speaking of DIY popsicles...

Have you seen this - the Zoku Quick Pop Maker? It freezes popsicles in 10 minutes.

Definitely think it would be interesting to try. I love the patterns and designs you can create. I've been wondering what the next big food thing will be after cupcakes...maybe this summer it'll be "gourmet" popsicles?!?

opposite party

This week is this girl's birthday...

We have Sunday dinner at Adam's family every week and celebrate a lot of birthdays with 2 parents, 8 siblings, 6 spouses and 20 grandchildren who regularly attend. Elle's birthday is only one day after her cousin so the plan was to celebrate both birthdays on Sunday. I told myself to keep it simple this year (I don't want to set an expectation for her that she gets a big party every year) and have a cake for her at Sunday dinner and then Pinkalicious cupcakes and dinner on her actual birthday for just our family.

But...I just couldn't stop myself. It became quite apparent I have issues. Friday I called my sister-in-law with an idea to throw an Opposite Party. I thought we could play off an "opposites attract" concept because they were born only one day apart but are opposite in so many ways...he's a blonde/she's a brunette, he's blue-eyed/she's brown-eyed, he's a boy/she's a girl. Luckily, she was on board and I think we pulled off a fun party in basically one weekend. I think it may become a tradition for our Sunday birthday celebration for Elle and Ayden.

Party Invite - sent by email.

Party Favors -

for the boys: gummy worms, gummy fish and candy rocks

for the girls: candy necklaces, candy lipstick, candy rings

Table Decor:

Elle side: pink, girly, flowers, sparkles, white ornate frame with photo, pink dessert plates, pink napkins

(notice the opposite silverware! thanks megan for that added touch)

Table Decor:

Ayden side: blue, boyish, rocks, sticks, simple

silver frame with photo, blue dessert plates, blue napkins

Table Decor:

We made the center of the table between the pink and blue more neutral and added dessert snacks to eat at the table.

silver candlesticks with white candles (big/small)

clear vases filled with chocolate and white opposites

white chocolate and milk chocolate pretzels (dark/light)

yogurt raisins and chocolate raisins (black/white)

hershey kisses and white chocolate chips (big/small)

Birthday Sign:

Happy: big, blue, uppercase letters, print

Birthday: small, pink, lowercase letters, cursive

Elle's Cake:

pink frosting (girl)/chocolate cake (brunette)

cake (round and small)/cake stand (square and big)

white sprinkles (small)

Ayden's Cake:

blue frosting (boy) /white cake (blond)

cake (small and square)/cake platters (round and tall)

white sprinkles (big)

Food (unfortunately only one picture):

The food was served on a variety of white square platters and white round bowls.

pink lemonade (sour)/blue rasberry kool-aid (sweet)

grilled chicken with dipping sauces

buffalo sauce (hot)/ranch (cool)

barbeque (red)/honey mustard (yellow)

peas (small, round)/sweet potato fries (long, square)

sticky white rice scooped into round balls

I printed out opposite words to describe the food, punched them into circles and squares and taped them to the serving dishes. I wish I would have had more time to really make this element better.

Party Outfits: I like our clothes to coordinate. I know it's cheesy but I can't help it. :)

Mom and Dad in blue (Adam had on a yellow tie that morning. When he came home from his meeting he saw our pink and blue and changed his tie to blue without me even asking him. He's learned that the tie must coordinate!) I used one of Adam's ties as a belt because I didn't have anything else blue. It worked great.

Elle and Liv in matching pink dresses with bows.

The two 3-year-olds

The Party Details:

We had dessert first (white ice cream with chocolate sauce)

Usually the mom's get food for the kids and themselves before the men, so we had the dad's get food for the kids and themselves first followed by the women.

Everyone sat on opposite sides/ends of the table from their normal seating place.

tiny chocolate kisses

Found this idea via my cousin's blog. Just wrap chocolate chips with foil to create mini chocolate kisses.

rainbow jello

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Isn't this rainbow jello idea fun? It'd be a great treat for today or a fun snack to make when teaching kids about colors. 

[food] heart hashbrowns

While I'm posting about Valentine's Day, I think our new family tradition will be heart hashbrowns for breakfast. Hashbrowns are one of Adam's favorite food so this year we surprised him with heart shaped hashbrowns and pink milk (another favorite of his). He loves ketchup. I do not. Lucky for him, ketchup is red and added the perfect finishing touch.

cranberry cosmo

In my perfect blog world, I took the time to remake these drinks in a variety of flavors and took amazing stylized photos to accompany exciting text on how to create a fun Valentine's day drink. In my reality, this will have to do.

The picture is of a cranberry cosmo drink I made in December for a Christmas party. Cranberry definitely seems seasonal, but I think you could also easily make it with other fruit flavors (any red fruits like strawberry or raspberry would be perfect for Valentine's day.) I found the basic recipe on the Food Network and modified it for my needs. Of course, my version needed to be non-alcoholic so I tried a few different sodas until I found the taste I liked.

Here's my version of the cranberry cosmo:

scoop of cranberry granita (see recipe below)

ginger ale (I also tried club soda but thought it was too bitter)

splash of fresh lime juice

Place granita in glass, cover with ginger ale and add splash of lime juice. Serve immediately. The frozen granita acts like ice to keep the drink cold and easily melts into the ginger ale. I also added a toothpick skewered with frozen cranberries to help keep the drink cold.

Cranberry Granita

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups cranberries

3/4 cups sugar

Place all ingredients in sauce pan over medium heat until berries start to pop (approx. 7 minutes). Remove from heat and puree. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a freezer safe pan. (I don't have fine mesh strainer so I used a thin white dishtowel. It worked great, just turned my dishtowel pink.) Place pan in freezer until frozen. When ready to use, scrape with fork to create shaved ice texture.

confession session

Confession session comes from my sister-in-law Julie, who kept us continually laughing with her confession sessions on a family trip to Denmark. Today my confession session is that I haven't had a working oven since May. It hasn't really been too much of an issue. With a new baby and the summer months, I've only really missed it on a handful of occasions. Most of the things I would have baked in the oven anyway would have been full of fat and sugar. However now with fall, I've got to stop being lazy and cheap and get it fixed.

When I get it fixed, these cupcakes are first on my list to try - perfect for using any left over candy corns. I can't imagine a much better combination - pumpkin, cream cheese and candy corns. Definitely my kind of treat.

artisan bread

My friend Heather first made this bread after reading about it on A Little Sussy.  I tried it and loved the results.  It is so easy and makes the perfect "european or artisan" style of bread.  I passed the recipe on to my mom who was also amazed at the results and began baking it daily.  The ingredients are prep work are minimal.  However, it does take about 12 hours to rise before it is ready to bake.  Here is the link to the recipe.  Try it...you'll love it.

cupcake frosting recipe

Here is the recipe I used for the tiny cupcakes (per Heather's request). I found the recipe here. It is supposedly similar to the Sprinkles Cupcakes frosting recipe. I eliminated the salt because I used salted butter and found it too salty for my taste.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 t. milk

1 t. vanilla

1/8 t. salt

Mix the butter and sugar until blended (I let mine mix in my KitchenAid until they were completely combined and almost "fluffy").

Add the milk, vanilla and salt and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

I frosted my cupcakes using a Wilton Cupcake Decorator kit. I bought mine at Target, but couldn't find it anywhere online - not even a picture. It is similar to the Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro - but plastic. I thought it worked well and made it easy to pipe the thick swirls of frosting.

porcupine cupcakes

Elle's first birthday had a porcupine theme. I made her a pink porcupine cake based on the tradition that started with my dad creating a porcupine cake for each of us on our first birthdays (mine was chocolate with chocolate frosting and candy corns). Elle's was chocolate cake with pink "spiky" frosting and pink good and plenty candies used as the porcupine spikes. The cake was just for her so for everyone else I made pink porcupine cupcakes. The frosting was so easy and turned out just they way I hoped.

"spiky" frosting recipe:

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 t. cream of tartar

2 egg whites

1 t. vanilla extract

- In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, water and cream of tartar. Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly.

- In a medium mixing bowl, whip the egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar mixture while whipping constantly until stiff peaks form, about 7 to 10 minutes.

(I use my Kitchen Aid and it works great. This is one reason I love this recipe version of this frosting. Other similar recipes have you use a double boiler or place the mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water and mix with a hand mixer. It works, but is much more of a hassle.)

lemon cordial

For the past few holidays, I've been wanting to create a neighbor/family gift that was a drink packaged in a cute bottle. However, I've never been able to find a great drink recipe (especially one that was non-alcholic). This lemon cordial idea is perfect. I can't wait to try it out.

party invites

I love lemonheads so naturally I love this invitation idea. This was used for a baby shower, but you could use the same idea for any party or event. I think it would be perfect with a letterpressed invite.

mini pies

These mini pies might be a fun addition to Elle's "mini-themed' birthday party. And if not for that, at least some girly get together or lunch in the summer.

mini ice cream treats

I've started to plan what I want to do for Elle's birthday party next month. I'm thinking a mini or tiny theme with cute tiny party hats, a mini cake just for Elle, cupcakes and finger foods for everyone else. These mini ice cream scoops might be the perfect addition to theme.