Playing, reading, eating the camera lens cap

It surely sounds presumptuous or maybe vain, but it's true, my babies are the cutest ever! I mean, just look at this little guy. Have you ever seen anything cuter? (Don't answer that, I know you haven't!!) A friend once told me that every parent's baby is the the most beautiful in the world...which is surely also true, and that's how it should be. I love shooting pics in this room because of the warm buttery yellow walls, and the lovely diffusion of light due to the thick white curtains covering the south facing window. It's a comforting, warm place with soft light, and looks yummy, like yellow cake with buttercream frosting. (See pms 1345)

Jack loves Sister

Wow, that wall looks bright!
"Following Sister made me tired."

Kamut Zuchini Yellow cake with Cranberries

These cupcakes were delicious!! I mixed dried cranberries into the batter before baking, then candied freeze-dried cranberries for the garnish. The candied cranberries were a bit hard to chew, so although they looked beautiful and tasted wonderful, they weren't completely perfect. This is my own recipe.

Zucchini Yellow Cake

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs
1 cup butter (2 sticks) or “Earth Balance” or “Smart Balance”
1¾ cups sugar (can use turbinado sugar)
2 cups grated zucchini (for a drier cake squeeze out excess water after shredding)
5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups whole grain kamut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup dessicated coconut (optional; this makes the cake more dense)
1 cup chocolate chips or dried fruit (optional; for best results soak fruit in warm water before adding to mixture)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans or a 9x13 cake pan (grease liberally) or line with parchment paper then spray lightly with cooking oil spray. Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the butter till light and fluffy. Cream in the sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on high for about 10 seconds after each egg is added. Mix in vanilla. Mix in zucchini.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as coconut, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix just until fully incorporated. Do not overmix. Pour batter into pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 18 to 25 minutes. Cake pans usually take at least 30 minutes.

When completely cooled frost with ganache or cream cheese frosting (or both... a thin layer of each. You can frost before they're cooled, just make sure they get chilled afterward.)

Note: Here is a variation for delicious cookies. Make sure to squeeze excess water from the zuchini; add 1/4 cup of rolled oats at the end. Cookies will spread so leave at least 3 inches between cookies. Make sure to bake on parchment paper. I like to spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking oil to make it easier to remove the cookies. Make sure cookies have cooled completely before removing from tray. Bake till golden brown. Start checking for doneness after 15 minutes.
Note: It is very important to make sure the cakes are COMPLETELY cool before eating. I recommend refrigerating them for at least 20 minutes. The reason: cakes with vegetables added taste nasty when warm. You have to chill the cakes, then they taste great!

Pretzel Time

Josh made pretzels. The best were the sandwiches...pretzel bread, butter, pickle, salami. Delish! Our resident pretzel tester, after some deliberation, approves heartily.

Noodle Noodle, who's got the noodle?

Josh made homemade noodles the other day. It was a fun experiment. He starts with a dough log that he whacks on the counter again and again, folding it in half between whacks, lengthening it, developing the gluten, allowing it to stretch and lengthen more, until the dough can stretch into thin strands without breaking apart.


Checking the elasticity of the dough.Voila! He's got noodles!We ate them dipped in soba sauce. Tasty!

Here is the project supervisor. I think she approved the new product.

Felt Gingerbread House toys

For the December 2008 Beehive Bazaar I made some felt gingerbread houses and felt Christmas trees. They are quiet toys for kids (or adults!). I always loved playing with flannel boards when I was a kid and really wanted some cute toys like that for our collection. They double as darling decorations —wow, I use a lot of alliteration— for the Christmas season. A not-so-sticky version of the traditional cookie and candy creations.

Crafties

Here are some paintings I've been working on and the beginning of a papier mache deer I sold at the Beehive Bazaar. Sadly, I never got good pics of the finished deer.

A little bit of loveliness

Elmo got all dressed up with beautiful flowers M entwined around him. Isn't he lovely? And she is oh so lovely as well, with her lovely up do, and snuggling into her pretty princess bed.

No Cussing!

Josh and I were watching the Tonight Show with Jay Leno a few nights ago and this kid was on. He is so cool. He's only 14 but he started this club with some of his friends at school and the club now has more than 30,000 members worldwide. It is the "No Cussing Club". What 14-year-old has the guts to start something like that at their school? I was impressed. Anyways, here's the link to his website...check it out.

http://www.nocussing.com/

Frilly Pink Birthday Cake

I decided to make myself a big birthday cake this year. It took all day on my birthday to make it, but that was a treat in itself. The babes were all well-behaved and amazingly self-sufficient on my birthday, and Josh was busy with food prep for the Christmas Eve party so I revelled in cake heaven and frosting frills to my heart's content. And yes, it is a healthy 100% whole-grain cake (I used kamut flour I ground). Now, I can't extend that same praise to the frosting, as it is purely butter and sugar — no redemptive qualities beyond it's glorious good looks, sensational smoothness and perfect peppermint flavoring. Thanks to my good neighbor for taking these photographs as I am still without camera (the situation is getting dire!). BTW, you'll notice part of me in the background of the second photo... wearing the stylish apron my sil gave me and a pink shirt so I could match the cake during the party (HA—just kidding about the matching, but I do love a bright pink shirt for a party). And to sidetrack a little, yes, those are real squash in the background of the third picture. There is a buttenut squash, a spaghetti squash and two different kinds of pumpkins on top of that pink shelf. I've been storing and using them ever since October when I purchased them (we had a bad garden this last year) for Fall decorations. Last year I think I started the winter with over 30 squash from my own garden sitting around my kitchen. It took all winter to use them up.

Mean Mommy

Mavis slept over at Nama's house last night. I brought her some clothes to wear the next morning. This dress is one I made to sell at the Beehive Bazaar (obviously, it didn't sell). I guess she doesn't like it, but I made her put it on anyway. I also made the headband to match the dress. Now, to be honest, I was trying to be a little sneaky. I can't get her to wear any of the dresses I made, but often, if I can't get her to wear something I want her to when I'm helping her get dressed at home all I have to do is bring it along somewhere else when I know she'll need a change of clothes and she'll change right in to whatever I bring, no problem. I've done this many times when I want her to wear some outfit that she's averse to. Anyways, my trickster ways didn't work this time. She was really mad.