elliemoon

VANILLA ICE CREAM, CASE CLOSED

remember my search? well i think this is just about as close as it gets. i'm so happy i picked up a copy of this book, i highly recommend it::

five egg yolks, but not too eggy tasting. and all that vanilla? mmmmm....::

after this i want to make every recipe in the book. and there are many, many recipes. not just ice cream! is it wrong that i want to go back to san fran just to visit the shop? also, if you've never tried making your own ice cream, this book has an excellently photographed and perfectly detailed step by step on the techniques. next up? i'd have to say it's a tie between the salted caramel ice cream and the brown sugar ice cream with a ginger-caramel swirl. oh. man.

happy weekend!

 

 

GIFT IDEA - DOVER COLORING BOOKS

just about everyone, myself included, is getting a couple of these great dover coloring books. the nature mandalas book is excellent and the trolls and fairies is sure to be a favorite::

the nature books are filled with great info and are very realistic. owen especially will appreciate the fresh kill in that owls talons. the horses and unicorns have already been wrapped. the goddess book has already been scribbled in. in short, dover coloring books are great! wrap them up with a set of colored pencils and you can't go wrong.

 

 

BAKER TO BE

kai recently flew solo on a batch of pancakes and they came out terrific. it gave him such a confidence boost. he immediately went into "what next" mode. last week he went through all of my cookie books and dogeared a few recipes. the first one was from this book::

this must have been a yard sale score of my moms. occasionally there are baking books mixed in with the weekly trinkets she delivers. check out the back cover. remember those days? over-sized denim shirt, collar up, big hair. i did that. my bangs were at least 3 inches higher though. she must have run out of aqua net::

we tried to do a "where is she now" search on google but the question remains. 

kai found two recipes inside that looked interesting. here he is, mixing up marble cookies::

in this next shot he's using his left hand to support his mixer holding hand. the old "mixer cramp". that brought me back. i can remember creaming the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon when i was little. and it hurt!::

egg cracking, always a crucial moment, though he's a pro at this point::

adding the chocolate. i gave him a brief "folding" explanation but he chose to have me do that part. and i over-folded it. and felt really bad. oops. they were still somewhat marbled in the end::

i usually help kai cook and bake. i stick around. but this time he, very nicely, asked if i would let him do it himself. all of it. what? you want to make your first ever batch of cookies all on your own? okay, i'll just be right here, taking pictures over your shoulder. no pressure. 

the cookies were a big hit with everyone. the kid is a natural. now he just needs to strengthen that mixing arm!

 

 

THE ANATOMY OF A SKATEBOARD

thanks to this ultimate rice krispie treat, i now know the function of trucks and where they are located on a skateboard. mine were made of biscotti. we re-celebrated kai's birthday with big b's parents over the weekend. he had a very lack luster dessert on his actual birthday. luckily my favorite cupcake creatress has a new book out, the delivery of which helped lift me out of my bakers block! this new book branches out a bit and includes pies and cheesecakes and things. that being said, i don't know how i missed the fact that rice krispie treats are like edible modeling clay. another potentially dangerous discovery::

and after the final assembly, which was remarkably painless and stress free::

i may never go back to cake decorating again! we'll see. i love the old school look of this rice krispie skateboard. such a cool idea. and it was pretty yummy too. that's a nice way of saying "i ate all the leftovers, by myself, for breakfast the next morning".

 

PINKALICIOUS, A REENACTMENT

allow me to introduce bella's new obsession. she received this book, pinkalicious, as a gift. i've read it every night since, usually multiple times. her and little lu both have it memorized (little lu's version is mostly broken english, mumbles and facial expressions, but you can still get the idea and she's got the whole storyline down)::

while the fad is going strong i decided it was time to have some fun. carpe diem right? especially when it calls for cupcakes::

just like the book::

only she didn't turn pink. much to her chagrin.

SINCE YOU ASKED...

here's the answer to "what's in the baskets?" i always use some combination of my favorite baby notions. this is what went in this time around. first and foremost, my most favorite, the mysterio baby tee::

did i mention i love these? mysterio predicts the future career of your child. my friend meghann just gave birth to gus, a future donut tycoon. excellent! your little pumpkin could just as easily be a conspiracy nut, a monkey wrangler or a criminal mastermind, to name but a few!

next up? classic baby beads::

if i don't sound like too much of a geek saying so, these are a tactile delight! and the little ones love them too! wooden beads, non-toxic water based paints.

now for the books. this first one is the perfect gift for baby, so sweet and well written. you might want to leaf through it even if you don't have someone to buy it for....or maybe i'm just a tad sentimental. either way, someday, someone you know is going to have a baby and this is the book you should get for them::

and this one is just plain cute. how can you go wrong with a baby book of haikus? and its beautifully illustrated::

this one i toss into all of the boy baskets, but it also happens to be one of bella's personal favorites. very funny and precious at the same time (thanks for gifting it to us way back when beth!)::

i also included a burts baby bee starter pack. so there you have it. mysterio solved!! 

 

WE LOVE ED

need a gift idea for an artsy kid this season? ed emberley's drawing books are, by far, our favorite drawing books, and are reached for over and over again by just about everyone. this one is a more recent version that we picked up when kai was younger::

but this one is the best. big b's edition from when he was a kid! pretty cool right? owen is a big fan::

if you've never leafed through one of his books, they're very straightforward. all of the images are built up step by step using simple shapes. a really great idea::

love! i think his make a world book will end up under the tree this year!

THE GOOD OL' DAYS

its springtime, and that means that, thanks to my mom, there is a continual stream of yard sale fodder finding its way into my house. most of it is lovingly donated when she has left the building. but, i have to be honest, sometimes there are some real finds; things i've been looking for that she picks up for a nickle, stacks of drawing paper for the kids, etc. here's what she brought me yesterday::

these are old knitting magazines from the sixties. truly entertaining, just look at the ads::

thanks mom! this was like reading through a mad men script. also featured are some extremely dramatic and overly romantic love stories (such as, "the banished nymph", which i'm sure was very titillating in its time). its a wonder there was any room left for the knitting patterns, which seem to be thrown in as a side note. that first wine ad promises to "take the humdrum out of home life" and help you "whisk through daily chores". in the "letters to matron" there is an inquiry entitled "party time" where an expectant mother is wondering if she can drink sherry at the christmas party she will be attending. matron gives her the green light, but cautions her that it "might be better to avoid spirits like whisky and gin". these women must have had very well established tolerances. i don't know about you, but if i spent my day sipping wine, the only housework that would be accomplished would be the unintentional rearranging of furniture. and i'd most likely pass out in a mound of dirty laundry somewhere around the bottom of my second glass. 

MEMORY LANE

after what felt like an incredibly long wait, this special order was finally delivered to our door::

i had good intentions of saving this for my birthday but i just couldn't wait to open it::

250 plus pages of my blogging adventures in 2010! thank you so much to kathy at the highly entertaining blog, while tangerine dreams, for posting about her book. these are done by the company blog 2 print and they really and truly are worth the investment. i was a bit apprehensive about ordering and was anxiously waiting to see what the quality would be, but look::

it is perfect! very sturdy and the pages are a nice heavy weight and almost glossy. i'm very, very, happy with it. this is just such a wonderful idea if you have a blog. its so nice to have a hard copy in your hands to flip through. and tangible evidence that it hasn't all been spit up, dirty diapers, fist fights and sleepless nights!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOG!

yes, amazingly i have blathered on in this spot for a full 365 day swoop around the sun. least surprised? big b, who gets to hear me blather day in and day out, perhaps wishing that he too could get his dose in short blog posts with the weekends off. but i digress.  it's been a year and looking back, i have really enjoyed having this blog. hope you all are enjoying it as well. thanks to all of you for reading and commenting!  

i'll end this post as i did my first one, with a few of my favorite's from this holiday season. bella wasn't the only one to get a refinished yard sale score! check it out, a killer sewing "basket" (thanks dad!)::

my christmas card from big b::

and more titles to add to the crafting library!::

hope you all have a great weekend and a very happy new year! thanks again for stopping by my site! here's to another year of crafting geekery, high calorie baking, garlic laden cooking and maybe even some honey!!