Now we're playing!

Playdoh is fun dough!  You can mold it, shape it, and if you are Laura you like to paint it (a very messy way of playing with the dough).  Try this quick and easy recipe of home made playdoh for hours (ok minutes) of fun (moms that means you get to check your email, grab a cup of coffee, even a shower--if you are really brave).

Materials:

2 cups of flour

2 cups of water

1 cups of salt

2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (this makes it stretchy)

food coloring (warning--this stains.......I know.....)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and break apart any lumps.  Transfer to a pot and heat over medium heat until smooth, turning frequently so that it doesn't stick to the pot.  Once smooth allow it to cool and then play!

Stir Fry Soup!

Yummy, healthy, and EASY!  We made stir fry soup today, the Davidovich way--dump, heat, forget!
This is the best recipe because all you have to do for prep is defrost veggies and potstickers and then you place every in a pot and heat!

Stir Fry Soup
3 TBS of Stir Fry Sauce (plus a little extra to taste)
1 package of frozen stir fry veggies
1 bag of frozen shrimp defrosted
48 oz of chicken stock
4 or 5 Trader Joe's Pot Stickers
4 oz rice sticks

 mmmm....cook pot!

The thing in her right hand is a book called Let's Go--and she meant it!  She had two helpings!

Black Out Brownies

As I said before, last week we toughed it out like true pioneer women.  While poor daddy was stuck in traffic, we prepared red velvet brownies for him to come home to.  Little did we know that he wouldn't be home until 1 in the morning and little did we know that the power would go out leaving our brownies warm themselves in the oven.  I let them sit in the oven to trap in the heat for an additional 25 minutes after the power went out and they turned out PERFECTLY.  I think God was smiling down on us.  We enjoyed them amid candlelight.  :)

This little one did NOT like the flash, the crying and fussing that the blackout caused just got worse when mommy introduced the scary flash.  Sorry baby!  

UNBELIEVABLE cake!

This cake was created by Planet Cake for Australia Day.  It is such an inspiration seeing as though it weighs around 800kg!!  That is over 1700 lbs!!  The video is a little long about 4 minutes but it is worth a look.  You'll never belive this but they actually cut into this thing!!

Maybe tomorrow's entry will be about the 1700 lb cake of Spring Lake Terrace that the girls and I created.....maybe.......but I wouldn't hold your breath :)

Cupcakes on a snow day? Yes please!

Well as everyone has heard the east coast got pummeled with a massive snow storm this week.  The DC area was particularly bad, with traffic coming to an absolute halt!  It took my husband 8 1/2 hours to get home from DuPont circle which normall will take about 40 minutes in traffic and less with no traffic. We were without power, and heat--for about 21 hours.

 We had a feeling that we were going to be stuck inside so before the storm hit we drove to Bethesda to meet my old co-workers for some yummy pizza and delectable cupcakes.

The baker here baked Marc Anthony's birthday cake!  Plus she was featured on The Today's Show's Hometown Wedding!

Laura got the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.  It has the prettiest marzapan flower on top with a little gold glitter!  Very fancy!

  We also had an impromptu photo shoot at Vapiano's.  Laura posed to the coaching of her photographer Heidi and was styled by none other than the famous "Annie."  haha   Lots of fun on a snow day!

Did someone say Peanut Butter Cream Pie??

I'm not sure who it was that first combined peanut butter and chocolate, but I would like to shake their hand!  The combination is nothing less than fabulous really.  We made this pie for a party, however when the party got cancelled we got to keep the pie!  Lucky Duckies!

The pie was so good that even the hubby is making an appearance in this posting!  Peanut Butter makes us happy.  In fact, it makes us want to dance and play!

Too bad PB is not for Ba-bies....she is happy for us though :)

  We adapted our recipe from Joy's recipe over at Joy The Baker.

Peanut Butter Cream Pie.
For the crust:
1 box of double stuffed oreos
6 tbsp of butter melted
dash of salt

For the Filling:
1 Cup of Natural PB (regular PB would work, but the natural oils make the PB easier to mix)
1/2 a package of cream cheese softened
1/2 Cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk (YUM!!!)


1.  Crush the oreos with a rolling pin or food processor (or have you toddler jump on the bag haha).
2.  In a big mixing bowl add the butter to the crushed oreos and then pour into a pie dish, molding around the edges.
3.  Place dish in freezer while you work on the filling.
4.  Combine all three ingredients in a large bowl and blend evenly.
5.  Take the pie dish out of the freezer and pour filling onto crust.
6.  Finally chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

Joy topped hers with fresh whipped cream which would be ultra yummy (we just didn't have any heavy cream on hand).

It is just the pie to get you through the mid-week hump!

Exploding Cranberry Coffee Cake!

What is a creamy cup of coffee without a delicious slice of yummy cranberry coffee cake? 

 Exploding coffee cake is best!

 Too big for the pan, really!

 Mommy I am hungry!  Hook me up!

Sweet it is finally done!!

So this past weekend we baked some coffee cake for Grumpa.  He and Nonnie were visiting from the Eastern Shore and the girls knew that their Grumpa wouldn't want to turn down one of their delicious creations so we scoured our favorite baking blogs for a worthy recipe.

We finally landed on Joy (don't we always??!?).  Joy the Baker has AMAZING recipes and this one was no exception!  The only swaps that we made were fresh cranberries for dried cranberries and blueberries (like I had fresh cranberries hanging around the house).

The recipe is definitely worth a shot, especially if you have a brunch or something like that to attend.   The sour  cream makes the cake so moist and delicious.