Signs of Spring

I was looking out the window into my backyard and saw the first signs of Spring. The sun was beginning to set and it was a perfect time to capture an early evening shot. I ran, grabbed my camera, and started shooting. The colors of the plum blossoms were perfectly pink and the eucaluptus, screamed "look at me"!

Spring is constant, reliable, and always welcoming!

Transformer Birthday Party

I wanted to share what I did for my son's 7th birthday party. He loves Transformers a lot, and I mean a lot. I would show you his transformer collection, but you would think mom was nuts. So for his 7th birthday party, it was only natural to make transformers the theme.

 

I started by going to Etsy to find a custom invitation, but instead I found a whole Transformer Printable Birthday Party Package. It was created by SplashBoxPrintables. The package consists of a custom made invitation, banner, water bottle covers, cupcake toppers, candy bar wrappers, food description tags, and tons of other things that you just cut out and paste to card stock for a finished look. The package was $27, which I thought was worth if for all the printouts you get. Especially since they have your child's name on it. Check out the pictures below:

 The Banner

These cupcake toppers must be cut out as well. To make it easier, use a circular cutting system that can cut 2" diameter circles. I used my Creative Memories cutting system. Glue them to card stock and then glue those to candy sticks.

Water bottle covers. Nice touch.

Transformer cake, made by me. I borrowed the Classic Birthday Cake recipe from CupcakeandCashmere's pretty little blog. Everyone loved the yummy almond flavor of this cake. The buildings around the cake are made out of store bought fondant. Which is so much easier and neater to use. I've made fondant out of mashmallows & confectioner's sugar, but found it very sticky and messy. With the ready made, you just roll out the piece, cut it into the shapes, and lay them to dry overnight. The transformers toys were laid on top a piece of parchment paper to keep it clean.

Just a few ideas in case you ever decide to throw a transformer themed party.

Party Games Played:

- Energon eating contest (purple Jello cut into cubes), served in bowls; first kid to eat it all wins. My nephew won this one. He was amazingly fast.
- Pin the Autobot symbol to Bumble Bee's chest (Party City)
- Transformer Pinata (Party City)
- Musical chairs
- Balloon popping race
- Back-to-back balloon race
- Freeze Dance- this is hilarious, especially if you have 5-8 year olds.
- The kids also had a bounce-house

Overall, we had a fun day!

Angel Eggs

I make Angel Eggs (Deviled eggs) a lot for family and friends. It's a highly requested item that I often serve and bring to parties. They're usually gone pretty fast and they're really simple to make. I never tire of making them because I know people love them. The dish I serve my eggs on is from Crate&Barrel. I love the classic style of this dish for serving my eggs. I use the little center spot to fill with olives or chives. Today, I sliced a few sweet whole pickles and placed them there.

Here's my recipe for you to try at home. Hope they come out well, if not, leave a comment and I will help where I can.

Ingredients:

• 17 eggs
• 3/4 cup of Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup Sweet pickle relish
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• Paprika

(I prefer to use certain brands for my recipes, but you can use whatever you have available. For this recipe, I used Best Foods Mayonnaise, French's Mustard, and Delmonte Sweet Pickle Relish for my recipe. I believe good quality ingredients make good food.)

Preparation:

1. Boil eggs using what ever boil technique you like. I start with my eggs in cold water, bring them to a boil for 10 minutes, then I drain the water and let them cool on their own. I notice when I rush this process, the eggs peel badly. You want happy eggs, so take your time. 
2. Peel eggs. Rinse them so they are free of shells and membrane.
3. Begin slicing eggs in half. As you slice the cooked eggs, separate the yolks from the whites.
4. Place the yolks in a medium bowl and the sliced whites can go directly onto the egg platter (any extra eggs, can be put on separate plate). 
5. Add the Mayonnaise, Mustard, Relish, Black Pepper, & Kosher Salt to the yolks. 
6. With a hand mixer, beat the yolk mixture until smooth and creamy. 
7. Taste for flavor.
8. Begin scooping the yolk mixture into the egg whites using a teaspoon and your finger. Don't load too much, just fill the egg white holes (use photo as a guide). 
9. Sprinkle paprika over the tops of eggs.
10. Eat and enjoy.

Gumbo on New Year's Eve

I meant to post this on New Year's Day, but didn't get around to it. However, I still wanted to share. Gumbo on New Year's Eve has been a tradition for my husband and I for fifteen years now. I can only thank my lovely mother-in-law for making it for us over the years. I have watched her make it time and again, and I have almost perfected it. I don't think I can ever make it quite as wonderful as she can, she has a special hand.

I guess you can call what I make a combo version of gumbo. It contains chicken, seafood, and sausage. I don't really measure when I cook so it will be hard for me to write out a recipe, but I try to in a few days. When I eat this, I transport to another place and time. I can almost picture myself eating my gumbo on a porch overlooking a river somewhere in the Bayou. This is comfort food that feeds the soul. You have to put this on your bucket list of foods to eat, at least once a year.

Personal Mini Apple Pies

When I think of apple pies, I get a really warm and cozy feeling inside. After making dinner today, I decided to make mini apple pies for dessert. We are somewhat of a traditional family....The type that eats dinner and dessert on Sundays while watching football...he..he.. I love making food for my family, they really appreciate what I make and they are always so sweet and trust what I give them is good. I take pride in that. 

Instead of making one large pie like I always do, I thought it would be nice to create miniature ones instead. These pies are cool, great for dessert, easy to store, and can fit in a lunch box. Good alternative to cookies, etc. Nothing better than homemade, no preservatives, no sitting on a shelf for two months...yuck.

I went the easy route and used store bought pie crust since I did not have time to make pie crust, that's my next adventure.

Gather these ingredients.

I sliced my apples, but better to chop them into chunks (they fit into the pie crust easier).

Add all your ingredients in. Smelling good..

Mix everything up.

Add apples to a quarter slice of pie crust.

 Fold over and close up ends with a fork.

I baked these in the oven for 30 minutes or until they were golden brown. Turned out well and were yummy to eat!! My husband gave this a thumbs up, plus he ate two.

Recipe Info: 

Crust: 
1 Box of Ready Made Pie Crust

Filling Ingredients: 
6 Large Granny Smith Apples
3/4 cup Sugar, Splenda, or Stevia, which ever you prefer.
2 tbs Flour
3/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 tbs Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 425. Mix all of the filling ingredients together. Cut one of your pie crusts into quarters. Take a quarter of it, roll it in a ball. Use a rolling pin and create a round. Place apples in center, fold one side over, and press close with a fork. Place them all on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

This recipe will make 8 pies. However, I had left over apples and used another box of the pie crust to make 8 more. Try, and you will like. Oh, serve hot with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream.

Apple and Cheddar Meat Pies

I recently ran across this recipe in my Bon Appetite magazine and decided to try it out. Surprisingly, they were a success. I know because, these bad boys didn't even last a full day in my house! At first I was a little turned off by thought of putting this combination together, but it worked out tastefully and were yummy to eat. Try it and you won't be disappointed.

Here's what you'll need:

- One Gala apple diced

- One Onion diced

- 2 cups Medium cheddar cheese

- 1 pound ground beef

- Store bought Pie Crust- name brand preferred

- Start by sauteing the onions at low/medium heat, cook till translucent.

- Then add the ground beef and cook till nicely brown. While browning, season the meat with salt and pepper (to your liking). I added some red pepper flakes, a little garlic powder, and a dash of cumin to season my meat. I don't like bland ground beef.

- Remove from heat and let cool. 

- Add your diced apples and cheddar cheese and stir into the cooled meat mixture. Here's what it will look like... 

Put the filling into the ready made pie crust rolls. Fold them in half, press close with a fork, and bake them at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Here they are all done. Here's where I got the idea: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshows/2011/11/10-unexpected-ground-beef-ideas#slide=3

Mid-October Harvest

Today I worked in the garden removing old plants from my raised beds. Lots of plants were starting to wilt and die back. The Sweet baby watermelons, cantaloupe, and cherry tomatoes were the ones with the most wilt, so I harvested the fruits from them. Here are some pics of what I harvested today. The best part of this experience was just being able to grow my food and the ability to go from garden to table. The immediate satisfaction of it.

I was only able to get one cantaloupe, but it was the sweetest, most aromatic cantaloupe I have every had in my life. Simply amazing. Will definitely grow more next year. This sweet baby didn't develop so much, it broke off the stem before it could finish developing on the vine. Would have been great I'm sure.

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes!

Baby Mesclun lettuce & bell peppers.

Gift to my neighbor

Growing green beans was very rewarding. Do grow at least six plants worth of these. I only planted three seedlings, not enough as I was only able to make sauteed green beans twice. I could have went for more...always next year.