Not my birthday wish

Can you guess what's happening in our home? This was a lovely care package, left outside our apartment door this morning, from a good friend. Actually, I desperately requested a few of the items, and she compassionately added the others. Not an ideal 4th birthday for our daughter, but luckily, we have a party to look forward to this weekend.
We'll be re-energizing around here this week, so I'm not sure how much fun the ol' blog will be. But then again, it could be a much-needed break.
Good health to you!

Sheet pans

My sheet pan is one of the most-used items in my kitchen. I love it. I highly recommend purchasing your own high-quality, heavy, aluminum, rimmed baking sheet. You can use it for practically everything that goes in the oven-cookies, vegetables, meats, galettes, breads, biscuits, etc. These pans (called half sheets, as they're half-sized compared to a full-sized commercial pan) bake/roast evenly, don't warp, and they're the perfect size for standard ovens. What's your new pan going to cost, you ask? King Arthur Flour sells one for $17.95 or 2/$30, Williams-Sonoma for $17.00 or 2/$30, but mine? I got it for $5.00 at a commercial baking supply store in Chicago. That was several years ago, but they haven't raised their prices too much. Now they're $6.50. That was worth checking around for!
Of course, along with your pan, you should get some parchment and/or a silicone baking mat. Parchment is wonderful. You can slide the entire sheet off your pan or lift your baked goods right off and reuse it until it's practically no more. Then you don't even have to clean your pan. Parchment comes in rolls or sheets from the same sources mentioned above (and can be used for a wide variety of things in addition to lining a sheet pan). Again, with a little research, you may be able to find this cheaper. I got a large stack of sheets from a caterer at little cost.
The silicone mats fit perfectly into one of these pans, are nonstick, and are super easy to clean. Haven't ever found a great deal on these, though.
For some professional opinions on baking sheets and liners see this article from Fine Cooking.
Now I have my eye on a quarter sheet pan for smaller recipes and for use in the freezer.

P.S. My sister crocheted the lovely hotpads in the photo above and I can't bring myself to actually use them for fear of ruining them!

Kitchen scale

I've always wanted a bright-colored vintage kitchen scale and found one not long ago at my favorite little antique shop. It was a steal! I haven't even wiped it off and it looks great. Probably would have looked even better with more light, but Chicago hasn't really gotten it's spring sun yet.

Rejected

I made these soft balls for the kids for Easter using a pattern from Grand Revival. They were quick to make and I used fabric I had on hand. I'm not great at stitching up round things like balls and stuffed animals, but these turned out alright-just a little tumorous. Actually, my mom stuffed them and stitched them closed for me while she was visiting. No wonder it seemed like such a quick project!
I was excited to give a handmade gift to the kids (today, since we didn't get to it yesterday), but my daughter wasn't so thrilled. She was clearly expecting something else, because her excitement vanished as soon as she pulled out the ball. She threw it down, claiming she didn't like it and didn't want it. Not exactly what I was expecting. So we gave away her ball to one of our friends at playgroup today. It's not really the kind of giving I want her to become accustomed to ("It's not good enough for me so I'll give it to someone else" or giving as a punishment), but today, that's all my mind came up with. I was sorry to see it go, but oh well.
At least my son likes his.

Easter sweets

This year's surprise Easter treat. I saw these at Angry Chicken and thought they'd be great for us since they're so easy and we just happened to have a bunch of Shredded Wheat cereal and chocolate chips around. I made ours in baking cups, to keep the size relatively small and to help form the nest, and topped them with Cadbury Mini Eggs. They firmed up quickly in the fridge. If you eat as much shredded wheat as we did this week, you don't even have to crush it up, just use the huge amount of crumbs at the bottom of the bags.
Below are last year's nests. Rather, coconut-grass-topped cupcakes. Carrot cake, of course.
My daughter's birthday is so close to Easter, these were actually her birthday treats. We dyed eggs at her little party, too. This year, a pinata is on the menu. More to come on that in a couple weeks!

Happy Easter!

This morning's efforts. With 2 and 3 year-olds I've decided it's most fun to skip the fancy egg-decorating techniques and just enjoy the dipping, crowding, swirling, and smashing that comes with the old PAAS dye kit.
I've also decided that the perfect adult-to-child ratio for preschoolers is 2:1.
Today, after we dyed our eggs, we painted with the dye. Paintbrushes, spoons, straws, some good pucker-up-and-blow, and just pouring the bowls of dye onto the watercolor paper produced good and messy results.
Happy Easter!

Nature Sculpture

The kids and I just made these great little nature sculptures I found at The Artful Parent (she found them at Write, Mama, Write!) I love this project for it's many varied steps. First the outdoor exercise-hunting and gathering objects of nature while pushing a doll stroller around the block. Then the indoor exercises-organizing your nature objects, molding and imprinting the clay sculptures, baking them and (optionally) painting them. One of my children was more interested in making worms and mustaches with the clay than with sculpting it, but that didn't detract from the fun or the success of the project. In fact, it helped give the grown-ups time to roll the clay.
We bought our Sculpey modeling clay at Target, but you may be more likely to find it in an art/craft supply store. It's very easy to use. First, you soften it by kneading it a bit, then roll it in golf ball or larger-sized balls, press it on your found objects (to a little less than 1/2" thick), peel objects off, place imprinted clay on baking sheets and bake at 275 degrees for about 20 minutes to harden them (See directions on box, as well). We haven't painted ours yet, but that leaves us an activity we can pull out when we need something new to do.
Try it!

Quick, cute magnets

Make some super cute magnets with photos and tin can lids. These are fun to whip up by yourself or with kids.

Here's your supply list:
photo
scissors
pencil
compass (optional)
tin can lid or juice can lid
sticky tape
adhesive magnets or plain magnets and craft glue
laminating sheets

1. Take your photo and either place the lid on and trace around it or make a circle with your compass (preset it by adjusting it to your lid) including the part of the photo you want in your magnet.
2. Cut out a piece from your laminating sheet and press it down onto your photo. Cut out your circle. If you traced your lid, you'll need to cut inside the circle a bit.
3. Use double-sided sticky tape or glue to stick your photo to your lid. Stick it to the side of the lid where the center is recessed, creating a rim or frame around the perimeter.
4. Stick or glue your magnets onto the back.

Tip: I used this can-opener that takes off lids without leaving sharp edges. It's great when you have kids around or if you plan on using the can or lid for projects.

Even easier magnets:
Sandwich a cute photo between two pieces of laminate (cut the photo first, if it needs cropping). Cut around it, leaving a laminated border. Stick magnets onto the back. Keep it until you can properly embarrass your subject.

Building blocks

I love bright colors, wooden toys, and good deals at antique stores. So when I found these for $1.30, I couldn't pass them up. After a thorough Clorox wipe-down, we've been enjoying them.

Craft project and eating your vegetables

So, it's a struggle for all moms to get their kids to eat their veggies, right? I don't have the answers, but do have a fun idea to encourage creativity and encourage eating the good stuff.
We often add "sprinkles" to our kids' foods and allow them to do the sprinkling themselves. This is sometimes just what they need to finish off their broccoli, sweet potatoes, yogurt, or what have you. Sometimes, though, our sprinkles are purchased in bulk-sized containers and, therefore, aren't easy for little arms to control. So, I filled small spice bottles with some favorite sprinkles and let the kids decorate new labels and rename the contents. Now they can easily sprinkle their own shark bites and moon pebbles on their cucumbers and chicken.

If you'd like to try this, here are some basic instructions and suggestions:

Sprinkles: wheat germ (one of our favorites for yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, etc. Keep in mind this needs to be refrigerated.), sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds, sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg.

Take out some old, emptied spice bottles. Wash and dry thoroughly.
Peel off and measure the label (or use your sewing tape measure to wrap and measure).
Draw measured rectangles on paper.
Show your kids the new bottle contents and encourage them to come up with creative new names.
Have kids draw/color the measured rectangles.
Label them.
Cut out and tape or glue onto spice bottles. (I used a super sticky double-sided tape).

Tip: I drew very light shape outlines on our paper. Often, the best bits of the kids' drawings end up outside the lines (or they draw their own lines), so this way I could shift my cut-lines without having a dark outline showing through the drawing. Here's an example of one of our coloring pages before I cut the labels out.

P.S. Hello to everyone from Ohdeedoh, Craftzine, Mom Advice, sk*rt, and Parent Hacks. Thanks for visiting!

No-Bake, No Good?

I love a bit of nostalgia. Although, by definition, it's a bittersweet feeling, and I've never really thought of it that way. I find it's usually happy and comforting. Like the No-Bake Cookie. For me, No-Bake Cookies mean melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey sugar and grade school classroom parties. Someone always brought them, right? (Maybe the bitter part of this nostalgia is being homesick for the no-big-worry lifestyle of a 3rd grader?) I remember really liking these cookies, but only eating them at parties or other peoples' houses.
When discussing this memory with my sister (after our world-affairs conversation, of course), I realized that for years we both harbored the same snooty secret about No-Bake Cookies. Since they are called No-Bake Cookies and our mom doesn't make them, they must be beneath us (at least when it comes to making them, but not necessarily when it comes to eating them). So, I never made this cookie until I married a man who liked them and came with his own hand-me-down recipe for them. (His recipe calls them Boiled Cookies, however, which for me conjures up really unappetizing images, so I stick to proclaiming what sounds like cookie 2nd-rated-ness with the title "No-Bake.")
Years later, I admit to having an appreciation for this cookie. It may be one of the fastest-making cookies ever, providing close to instant gratification. It has a fun sense of nostalgia. And it still has that distinct yumminess of chocolate-sugar. I do still wonder if it qualifies as a real cookie (are pastry chefs making these at home or sending them to school with their kids?), but feel more confident making them with my ever-so-slightly more healthy and contemporary ingredients: rolled oats and dark chocolate. That kicks things up a notch, right?
Anyway, I'm not ashamed to say I like them and I make them and, on top of that, I'm sharing the recipe.
(I apologize for my food-snobbery, which is completely unwarranted considering I have a very non-particular and undiscerning palate. Who knows where it comes from?)
Enjoy! And party like a 3rd-grader.

No-Bake Cookies
2 c sugar
1 stick margarine or butter
3 level Tbsp cocoa
1/2 c milk
3 Tbsp peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3/4 c coconut
2 c quick oats
3/4 c chopped pecans (optional)

Get all ingredients and wax paper ready before beginning.
Melt butter in large skillet. Take off heat and add sugar, cocoa, and milk. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly. When it reaches a full rolling boil, cook and stir for 1 and 1/2 minutes (do not overcook). Turn off heat. Add all at once-peanut butter, coconut, pecans, and oats. Mix thoroughly, making sure peanut butter is blended in. Spoon onto wax paper. Should firm up in 20-30 minutes.

Sweet Cake Bag

I am loving this "sweet and tasty" new bag from my great-gift-giving friend Mandi. She brought it all the way from Japan just for me! Thanks, Mandi!
We had a nice lunch out yesterday, and now I have two new dishes to attempt replicating: sweet potato chowder with parsnips and lemon cream pie (or any flavor, really) with meringue crust.

One of those mornings

Do you see what's happening here? It's like when you put the milk in the cabinet, the box of markers in the refrigerator, the bananas in the microwave...you know. Why do our brains and our bodies sometimes function at two completely different speeds? Today I'm blaming it on the time change, but I don't know what the problem is the rest of the time.

Vintage Needle Books

Aren't these great? Vintage needle books from the 40s and 50s, I think. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I love the images. My small collection consists of these 5 books (one set above is a front/back). Here is a short article about a collector featured in Country Living with 150+ needle books. They are such cute pieces to use as decorating accents, for framing or for paper projects and can often be found for under $5.00 (ranging in price, of course, from $3-$100). If you're interested in finding some for yourself, check antique markets, Americana Resources, or the long list on ebay.

Beans and Cornbread

Randi at I have to say... is hosting a "Money-saving meal" recipe swap today. My contribution is an old family favorite: Beans and Cornbread. I've never considered Beans and Cornbread a meal worth sharing with anyone outside my family, so I decided to do a quick search to see what the general consensus is regarding this meal before admitting we eat it frequently and quite happily.
Appalachian Home Cooking History, Culture, & Recipes says "Soup beans were such a staple during the winter that general stores, when they began carrying dried beans, carried 50 lb. bags alongside the typical 1, 2, & 5 lb. bags. In the winter months, a pot of beans simmered on the stove of every house every day." (via Wikipedia) I guess they've been pretty popular.
I know restaurants serve Beans and Cornbread and I found a restaurant named Beans and Cornbread in Southfield, Michigan.
I found an enthusiastic review of Beans and Cornbread with beautifully photographed instructions for making your own at The Pioneer Woman Cooks. She loves beans and admits it quite freely! (her photo, above)
Lastly, my own family history: Both of my grandmothers served Beans and Cornbread-one served it with spinach, one with fried potatoes (as I read is also typical). My mom served ours with potatoes. These days, I consider remembering to cook a big pot of beans accomplishment enough and don't bother with sides. Except the cornbread, of course. And regarding cornbread...I am a fan whether it's sweetened or not. I usually use a no-frills recipe, but today I'm posting a jazzed-up version to accompany my no-frills beans.
Without further ado, here is my recipe for Beans and Cornbread.

Beans
Buy a 2 lb. bag of dried pinto beans. Follow cooking directions on the back of the bag or do this...
Open your bag o' beans and pour into a colander. Rinse the beans and discard any bits of dirt, rock or other non-bean material. Pour beans into large pot. Add water to about 3 inches above beans. Soak overnight.
Bring water to a boil, then simmer for about an hour. Test beans for desired degree of firmness or smashability.
Salt to taste. I suggest 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons per pound of beans.
Done!

Corn Muffins with Green Onions and Sour Cream
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed, drained (I usually skip this option)
1 cup chopped green onions
I add 1 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese mix and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk sour cream, eggs, and melted butter in another bowl. Add sour cream mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold in corn kernels and green onions (or cheese).
Divide batter equally among 12 lined muffin cups. Bake until golden and tester inserted in center of muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.
(Bon Appetit, November 1994)

Serve your beans over your cornbread or butter your bread and eat it on the side, but definitely use it sop up your bean juice.
Use a portion of your beans for making chili, refried beans or burritos, freeze some for later or just eat up!

Twenty-nine cent treasures

You can't go wrong with vintage children's books. Really, you can use them for anything and they're often very affordable. My friend Mandi gave me the one pictured above, so I can't say if it was still 29 cents (see price at top right corner of cover), but I bet it was close. The book pictured below cost me $1.00. At those prices, I find them very hard to pass up.
So, how to use them? How about...birth announcements (I've done this 3 times-once with the little drummer boy above), party invitations, gift tags, decoupage projects, collage art, scrapbooking, framing (I framed two pages from the ABC book below), reading (!), decorating, and the list goes on. For many of these purposes you'd want to scan the images first and then play with the newly printed pages instead of destroying a great old book that you could use again.



And here's a site for downloading entire vintage children's books: The Rosetta Project.

It's sew time for spring!

I've been thinking about sewing kids' clothes. I've never done it before, but figure it's practical, the fabric is fun and it's time to try something new! Here is a tiny selection of fabric that caught my eye from PurlSoho. There are some great online fabric shops, but beware-once you start looking at fabric, it's sooo hard to stop.

Here are a few tutorials for little girls' clothes that I'm excited about:
Wrap dress from Tiny Happy
Ruffled skirt from Grand Revival Design
Pillowcase dress, Smocket, and more in the Girls' Clothes Tutorial Round-up at Sew, Mama, Sew!
Sleeveless top and ruffled pants from JCaroline Creative

And here are a few online fabric shops:
eQuilter
Sew, Mama, Sew!
Purl Soho
JCaroline Creative
LadyButton
Flapper Girl
Repro Depot
Cia's Palette
Hancock's of Paducah

Leftover pretzels+chocolate=Fun for kids or "These pretzels are making me thirsty!"

We had pretzels leftover from those Valentine pretzel buttons and they happen to be one thing I just can't snack on (no matter how much tea I have beside me). So, since the kids were restless, we pulled out the pretzels, some chocolate chips and sprinkles and went to town. I melted the chocolate in the microwave then let them dip the pretzels and shower with sprinkles. Stuck the pan in the freezer for a few minutes and voila! Now, I don't let them actually eat much of this stuff, so who ends up adding it to their belly (or thighs or chin or....)?