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.

Baby's Got A Brand New Dress

Once upon a time there was a littlegirl with a little white dress.  The little girl wore the dress all the time-when she painted, when she cooked, even when she played in the dirt.  She had lots of love on her dress, so much love that her mommy couldn't even get it out with fancy stain stick.  The little girl was sad.......

well that is until her mommy sprinkled magic dust on the dress and wa-la, it became her favorite color--"urple."!!  Amazing what a little dye can do to a tired little dress.  We woke up her dress and now we will get some more mileage out of the cute little frock!  It is even cute over skinny jeans and glitter flats!

Taco Pizza Party!

We made delicious low fat taco pizza for dinner last night.  It was fun and easy!

All it took was one ready made pizza shell, taco sauce, fat free shredded cheeses, extra lean beef, and black beans.  Oh and of course an interview with the chefs!

Good luck with your pizza and happy weekend!!

Thrift Store Sweater to Baby Leggings!

I started with an old sweater from a thrift shop nearby.  It was 2.25.

I used a pattern that I already had for baby pants and started slicing!  Then I used a darning needle to sew the pieces together.

They won't be walking down Dolce and Gabbana's runway anytime soon, but she thinks their comfy.

Her sister has comfy pants envy :) but shares her love just the same!

Shoe Sugar Month: Day 13 SIZZIX BIG SHOT GIVEAWAY!!

Shoe Sugar Month: Day 13 SIZZIX BIG SHOT GIVEAWAY!!

I have been lusting over machines like this recently. I mean I am sure that my little creations wouldn't turn out like hers but hey it's fun to play!

Easy Knit Headbands

Ok I admit, not the best picture of my little model, but in her defense, I took breakfast out of her hands to take the picture.  Bad move mommy!

This was super easy.  I made the felt flower just like last week's tutorial and sewed it to a skinny knitted strip. The strip only took a few days to knit and could definitely have been done in a day, had I had the time and undivided attention.  I used a darning needle to attach the flower.  It is meant to be a little ear warmer.  This one is actually Laura's. I am in the process of making baby C's now.

Homemade Waffles!!

 We welcomed the day with homemade waffles!

 Laura beat the egg whites...

and posed for the camera!    

When Caroline smelled the waffles baking, she came running, well crawling to her highchair!Uh do you mind Mom, I'm trying to eat! 

This is what Daddy had to look forward to when he woke up!

Homemade Crispy Waffles
2 Cups Flour
1 TBSP Baking Powder
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Milk
2 Eggs Separated

1.  Mix all of the above ingredients except the eggs, together using a hand mixer until smooth.
2.  Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the batter mixture and beat on medium until blended.
3.  In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until peaks are stiff and then fold into batter.
4.  Pour into a pre-heated waffle iron and wa-la!

Hope you enjoy the tasty waffles like we did!  Laura likes hers swimming in syrup!

Too cute to keep to myself....

 This is what they were doing while I was making dinner.

 Putting on a concert and trying on jewels!

Seriously, do girls really start to accessorize at this age???  Diamons are a girl's best friend!

Kids Designers You've Never Heard About

I love me an outfit from Baby Gap.  In fact on any given day, Laura or Caroline can be seen in skinny denim or wide leg yoga pants, however I am growing tired of what they've had to offer lately.  My next go-to spot for cute kids' clothes is Boden.  Their designs are super cute but also super expensive, so I figured if I am only going to lust over the clothes I want to really lust.  I want some original designs that I haven't seen before.  Alas, my list of children's designers that you've never heard of before-mainly because they are foreign and not accessible to us yanks, but ADORABLE none the less.

Noa Noa- a Danish designer that also does some very cute women's ready to wear

Anne Wille- French Designer with a flair for vintage meets contemporary

And The Little Dog Laughed- Australian designer with the cutest bloomers and knitted gifts.  From the knitted toys to blankets and tees, I wish this one was available to us!

Some looks can definitely be recreated by selecting pieces from various American vendors, but I also just liked the way kids were "styled" in the catalogs.  Gives you good ideas!  

Super Saturday!

Little Felt Animal Puppets

I had left over felt and she had leftover energy.  The little gal decided not to nap today so we crafted instead.

 Gluing was most definitely her favorite part!

When it was all said and done, we had a half bear, half cat felt puppet.  :)  She was excited to surprise daddy with the "poppot" when he got home.  :)

Happy Friday!!!

Shoe Sugar Month: Day 9 ShoeClips.biz $50 Giveaway

Shoe Sugar Month: Day 9 ShoeClips.biz $50 Giveaway

Check out Grosgrain Fabulous' awesome shoe re-dos!!

Felt Flowers!

Today we made felt flower hair clips for the littlest lady in the house.  This took me about half of a Days of Our Lives while the girls napped.  Mindless tv and mindless crafting-a good combo for the quick crafter like me.  I took two rectangles of the green and sewed them together and then I cut 5 owl shapes out of the blue and sewed the the "ears" of the owl to create the puckering effect of the petals.  Finally I attached a pink circle with fabric glue for the center and hot glued the whole thing to a hair clip.

As you can see, the felt flower hair clip can be worn while relaxing with your juice or while on the go!  It is the perfect accessory for all occasions!  :)

Gumbo Schumbo!

The above are the before and after photos of the sad little pepper. I was chopping veggies for the gumbo recipe that I will get to later and Laura of course wanted to help. I handed her a cheese spreader which I THOUGHT could do no harm, but just look at that little pepper. Oh well go thing it was still edible. After that she was demoted to.....

dishwasher!

She loves to play in the sink so it was a win-win situation for her (not for the pepper though). Anyways, onto the recipe! I call this "Gumbo Schumbo" because it isn't really gumbo but it somewhat resembles it. I took out all the yummy spice that adults love but kids sometime won't touch and added other goodies.

Gumbo Schumbo

2 chicken breasts cubed

2 links of apple and onion sausage or sweet sausage diced

1 small onion chopped

1 red pepper chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1 tsp of thyme

1 tsp of oregano

1 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of onion powder

1 tsp of salt

1 8oz can of tomato paste

3 roma tomatoes diced

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 bay leaves

Any amount of cooked rice to go with the gumbo once finished

1. Add meats to the slow cooker and set to low for 6 hours.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients excluding the rice.

3. About 30 minutes before the slow cooker's timer goes off, start cooking the rice. Brown rice takes between 30-40 minutes, but basmati only take 15-20 so it just depends on what kind of rice you choose.

4. Serve over the rice!

Chocolate Chip Almond Yummies!

No she isn't sneezing or about to dive face first into the batter. I said give me the most surprised face you have, and this is what I got. :) Cute little thing....hehe She is wearing the jersey to hopefully bring some luck to her daddy's team! Anyways, on to the post---

If there are three things I love it is butter, brown sugar, and babies (there was another one, but she was attached to my leg therefore not show on camera). We made these cookies from a variation of my grandmother's chocolate cookie recipe. These key is to take them out a little early so that they are nice and mushy and gooey in the middle. Pete prefers them crispy so we mix it up every now and then, but if you ask me, gooey is the way to go! Laura agrees!

Gram's Chocolate Cookie Recipe (with added Mommy and Laura pizazz)

1 bag of semi-sweets

1 1/2 sticks of sweet cream butter

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup plain sugar

1 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 350, then cream the butter and both sugars together until completely combined (this is the part that Laura and I can't stand because it is too tempting to not taste).

2. Add eggs and vanilla and almond extracts and continue to beat on medium until completely combined.

3. In a separate bowl add your dry ingredients EXCLUDING the chips and almonds-they go in last.

4. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry, blending with a beater on low (so it doesn't make a mess, but if you have a fancy kitchenaid then blend away! :))

5. Lastly, add your chips and almonds and stir by hand until fully mixed. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for about 8-10 minutes (11 minutes make them crispy).

ENJOY!!

Cute in Corduroy!

Ok I know that the top picture has nothing to do with the rest of my posting, but come on, her funny face is pretty funny. :) Today I whipped up a market skirt in navy corduroy. Laura has dinner plans with her pals Mav and Jackson, and of course "sister baby" as she calls her. My mom got her these adorable striped tights with a teddy bear on the tushi! We needed a cute skirt to go with them.

I got the idea from Dana over at Made. I had made Laura one last spring in purple seersucker with a white ruffle, and although that one was much for fun and flouncy, this one will be great with leggings and tights. To top it off it is super warm! The fabric is from fabric.com and only costs $4.17 a yard, which is nice because this skirt definitely didn't even take 1/2 a yard so it was super cheap to make. Happy Skirt Sewing!