A collaborative effort between my husband and I- he shot some photos while I prepared to make a cranberry apple pie. Unfortunately, after all the nice imagery, I was foolish and the pie slid off of the baking sheet and landed flat faced onto the ground. Did we eat it? You bet! Is it pretty? Uh…No! But it sure tasted delicious and smelled lovely.
Jeepers, all that fun in planning and now the party is over! My sister’s baby shower was a success and my other sister and I had fun in all the preparation. From picking up my sister Susan at the airport to going to a flower mart for the party to making my house ready for the bash… I had fun and sort of let down now that it is all over!
We had lox and bagels, crispy goat cheese salad, tomato basil stratta, scones, brioche cinammon rolls, fruit, pineapple bake, mimosas, bellinis, bloody marys, coffee, 2 kinds of cupcakes and whoopie pies.
I was crossing my fingers all week long for no rain- unfortunately it was miserable outside, but really warm inside which is far better that 90 degrees with the air con. on. Sorry for the poor photos, not only was there no sunshine, but my kitchen is not the best “non-flash” environment. And taking photos of food with a flash is quite frightening. I also did not take nearly enough photos- but I think that I was totally enjoying myself and felt no need to document the whole event.
Next up- Tizzy’s arrival!
I’m taking a blogging break, not sure when I will be back. Take care friends.
Okay- so my son and I have a typical “mother/son” relationship, but there are many times I am often challenged by him…he takes me to places of aggravation I have never been (the kind in your mind, I should stress that). I do know he has helped me be patient and how to act in love and I have such gratitude to this kid. Maybe it’s because we are alike or maybe it’s because I have never been around little boys before. I grew up in a family of all girls.
Anyway, I find getting him and I involved in the kitchen together brings us much more closer and we really work together well. By the way, notice Si’s special friend watching as we work? I think it’s funny since in Penny’s scone making, her friend was checking out the process.
To go with the traditional Labor Day BBQ, we decided to make pudding. I bought a really dark dutch-processed cocoa and man, it’s black! The photos don’t show the nice chocolately pudding you would imagine, but the taste was there.
Of course everyone loved the treat- something we actually don’t have often after dinner…dessert that is!
Anyway, thanks in advance to all of those who can relate to my experience as a mother…it’s so humbling and not perfect all of the time and pretty darn lonely.
I do believe Penelope and I have hit a turning point in our relationship.
Today, after we dropped the 2 older kids off at school and we had our daily walk with Ollie- we made scones. I wanted to make a bunch for my sister’s upcoming baby shower brunch. I just threw them in the freezer unbaked and will bake them off that morning (next week).
Usually this is Simon’s job (he’s in school all day today)- to help me with baking. Ellie has become more independent and will make something somewhat independently when she isn’t busy reading, playing with a friend, or on the computer. But today, I had the total joy of working with my youngest. I really did marvel at how willing she was to learn. I still will give Simon the honor of baking when he is home, but I know soon Penelope will be competing for the role.
Honestly, there are days that being a mother can be so challenging. But today was a day that made feel like I am doing an okay job. We even had 2 hours of play/work time! Penny played with her best pal Piggy (check him out helping us with the scones. He literally was in her arms the whole time) and took him on all sorts of adventures. And I cut out a bunch of pillows!
We decided to bake just one of the scones to make sure it would “work out” for the bash. Ummm…yes, it did and I am really tempted to bake off another on the sly.
Sorry for the blurred image of the two of us- this is just to show you the enthusiasm we had of our midmorning snack.
By the way, the varieties were: chocolate chip/cinnamon, jam filled, and lemon. I just used a basic cream scone recipe and added what I had on hand. I also cut them out into circles- I find this is the best size and thing to do when serving people at a party.
Happy Weekend!
Simon reminded me yesterday that he has wanted to make sugar cookies. He had discovered a recipe in Williams-Sonoma, Kids Baking and was eager to bake some goodness.
Goodness indeed. It was a nice afternoon project for the two of us to work on, although I did have to leave the room a few times. I did not want to be a controlling mother and let him go wild with sprinkles and icing- all over the place!
This was an incredibly simple recipe and easy for a kid to cut out with a simple shape. I used my jar of “remaining sprinkles from past baking” and loved seeing all the colors.
Here is the recipe:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix dry ingredients.
Beat butter and sugar, for 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat.
Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed. The dough will look lumpy, like moist pebbles. Chill for 1 hour.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
For the icing I just mixed confectioners sugar and whipping cream to a creamy consistency. I added a dash of salt and some vanilla.
The below photo is totally unrelated. Actually, this was Ollie practicing his begging face. He’s learning early. Much to his dismay it will never work.
Oh- I need to mention that they taste really good too. So if you are willing to let go a bit and let your kids eat a treat, this may be a nice choice. I’ve had to practice restraint myself.
Here are some shots from this morning’s activity with Ellie. An easy thing to make and they quite tasty too. Good thing she was going to a friend’s house to play…and away they all went!
Recipe!
Okay kind readers,here is the turnover recipe. It is so darn easy that I hope you won’t have a lower opinion of my baking skills. I actually do want to make my own puff pastry…some day.
The recipe is from “everyday Food”, issue 23, June 2005
you need:
flour for dusting
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed according to package
1/4 cup raspberry jam
3/4 cup raspberries
2 t. sugar, for sprinkling
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, unfold pastry sheet. Roll out to a 12 inch square.With a sharp knife, cut into 4 equal squares. Place on prepared baking sheet; refrigrate until firm, about 15 minutes. (I did not obey this command and only went about 5 minutes)
2. In a bowl, stir jam and berries. Assemble turnovers. Spoon mixture in center of each square. Using a pastry brush, dampen edges with water in a 1 inch border. Fold dough in half diagonally, over filling. Press edges to seal;with a fork, crimp to make a 3/4 inch border.
3. Brush tops with water and sprinkle sugar on each urnover. With a tip of a knife, cut 3 slits in the top (for steam vents).
4. Preheat oven to 375 while turnovers are chilling (Again, I did not obey completely…maybe 10 minutes?)
5. Bake until puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.
Unbaked turnovers can be frozen for up to 3 months.
I also think these would be great with chocolate, ham/brie…Happy baking!
As most of you know, my sister and her husband have a great catering/retail business. This past Friday, I worked one of the more fun parties down in the city (Chicago). Every year this particular client chooses a color and everyone runs with it…My sister’s super talented friend Richard is a designer and he is the one in charge of the styling, etc. I just had to share some of the images from this fantastic night.
Obviously the color was brown…chocolate martininis were served…mini chocolate shakes…an incredible chocolate sculpture…wouldn’t you like to attend a party like this?
Yes, those are chocolate mooses (sp?)…and yes, all the decor came down after the party.
I wish I had taken more shots of the food, but I was on “spring roll duty”. This was a task I did not mind. My husband also was at the party taking footage for a short film he is making for Kim and Richard. I’ll be sure to let everyone know when it is complete. It’s going to be really cool.
Okay, so it’s a cold and rainy day in the Chicago area. Simon is watching some crazy “Superman” DVD and Penny is napping. I decided to share this unbelievable book with all of you. We received it in the mail this past Saturday and we have no idea who it came from, but we sure are grateful.
I think this is one of those books everyone should get to really KNOW what is going on in the world. I know my kids have been really interested in seeing the families and how they live…nothing but a great book to broaden one’s mind, huh?
The writers travelled all over the globe to document the way people eat, what they spend their money on and they even document statistics of each location. It shares the literacy rate, obese population, McDonald’s restaurants, and people with diabetes.
The family(refugees in Chad) above only spends $1.43 a week on their food in contrast to families in Europe and the US spend $347…that’s right over $300! What?!?! We eat pretty well, but there is no way we come close to this figure! I know I but minimal snack foods and the majority of my budget is on local dairy products and fresh meat and vegetables. Crazy.
Guess where the above photo is? I only showed a bit of the photo because it was so embarrassing.
This unfortunate sight is a shot in Mongolia. It is showing how that now that there is more affluence, they now have food to throw away.
What an amazing and sobering commentary this book is on our world! If only people would be more disgusted with how we have become less grateful and more greedy. Of course, I speak from my own little world. I am fortunate to have many resources available for my family…I have learned a lot from this book, especially from those that “seem” to have less. There is something they possess that maybe we all need- and that is the instinct to survive without being swayed by a commercial for Cheetos.
