Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Big girl food

LT has been tackling some big girl food lately. She loves puffs and Cherios, peas, carrots, bananas, pears and graham crackers. She will probably love more, but that's all we've tried so far. It's so cute to watch her try to master the pincer grasp to get those little chunks of food into her mouth.

The birthday boy!

J-man's party was a blast. We played at Recreation Unlimited (imagine a really cool park, move it indoors and multiply by 10).

He had all his buddies there for a pizza party and some play time. It was a lot of fun.

Happy birthday, buddy! We think you're pretty special!


Make a wish!

Lobaby liked the cupcakes.


Look at those brown eyes. My niece is getting so big!

The Cupcakes

My nephew just turned 5! I still can't believe it. Shannon asked me to make some cupcakes for his party and I was happy to oblige.

I took the opportunity to attempt fondant for the first time. Due to limited time, I bought the pre-tinted kind from Michael's. So, all I had to do was roll it and cut it out. It was really fun to work with. Like Play-doh for bakers.

I even free-handed little "5"s and "J"s.


St. Patty's Day Parade

St. Patrick's Day around here was pretty fun. We celebrated by going to the parade downtown with Andy's grandparents (we call them GGma and GGpa). GGma's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, so this was a special way to celebrate with them.

Girlies marching to the music.

Lobaby with her Aunt Shan-Shan.
Me with my sweet niece!

The LT, enjoying her favorite - Puffs!

They were shooting guns and Jilligirl stopped mid-Tootsie to cover her ears.

GGma loves her girls!

The whole crew (minus me)!

Laundry


This smile is SO forced. I HATE LAUNDRY!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Baker-babies




The twins love to cook with mommy and I love that they show an interest in something I enjoy so much.

Recently, I had the girls help put together some care packages for my Grandpa Sonny and my Grandpa Jack. We made Snickerdoodles (Gpa Sonny's favorite). The girls helped roll the balls of dough into a plate of cinnamon sugar.

I love this picture of the two of them, since they're wearing their PJs with shoes. I can explain. They are becoming so independent and recently, they like to put their shoes on all by themselves! If they see shoes laying around, sometimes they like to put them on, just because they can.

PJ Playdate


We had a fun playdate a couple weeks ago with our good friends. All the kids came over in their PJs for a lazy Wednesday afternoon. Their oldest is 5, and then they have a 2 1/2 yr-old girl and a new baby girl. So we have a few things in common.

I thought this picture was cute of all the kids watching a show. Except for Little Toothache, sporting an adorable grin.

Blueberry Pancakes


A couple weeks ago I tried a new pancake recipe. They were the best pancakes I've ever made. I guess that's not saying much, since I've always used a mix to make them. But, these were from scratch, real butter in the batter, unique ingredient, light and fluffy delicious. And my girls eat blueberries like candy, so we added fresh blueberries and oh-yeah, you get the picture.

Better-than-the-box Pancake Mix

note: This recipe makes 6c or mix, enough for 3 batches of 8 pancakes each. You can divide and freeze the mix to use another day. I actually halved this recipe to make one recipe of 12 pancakes.

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. cake flour
1 c. nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 c. malted milok powder
1/3 c. sugar
2 Tbls baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbls salt
12 Tbls unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-in pieces
Process all ingredients in food processor until no lumps remain and mix is the texture of wet sand, about 2 minutes. Can freeze in airtight container for up to 2 months.

To make 8 pancakes: Whisk 2 c. mix, 2 lightly beaten eggs, and 1/2 c. buttermilk in large bowl until smooth. Pour 1/4 c. portions of pancake batter onto lightly oiled nonstick skillet or griddle and cook over med-low heat until golden brown, about 2 min per side.
(If you don't have buttermilk, make clabbered milk by whisking 1/2 Tbls white vinegar or lemon juice into 1/2 c. whole or low-fat milk and let the mixture thicken for 10 min.)