pixiegenné

another kid party under my belt

charlie's party was today. i have stephanie to thank for the terrarium idea. it was easy-peasy. the bowls came from jo-annes (though if i hadn't procrastinated i'm sure i could have thrifted some more interesting ones). then we put in gravel, soil, plants, moss, and little plastic toys i picked up at target (i thought we'd have enough of them kicking around the house but, shockingly, no).

here's the cake. super lopsided but super yum. we had a guest with dairy allergies so her mom gave me a great vegan recipe. jen asked for a copy so i'm listing it here in case someone else out there wants to try it. (if you're all about the icing, like me, you might want to make double)

cake
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(for vanilla cake)
2 cups o.j. or vanilla soy milk
2/3 cup vegetable/canola/soybean oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbs vinegar
(for orange cake)
use the orange juice instead of soy milk
2 tbs orange zest
(for chocolate cake)
add 1/4-1/2 cup more sugar and tbs cocoa
(or add 3/4 cup girahdelli sweet ground cocoa)

add wet ingredients to dry and mix. pour into 2 8" greased (w/crisco or earth balance, and floured) baking pans, or cupcake tins.

bake 30-40 minutes, until fork comes out clean.

icing
1/2 cup earth balance soy margarine, softened
1/4 cup soymilk
3 cups pwd sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
(for chocolate add 1/2 cup cocoa pwd)

beat w/electric mixer until smooth.

yum.
enjoy the rest of your weekend!

it looks like some elves threw up around here...

i hope my kids' memories work the same way mine does. i don't remember specifics as much as generalities, especially when it comes to holidays and traditions. i'm sure my mom didn't bake all 12 different kinds of yummy cookies that i remember every year, and i'm sure there were years where other traditions just didn't come together or were missed or forgotten. i have five siblings, so how the hell they pulled any of it off is a mystery to me.

anyway, i try to remember this on years when we don't get around to taking a carriage ride downtown or get to the nutcracker or whatever it is my kids will hopefully remember fondly as something "we did". this year we haven't done either of those things, but we did make gingerbread (ok, graham cracker) houses together last night which i don't think we've ever done as a family before. it was fun!

wowzers that's a lot of sugar.
happy thursday!

all sorts of stuff

all sorts of fun stuff going on over here...

we got the tree up. we got the right size this year (we often overshoot and have to chop it up to make it fit in our miniature home). and i think we got it at the right time although it always feels early and it seems like people get them earlier and earlier. or is that just me?

we made cookies. again, seems a little early but they were fun to make and i put most of them in the freezer for later (will-power willing)

got some shopping done. i have to confess that, although i took the handmade pledge, there are a few things the kids really want that i can't find on etsy. but here is some of the handmade goodies they will be getting this year...

awesome plush
good luck charms
rockin' wrist gear

i plan on finishing my shopping for them here on wednesday night. john and jen and the rest of my family and friends are getting lots of handmade stuff but i can't show you here because they sometimes read this.

our show friday night was lots o' fun. thanks to all who came out. we bought a lot of wine and i think it was drank all up, which is a sign of a successful evening, in my book.

john's co-worker sent him this for his birthday. they send you a file of your actual song, but i can't figure out how to share that here. i can assure you, it's pretty funny.

 

good little day

monday is my day off so i fill it with stuff i love, like puttering around the house, pilates (ok i don't *love* pilates, but i like myself a little more after it's over), walking in the cemetery, crafting. it's a good little day. i made some pretzels with the kids after school.
too bad for me i was out of mustard.
did i eat it anyway?
yes i did.

here are some cozy, fall-ish flickr faves...
living room corner
llibreria
the kitchenette
memphis, too cool for school
dreamland
hand made dress
pearl and brenda at work

happy tuesday!

hankerings

this wintery weather has me craving comfort food when i should be breaking out the grill (sigh). i saw these at the grocery store yesterday and had to get some...

when i was in grade school my friend mike and i always sat together on the bus. whenever there was a storm and the pine trees were covered with snow (like this) we would say that they looked like iced oatmeal cookies. my grandma always had them. she also always had those windmill cookies. do you know the ones i'm talking about? someone on flickr said she'd seem them sold in bulk. i think i'm going to look into that.

i made chili yet again the other night and had it my favorite junkie way: with brown rice underneath and fritos on top. with beer. sacrilicious.

then this morning i had a hankering for granola so i made some...

i think stephanie posted a recipe a while back. here is the recipe i often use - it's not the healthiest but if you use canola oil instead and cut back on the brown sugar it's not so bad for you. and it is super yummy with yogurt.

bookfair: completed!
weekend plans: minimal!
woohoo!

(have a great weekend!)

 

weekend in review

i think charlie's birthday was a success. we had it at the university's planetarium (an idea i stole from my friend, jen) and it was really nice and mellow (and cheap, which is always a good thing). i stole another idea for the party favors, this time from sally  (although mine just have wrapping paper tacked on). still...they were pretty cute...

(filled w/alien guys, m&ms, neon highlighters, glow-in-the-dark stars, and pop rocks)

the cupcakes were supposed to look like one-eyed aliens. jane wasn't convinced but i thought they were cool-looking anyway...

charlie's gift from us was a drum set (because he asked for one and because we suspect there's a little keith moon in him). it's an electronic set you can use headphones with (because we're not masochists).

charlie shares a birthday w/our neighbor and friend, henry. henry was the only kid in his family i hadn't made a sock monkey for, so that's what he got...

and there's our weekend in a nutshell. kinda crazy. this week will be just as crazy, as i am in charge of the school's spring book fair. i haven't made my family a real dinner in about a week, and this week's prospects don't look good...

oh well.
happy monday!

(oh - i forgot. new blog o' the month. dawn is one of my favorite makers of plush. also, she is really adorable and funny and she and i like a lot of the same things so that makes me like her. plus, her daughter's name is memphis which i think is really cool.)

heading south

john and i watched jesus camp last night and it turns out i am apparently going to hell, which is a bummer. i cheered myself up by making some cookies this morning...

i used this recipe which turned out just "eh" (many did not hold their shape...i, of course, only took a picture of the pretty ones). they don't hold a candle to my all time favorite molasses cookie recipe, but then, those aren't designed for cut-outs. anyway, throw some royal icing and sprinkles on these and i'm sure they will be quite tasty. i think that is what i will do with the kids tomorrow morning, as it looks like they will be home.

oh! and i forgot to brag about all the super great stuff i got while thrifting w/jen and jen on saturday. as you can see, no one went home empty handed.

uninspired vegetarian

vegetarian chili again. (sigh).

i'm a sucky cook with a limited repertoire. add to that a couple picky eaters (me included) and a new commitment to vegetarianism...and i am at a loss. home-made pizza...chili...tacos...frozen fake-meat treats...lots and lots of soups.......

anyone out there have a favorite kid-friendly (picky-eater-friendly) vegetarian recipe? cook-book recommendation? i would be most grateful.

salad. it's what's for lunch.

one of my unstated goals for the new year is to eat a bit better. and cook a bit better. i've been thinking similar thoughts to those stephanie shared yesterday...taking more time to prepare and eat meals, being more thoughtful about where the food comes from, blah, blah, blah. (i'm not being glib here, i just don't want to sound preachy because a) what the hell do i know? and b) i'm a self-proclaimed junk-food-junkie). all i'm saying is i'm trying to do better.

also, jane proclaimed herself a vegetarian about a year ago and john has just followed suit, so i'm thinking we might as well all jump in (although i think i'll be sneaking a bacon burger now and again).
anyway, thought i'd share my favorite rice salad recipe here...

jeweled rice salad

2 cups short-grain brown rice
(here i have long grain 'cause that's all i had in)
3 cups water
1/3 cup olive oil
6-8 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 lg clove garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp honey
4-6 scallions, minced
1/2 cup minced parsley
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
(i use walnuts sometimes)
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups red or green grapes
1 cup cooked chick peas
handful of toasted pecan halves

place rice + water in pan. cover and bring to boil. lower heat the simmer and cook for 35 minutes. let cool. combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic, honey. when rice is cool, add to dressing. add scallions, parsley, chopped pecans and pepper. slice grapes in half and add w/chick peas to salad. cover tightly and chill.

thanks for all the suggestions for rockin' tunes!
happy wednesday!

p.s. i can't believe how much bidding is going on over at the kim family auction. check it out!

sacrilicious

saltine surprises (aka white trash treats):

• line w/foil or grease cookie sheet (one w/edges is better)
• cover with saltines
• boil 2 sticks of butter + 1 cup sugar for 3 minutes
• pour over saltines (use spatula to spread)
• put in 400 oven for 5 minutes
• let stand 1 minute
• sprinkle 2 cups of chocolate chips, let them get a little melty, then spread w/spatula
• sprinkle crushed nuts on tops
• put in fridge for 4 hours (or freezer for 1 hour)
• break into pieces

the dangerous thing about these is that you almost always have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make them. that's why you have to promise yourself that these are only for the holidays. really, it is for your own good.

so the other day, kristin posted these on flickr and i jokingly told her i wanted them for christmas. and then she sent them to me! how crazy is that? it reminds me of this thing my roommates used to do in college...when one person would compliment a piece of clothing, we would whip it off and throw it at them (well, not me, because i'm kinda shy about my body, but the rest of them were a bunch of exhibitionists...am i right, gritty?) anyway, it's like kristin whipped off her shirt and threw it across the country at me...

and she even sent me some cocoa! and it was good.