Tea Party Treats - Unicorn Horns with Frozen Yogurt

My daughter had a blast helping me make these even though we had so many things we forgot to use them during the party and ended up having a snack of them later in the evening instead.

Tea Party Treats - Orange Fruit Cups

Slice an orange in half.  Using a paring knife, cut little wedge shapes out of the sides to form the jagged edges.  Then use your knife to trim part of the center of the orange out - leaving a little at the edges to eat.  Add small pieces of fruit to the center of your orange cup to make mini fruit salads.  We used mandarin oranges, kiwi, strawberries and raspberries.  You can top with whipped cream or a mini scoop of frozen yogurt or sherbet if you wish.  This is a great project to have kids help make after you dice all the fruit.

Mountain Scene Birthday Cake with Homemade Whipped Cream Frosting

Of course, one of the centerpieces of any great birthday party is the dream cake desired by the birthday guest of honor.  And let me just say, my little girl dreams big - like "Cake Boss" big...  She is big on the Schleich fantasy horses and she and Grandma have been collecting them - they work great with the fairy gardens.  So she wanted the perfect mountain scene to display her favorites from the collection.

OK - I can do this right?  I did, after all, make an awesome (if I do say so myself) snowmobile mountain cake for my husband's 30th surprise birthday party.  No sweat.  I'll just break out my trusty buttercream recipe and make some small batches of it colored for grass and mountains and such.

I Will Never Forget

photo credit: Sister72 via photo pin cc

I was reminded today by a friend who was there, that we all experienced 9/11 a bit differently.  For her, it is not a day of honor but it is people that she knew, a tragedy that she survived, comrades that were lost.  Those people she honors and remembers every day.  The hoopla that surrounds the anniversary date stirs up harsh unwanted memories.

For me, it was a knot in the pit of my stomach that grew as the day progressed.  I remember being at work when the first plane hit and racing to turn on televisions and pull up news feeds online.  Then, as we watched live, the second plane hit and we were all sent home.  After checking in with my husband and mom, I raced home to sit glued to the TV as the news continued to pour in about the plane at the Pentagon and the on in Pennsylvania.  My friend was in the Pentagon.  I sat for hours with the phone in my hand awaiting a call from my friend's mother telling me that she was OK.  As the news grew more and more frantic and gruesome and reports on the terror attacks became more defined, the implications for my brother began to set in.  He was a Marine sitting at Camp Pendleton just a few months after finishing boot camp.  I was terrified about what this might mean for him.  I felt powerless to do anything for any of them beyond praying.  

Tea Party Treats - Dragonflies

These sweet dragonflies were a big hit with the little girls at my daughter's tea party but they would be sure to delight at a big girls tea party or fairy party too.

You'll need about 3 ounces of white chocolate bark, sprinkles, small twist pretzels, mini pretzel sticks, sprinkles and food coloring.  In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate bark 1 minute at a time, stirring in between, until melted smooth.  Add food coloring until you reach the tint you want.  This was blue with a couple drops of green.

The Most Charming Barn I Know...

This barn holds a special place in my heart.

I will cry when she finally falls.

I cried a little as I carefully crept around taking pictures of all the special nooks and crannies.

She is like a beautiful old woman with hands gnarled from years of hard work and struggles. 

Every wrinkle and line on her face has a story.

And yet when I look at her I don't see those things as flaws...

I picture her as she was when I thought she was the best place to be beginning over 30 years ago.

Tilapia with Wild Leeks and Lemon

2 packages frozen Tilapia filets
1/2 cup wild leek leaves, finely chopped
1 fresh lemon
4 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste

Defrost fillets by placing in warm water for a few minutes.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet.  Add Tilapia.  Salt and pepper well.  Cook over medium-high heat about 4 minutes per side.  After you flip the fish, add 1/2 the leek leaves and squeeze the juice of 1/2 the lemon over the fish and leeks.  Once cooked, remove from pan and repeat with the second half of everything.  After you remove the second batch of fish from the pan, scrape any caramelized leeks and fish bits from the bottom of the pan and pour contents of the pan over the fish.  Serve with salad, rice or mashed potatoes.

Cheesy Potato Pancakes - Failure and Success

Having a bunch of leftover mashed potatoes from the night before, 

I thought I'd make some potato pancakes to go with our breakfast.  

I didn't really have a recipe but I started with about 4 cups of mashed potatoes, 

1 1/2 cups shredded colby jack and 1 egg and mixed them together well.

 Then I used my ice cream scoop to make evenly sized patties and fried them in a little canola oil.  

Major fail - they began to melt terribly all over and did not stick together when I went to flip them.  

Scrape pan and start over...

I added about a 1/2 cup of flour until I had a stiff batter.  

Then repeated the scooping and frying process.

 Success!

The Party Planning Roller-coaster

Well, sometimes you've got to roll with it...  Like riding the roller-coaster that is party planning for a soon-to-be-9-year-old girl.  Lately, we cannot make up our minds about anything (and by "we" I mean "she" even though my mother is laughing and saying "apple...tree...").  We also seem to be constantly on crossed paths where we are not listening to each other.  So often we are both saying the same thing but it takes a 30-minute discussion in the baking aisle at the grocery store and several sketches on the back of the grocery list to come to the conclusion that we are both almost in tears trying to describe the almost exact same thing...  I know, I know...its only the beginning...  

I love this girl so much and I really truly want to give her the world every birthday and Christmas and every other special occasion.  And sometimes in my eagerness to give her what I think is the best, I forget to listen to what she really wants.  And I want perfection so I project that on to her.  And of course, I am not perfect.  And I can't be everywhere at once to accomplish everything that I want to do for her (whether she wants me to or not...).

Back to School Today

It really doesn't feel so much like back to school today.  I guess a good part of that is because summer camp for the Princess is held by the same place as the before/after school care so our routine in the morning doesn't really change so much.  Although I did have to get up a few minutes earlier to pack lunch and take a few pictures.  And there was the thing about the outfit she wanted and the hair...  I'm guessing the back-to-school thing will really hit tonight when she comes home with a list of more things she needs and dates to remember and homework...

Its the first year she isn't really excited to start school.  In part because last year was a LOT of math and she does not like math even though she does just fine at it - my Princess is a reader.  And in part because she sees most of her friends at summer camp and has so much fun with them there that she doesn't really miss most of them in the summer.  But she still had a good attitude this morning and was ready to go on time (no small feat since she is not a morning person).

I always take a picture of them at the start of school by this door -
since she started preschool and was shorter than the door handle...

Then the remnants of Hurricane Isaac reached us and the rain started pouring buckets as we reached the daycare parking lot.  Of course, my umbrella was in my closet at work...  The daycare has been undergoing some renovations and they aren't quite finished yet so the awning is missing.  So I grabbed Little Man and his backpack and made a run for it thinking the Princess was behind us.  Apparently she had issues with the truck door because she kept pulling on the handle right when I would hit the button to unlock it.  Eventually she made it out.  Her backpack was baptized and it was raining so hard her hair clips fell out.  We made it in the door only to be shocked by an inch wide stream of water just inside the door - courtesy of a hole from a bolt they must have removed when they took down the old awning - we all let out a shriek as we got hit in the head and down the back of the neck by an abundance of cold water...  The kids both shouted "That's not even nice!"

After taking a minute to wipe the rain and hair out of our faces, we pulled it together enough to take a couple pictures of the kids and they even managed to look somewhat happy.  They gave each other their hugs and kisses and "love you, have a good day!"  Then as we walked to his locker, Little Man began to cling to my leg with a sad face saying "I don't want you to leave me..."  Ugh...believe me...I do not want to go either...  So we go in his class with his blanket and stuffed puppy and see his little best buddy L who is happy and raring to go today.  Little Man is having none of it but picks a corner to snuggle up and nicely gives me a hug and says goodbye while I tuck him in.  *sniff*  A Tuesday that feels like a Monday...

They wanted pictures of their backpacks -
they are not in trouble, lol.

Then I'm off to make sure the Princess is settled in and immediately spot that she has smuggled in the very item I told her not to bring...  After confiscation, I tell her not to let it ruin her day and to have fun with her new class.  I know she will have a great time because our former neighbor who she had her first crush on will be in her class this year, along with several of her friends from summer camp.  And she is very excited because this is a new school building to her and it has a lot of features she is really excited about like the huge library.  I can't wait to hear all about it.  Although it is so strange to see my little girl who used to fit in the crook of one arm off to 4th grade. *sniff*