Christmas Croquembouche

My husband is a wonder in the kitchen. I've been feeling very tired and nauseous with this pregnancy and he's totally stepped up to the plate to keep things running while I've been out of commission. This last weekend we had the annual Christmas party for my father-in-law's extended family. Hubby made a pumpkin roll and the croquembouche you see above. Those are individual little cream puffs (which he made from scratch) filled with a vanilla pudding and whipped cream mixture (both of which he made from scratch) and covered with a fine netting of spun sugar (which he also made). I squirted the filling into the cream puffs and stuck them on the foam form. That's my tiny contribution towards something that had everyone Oohing and Aahing.

In progress.

October activities

The weather has turned cold and we aren't playing outside nearly as much as we usually do. It's been chilly and windy and the girls have come down with a mild cold. How to keep them occupied?

During Bean's nap, I made a cardboard loom from a cereal box. I gave D a big plastic needle and a length of yarn. I was really surprised at how well she did on this activity. I would do a row and then pass it to her to do a row. Once, I lost track and started doing 2 rows. She gently reminded me, "Mom, you're not sharing."

Pasta necklaces. I dyes some pasta and gave the girls a length of yarn to make their own necklaces. Bean, who is now 2, thought this was the bee's knees.

Pumpkin patch. I bundled them up and hauled them around a pumpkin patch. This is the pumpkin patch that Hubby and I have been going to for years. It's a little bit of a drive, but the prices cannot be beat. There were lots of little things throughout the fields to entertain the little ones, such as this haybale spider. As a funny coincidence, while we were there, we bumped into my sister-in-law. She was there with her preschool class that she teaches. The girls loved seeing their aunt and it made the day even more fun.

Color mixing. I found this one on Pinterest. D has been interested in color mixing, asking me questions like, "What color does yellow and black make?" Now how do you answer that? I wanted to reinforce the secondary colors, ie: yellow and red make orange, red and blue make purple, and yellow and blue make green, along with one example of all three primary colors making brown. Hopefully this tactile activity helped the lesson sink in, plus it's no-mess! Win-win!

Another nap time activity just for me and the big girl. She wanted to paint her face and she chose a butterfly. This time I consulted the web for a better design and we were both pretty happy with how this turned out. I used Crayola watercolor colored pencils. You dip them in water and they glide on like a paint stick, but with a finer point. They also wash off really easy with a little soap and water and they're not heavy on her skin.

I told her she looked like a butterfly flying over the flowers on her shirt. She loved that and needed to do a "flying" pose.

And finally, this is a snapshot of a typical night for me. Folding laundry, paying bills, looking up some unique recipes, planning my grocery shopping list and trying to unwind with a mug of tea made from lemon balm in my garden.

Popovers

Here is my husband. Not only did he build this big beautiful house, he also designed the kitchen and occasionally likes to play in it as well. He's still a kid.
Several years ago he had popovers at a restaurant and he's mentioned them off and on ever since. We've been looking for pans but they are really expensive.
Recently a World Market store opened up near us. Their popover pans were reasonably priced, (as were the wooden spoons, scarves, etc, etc) so we bought two. This was hubby's first batch. They were yummy, light, and impressively hollow.
Show off...

Pancake cake

That is the worlds smallest layer cake, made from silver dollar sized pancakes and buttercream icing. See the fork in the background for size comparison? It sure was cute, but maybe not the tastiest cake ever.

The weather has turned cold. As an alopecian with zero insulating hair on my body, I can officially claim to loathe the cold. Luckily we haven't had to turn on the heat yet, but that might come about soon enough. The girls are getting a bit stir crazy being inside much of the day. I'll have to start visiting the gym again so they can play in the kids' room there. (And so I can get thinner, sheesh, enough of this already)

Baking and aprons

While Bean was napping we made cookies. D loved throwing the ingredients into the mixer, breaking the egg and finally placing the M&M's on top.

The apron she is wearing is one that I whipped up without a pattern. I spent way too much time on it and made it much too complicated. But in the end, she loves it, so, Job well done Mommy!

My favorite part of this whole baking experience was watching the interaction between my husband and daughter. Hubby comes home from work at lunch every day. He's very firm with the girls that when he leaves they cannot complain or ask him to stay longer, he absolutely has to go. On this day, right after he had put Bean down for her nap and said goodbye, D ran up to him and asked him to run to the store for M&M's for her cookies. He stood there, arms crossed, looking very sternly at his daughter and I watched his resolve utterly crumble under the might of his tiny but formidable adversary. Her sweet little, "Please" was more than he could take. The hilarious part was that without twitching a muscle or changing his steely glare, he relented but demanded that someone be outside at the driveway waiting for him to drop off the candy because he was not going to come back into the house. Watching him be defeated by her was the funniest thing I had seen in a long long time. 

Summer Activities

Over the course of the summer we've been to several parades, family reunions, parks, beaches, etc. On those days we stay home we keep busy one way or another. These are just a few of the things I managed to capture on film.

Taking pictures and using window crayons.


Sticking sequins to paper using scotch tape.

Face painting.

Making yogurt pops using blackberries from our garden.

Finger painting. (This is Mom's favorite)

Mud! Lots of mud.

Melting pony beads on the grill for suncatchers.

Soda bottle and Q-tip painting.

Sidewalk chalk paint. (Cornstarch, water and food coloring)

Shucking corn.

Playing with Mommie's scrap basket.

Glow sticks.

Shadow tracing.

And just generally goofing around.

Happy Summer!

Grilled eggplant goodness

It's not often that I cook vegetarian meals, so when I do, it must be AWESOME!

All kidding aside, this really was an awesome meal and a good way to use up some of the eggplant the neighbor keeps leaving on our doorstep.
This reminds me of a joke I heard once. A lady from New England was once telling about how safe her little community was. Everyone would leave their cars unlocked, except in the fall. If you left your car unlocked then, you ran the risk of finding it filled with zucchini.

I have been getting into the habit of making a meat product the centerpoint of every meal and as much as I try to have it be a lean protein, the meals can still feel heavy and our waistlines are not at their optimal levels.
This reminds me of another joke I once heard on The Tonight Show. The comedian Sinbad was on and he was explaining how he was a vegetarian. Leno expressed some confusion and explained that the popular opinion is for vegetarians to be skinny. (Sinbad is built like a linebacker) Sinbad explained very plainly, "There ain't no meat in cake."

Grilled Eggplant:
Sliced garden fresh eggplant slathered in olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, fresh chopped basil and oregano. Topped with grilled tomato sliced also slathered with the same olive oil and herbs and spices. Grill the eggplant for about 8 minutes total (flip a few times) and grill the tomatoes for no more than 4 minutes or they turn into mush. Stack and place a slice of mozzarella on top while everything is still hot so the cheese melts a little. If you have enough tomatoes add another layer. Serve warm, these taste really gross when they get cold. When warm they are fantastic.

Lemon balm tea

Nom.
Lemon balm tea is supposed to help releave anxiety and improve your mood. I've got 2 competition pies to make for the State Fair this week. I need all the help I can get.
The tea itself is very good. It has a light citrusy flavor, wonderful aroma and needs no sweeteners to be enjoyable. I'd say it's good for the diet, but the gingersnaps I keep dunking into it are helping to ensure my jeans stay snug.

Iced tea, level up!

Iced tea.
Simple.
Summertime.
Cool.
Quench.
Heat.
Sweat.
Lemons.

Lemons?

Excuse me. I was channeling a little Kerouac there.

Iced tea is a hot weather staple. We love making sun tea on bright hot sunny days. So simple. Just a gallon of water in a glass container and about 10 tea bags. Leave it in bright sunshine for about an hour or two, to desired strength of brew.
This time I punched it up with lemonade ice cubes. I brewed up a simple syrup using a cup of water and about 4 Tbsp of sugar. I love the organic turbinado sugar. Heat that to a simmer and all the sugar is dissolved. Then add some lemon zest. I use a vegetable peeler on a lemon to get the rind without any pith. You want the oils fr4om the rind to add a rich flavor. Once that has all had a chance to blend for about 5 minutes, remove from the heat and take out the rind. Add the lemon juice from the lemon you just skinned and then pour your lemonade into an ice cube tray and freeze. If you have any left over add a little water and enjoy a great tasting glass of lemonade.

To make an excellent glass of iced tea plunk in a few lemonade ice cubes and some sugar to taste. This really cannot be beat on a hot day, and we've had plenty of those this summer.

The munchkins like helping with this project. D likes to unwrap the tea bags and Bean likes to put water in the glass jug with the hose. (With assistance of course) :)

Oh, and speaking of some cool cats:

Hot Dog Art

And so it begins...

Next generation baker!

 

 Today has been rainy and chilly so I told D that during Bean's nap she could bake a cake. I recently found a recipe for a simple pound cake that a toddler could make. The kids are allowed to pick the add-ins. I suggested chocolate chips, blueberries, craisins, bananas or lemons. She chose lemons and honey. She's awesome!

It turned out really really good. Very moist and dense. Next time I'll add less sugar and we'll try substituting applesauce for the vegetable oil. (I didn't have any applesauce on hand.)

While the cake was baking in the oven I was working on the computer and D was playing with some of her play kitchen stuff while sitting in a shoebox and eating an apple. I noticed she was suddenly quiet and turned to see her zonked out on the floor. I guess cake making is strenuous stuff. 

When Bean woke up she insisted on wearing her bike helmet while eating.

Yogurt Cake
(gateau au yaourt, from Bringing Up BeBe)
12 oz. Plain whole-milk yogurt
2 eggs
12 oz. sugar (or less per your preference)
1 tsp vanilla
5 oz. Vegetable oil
24 oz. flour
1.5 tsp baking powder

preheat oven 375.

grease a 9" round cake pan or loaf pan.

Gently combine yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil. Combine to flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently mix. Add flavorings of your choice. (We added 2 Tbsp honey and 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice and 2 tsp lemon zest.) Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Easter egg decorations

Spring has sprung early here in Minnesota. Normally we're still under a foot of snow at this time and checking for airfare deals to Florida. 

With the warm weather we decided to do some outside decorations. 

The girls decided the tree was too prickly and tall, so they decorated an old raspberry twig. 

They had a lot of fun helping me make these. I swear I got 10 minutes of undivided attention!

Look at that look of concentration!
We got the eggs at Target in their Easter section. They are the cheap ones with 2 holes in each section for the pipe cleaners to go through.