-------------------------------
The kids baked some Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies with Jessica (the nanny) yesterday. Jessica captured some really cute pictures…and a really funny video.
Watching the Cookies Bake
"We made cookies!!"
"Are they done yet?"
And the funny video of Burke trying to hug Marjorie…
(1 minute)
Candid Carrie sponsors this one – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)
Filed under: FFFF, food, TT | Tagged: baking, cookies, hugs | 5 Comments »
Candid Carrie sponsors this one – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)
I know I saw this on another blog…Cat’s maybe?? …it was a while ago and I’ve been meaning to try it out ever since I saw it. . . Let’s just say I heard a lot of “More!”s 🙂
Hot Dog Octopus
Thread spaghetti through cut up hot dogs
I use the HUGE Hebrew National hot dogs so they’re nice and fat…lots of room to poke the uncooked angel hair pasta through. And it took me a few tries to get into the groove of threading it through without breaking it!
Boil
I boiled it for the amount of time the pasta needed to cook.
Remove carefully!
You don’t want the tentacles to break 🙂
"What is this, Mom?"
"Yum!"
"Octopus??"
Filed under: food, kids | Tagged: food, hot dog, octopus, spaghetti | 3 Comments »
I have all these pictures and updates that relate to nothing but themselves, so I figured I’d just do one big post about them all. 🙂
Dancing
Remember last week? Marjorie wanted a skirt for dance class? Well, mom that I am…I couldn’t say “no”
(Yes, she has crocks on…we’re still in the car here 🙂 )
Grapes
Remember the grapes we found in our back yard? They’re now ripe!
And Jessica – my nanny – peeled and seeded them and then had Marjorie help her bake a grape pie! Holy cow. It’s delicious!!
(I also learned something…if your fruit pie looks like it will be runny, just add an egg and it will firm right up while cooking. Who knew??)
And a little story. Marjorie had a few blueberries in her hand and told Daddy that she wanted to make a blueberry pie. He kept telling her that we didn’t have enough blueberries for a pie, so she became thoughtful … apparently she remembered the bucket full of grapes we had picked earlier in the day and said, “Grape pie!” We’d never heard of grape pie before…
Birds
Remember Marjorie’s birdhouse? I finally got around to taking a picture of it hanging up.
Fish
Remember Fishful Thinking? Logan can’t wait to learn more fun activities either. 🙂
Logan Borrowed Mommy's Fishful Thinking Hat
Filed under: fishful thinking, food, Logan, Maggie | Tagged: bird house, birdhouse, concord grapes, fish, fishful thinking, grape pie, grapes | 2 Comments »
As you know, Logan turned 2 on Friday. We celebrated on Saturday with Nana, Grandpa, and Aunt Cathy.
Grandpa makes shaped cakes. (You may remember Tyrone from the twins’ birthday this year. Or Elmo and McQueen from years past…) And not only does he make them, he frosts them with the BEST icing ever. (powdered sugar frosting. YUM.) Logan’s very first shaped cake was none other than Mickey Mouse himself:
Mickey Mouse Cake
The Birthday Boy
Logan's Fire Truck
"Look! Cake!"
Mickey's Nose Tastes Pretty Good
Logan's Balloons (from the day before)
Filed under: fam, food, Logan, pictures | Tagged: birthday, birthday cake, Mickey Mouse, shaped cakes | 5 Comments »
While stumbling through the internet the other day, I came across a recipe for “To Die For Pot Roast Sandwiches” Made in the crock pot. Now, you all know that I love, love, love my crock pot. And pot roast? Ya – bring it on.
So I tried this one … just like the recipe says and OMG, no joke – it’s totally to die for.
This time around, I added a few things. Here’s my recipe.
Crock Pot Pot Roast
As with most pot roasts, this one was even better on day two…(not that there was much left of it…)
Oh, and that plastic you see? Crock Pot liners. Easy clean up and helps make the lid fit better (no more crock pot spitting!) Just another thing to Make my Monday 🙂
Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Head on over to see what else makes people’s Mondays (there are always some really good ones!)
Filed under: food, MMM | Tagged: carrots, crock pot, crock pot liners, onions, pot roast, potatoes | 8 Comments »
Our town celebrates the 4th of July all week! They have a carnival set up in the high school parking lot and lots of festivities (read: food) on the town common. Burke and Maggie had a wonderful time and enjoyed their very first carnival rides!
Face Painting
Face Painting
Food!
Burke on the Merry-go-Round
Maggie on the Merry-go-Round
On the Truck Ride
Truck Ride
Dragon Roller Coaster
Dragon Roller Coaster
Filed under: food, fun, kids | Tagged: 4th of July, 4th of July celebration, carnival, rides | 6 Comments »
We took the kids to the local Japanese steak house for dinner last night. I was a little worried about burnt fingers since they cook the food right in front of you – but it was all good.
The chef was very entertaining. And while Maggie did hold her hands over her ears while he was banging throwing the knives around, all of the kids definitely enjoyed themselves. They were transfixed the entire time he was cooking. He made lots of fire (a little scary, but cool), and a volcano, and other fun stuff. I think they were most impressed when he flipped the egg shell into his chef’s hat though 🙂 We all clapped when he finished.
Logan went to TOWN on the food. Especially the rice. The little guy couldn’t shovel it into his mouth fast enough LOL. Burke (a.k.a. Mr. Picky) tried things, and even ate more than one spoonful of rice…but didn’t love the chicken or the steak. Maggie was a pro with the chop sticks! (I think I could have been if they’d used a rubber band on mine too though 😉 )
And of course, all three kids loved the “fried” ice cream. (Fried? Really?? Seems to me that it’s just vanilla ice cream rolled in some cornflakes. We can do that at home!)
All in all – a good trip. Maybe I’ll take a tip from a friend and we’ll hit the Fondue place next time!
Filed under: food, kids | Tagged: fried ice cream, hibachi, Japanese steak house | 4 Comments »
Yup – you read that right. I AM a snob. More specifically…I’m a brand name snob.
Clothes? Ya right…the only “brand” I go for there is “Red Sox” LOL. Other than that – if it fits, I’ll wear it.
Shoes? Mmm…nope. If they’re comfy and cheap – I’m all over that.
So…what am I a brand name snob about? FOOD. I’ll pass over all those store-named (generic) brands in favor of my favorites. Every time. I’ve felt my hand linger over a generic food before, but inevitably, it’s always passed over for MY brand. Jif peanut butter, Smuckers Red Raspberry Jelly (with seeds), Cheerios, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Lipton iced tea…
It took me forever to gather up enough courage to try out the Costco brand things. (Kirkland is their brand name…not sure why it’s not just “Costco” … but perhaps that’s for a different post 😉 ) And the first brand name thing I tried was non-food (baby wipes, to be exact….love them!) And honestly, the only Kirkland brand thing I’ve tried and haven’t been impressed with is their pizza. I suppose part of the reason their brand is so good is because they partner up with actual brand names…sometimes you know, sometimes you don’t. For example, I know that the Kirkland brand coffee is actually Starbucks. But I only THINK the Kirkland brand chicken is Perdue.
Is the generic brand really all that different than my brand? I’m sure in some cases yes, and in some cases no…but am I willing to figure it out? With the exception of Costco…nope.
Anyone know of other generic brand names that might be worth the switch?
Filed under: food, me | Tagged: brand names, generic food, snob | 12 Comments »
Candid Carrie sponsors this one – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)
So. Am I the only one who thinks that pictures of cooked food never really looks that good?
That said, I’m going to show you our meal from Wednesday night. As you can see, I’m a HUGE fan of Pampered Chef (heck, I used to sell the stuff)…so the entire meal was made in stoneware. And let.me.tell.you… Baked potatoes in the fluted stoneware pan..? THE BEST.
Cookin'
Pork, Potatoes, and Ratatouille
(The extra dish is the leftover veggies that wouldn’t fit in the “real” ratatouille)
Ratatouille Close Up
The pork (recipe from Goddess), turned out a bit lot whiter than normal. I’m guessing that it’s because I let it sit and marinate for longer than normal (36 hours instead of 24). The Ratatouille was from some random website search that lead me to Smitten Kitchen. Much like the author, I saw the movie and had been wondering about that dish since. I’ve been meaning to make her version for a few weeks now. It turned out AWESOME. Who knew veggies could taste so good?!
Filed under: FFFF, food | Tagged: baked potatoes, food pictures are gross, pampered chef, pork, Ratatouille, stoneware | 7 Comments »
The Zimmer Zoo 