Happy Easter!

A glimpse of our Easter weekend.

Hope you all had a great weekend celebrating our Risen Savior!

Being Aunt Becca

In addition to being "Mom" to my two kids, I have the privilege of being "Aunt Becca" to 11 wonderful little munch-kins (remember the picture in Henry's Birthday post?).  Add to that "cake baker" for their birthdays and I rank right up there with the best of them!  (Ryan will argue that he is the favorite and since he doesn't read this blog, I'll admit that they do love him more).  The effort is all worth it when you see their faces the first time they see their cake.    


This past weekend Olivia celebrated her 3rd birthday.  And her only request was to have Barbie on her cake.  So after browsing online, we decided on a Barbie butterfly cake.  (I apologize for the picture...my camera settings are way off and I can't figure out how to get them back to normal!)

Chocolate cake with an oreo filling and buttercream frosting

I was feeling a little ambitious, so I decided to make her birthday present as well.  (My new sewing machine has given me a little boost of confidence in my sewing abilities.  Not sure if that's good or bad).  I found a great tutorial at Living with Punks for a floor pillow.  After looking at the prices for bean bag chairs, and then the price for making my own (the filling for those chairs are ridiculously priced!), I decided this was the thing to do.  

I think Olivia was very happy with the results and I already have a request for 5 more!  Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have made it myself...just teasing!

It was actually much simpler than I expected it to be (and I am by definition a novice sewer).  And it was quite fun to see it all come together.  The original size seemed too small when I started getting things together to make this, so I opted for 24 inch circles instead of 17.  It made for a big floor pillow, but it should last a long time that way.    

Now on to my next ambitious project...

A Little 'April Fools Day' Fun

I definitely do not fall into the "prankster" category of people...my college roommates will attest to this.  But I am all up for some fun with my kids (and in today's case the entire Pre-K class).

I saw this amazingly fun looking cupcakes from Sara over at Our Best Bites (if you haven't been over to their site, you MUST check it out...amazing).  I knew the cupcakes would be perfect for Annika's Pre-K class.  Who doesn't love to tell kids you are bringing cupcakes and then show up with carrots and peas??

So I set to work and here are the results...

Peas & Carrots

Green frosting topped with orange Starburst (quartered) and green Laffy Taffy (rolled into peas)

Mashed Potatoes

White frosting, caramel sauce and a yellow Starburst

Spaghetti & Meatballs

White frosting (made into spaghetti with a piping bag and size 4 tip), Ferrero Rocher covered with jam (I used raspberry, but I think you'd get better color with strawberry)

Cute, right??  And really fun to do.  The kids thought they was quite funny...although a few couldn't get over the idea of what they looked like.  

Happy 3rd Birthday Buddy!

Henry (who currently asks that we call him Buddy) turned three last week.  And I'll be completely honest...I hated it!  If I could slow down time right now I would!!!  Its an amazing age and I'm enjoying every minute of it.  I think having a 5 1/2 year old (who sometimes thinks shes 12) might help in appreciating the innocence of a toddler.


We had  a wonderful time with friends and family at his birthday party.  Henry had a great time too!

Such a poser!  Buddy was so excited about his robot cookies.  Thanks to Ryan who made the cookie cutter (cause apparently robots aren't "in" this year and the cutters are impossible to find). -- Family pictures are always exciting at our house.  I believe the kids were yelling "I LOVE ROBOTS!"  Makes for great faces. -- I think my cousin and her boyfriend officially decided to wait on a family after this gathering of kids.  They were such good sports in this picture.  This is not all the cousins by the way.  Two were still in Cedar Falls and two are on the way! -- I think Henry was as shocked as we were that he got the candles out on the first try without any help from any of the other kids.  (please excuse the dishes in the background)

So now I will sit back and enjoy my 3 year old...cause I'm sure when he turns 4 I'll be wishing to stop time again.  

God Bless!

Bec

Raspberry Gelato

As you well know, my posting has been a little lax.  I'm being treated for TMD right now and because of that am on a soft foods diet.  Not really my idea of a great thing.  So the cooking at my house as been less than great and thus...no recipes worth sharing.

Except this one...
I came across this recipe and got really excited to make it because...well it was soft...and looked so good in the picture!  Oh my was it worth it!!  I've never had gelato before, and now that I have, I can't imagine having to eat sherbet or sorbet.  This is unbelievable...the most pure flavor I've ever tasted in a dish...you just have to try it for yourself.

Here are the basics...
12 oz bag frozen raspberries
2 T. + 2 t. splenda sugar blend (or 1/3 c. sugar)
1/3 c. whipping cream

Combine the raspberries with the sugar blend and allow to sit for about 15-20 minutes.  You want your raspberries to still be a little frozen.
Combine raspberry/sugar mixture in the blender with the whipping cream and blend until smooth.  It'll take a little time and some scraping and moving of the raspberries (I promise it'll be worth the work and the noise of the blender).
Place in a sealed container in the freezer for a few hours until firm.
Now go at it!

A few notes...
You can certainly skip the last step and just eat it straight from the blender...
You can substitute just about any fruit you want in this too...I haven't done any other ones yet, but I'm thinking mango would be unbelievable!

I definitely don't recommend the soft food diet...but this is certainly one of the positive things that has come out of it.

Update:  Raspberry-peach is a great variation on this.  I'm going to attempt not to finish the bowl tonight.  :)