Stripey Dots

Pinning away on Pinterest

2011-04-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello! I've been happily pinning away on ! What a fantastic visual bookmarking site, finally a place where I can share my collection of images that I enjoy from the web and access everybody else's. *love it*. Come see my visual boards at pinterest.com/stripeydots

Would love to see yours too!

Mr Men gingerbread cookies for a birthday cake

2010-12-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas; here's to a New Year filled with blessings!

One of the highlights of Christmas week this year was my attempt at hand-moulding gingerbread dough into Mr Men characters for my son's birthday cake. I used one Betty Crocker's Gingerbread Cookie Mix pouch; the dough was easy to work with and the resulting cookies were delicious.

With a Christmas lunch party to prepare for and host, I figured I'd go the quickie route and get a store-bought cake and then I'd customize it with the gingerbread cookies. And I was incredibly thankful for ready-made cookie icing, ha!

I loved how cute the birthday cake turned out! And of course it all mattered that my birthday boy - and Christmas Day baby - was thrilled with his cake.

Mr Bump, Little Miss Scary, Mr Happy, Mr Birthday gingerbread cookies

Fantastic XXX Blueberry cookies

2010-07-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Me oh my, where do I begin; Oatmeal Cookie Guy has done it again! His XXX Blueberry Cookies will rock your world; I've never tasted such intense blueberry flavor in a cookie before, it's just amazing. My boys and I couldn't stop devouring these just minutes out of the oven. I love the crunch from the turbinado sugar followed by the intense blueberry flavor. SO good!

I baked these around noon and these easily became our lunch, yeah... it's Summer, some rules get thrown out for now, hehheh. By the way, I did slightly modify the recipe by using dark chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips. I love my dark chocolates! Thank you Mr Oatmeal Cookie Guy for another fabulous cookie recipe!

Today's breakfast...

2010-07-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

... was a surprise bear cheese sandwich for this little boy. Notice how he eats the sides first and the cute bear last? On the other hand, his big brother ate the bear first and the sides last. My funny little boys.

This makes me smile: Raspberry Brie Panini

2010-07-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

And it makes me super hungry too! Thank you Rock Recipes for sharing this fabulous recipe!

Good to be back

2010-07-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

One month away.
Tropical Singapore.
Sweltering heat.
Refreshing rain storms.
Fantastic food.
Iconic buildings.
Beautiful wedding.
Treasured friends.
Loving family,
missing you.
But glad to be home.
Welcome Summer!
Hello routines.
Vaca's over,
now a new one begins!

--------------------
Hello again! Glad to be back home after spending all of June in Singapore where one of the highlights was my brother's wedding. Good fun! Well, we're officially over jetlag; little Adam took a tad longer to get back in sync which meant this Momma took an equally long time too. Did you like the poem (above)? Last night as I lay in bed, the little poem came to mind about our month-long trip. A good one to use on a scrapbook layout that I plan to create soon!

P/S: The stunning building behind us in the photo is Singapore's iconic building, the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino. And the spiral-looking architecture behind us is the Helix Bridge - the world's first double-helix design - that leads to the hotel. It is the world’s first in architectural and engineering bridge design. Cool, huh!

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-05-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

This cute antique wooden envelope template certainly caught my eye! See more cute items at this wonderful Japanese store, Yozo Craft.

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-05-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

How cute are these fabric cupcakes! They're by Donna Downey, of course!

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-04-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

I love these porcelain vases by Rae Dunn. What drew me especially were the patch of words, the uneven "folds" on the front, and the flower decals on the inside. Love. Love. Love!

I want me a Printers Tray

2010-04-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Printers Tray: Letterblock: Black w/Silver Handle (7 Gypsies)
I am like a tiger, prowling back and forth, waiting in anticipation for this Printers Tray to be released sometime this month I'm told. As soon as I see it selling on 2 Peas, I'm gonna hit that Buy button twice. Or maybe thrice. Hmmm... decisions decisions. Oh the many crafty ideas to embellish this Printers Tray!

Blueberry cornmeal muffins

2010-04-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

I baked my first batch of cornmeal muffins last week. Can I say yum and yum again! The boys and I love the subtle crunch of the yellow cornmeal in each bite, but my husband... not so much. You see, I enjoy experiencing different textures when I eat; my husband... quite the opposite. O well.

The Land O Lake's recipe that I used was delicious, but I've just come across John Barricelli's cornmeal muffin recipe, Double Blueberry Muffins and it has caught my eye. Intriguing, he skipped the buttermilk. I'm definitely planning to make these real soon.

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-04-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

I took a double take when I saw these hand-crocheted butterflies, beautiful aren't they! They're from Oeuf; I would love to have them on my dining room wall.

Spring for strawberry shortcake parfait

2010-04-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday. After a few rounds of soccer and ball play and, of course, the favorite bike ride around the park, the boys and I capped off the warm Springbreak afternoon with some strawberry shortcake parfait ~ simple layers of angel cake, strawberry jam, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. Delightful!

Chicken bbq panini

2010-04-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday's lunch: Roast chicken breast, barbecue sauce, provolone cheese, red onion slices, avocado, roma tomato, crusty sourdough bread ~ all these went into the making of this tasty chicken barbecue panini, recipe from Tiffany Collins' 200 Best Panini Recipes. Note: Her recipe called for the use of french bread, but I opted for sourdough bread instead.

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-03-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

I'm captivated by Helen Dardik's beautiful illustrations. I love this particular one, Mary had a Little Unicorn; see more of her work at her etsy store Orange Studio and on her website.

Spinach pesto my spaghetti, please

2010-03-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

I made a delicious creamy batch of spinach pesto two nights ago. It's certainly a great way to use up baby spinach that were about to expire, and a sneaky way to add raw spinach into our diet. Being a garlic lover, I used 4 good size garlic cloves instead of three that was on the recipe. And I used slightly more than 3 tbs of pine nuts. I tossed this pesto with whole wheat spaghetti and served it with homemade meatballs. Yum!

So throughout dinner, I was crossing my fingers and keeping mum about the spinach aspect from my family. No worries as it turned out they loved it, especially my husband! Well, except for my eldest boy who gave it neither a thumbs up nor down. I reckon the bright green was too much for him, ha!

Anyhow, next time I shall use some fresh basil leaves instead of the dried ones; I bet it's gonna elevate it even more, can't wait!

Buckethead

2010-03-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

We've had Summer-like weather the last few days, hence the tank-top and shorts on my little boy. He looked too cute in his bucket hat and matching red shorts, I just had to take a photo. Oh, it's one of his current favorite hats to wear while he plays. My funny little boy.

Happy first day of Spring tomorrow, everyone!

Crafty sneak peek ~ Two Already layout

2010-03-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

This is an 8x8 layout that I did a while back of my eldest boy when he was 2 years old. He's now 6! Ahh... time is flying by so quickly; I'm sure all you Mommas out there can relate *smile*

Tuesday's inspiration ...2 days later

2010-03-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

How cute is this Cowboy Bunny original! Love. Love. Love!

Crafty sneak peek ~ Apple layout

2010-03-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a layout that I had completed on Monday. These are one of my favorite photos of my youngest boy when he was 7 months old; I'd handed a small apple to him and he was so intrigued by its bright red color.

As with babies and discovery, he tried his very best to shove it in his mouth but all he could manage to do was to kiss, lick, and suck on it. So very cute! On a side note, his favorite fruit til this very day is a juicy red apple.

I was thrilled that KI Memories' apple lace paper contrast nicely with the background cardstock from Basic Grey's vintage Sublime collection. The True Love tag was a free download from Studio Calico blog; thank you SC!

Today's breakfast...

2010-03-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

... luscious peach jam and butter on oatnut bread with a bowl of milk and Cheerios for my little guy.

Crafty sneak peek ~ Little sweetie Valentine book

2010-02-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

This is a cute little Valentine book that I made for my guy this year. I was inspired by Heidi Swapp's darling project using the House of 3 kit. This book was so easy to make and I love how the spine allowed facing pages to open flat!

Instead of crepe paper or doilies to line the edge of each page, I used a variety of border punches on cardstock and on foil. Then simply adhered them between two pages. I *love* how the foil one turned out! Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Edge punch worked great on the foil, and bonus ~ it sharpened the punch at the same time!

I had a fun time making this book; I used only one photograph of the two of us and sprinkled You Are My Sunshine lyrics throughout the rest of the book. On the last page is a little love note that I wrote to him. Click on the photos to see them larger.

The force is strong with this one

2010-02-25T18:32:00.000-08:00

Just a cute little Jedi wanna-be practicing his lightsaber moves.

Today's breakfast...

2010-02-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

... I'm dunking Milano orange cookies into hot chocolate, my favorite way to eat 'em. Love!

Tuesday's inspiration ...2 days later

2010-02-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

Look at these tiny felt pennants hanging so adorably on the mini hoop,

and the simplicity of these fluttering hearts alongside an important date! a.e. wilder sure knows how to tug at my heart.

Another heart tugger are these penguin browniepops from Williams Sonoma. Their whimsy message cookies are such a treat too!

This makes me smile: Blooming cherry blossom flowers

2010-02-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

A sprinkling of dainty cherry blossom flowers in full bloom at the Bay Area Discovery Museum's Lookout Trail on a foggy morning.

Crafty sneak peek ~ ruffly felt heart

2010-02-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

I love cabbage roses like the Clotilde Soupert where each bloom has over 100 petals and the sweetest scent! I used to grow it in my container garden before we had kids. So when I saw Domestifluff's ruffly felt rosette wreath, it immediately resonated with me. I love seeing the soft layers of felt pressed and ruffled together. So I followed her tutorial and made myself a heart ruffly one!

I used ivory felt and a 6-inch heart foam piece. This was so easy to make; it took just a day to complete and just in time for Valentine's Day!

This makes me smile: Cookie anticipation

2010-02-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

Here comes the little guy.

He eyes the cookies.

He taps a cookie.

He pokes the cherry on the cookie.

Three minutes later, he's still watching over his precious cookies, totally bored but patiently waiting for them to cool. And then all this waiting around will be worth it. *smile*

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-01-26T09:30:00.001-08:00

How fantastic is this piece of art by Dashing Etc! Felt flowers, heart, hoop... puts me in the mood for love!

Oblivious to the wet and wild

2010-01-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

We're Day 3 into a week long thunderstorm. This morning was especially wet and wild with howling winds and bent-over trees. But my 3-year-old was oblivious to all that; he sat in front of the rain-lashed window quietly focused on playing his box of Lego dudes, taking heads and legs apart, trying on all types of helmets and weapons, and staging dude battles. The good life!

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-01-19T16:47:00.000-08:00

How cute is this egg carton book by Erinzam!

What a great place to hatch ideas indeed. Love. Love. Love!

Birthday popcorn treats

2010-01-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

My eldest turned 6 years old last week, yay! Instead of baking him a cake, we went and bought him one - SpongeBob sitting on a Krabby Patty hamburger. He was totally surprised and delighted with the cute cake! Earlier that morning, I sent him off to school with 37 popcorn goodie bags for his classmates and teachers.

To make the goodie bags, I printed labels on Avery sticker paper and adhered them on clear bags that I bought from the craft store. In a mixing bowl, I tossed caramel popcorn, kettle corn popcorn, and M&M's. Then happily filled each bag with about 1.5 cups of the crunchy sweet treat. I thought it turned out cute! Of course I had to make an extra large bag for his little brother *wink*!

Tuesday's inspiration

2010-01-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

Aren't these dictionary definition pillows from Pottery Barn the cutest! Love. Love. Love!

This makes me smile

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

Happily ringing in 2010 snuggled next to my love, with mugs of sparkling blood orange flavored apple cider and slices of Tiramisu and Niagara Falls cake *smile* Happy New Year, everyone!

Oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

Our cute 7-ft Noble Fir tree decked out simply this year with baubles, Christmas word tags, and some family favorite ornaments. Merry Christmas, everyone! Wishing you the best in 2010! xoxo

I call it a rustic cranberry almond cake

2009-12-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

Today I made an adapted version of the Nantucket Cranberry Pie, recipe by Laurie Colwin. The adapted part? I used freshly toasted slivered almonds instead of walnuts or pecans.

I first came upon this super easy recipe during my blog travels, first at Cooking Books, then at The Maili Files. Whether it's a pie or cake, I knew I had to make it to find out.

This rustic dessert is so delicious and when you let it cool, the crunchy top shatters when your spoon cracks into it. Yes, use a spoon to scoop into this sweet-tart cake. And yes, it is definitely a cake, not a pie. I call this a rustic cranberry almond cake. And a fantastically good one too! Oh, if you're a fan of almonds, you're sure to *love* this cake!

This makes me smile

2009-12-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

My little boy and his found leaf on a freezing winter morning. The maple leaf now sits merrily on our Christmas tree.

Getting ready for the festive season

2009-12-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

The year-end festive season is always my favorite, and it's always my busiest. Two birthdays, a wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, house-guests, cards to make, gifts to shop for, a home to decorate... with lots of eating and merriment in-between. Here's a glimpse of what I've been up to the last few weeks.

Two-Event Countdown Calendar

We had back-to-back house-guests since Thanksgiving, so I made a versatile countdown calendar for my boys to keep track of our guests' arrival as well as the impending holidays. I made two pockets out of page protectors, sized them so they each fit an index card. So all my boys do is write an event title on an index card for which they're counting down to, and easily switch it out when that event passes. I used House of 3's two week countdown kit but edited some of the cards as well as created another 17 day cards to add to the pack, making it a 31-day countdown calendar, a request from my 5-year-old son.

Christmas Tags

Inspired by several scenes from Pottery Barn's catalog, I went and created a stack of Christmas-themed tags to hang on our Noble Fir tree this year. I used photoshop brushes from House of 3 as well as other free brushes that I found online. I'm so happy with how the tags turned out!

Wall of Art

I've always admired walls decorated with photo frames like this and these. So this season I decided to use our dining room wall to hang my collection of prints and photos. I happily expect the white wall space to diminish as I add to my collection next year. By the way, I'm so thankful to have learned about the Command line of hanging strips and hooks this season (I know, where have I been, right?), thanks to a segment on Martha Stewart's show! It's because of their products that I'm able to hang these frames and plaques and move them around freely without the hassle of nails and hammers!

Pinecone-filled Crates

I bought this set of lovely nesting herb crates this Summer and have only hung them up just before Thanksgiving. I had thought hard about what to fill them with, and then had a lightbulb moment when I took out my collection of pinecones. So here they are today filled with pinecones! I love how charming they look!

Bottles and Yarn

I have a small collection of glass bottles and decided to use a couple of them on my mantel this year. To dress them up, I wound wool yarn around each bottle. I love how the bottles instantly came alive with texture and color.

So there 'ya go, just a couple of projects that have kept me busy the last month or so. I'll post photos of our Christmas tree soon!

Tree decorating the preschooler way

2009-12-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist sharing this. Those of you who have little kids can probably relate *chuckle*. Here's the aftermath of giving my 5- and 2-year-old sons full reign of decorating the tree. Notice the ball ornaments are hung closely together and at the bottom half of the tree where my littlest one can reach, ha ha ha! Of course when they were in school the next day, this momma re-hauled the tree decorating.

This makes me smile: Marshmallow Pilgrim Hat cookies

2009-11-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

I made these for my kindergartener's class Thanksgiving party today. Yummy and so cute! I saw these last year at Bunny Cakes blog and was so taken by them. From the reactions of my little boys, it looks like these will have to be an annual Thanksgiving treat now!

Chocolate mint hazelnut bark

2009-11-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

A quick and simple treat for the family. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts onto melty, swirly dark chocolate and mint morsels, then refrigerate for an hour. Break into pieces and serve. Decadent!

P/S: I'm going to add dried cranberries to my next batch!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-11-17T06:40:00.000-08:00

I stopped in my tracks when I saw these adoable felt buns and steam basket! Made me hungry for some dim sum for sure. See more of Swiedebie's felt creations at her etsy store.

Good reading

2009-11-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

Cloudy skies,
chilly morning,
kids happily in school;
chunky slice of chocolate cake,
a mug of warm Milo,
not a stir in the house.
Northhanger Abbey awaits me at last.

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-11-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

Today I am smitten with Lisa DeJohn's beautiful Gingerbread City, aren't you? Love. Love. Love!

Tuesday's inspiration ...3 days later

2009-11-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a Pottery Barn catalog to get me into the Christmas mood. Their December issue arrived yesterday and my head is spinning excitedly with ideas for our Christmas tree this year. Allow me to share my 2009 tree 'n mantel inspiration board.

1. 2. 5. Pottery Barn, 3. Country Living, 4. Ormolu, 6. unknown

Skeleton Boy and Heat Blast

2009-11-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween came; Halloween went. Boy, did my two little munchkins had fun! My 2.5-year-old was very into Halloween this year, he caught on to trick'o'treating really quickly. He was up there, excited at ringing door bells, and yelling (really yelling) "Trick or treat!" as the doors open, so cute! Hope you had a fun Halloween too!

Little dudes playing with glow sticks

Today's breakfast...

2009-10-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

...fresh Genovese basil tossed with organic strawberries in a bowl of Silk chocolate soy milk and Post Selects Great Grains Raisins, Dates, & Pecans cereal. Instant perk-me-up!

This makes me smile: My bedroom style board

2009-10-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

A little wish list I put together this past weekend for our master bedroom makeover. My hub and I are loving the soothing gray and white palette; now to turn cc points into West Elm giftcards! Oh, and the wall decals are on their way, yeah!

1. Bloom wall decals, Gray, 2. Chalkstripe and Pinstripe Pillowcases, 3. Cubby Organizer, 4. Grid Tufted Headboard, Charcoal Mélange, 5. Pin-Tuck Duvet Cover, Sea Spray, 6. Home Bed Skirt, Molten Lead, 7. Jondal Mirror, 8. Velvet Grommet Drape, Stone, 9. Alve Corner Workstation

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-10-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

Look at these cute rag quilts by etsy store The Trunk Show! I love the fun colors and especially their soft frayed edges, makes me want to reach out and snuggle with them.

This makes me smile

2009-10-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Nothing like squeaky-clean white dishes dripping wet and drying on the rack at 7 in the morning.

Turkey taco pot pie

2009-10-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

I was hankering for some cosy comfort food last night and was flipping through the Fall '09 edition of Kraft Foods Food & Family magazine when I came upon the recipes for chicken pot pie and taco sloppy joe. Light bulb moment! What if I kinda sorta combined the two! And so I did. The recipe follows:

* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1 lb ground turkey
* 1 can corn, drained
* 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
* frozen peas and carrots
* 1 jar mild peach-pineapple salsa (Safeway Select)
* 2 cups shredded Mexican style four cheese
* 1 can (8oz) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls, big and flaky variety

I browned the onion and ground turkey (seasoned with salt, pepper, and some dried Italian herbs) in a skillet, drained and added it to the bottom of a baking dish. In the same skillet, I added corn, black beans, frozen peas and carrots, and a three-quarter jar of mild peach-pineapple salsa. The salsa barely had any heat to it hence a favorite with my two little boys. After the contents in the skillet were heated through, I mixed in about 2 cups of cheese. Next, I poured the contents over the ground turkey in the baking dish and spread it out evenly. The final step - I unrolled the dough and placed it over the pot pie mixture, making sure the perforations were sealed. This was baked for 20 minutes in a 375'F oven.

Look at the golden flaky crust! Love, love, love!
This was a hit with the family and is easily one of my favorite dishes. I love being able to taste the salsa and I'm glad I skipped the taco seasoning mix or it would've overpowered the dish. It is definitely an easy-and-quick-to-make dish and suitable for young children. My 2-year-old and 5-year-old boys ate this so quickly, I was just grinning from ear to ear! Oh, this makes great leftovers too.

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-10-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's the simple gather of pleats held together by a strip of linen that I'm drawn to and inspired by. See this and other beautiful pillows and burlap buckets at etsy store designs maya*made.

Snuggling with sweater weather oatmeal cookies

2009-10-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

It's finally looking like Fall weather here in the San Francisco Bay Area, after oh what, only a steamy 95'F weekend! Tuesday was wonderful, it was blustery and cosy! I'm so ready for the cool season. And cool weather brings out the baker in moi.

Yesterday I baked some aptly named Sweater Weather Cookies, recipe by the one and only Oatmeal Cookie Guy. I loved biting into the cookie and being enveloped by the orange scent, the orange taste. My boys couldn't help themselves either, downing 3 and 4 at a go, and mind you these were jumbo sized cookies (I used a 2-inch scoop).

To quote my favorite Oatmeal Cookie Guy, "Orangey, spicy, bright, slightly smokey, and autumnal" ...all so very true! I'm definitely baking more of these orange gems this season.

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-09-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

ute drop cap, isn't it! Ha, for some reason it reminds me of my favorite Halloween candy, Reese's peanut butter cup! Check out Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische for new illustrative initial every day. Beautiful designs!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

How cute is this ruler print fabric from etsy store Chalinn*s! Love, love, love!

Crafty sneak peek ~ Happiness layout

2009-09-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout that I had completed on Sunday. I remember these moments at La Jolla Cove back in 1996 vividly; happy to be at the cliffs and coves by the ocean, but especially happy to share it with my husband ~ boyfriend at the time ~ *smile*.

One of my favorite elements on this layout is the white fuzzy rub-ons (Heidi Swapp) on the stripey ribbon; I love the texture on texture look!

The tags are another element that I love. I had a lot of fun stamping them; first I stamped some doily images, then inked the dots using Heidi Swapp's dots mask, and finally aged the tags with Distress Inks using the blending technique.

For more texture, I added red leather flowers (Making Memories) and glued metal embellishments onto them. And to finish it off, I tucked in short strips of antique trim here and there. I must say I really like the end result!

Figs on my pizza

2009-08-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

We had homemade pizza last night, but for me it was no ordinary pizza. For my quarter portion on the rectagular pizza dough, I'd added slices of fresh figs atop a sliced heirloom tomato and blanketed it under my favorite prosciutto. An experimentation using figs, no less. The result? Delish! I loved the intense sweetness of figs and tomato with the salty prosciutto. Simply. loved. it.

Grilled chipotle cheese with fig sandwich

2009-08-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

I enjoy figs but after a few attempts at eating them raw by themselves, I've come to the conclusion that I much prefer to eat them accompanied with something else, be it with cold cereal, in pasta, or in a sandwich.

Last Friday I received a small box of figs in my CSA box, and I'm now down to the last couple of figs. I was inspired by the Fig and Brie Panini with Prosciutto blog post over at Closet Cooking, so this morning I did a version of it since I had no brie nor delicious prosciutto. I did have chipotle cheddar cheese and smoked deli turkey in the refrigerator. With that, I build me a grilled chipotle cheese with fig sandwich (on whole wheat bread). I truly enjoyed the sweet from the figs followed by the heat from the chipotle cheese. Yummy!!

Tuesday's inspiration ...a day later

2009-08-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is a collage by Donna Downey...

...and this is by Folk Art Vision.

These two mixed media collages caught my eye today. I find them simple yet bold. There's something about each that makes me want to stare at them all day.

Countdown to National S’mores Day

2009-08-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

The boys are counting down to National S’mores Day on August 10. They have never had a s'mores experience and have only seen the process of building one on tv. So when I announced the special day was coming up, my eldest was especially excited.

Earlier this week, he suggested we practice making s'mores everyday so that come Sunday, we'd be ready at making the perfect ones! And that's exactly what we did.

I took the boys shopping for graham crackers, large marshmallows, and Hershey's milk chocolate bars. The boys were thrilled to build their very own s'mores which I broiled in the oven for about a minute. My eldest loved it, my youngest though not so much. I think he found it too sweet because I certainly did.

I found the milk chocolate/marshmallow combo overwhelmingly sweet, so this afternoon I decided to swap the choc for Ghirardelli's Intense Dark 72% cacao chocolate. Holy s'mores, it turned out perfect! Not too sweet and full of intense chocolate flavor for this Momma. Needless to say, I'm all set for this Sunday with my adult s'mores version!

Crafty sneak peek ~ Love layout

2009-08-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Remember this little project back in February? I played with it and put it aside quite a few times, and I'm thrilled to say it's finally done!

One of my favorite elements on the layout are the tags. I simply followed Heidi Swapp's blending technique with Distress Inks. It was easy, and I liked being able to control how dark or light I wanted to shade the tags. Distress Inks used in this layout were Vintage Linen for the tags, and Walnut Stain for the round calendar element.

For fun, I edged the circular calendar with Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Edge punch; loved the distressed effect! The final touch was a bling brad on the red arrow book turn.

Lettered Cottage Home

2009-07-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Layla over at The Lettered Cottage has teamed up with her friend Sarah and started a new venture called, Lettered Cottage Home. This store has some cute vintage treasures! Quick, go check 'em out!

So guess what I just bought from them as a little birthday (next week!) gift to myself? These fabulous nesting herb crates! I've been admiring them at Layla's blog, and I'm thrilled to be hanging these babies in my house very soon!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-07-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of Jillibean Soup, especially their kraft line, and I can't wait to get my hands on their new Alphabean - Corrugated Kraft! There are 51 letters plus punctuation and numbers. Am thrilled that these alphas are textured!

Tuesday's inspiration ...2 days later

2009-07-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

How cute is this, doodle with your dough using natural colors and customize your bread loaves! I love this idea. See more at Doodlebread.com

Crafty sneak peek ~ hats digital scrapbook layout

2009-07-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here's another digital layout I did this afternoon of my eldest boy. These are photos of little E during his first year wearing all his cute hats. This little guy is heading to Kindergarten this Fall; they grow up too fast, don't they!

Next steps: print the layout onto photo paper, mount it onto a larger size cardstock, distress the edges, add journaling, and then place it in my boy's scrapbook album. [Click the photo to see it large.]

Crafty sneak peek ~ baby digital scrapbook layout

2009-07-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some favorite photos of my 2-day-old baby boy consolidated into a multi-photo grid digital layout. Me o my, this baby boy is now 2.5 years old! [Click the photo to see it large.]

I was inspired to use the multi-photo grid technique after watching the video from this week's Tuesday Tutorial post over at Ali Edwards' blog. Although the instructions are for PSElements, it easily applies to PSCS3 as that was what I used to create this layout.

Next steps: print the layout onto photo paper, mount it onto a larger size cardstock, distress the edges, and then add it to this little boy's scrapbook album.

Blueberries on my sandwich

2009-07-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share this cute moment from yesterday: my 2.5-year-old gingerly placing blueberries on his breakfast sandwich; basically toasted hamburger buns spread generously with Nutella and butter.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

It was a good kick-off to the 3-day weekend celebration. We began Friday with some refreshing watermelon slices for late morning snack followed by delicious homemade hamburgers for lunch. While my littlest one was having his afternoon nap and my eldest was playing with his Dad, I took the free time and watched Australia (thumbs up!). After the movie, we rounded up the boys and went out for sushi.

The fireworks event in our town tonight is definitely the highlight; the boys are so excited about it. Have a fun and relaxing weekend, everyone!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-06-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

I just found out about the Sky Planter. No mess; upside down. Imagine a row of these with ferns and fronds hanging above the patio. Love it. Want it.

Today's breakfast...

2009-06-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

... actually a late morning snack... orange marmalade and Nutella on a slice of whole wheat bread. A quick fold-over of the bread and deliciousness awaits.

Tuesday's inspiration ...a day later

2009-06-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

Today I am inspired by the interior of Restored in Amsterdam. Perhaps one day, in one of my dream homes, I will paint a room and its furniture like this.

Crafty sneak peek ~ altered picture frame

2009-06-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

One of the Father's Day gifts for my husband this year was a picture frame which my boys and I had altered. My boys had specific intentions for the frame; "this is for you to bring to work, Daddy" they instructed him excitedly.

I covered the front and sides of the unfinished wood frame with Cosmo Cricket's Slim Jim paper from their Wanted collection. To embellish the frame, my boys chose some cute ready-made wood elements; we then adhered these onto the frame with extra strength glue dots. And to add a final whimsy touch, I stamped a vintage four-leaf clover image "like it's flying in the air" as my eldest son observed.

The frame turned out so cute! And it was such a quick and easy project to do with kids. We were thrilled to see my husband's reaction when he saw this gift, he simply loved it, yeah!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-06-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

I love the romantic feel of this corner bookmark and these tags; so sweet aren't they! See more at etsy store Seasonal Delights. I'm swooning!

Homemade French Vanilla ice-cream

2009-06-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

I must have been in the boonies because guess what I found out only last week? Kitchenaid has an ice-cream maker attachment for their fabulous Stand Mixer! Wha-- since when? Shows you how much "on the know" I am, ha! Anyway, here's how we stumbled upon this prized information.

My husband had previously used EggBeaters (y'know, the pasteurized liquid egg product that comes in a carton) to make homemade ice-cream. But last Tuesday, he decided that he wanted to use fresh egg yolks to make a more custardy ice-cream. To do that, he needed to temper 8 egg yolks with heavy whipping cream. Since we both hadn't tempered anything before, we went seeking YouTube for step-by-step visuals. So glad we did because we came upon Scott Hargrove's video on how to make homemade French Vanilla ice-cream, and that is where we saw the Kitchenaid ice-cream maker and in action too! So thank you Scott for a terrific video and this invaluable piece of info. By the way, check out Scott's cooking videos, they're great!

The very next day I went to Target and snapped up the last remaining box on the shelf. My husband gladly boxed up our month-old Rival one, thrilled to be done with rock salt and ice forever, woohooo! We love this Kitchenaid attachment, it's so easy to use, no ice or rock salt to mess with at all.

We followed Scott's French Vanilla recipe and tempering technique; it turned out wonderful! Our homemade ice-cream is so incredibly creamy and flavorful. Speaking of which, I'm going to get me a bowl now!

Three cheers for XXX Cherry 'n Chocolate cookies

2009-06-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's cherry season, and this year I've decided to invest in a cherry pitter simply for two good reasons:

1) My littlest boy is a cherry fan
2) XXX Cherry 'n Chocolate cookies

So I went and bought one this morning; so glad I did! Prepping cherries to feed my little 2-year-old cherry fan is no longer an ordeal. Before, I would slice each cherry in half and dig out the seed, in short--a mess. Now, it's a cinch! "You want cherries? Sure thing, let's go get Mommy's new cherry pitter!" And my cute cherry fan is chewing fresh cherries in seconds. *Love* it!

While I was on a cherry pitter high, I went and baked Mr Oatmeal Cookie Guy's XXX Cherry 'n Chocolate cookies. Delish! We loved the intense cherry flavor! Oh, and did I say it was a breeze pitting 2 cups of fresh cherries, yeah!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-06-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

This cute mixed media collage by Nicola Hart totally did me in. I want a beach vacation. Give me a beach hut, sand for the kids, sea breeze for my man, and lapping blue waves for us all.

Chicken peach salad

2009-06-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

I made this quick and easy sweet salad for lunch today. I used store-bought smoked rotisserie chicken, chopped up the breast and added them to a bowl of mixed butter lettuce and green leaf lettuce, basil, peach chunks (canned), scallions, and thinly sliced shallots. This was tossed with some white pepper and balsamic vinaigrette. Simple ingredients but full of flavor!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-06-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of mummysam for a long time now, and this framed piece is one of my favorites. Aside from the cute Mr. Fox and his house, what drew me to this piece was her idea of taking out the glass and having the frame as a shelf, and the fact that she drew on the frame! Very cool.

Farm fresh to our door

2009-05-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Guess what arrived at our door before 8 o'clock this morning? A box of farm fresh organic vegetables, our first Farm Fresh to You delivery! I can't tell you enough how glad I am to have such a service available in our area.

Yes we have two farmers' markets in our town every Sunday, but only one small organic farm stall to buy from. The local supermarkets have organic fruit and vege sections, but they're pretty expensive and choices are limited. So I'm giving this CSA home delivery service a try; I'm liking it so far!

Today's box contained:
2 braeburn apples
3 big heirloom tomatoes
1 bunch spring onions
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch dandelion greens
1 head lettuce
1 bag of sweet gypsy peppers
1 bunch nantes carrots (so cute)
1 galia melon
1 pint strawberries

I like that I'm getting produce that I've never tried or knew about before, such as the galia melon, dandelion greens and sweet gypsy peppers. Can't wait to try them. By the way, aren't those small nantes carrots cute!

Homemade KitKat ice-cream

2009-05-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Fancy some homemade KitKat ice-cream? My husband, self-designated ice-cream maker in our household, made a sweet cream base and used the recipe from the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book. Our first homemade ice-cream was on Mother's Day when he made us some creamy Oreo Mint ice-cream, I'm still dreaming about that one! The mint was just the perfect amount, so gooD!

Tuesday's inspiration ...2 days later

2009-05-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

I instantly fell in love with these beautiful collages at etsy store Sascalia. I'm so inspired by these Mom and baby themes; love the whimsy in them.

The blue in this spring flowers collage caught my eye right away; love the blue and the colorful flowers that pop out of it!

My new tin thing

2009-05-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe my good luck at Marshalls last Thursday. I was strolling through the outdoor decor aisle when this cute tin wall decor item stopped me in my tracks.

I picked it up, inspected it, and got giddy with glee as my brain shot images of different nooks in my house that would be perfect for it. So I bought it on clearance for $7! When I went home, I peeled back the red tag and was surprised that its original price was $28. Woohoo, score!

I still have no clue what I'd put in the adorable little buckets (not herbs or plants for sure), but this thing is so darn cute! It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Swimming and summers

2009-05-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Wearing their swimming vests... can you see how excited they are!
This past Saturday was the start of swim season for my family; I love our together time in the pool. Lots of splashes, laughter, and pride.

We ate an early breakfast, watched some cartoons, and around 10 A.M. the kids got super excited getting into their swim gear. This will become our summer Saturday routine. If you remember, we started swimming regularly late last year, so I'm glad we're doing it much earlier this year.

I've a friend who mentioned that she has *counted* exactly how many summers she has left until her wee kids head to college because she wants to be sure she makes the most of them. How wonderful is that! I am inspired.

Chips and pretzels in my cookie

2009-05-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Potato chips, Fritos corn chips, and pretzels in a cookie? I was intrigued. So yesterday I made Oatmeal Cookie Guy's Copycat Momofuku Compost Cookie.

I skipped the coffee grounds and replaced the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips with Reese's baking pieces (milk chocolate with peanut butter crème).

Can you spot the ruffled potato chip peeking out of this cookie? (I used Ruffles original potato chips)
This cookie recipe is now one of our family favorites! We enjoyed the chippy crunch and the salty-sweetness in each cookie. Loved it! Funny, my hub surprised me when he told me he really liked this cookie even before I had the chance to get his feedback (which is typically the case). And when I told him it contained potato chips, Fritos corn chips, and pretzels, his reaction was priceless! Yeah!

Thanks Oatmeal Cookie Guy for sharing another delicious cookie recipe!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Aren't these a cute alternative to plain tin buckets! Me thinks me craft room needs some of these. See these and more at etsy store Tiny Decor.

Cherry chocolate-chunk cookies

2009-04-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made a batch of cherry chocolate-chunk cookies after watching John Barricelli make his on the Martha Stewart Show.

John's cookie recipe had good feedback, except I noticed one reviewer had mentioned that they were too flat. That raised the red flag for me; flat cookies do not appeal to me. So I decided to tweak his recipe. I used 1 cup of dark brown sugar and a half-cup of granulated sugar instead of light-brown sugar and granulated sugar from his recipe. I also skipped the toffee bits and replaced it with a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. By the way, I used whole dried tart cherries (Stoneridge Orchards) which I bought from Costco.

The cookies turned out incredibly good! They weren't flat either, yay! I loved the melty chocolate chunks and that cherry and dark chocolate combo ...oh me oh my, heavenly!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-04-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to go ga-ga over handbags, but when I saw Longchamp's Ceci est un It bag, my heart raced, I was in love! I. want. this. bag. Must. have. this. bag. Need. this. bag. It comes in a beautiful orange color too!

Grilled pineapple and sausage panini

2009-04-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

Grilled pineapple... warm and so very sweet, yum! Today I made the family some grilled pineapple and sausage panini for lunch.

Pineapple slices and sausages went on the grill while I buttered and brushed teriyaki sauce on sliced focaccia, bought yesterday from the farmer's market.

Assembly was easy; a grilled pineapple slice on one-half of the focaccia, topped with sliced sausages, tomato, and thinly sliced onions. Placed the other facaccia slice on top and grilled it with the panini press. So gooD!

Tuesday's inspiration ...3 days later

2009-04-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Aren't these Easter eggs and rabbits cute! Sidsel over at Spagat is sharing them, yeah! I'll be printing mine today.

Lemon yogurt cake

2009-04-06T20:24:00.000-07:00

What! Yogurt in cake? And no butter? That intrigued me. So this afternoon I baked Ina Garten's lemon yogurt cake. I skipped the glaze as I didn't want the cake too sweet, and I was right; it didn't need the glaze.

The cake was fantastic! The edges were slightly crunchy and the inside was so moist and velvety; I must say the sweet lemony tang from the lemon sugar mixture was delightful! This is a wonderful cake to serve anytime.

By the way, Smitten Kitchen has a blueberry version of this cake. Yum!

Seared sea scallops

2009-04-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

I scored some fresh sea scallops today! Went home and simply seared these babies like Alton Brown; heavenly gooD!

Dried blueberries and oatmeal cookies

2009-04-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

I baked some blueberry oatmeal cookies last week, using dried blueberries as called for in the recipe. Since I've never had dried blueberries before, I thought I'd give them a try. Oh, and since we're in the middle of Lent, and I'm giving up chocolate, these didn't have any chocolate chips. Yummy but not as flavorful as using fresh blueberries. Hmmm... or maybe because I'm missing the taste of chocolate.

Anyhow, remember these cookies? xoxo

Dumplings and orechiette

2009-03-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

Here are snapshots of our favorite dinner meals last week.

We had lamb and turkey dumplings for dinner on Thursday. I marinated the meat with a mixture of grated ginger, minced garlic and onion, soy sauce, sesame sauce, and white pepper. I made 60 dumplings, majority of them were bagged and placed in the freezer for future use. The rest were pan-fried to get them crisp on one side, then steamed in chicken stock for 6 minutes.

On Tuesday I made Orechiette with Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone, recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. I used maple sausage and added an entire 8 oz tub of mascarpone; it made all the difference! This was a big hit with the fam. Oh, and I love the cute orechiette pasta discs!

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-03-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

I love this combination of stripes, dots and floral patterns. A very pretty patchwork eye pillow from etsy store Love Forever.

Speedy sock puppets

2009-03-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

My boys asked to make sock puppets yesterday, so we searched for my youngest son's hole-ly socks, some buttons, string, and craft glue.

I did a quick mend of the socks, then we glued on string for eyebrows and brown buttons for eyes; this was my youngest son's puppet whom he named Rah.

For my eldest son's puppet, we put glue half-way up a bunch of string for hair and blue buttons for eyes. He named his puppet Blue.

This was such a quick project, they were off and playing with the puppets in 15 minutes, and that included glue-drying time.

Tuesday's inspiration

2009-03-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Don't you love the image on this card by Chewing the Cud?! I heart you, beautiful smokin' hot card.

Edited: Couldn't resist, you're now *mine* along with these other two beauts.

We love banana cake, Mr. Banana Legs

2009-03-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

My family enjoys banana cake and this morning we discovered our favorite. I baked Warren Brown's Mr. Banana Legs, a delicious banana cake recipe from his book, CakeLove.

Unlike typical banana cake, this cake was far from heavy, oily and soggy. It was very light and banana sweet. After almost filling my bundt pan, I used the little leftover batter at the end to make 10 mini cupcakes; my 2-year-old wolfed down 6 of those in one sitting!

Tofu and eggs in a nest

2009-03-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

I've been on a one-pot meal roll this week! I can't explain it entirely but it's just so easy and relaxing—and fun—to layer starch (grain, pasta, or potatoes), protein (meat or seafood), and an assortment of vegetables in my enameled cast iron pot. I'm loving it!

I find my family eating more vegetables than ever before. And I love the extra 53 minutes of free time (53 minutes as that's the time it takes to cook anything in my 5.5 qt pot); I simply chuck the pot into the 450'F oven and wait for the timer to beep, and a healthy meal is ready in less than an hour. Fabulous!

So for lunch today, I made a vegetarian one-pot meal: Tofu and Eggs in a Nest. The latter recipe from the book, Glorious One-Pot Meals called for ground cumin, garlic, onion, bell pepper, potato, cabbage, eggs, and bread to be layered in the pot.

I must say what intrigued me the most was that I had to make 4 wells in the cabbage layer and crack 4 eggs into each well; then top it with 2 slices of thick rustic bread. I was excited to see how the eggs would turn out, and they turned out perfectly cooked; yolks were bright yellow and whites were soft.

I expected the bread to be steamed and soggy at the end, but surprisingly both slices got toasted in the pot instead; what wonderful crunchy slices!

To add a little twist to the recipe, I added some baby bellas and firm tofu cubes; these were marinated in a mixture of garlic, ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, shao hsing wine, honey, cilantro, and basil. Lovely!

Information about Glorious One-Pot Meals and Elizabeth Yarnell's infusion cooking technique

Tuesday's inspiration ...a day later

2009-03-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

Scanwiches ...a great site for sandwich inspiration and delight. Who would've thunk it!

{ Image from Scanwiches }
February 23 - grilled pork, vietnamese salami, sliced pork roll, pickled carrots, cilantro, and cucumber on a baguette

Yay for enameled cast iron pots

2009-03-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased my first enameled cast iron dutch oven pot, a 5.5 qt blue colored one from the Martha Stewart Collection. Love the sky blue and the price was an unbeatable $34 during one of Macy's sales! The beautiful pot arrived last week; I'm making one-pot dinners all this week using the recipes from Elizabeth Yarnell's book, Glorious One-Pot Meals, which uses the infusion cooking technique.

I've made two recipes so far. Honey and Spice Pork was our first meal from the pot; last night I made Sesame-Soy Tilapia. The recipe called for salmon but I used tilapia fillets instead. Both meals were so delicious, moist, and flavorful!

I love being able to mix frozen meats or vegetables with fresh ones all in one pot. Best of all, there's only one pot to wash and baked-on food gets washed off easily; it is a heavy pot no doubt but mine is a beautiful cheery blue to look at. This was absolutely a great buy, yeah!

Sesame-Soy Tilapia dinner: Layered in the pot were rice, tilapia fillets, sliced bell peppers, cabbage, avocado, and a garlic, ginger, lemon, sesame seeds, soy sauce, vinegar mixture

This is how it looks after baking for 53 minutes in a 450'F oven.

Look at the fluffy and moist tilapia fillet!