time was the biggest find-space-project I have yet undertaken. In our master bedroom, we have two full-size closets AND a walk-in closet that is about 5-1/2' square - pretty amazing for apartment living. I knew if I could successfully empty out the walk-in closet, which I was using as a storage unit and pantry, I could turn it into a pretty believable nursery. I also knew that the closet had to get completely emptied - no leaving stuff on shelves - because we live in earthquake country and I want my baby to be as safe as possible. So I worked hard to reorganize every other closet and cabinet to make room for what was in there. My mom was nice enough to volunteer to store all of our Christmas decorations in her garage. I managed to reorganize my whole house so that we didn't add any clutter, just really utilized all those closets and now we have a really great little nursery. It almost feels like a luxury to have a dedicated space for our baby. Best of all, is that I did it all for pretty much $0 cost. I spent about $150 at Ikea buying a new dresser for him and a couple odds and ends, and I bought a new crib skirt and a couple of stuffed animals to make it look more like a nursery, but I sold some stuff that was living in the closet originally and the proceeds actually will add up to more than $150 when I am done. Most of what I used in the nursery were things we already owned (bins, laundry basket, crib, mobiles, etc. - I realize there is not a lot of stuff in there).<br />
In the end, I still have to get up a couple of times during the night to feed my chubby cherub, but I am more than grateful to have our bedroom back.<br />
As for the little nursery décor, I went with grey and white - this will fit in nicely with the big-boys' bedroom should they ever all share a room. I hung a couple of pictures on the wall to add a little bit of color, but nothing near the crib. This is my third kid, so I am all about being practical and realistic this time around.<br />
And here are some pictures:<br />
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For the next phase of fitting our third child into our small apartment, see <a href="http://ds4bs.blogspot.com/2015/04/brothers-share-100-square-feet.html" target="_blank">Brothers Share 100 Square Feet.</a></div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4535502094009146020.post-88603066911085665072013-04-30T19:57:00.000-07:002013-04-30T19:57:54.654-07:00Budget Boy FashionI have perhaps the most pacifist almost-6-yr-old boy on the planet. He is a very sweet, sensitive boy. He is definitely all-boy, but not in the craving-violence way (he prefers explosions, science experiments and tornadoes). He is also incredibly picky about what is on the front of his shirts. I'm fine with this. I could go on for a long time about ugly boy fashion and my strong feelings against skulls, skeletons, annoying phrases like "I didn't do it" or "Boys will be boys," etc. My son is also not the athletic type and has no interest in baseball jerseys, skateboards, snowboards or the related abominable snowmen, dinosaurs, and gorillas wearing sunglasses. He also has no interest in most of the cartoons that are on the older-boy shirts and finds them scary. So, when he grew past the toddler sizes, I found that finding clothing for him was really challenging. Gymboree tends to have tame stuff, but it's expensive. Their cheaper sister, Crazy 8 is hit-and-miss. Same respectively with GAP and Old Navy. I refuse to spend lots of money on summer t-shirts, because they get trashed. He's young enough that he doesn't always want to wear plain colors or stripes. It is this never-ending clothing-quandry that sometimes makes me feel sorry for myself that I don't have any girls (although I recognize there are a whole host of other issues with girl-clothing).<br />
After looking around at short-sleeved shirts this spring and not finding much he would wear, I was wandering Target. I found a bunch of plain T-shirts for $1.78 each. They were not the most awesome colors, but I was pretty sure I could do something with them. I asked my son what he might want on his shirts, thinking I would once again pull out the freezer paper and do some DIY silk screening. He decided on a hedgehog (he has a mild obsession with them), a hippo with a bird on his back (this relates to an ongoing bedtime story his daddy tells), and he wanted a porcupine for the last one. I couldn't quite find a suitable porcupine on a google search that I could turn into a simple profile, so I decided to blow him away with something I knew he would like: a Mythbusters shirt. <br />
I cut out the profiles and he got to choose the paint colors. The whole project took me a couple of hours. Now he has three unique shirts that he loves. I used paint I already had. The whole project cost me less than $6 for three shirts - which is less than the cost of one ugly shirt he wouldn't have been thrilled with anyway. Go me!<br />
Here they are:<br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676485158487357907noreply@blogger.com0