Wednesday, February 29, 2012

ORIGAMI LEAPING FROGS

for Leap Day.Monday night we decorated our own paper and followed origami instructions for these fun leaping frogs - for a competitive game of Leap Day frog racing.

I might make some Frog Eye Salad for the man clan but that's about it for this lair. What are your leap day plans?

I think Leap Day should be a holiday, don't you?

Sunday, February 26, 2012

THREE BIRTHDAY SONGS,

three birthday cakes, three birthday wishes blowing out a total of 98 blazing candles.We had a very festive evening celebrating these birthdays. So much fun!

A TARDIS, NOT A TORTOISE

Three of my siblings have birthdays within days of each other. My youngest brother, Derek, is in town this weekend so we decided to celebrate all three birthdays. My sister called to see if I'd help her make a blue tortoise cake. Of course I said yes, but I was thinking, "I didn't know she liked tortoises so much to want a tortoise birthday cake. And why would she want one blue? It must be a character from some anime show she likes."
photo via dr. who
When she arrived, I found out I had misunderstood. She wanted a blue tardis - a Dr. Who tardis.
NOT a blue tortoise!
Stephanie drew out the plans and cut the cake.
We made the fondant and buttercream and meticulously cut the detail pieces.
It was time to assemble and the first piece was falling apart with every stroke. The more we tried to fix it, the worse it got.
We put all the pieces in the freezer and tried again. Nope, it was just a big, hot mess.
We decided to make rice krispies. It looked like it was going to work perfectly! We thought for just a second to let the krispie tardis set up just a little bit longer, but six hours into this project we just wanted it done!
Back to the fondant we went, rolling, wetting and sticking until we had it looking decent. The weight of the fondant on the, not completely set, rice krispies made our tall tardis, a stocky tardis - but it's still cute.
We made planets to hold the 33 candles, and tonight when the family is over for the three cake birthday celebration, the tardis all ablaze will look fantastic!

IT'S A WONDERFUL DAY TO

celebrate my brother's birthday.
1976 Pinetamare, Italy on our apartment balcony

Happy birthday Ivon! We love you!!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

KT TAPE TO THE RESCUE

I know I don't look like an athlete, but since I have a running injury and get to be taped up, does that mean I can call myself an athlete?
I've hurt my peroneal tendon - poor me. I've heard wonders about KT Tape and have high hopes.Clinic is in 2 weeks - I need to be hunky-dorey because I am ready and so excited for it to start back up!

I've been loving running the past 9 months but have a few frustrations too.

Loves:
1. Lung capacity improvement. I'm not sucking wind the whole time I run - love that!
2. My running mates rock.
3. I am looking forward to running faster and longer - I never thought I'd hear myself say that!

Frustrations:
1. I thought weight would come off faster. I think part of it has to do with my allergy situation wreaking havoc on my bod, but still, I thought I'd be shrinking. I look the same.
2. My speed - my dang speed. I know it comes with time, and it is getting faster, but I'd love to see my speed improve faster - like over night.

All you running rockstars, you're my idols.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

APPLE PIE 101

My man clan had an apple pie class yesterday, in honor of President's Day, and it was delicious. However, there was one problem. I forgot to have them put a couple of tablespoons of flour in the apple mixture to thicken. When we cut into the pie, it looked like apple soup.
We need to have the 101 class again, this time making sure we follow directions!

Monday, February 20, 2012

IT'S A WONDERFUL DAY TO

celebrate my father-in-law's birthday - he's one rad man.
Happy birthday Grandpa Joan! We love you!!

PURPLE SPRINKLES DOMINATED THE NIGHT FOR THIS BIRTHDAY GIRL


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON!
WE LOVE YOU!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

I NEED A TRIP TO UTAH SO I CAN DO THIS



Oh my goodness, this would be so fun. Scary, but fun!!

FAIRY GARDEN TUTORIAL

I made my niece a sweet fairy garden for her birthday. I'm so excited for her to see it!Almost any container you have on hand will work. I got this bowl at Goodwill - it is 11 inches wide and 3 inches high.
Choose your plants. I used a moss that I could divide and three miniature house plants.
Put rocks in the bottom of your container for drainage and top with soil.
Plant your foliage any way you wish and then it is time to embellish.
I made two stone paths amongst the plants and added three miniature terracotta pots under the tallest plant.

I also purchased this darling miniature metal bike. Don't you think a fairy would have so much fun riding it around, especially because it has a wire basket to hold found objects?
And what garden would be complete without a garden frog? I'm sure frogs and fairies are the best of friends.
PS - I think a gnome garden would be adorable too. Seriously, look at these handsome blokes.

Friday, February 17, 2012

THE THREE AMIGOS

This is my lastest project that was seven color separations.

I chose to keep it simple, sweet and embrace a project without a lot of fine detail. That being said, I did have more detail on Lily but it didn't wash out in the screen and I didn't have time to redo that section. Not my favorite project but I learned a lot.This photo was my inspiration.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

NAAN BREAD

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year, to make something I've never tried to make before, for each month for 2012. I know it's only February, but I'm already behind!

Today I made naan bread (it was my January goal.) If I knew it was so easy, I'd have been making this often! I'm in love with homemade naan!
I followed Anjum Anand's recipe and here is her amazing demonstration video. The only changes I made, is instead of all-purpose flour, we grind our own flour, I used almond milk and olive oil.

1 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tsp olive oil

Mix together dry ingredients. Make a well and add wet ingredients. Use your hand to mix into a smooth soft dough. Knead for approximately ten minutes, adding a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let dough sit 15 minutes. Form dough into five balls.

Preheat oven and baking sheet. I put the rack on the upper shelf and set the oven to broil at 500 degrees. Roll out dough, place on the hot baking sheet and put it under the broiler. Mine was done in about 1-2 minutes. I brushed with olive oil and served.

You can also top the bread with poppy, nigella or sesame seeds, chopped garlic or fresh coriander before baking.

Today I made plain naan bread for lunch. I didn't have any yummy curry to eat with it, so I had hummus. It was heavenly.

On a side note - if you don't have a Nutrimill Grainmill, you might want to put it on your Christmas wishlist. Besides it being very nutritious, the taste and texture of freshly ground flour is amazing. Seriously amazing.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A VALENTINE VIDEO

to end your Valentine's day.


This is one of my favorite CjsCyberNook videos!

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 14 OF 14

A family candlelight dinner.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

I want to share these four love links that made my day:

- This LOVE LETTER will melt your heart
- I LOVE this cheese shop Valentine's sign
- These TALKING PHOTOS will definitely make you smile
- This little Valentine's greeting VIDEO is amazing

Some think today is a B-Rated holiday, but personally, I love any excuse to show oozy, cheesy love to my man clan - hence the annual 14 day countdown.

However you celebrate, my hope is that you show those important in your life that you love them and appreciate them.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Monday, February 13, 2012

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 13 OF 14

Chocolate fondue - a man clan favorite!Strawberries, blueberries, marshmallows, oranges, bananas and chocolate - lots and lots of chocolate. What a delicious way to end the evening.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 12 OF 14

Make and deliver love bites.On day 2, the man clan made sugar cookies and ate every last one. This time, the cookies are being delivered (and a few snitches will be okay.)

Saturday, February 11, 2012

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 11 OF 14

CRUSH party!
On the menu:

Drink - CRUSH in strawberry and grape
Appetizer - Falafel chips and humus
Main Dish - Bacon Gouda burgers with all the fixings (and vegan morsels for me)

I have a happy, happy man clan. I think it's because of the bacon.

Friday, February 10, 2012

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 10 OF 14

Black and white brownies.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 9 OF 14

Homemade granola bars.
And of course, one batch needed to be hearts for our love fest.This recipe is so easy and yummalicious.

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup dried fruit, of your choice
3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl - make sure dry fruit isn't sticking together.

In another bowl, combine bananas, oil and vanilla. Mash banana mixture and pour into dry ingredients.

Spread onto a cookie sheet, about 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch thick (or as individual cookies) and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Blueberry Girl and Anja
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