Hearts and Needles

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a weekend of heart shaped food including toast with hearts cut out and filled with eggs. We call these birds in a nest but I'm not sure that's an official name for this food. We also made homemade pizzas in heart form.


Today is a no school day for Sydney. The girls have been having a fun day playing together. While Vi was napping I decided to work on a little hand-stitching.


It is so lovely to look down at this fabric (from Anna Maria Horner). But so much better to look up to find Syd has joined me with her own project. She knows how to make a mama feel so loved.


The only thing that would make this day better is having my Valentine here with me. But alas, a day of love is not a holiday for the movie making folk. :) I'll just have to wait until dinner.

Farm fresh

We recently joined Abundant Harvest Organics and receive a box of farm fresh food every week. So far we have been really happy with the variety and quality of the fruits and vegetables. I was a little concerned if we would get a good amount of produce for our money but everything above was all from our first week. It is also a fun challenge to try and use all the different food we receive. I have only cooked with eggplant once and never used fresh mint, acorn squash, or so many different varieties of tomatoes.

Part of the produce went into a fresh batch of salsa recently.


This week I'm thinking of making some homemade pasta and tomato sauce. I have longed to have a little garden of our own but this will have to do the trick for now. Plus, I am learning so much about different vegetables and fruits and how to use them in our menu so I feel like I'll make more informed decisions when it comes to our own garden someday.

Homemade Pizza and More Bread

We made homemade pizza using the one-hour bread recipe. It was delicious. I'm still learning how long to bake it and we are experimenting with toppings. Even little Violet loved the pizza. Next time I would like to try a whole wheat crust and bake it at a higher temperature to try and get the bottom nice and crisp.


I have made the bread several times now. The family favorite so far is the whole wheat (with flax seed). It is so great and has the perfect texture. I also made little breadsticks for Violet but they didn't turn out quite right. I think I just overcooked them but the flavor was good. I just used the whole wheat bread but added in some mashed strawberries at the end. I will probably try making them again for her.

Baking Bread

I recently discovered a great recipe via The Sky is Pink. I knew right away that a one hour bread recipe was something I wanted to try. We have been making it frequently for the past few weeks. We have made the regular loaf, cinnamon rolls, and cinnamon bread. My favorite so far is the cinnamon bread: toasted with butter for the perfect breakfast...or snack. These two loaves above are for friends.

This is a great recipe to make with kids. Sydney loves making it. The bread has a thick homemade bread texture and a rich taste. I think it is perfect to serve with soups and pastas because it is a great tool to soak up all that extra sauce and juice.

Now that I have made the recipe a few times I am ready to start adjusting and experimenting with the bread. I am going to try using wheat flour as well as adding in some flax seed. I also would love to try pizza. I'm thinking fresh basil and tomatoes would be yummy. Finally, I think I would like to try some sort of nut bread too. I'll let you know how it goes and share our experiments with you.

Caramel

Last week I turned these....


into these!


They are so delicious. It was my first attempt at making caramels and I will definitely be making them again. I found the foolproof recipe here from the amazing AmberLee.

Orange Pound Cake

(8:00pm) Mmmmm....that looks good. Do we have all the ingredients?

(10:00pm) Yummy! This is GOOD.

Orange Pound Cake from Barefoot Contessa

Cooking and Baking

My little helper!

Last week Sydney and I spent a day in the kitchen. We love cooking together but haven't been able to much since Violet was born. First on the list was cookies of course!


We were blessed with so many meals from friends when Violet was born so we wanted to pay it forward to other families with new ones. We made lasagnas to go with all the cookies. We also have been making Amish Friendship Bread lately so we made up a regular batch, a batch of the lemon blueberry, and another of chocolate pecan. Yummy! All this baking has really made me ready for fall. I just love baking and especially sharing it with others.


And on a final note, this past weekend we were in San Diego for Shane's last three day weekend. We just relaxed, ate good food, spent time with a good friend, and swam. Shane took Sydney to the Olympic training center while Violet and I napped one day. It was nice to be away from all the smoke. Now we are back home and it is so gross outside. It is raining ash all over and even though we are closed in tight, the apartment is starting to smell like smoke. My prayers and thoughts are with all those who are much more effected then us and with all those fighting the fires.

Turning Four

Sydney turns four today! She still manages to amaze me all the time.

She is so independent yet needs reassurance and lots of encouragement.

She is using words like persevere and intelligent.

She loves helping with EVERYTHING I am doing including laundry, dishes, dinner, and crafting.

She loves the park and devours every book we bring home from the library.

She is so excited for the baby and will be a wonderful big sister.

Here are a few pictures from her birthday celebrations which have taken place over the past week or so.

A minature cake and cupcakes to create a caterpillar. Inspired from this amazing cake.

Opening presents with friends at her party in the park.

We made a spontaneous trip to San Diego for the rest of the weekend to visit my parents. The trip included a Padres vs. Dodgers game where Sydney made friends with the girls sitting next to us.

After the game Sydney took her first ride on Opa's boat for a cruise around the harbor and then across to Coronado for dinner.

Today I took her to Chuck E Cheese to play and then to the local art supply store to pick out some new activities for her road trip this weekend to San Francisco for Shane's graduation. Tonight she gets the dinner of her choice. She decided she wanted 'build-your-own-salad' for dinner. Seriously that kid cracks me up sometimes. What four year old asks for a salad bar for their birthday dinner?

Sydney you are such a wonderful daughter. I feel so blessed and filled with love since you have been in my life. These past four years have been so amazing and it is neat to look back at all the ways God has blessed our family through you. I know after this month our family will grow and change but I am so excited to see you in your new role as big sister.

Many hugs and kisses on your birthday,
Mama

Shane's Birthday Recap

Shane's birthday wasn't a huge party or shindig but it did stretch over the course of a few days. On Thursday he was able to see the new Star Trek movie at work. He had the day off on Friday (his actual birthday) so we started with breakfast and a couple gifts. Sydney and I woke up early to make him breakfast including these amazing muffins.


Then Shane went out for some DVD and Blu Ray shopping. In the evening we went to a Dodger game with a bunch of friends from church.


It was so much fun to be back there for a game after more than a decade. Sydney had her first Dodger dog and they even had fireworks in honor of Shane. heehee


Then on Saturday I toke Shane out for a date night. We had a little hiccup in the plans but ended up eating great sushi and watching The Soloist at the Arclight in Hollywood.

Happy Birthday Shane!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Veggies for fajitas

We don't really celebrate the holiday in our house, however I will use any excuse to have Mexican food (especially when pregnant).

Fall Baking with the Kiddo

We had a busy weekend that was finished off with a Dodger playoff party at our place. Go Dodgers!! In preparation, Sydney and I did some baking on Saturday. We made up a batch of my favorite pumpkin bread which is my altered version from this cookbook. We also baked some ghost-shaped sugar cookies and Sydney decorated them. She had all the sprinkles in a bowl and was lavishing them on each cookie with complete attention. When I pointed out how many cookies we still had to frost and decorate she became worried and started using them sparingly. We ended up with some cookies completely covered in spider sprinkles and some with only about five sprinkles total. There were delicious though.

P.S. Dad that outfit is in your honor. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day

I have never been big about celebrating this holiday the traditional way (over-priced flowers and dinner out). To us it is more about the little things to remind us of our love. This year we celebrated in little ways like heart-shaped pasta I picked up here and yummy heart-shaped toast with cinnamon and sugar. Here's to being surrounded by those we love and who love us.

Getaway weekend

Our band: The Jerks

This past weekend we took a quick trip up to see friends for the Superbowl weekend. Sydney packed all her new toys and I made these cookies from Kelly. For anybody looking for a fun cookie recipe that is always a hit I would definitely recommend them (thanks for sharing Kelly). We are not huge football fans but a weekend filled with games and laughter was needed. Thanks to all of you for a wonderful weekend. I went to bed last night with a tickle in my throat but here's to having a productive week and NOT getting sick.