Earth Week

While looking for activites that Lillie and I could do together for Earth Day I came across the most intriguing kind of art and I thought I would share. It is called "Reverse Graffiti" I just love the idea of it...art made by taking away the dirt of the city. I think graffiti has a certain beauty with the bold colors and design against the netural colors of the concrete. This type of graffiti is hard to argue since nothing is being deystroyed or defaced. I wonder what Keith Haring would think of this idea.

Spring Break...gone in a blink!

The Goose and I did absolutely nothing over spring break. It was everything I thought it could be and so much more (office space-heh heh). We did have a few play dates and trips to the park and we got to hit story time at the local library. So nice! Some friends are starting to raise free range chickens and they had over 300 arrive-so we had to take a trip to see the chicks. It was a nice week--I could use another! ha ha. A few pics. to enjoy and soon I will post all the results from my mornings of freezer cooking.

Congrats to all etsy artists on the FP!

This is exciting for me and only the second time it has happened...a treasury I curated has gone to the highly coveted Front Page of Etsy. I hope it brought these lovely artists many sales! xo!

For the birds...

I am afraid to jinx this beautiful weather but I will go for it...I think spring has arrived. At least I am desperately hoping it has--winter, I would like to send you packing. But winter I remember you are strong and mighty and I don't doubt you and your ability to come back in a snap. I just wouldn't like to see it until December. In the meantime---here are a few pictures of a homemade suet that Lil and I made for the birds during 2010 snowmaggedon. To quote Lillie "It was a BIIIIIGG project". Grapefruit shells, seeds, nuts, raisins, and leftover grease from the freezer. I wondered about the whole the thing but the birds were very appreciative and it was an afternoon of entertainment.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

My daughter has amazing pre-school teachers! She still got to have her birthday celebration in class despite all the snow days. They suggested it too! So nice! As a teacher it is so hard to back track and get in all the past curriculum and to add in events also...Wow! So I made some cupcakes for the birthday celebration and I made them blue since it was blue day. I was inspired by this photo from Nick^D. My work pales in comparison but the kids enjoyed them and they sure made me smile. Who doesn't love cookie monster?

Classic Cream Scones

Over the numerous snow days I tried out many new recipes and I fell in love with this simple scone recipe from Southern Living. Yummm. Delish with my coffee. The sinful yet perfect way to start my morning. Give em a try-I know you will l-o-v-e them!

Barbie Birthday Cake

Being stuck inside for the blizzard of 2010 has brought a barrage of indoor activities for me and Lil. One thing that was a bit of a bummer...we had to postpone the birthday party and the "House of Bounce". This could be an entire entry within itself but I will wait until after the party this Monday. Jake and I tried to do something special since we knew it would be just us at our own personal party with 40+ inches of snow on the ground. I made a spaghetti dinner. Gammie had an amazing doll house shipped that Jake assembled the night before so it was ready and waiting for the big day.

Weeks before I had gotten the great idea to make a Barbie birthday cake. I saw one in the grocery store but figured...I can make that. So I googled and it came up with lots of suggestions. Pampered chef apparently has the perfect pan for such a cake and I had a co-worker that was going to loan me one but we missed a week (over a week?) of school due to snow. So, needless to say without the pan on hand,I had to improvise. Between blizzards (literally) Jake ran to the grocery store with every other person in the state of Virginia and got all the ingredients for the spaghetti dinner and the Barbie cake--including the Barbie.

The night prior to the party I made the cakes. I made one 9 inch round vanilla and one dome shaped strawberry. I used a Pyrex bowl since I did not have the pan. After these had baked and cooled I stacked the dome on top of the round and measured to see how high they would measure up to Barbie. It only came up to her thigh!! Barbie is one tall broad. I had to make another round and decided on chocolate so we could have a Neapolitan flavor cake. I love Jake--guys are just a hoot sometimes. He said "awww you don't need another round...just add more frosting. ha ha ha. Well I made the other round and let it cool. On the birthday--I stacked all three cakes and shaved it to a perfect bell skirt shape. I felt like the freakin' "Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes". I would frost and decorate during naptime which means my time was limited--an hour at best. Since I had shaved the cake I had an issue with crumbs mixing into the frosting but I have to say it was fun. I piped on decorative pink frosting and used some candy and sprinkles as skirt decorations. The end result was a bit juvenile but hey...good entertainment for me. Next time, (if ever there is one)I would have more of a plan for the skirt--a design layout if you will. Ha ha. The good news is that the goose was thrilled which in turn makes me happy. Although I do have to add--she liked playing with the barbie the best.