K's Birthday Party - the very hungry 5 year olds

If it wasn't the hottest day of the year, it was pretty darn close. I could go into the culinary nightmares that could and did ensue including melting crumb coats and that sort of thing, but it's more fun to just look at pictures! 

The theme was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so the food for the party included many of the things he ate throughout the story!

the lollipops were a big hit!

 Mini cherry pies made with fresh Michigan cherries 

 I think little W had about 10 of these cookies :)

refreshing watermelon on a HOT steamy day :) 

 The cake! Ah, the cake. 6-layer rainbow cake assembled and frosted in 15 minutes! That's what happens when The Little Gym hosts 4 parties in one day! crazies.

 the spread

 Everyone had a great time

 Especially the birthday girl!!

Lollipop mouth and all!

Sneak Peek

Kiddo K is turning 5 in a few weeks, and yours truly is styling her birthday party! I'm so excited to have a big creative project to work on. K loves bright colors and butterflies so we are doing a "rainbow/the very hungry caterpillar" themed birthday party. It has been such a blast to fill a shopping cart with all sorts of ribbon, paper, and all sorts of other joy-bringing goodies.

 I'm planning to theme the food around what the caterpillar eats in the book. What kind of kiddo creatures wouldn't love this stuff?? :)

Just finished these waters today!

and the cake plate

Can't wait for my lollipops to come so I can stick them in the stand I made :)

The party is in a few weeks, so I'll post some after pictures too!

Happy 4th of July weekend!

Shhhhhhhhh

Just finished this project, and couldn't wait to share it! It's a birthday present for my boss, silhouettes of her kiddos. So shhhhh, her birthday isn't until next week ;)

How to:

First, take a backlit picture for a sharp silhouette.

Next, upload it into a ms word type of program, and adjust the contrast and re-size to what you'd like the final product to be.

 Cut out the silhouette, and trace onto a nice black paper. To avoid unwanted pencil lines, remember to flip it at this point if you'd like it facing a certain direction.

 Pick out a cute paper (little K loves butterflies), and trace the insert of your favorite frame for sizing.

Paste or tape your silhouettes in place. 

The hardest part of this project is getting them to stand still!! :)

xo

Reading

  My mind has been in France for the past few weeks, Provence in particular. I've been reading Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence and Confessions of a French Baker. They are the kind of books that must be read with a glass of wine in one hand and a slice of fresh baguette in the other. 

An Excerpt from  A Year in Provence  "It was early afternoon when I turned off the main road leading out of Vacqueyras and followed the narrow, stony track through the vines. I had been told that it would lead me to the maker of the wine I had liked at lunchtime, a white Côtes-du-Rhône. A case or two would fill the void in the cave that had been made by the last raiding party we had entertained. A quick stop, no more than ten minutes, and then I would get back home. The track led to a sprawl of buildings, arranged in a squire U around a courtyard of beaten earth, shaded by a giant plane tree and guarded by a drowsy Alsatian who welcomed me with a half-hearted bark, doing his duty as a substitute for a doorbell. A man in overalls, holding an oily collection of spark plugs, came over from his tractor. He gave me his forearm to shake. I wanted some white wine? Of course. Hi himself was busy nursing his tractor, but his uncle would take care of me. `Edouard! Tu peux servir ce monsieur?´ The curtain of wooden beads hanging across the front door parted, and Uncle Edward came blinking into the sunshine. He was wearing a sleeveless vest, cotton bleu de travailtrousers and carpet slippers. His girth was impressive, comparable with the trunk of the plane tree, but even that was overshadowed by his nose. I had never seen a nose quite like it -- wide, fleshy and seasoned to a colour somewhere between rosé and claret, with fine purple lines spreading out across his cheeks. Here was a man who clearly enjoyed every mouthful of his work. He beamed, the lines on his cheeks looking like purple whiskers. `Bon. Une petite dégustation.´ He led me across the courtyard and slid back the double doors of a long, windowless building, telling me to stay just inside the door while he went to switch on the light. After the glare outside, I would see nothing, but there was a reassuring smell, musty and unmistakable, the air itself tasting of fermented grapes. Uncle Edward turned on the light and closed the doors against the heat. A long trestle table and a half a dozen chairs were placed under the single light bulb with its flat tin shade. In a dark corner, I could make out a flight of stairs and a concrete ramp leading down into the cellar. Crates of wine were stacked on wooden pallets around the walls, and an old refrigerator hummed quietly next to a cracked sink. Uncle Edward was polishing glasses, holding each one up to the light before placing it on the table. He made a neat line of seven glasses, and began to arrange a variety of bottles behind them. Each bottle was accorded a few admiring comments: `The white monsieur knows, yes? A very agreeable young wine. The rosé, not at all like those thin rosés one finds on the Côte d´Azur. Thirteen degrees of alcohol, a proper wine. There´s a light red -- one could drink a bottle of that before a game of tennis. That one, par contre, is for the winter, and he will keep for ten years or more. And then . . .´ I tried to stop him. I told him that all I wanted were two cases of the white, but he wouldn´t hear of it. Monsieur had taken the trouble to come here personally, and it would be unthinkable not to taste a selection. Why, said Uncle Edward, he himself would join me in a progress through the vintages. He clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder and sat me down. It was fascinating. he told me the precise part of the vineyard that each of the wines had come from, and why certain slopes produced lighter or heavier wines. Each wine we tasted was accompanied by an imaginary menu, described with much lipsmacking and raising of the eyes to gastronomic heaven. We mentally consumed écrevisses, salmon cooked with sorrel, rosemary-garlic sauce, en estouffade of beef and olives, a daube, loin of pork spiked with slivers of truffle. The wines tasted progressively better and became progressively more expensive; I was being traded up by an expert, and there was nothing to be done except to sit back and enjoy it. `There is one more you should try,´ said Uncle Edward, `although it is not to everybody´s taste.´ He picked up a bottle and poured a careful half glass. It was a deep red, almost black. `A wine of great character,´ he said. `Wait. It needs une bonne bouche.´ He left me surrounded by glasses and bottles, feeling the first twinges of an afternoon hangover. `Voilà.´ He put a place in front of me -- two small round goats´ cheeses, specked with herbs and shiny with oil -- and gave me a knife with a worn wooden handle. He watched as I cut off a piece of cheese and ate it. It was ferociously strong. My palate, or what was left of it, had been perfectly primed and the wine tasted like nectar.Uncle Edward helped me load the cases into the car. Had I really ordered all this? I must have done. We had been sitting in the convivial murk for nearly two hours, and one can make all kinds of expansive decisions in two hours. I left with a throbbing head and an invitation to come back next month for the vendange."

Ahh, some day I will make it there :)

P.S. I've also been dreaming of French Macaroons......perhaps more to come on that topic later..

Back in Focus

 I thought this day would never come... I finally have my camera back!! :) It was in the shop, and after almost a month and many frustrating phone calls, we are reunited. Herein also lies my excuse for not posting for a month: I had no way to upload pictures of what I've been working on!

My sis was in charge of the games for a womens' retreat a few weeks ago and I was honored she asked me to make a set of cards to give out as a prize.

Out of the 100 or so women that were there, my sis-in-law won them! Funny how that works :)

xo

Fun Fact Friday: Fishmongers

Did you know? 

 Per pound prices of meat and fish are generally cheaper at the butcher's counter. It may take an extra few minutes, but you will save about $1 per pound. Also, pre-portioned cuts from the butcher's counter are generally more expensive than custom cuts.

Tip:

Always ask for slightly less weight than you'd actually like (except in the case of ground meat, which is easily adjusted on the scale). The reason for this is butchers/fishmongers are taught to err on the side of a larger piece of meat, because most people don't mind a little more. But think about how much money the butchery and fish departments make each day from selling a few ounces of extra meat per customer!

So next time you want a pound of salmon, try asking for 3/4 pound, chances are you'll walk away with just what you need, eliminating possible waste and saving a few bucks.

10 Minute Craft: Magnetic Recipe Holders

Fire up your hot glue gun, because heating it up is the most time consuming step for this quick and lovely craft!

You will need:

3-5 clothespins
magnetic tape roll
tacky glue
1-2 pieces scrapbook paper with a small print design
1 piece scrapbook paper in a coordinating color
scissors
a hot glue gun

1. Measure and cut your patterned scrapbook paper to fit the front of 1 side of the clothespin, repeat for as many clothespins as needed.
2. Glue paper on with tacky glue, smoothing as much as possible.
3. Trim magnetic tape to fit the back side of your clothespin. Glue with hot glue gun and press firmly to secure.
You could be finished at this point if you like it simple!

 But, if you'd like to add an embellishment, cut out a simple shape in the solid color scrapbooking paper (such as a butterfly or heart) fold it in half, hot glue along the fold, and glue onto the front of your clothespin. (I rolled some strips of paper into little rosettes).
Attach a cute note and you're done!

Makes a great gift (especially with a delicious recipe attached!) ;)