Children's Book of the Week

Bob Shea has some really cute books, and this is one of them!

Throw on your sassiest voice and read this to a bunch of kids, you'll have them laughing.. actually when I read it, the Moms were enjoying it even more..

Happy Reading!

Spicy Chipotle Hummus

Who doesn't love chipotle? Well, a lot of people but they're crazy.

I took this Hummus Recipe and twisted everything around until it was almost unrecognizable.

I am warning you, this hummus is hot! But you'll survive.

Combine everything listed into the blender..

16oz. can of uncooked chickpeas

(reserve all liquid)

2-3 tablespoons of reserved liquid

1/3 cup of Goya Chipotle peppers

(this includes the liquid and peppers.. take a nice big scoop from the can)

3-4 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

4 tablespoons of tahini

2 cloves of minced garlic

then add a dash of salt, paprika and cumin and blend!

Once you've reached your desired consistency and flavor pour into a dish and enjoy with chips and veggies!

Forest Friends Masks

Oh, have I mentioned how much we like camping yet? 

Enough to make it the theme of Vans 4th Birthday party!

In previous years we went wild celebrating his birthday with parties of 60+ people and unfortunately (and in some ways fortunately) we had to scale it down this year. With the convenience of having a back yard we decided to throw a BBQ for our little dude. Not having any grass but a big space makes having this camping themed gathering oh so appropriate!

It is this upcoming weekend and will share other photos once the party is over and I lay in a sugar and sangria coma on my couch.

With that, I'd really love to share what I've been working on this week. I really am SO excited about these.

I hand stitched a wool felt bear, raccoon, wolf, fox, squirrel, skunk and deer mask. I had every intention on throwing an owl and butterfly in there but had to quit to make the party favors. Each mask is double sided in a complementary color and stitched with cotton thread in a variety of colors.

Vans favorite is the deer, but I am partial to the bear. The squirrel seems to be more of a morph of a chipmunk and hamster but whatever- his cheeks have cotton balls in them! Since the eyes are so high up the cheeks cover the kids and make them look chubby, its cute whatever animal it is!

I can't wait to share the other little things I've been working on!

Happy Birthday to my favorite boy.

BBQ Sauce Recipe

For my sisters engagement party this past weekend I made a very basic BBQ sauce, since I canned 40 jars of it. But now I'm regretting not getting fancy... So now I will, sorry Jess!

This recipe is different from any sauce I've tried. It's inspired from one of my buddy's putting jam in with his steak marinade. I was intrigued; so I set out to find something similar for my chicken..

Combining in your blender..

1 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries

1/4 cup of chopped fresh ginger

1/4 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup of packed brown sugar

1/4 cup of honey 

(we luckily had some pure raw honey from the union square green market!)

And a dash of salt, pepper and hot sauce

 (I used about 8 drops of Sriracha hot chili sauce)

Blend this all until it is combined into a liquid. Transfer it to a microwaveable dish and heat for 4 minutes covered with parchment or wax paper.

Remove and stir, return to the microwave for an additional 4 minutes, stir and let cool.

I am letting this marinade with the chicken in the fridge overnight but brushed onto the meat before grilling works too!

I don't know about you but when I marinade I like to use a big ziploc bag, this way not an inch of meat doesn't get coated.

Happy Grilling!!!

Children's Book of the Week!

Great documentary! It'll send you on a quest to find more videos of extremists like Phillipe Petit, or in this case; books! 

I had no idea there was a children's book based on his wild "stunt" of walking between the twin towers. I am always searching for children's books about New York City and was lucky enough to stumble upon this!

Children's Book of the Week!

Oh boy, I slacked off last week with choosing a children's book! 

So this week I chose a book and let Van pick any book. He chose the book his Dad has read to him every night this week; 'The wolf who cried boy' so he has clearly enjoyed it.

The book I chose stuck with the theme but is told by the Wolf. It is a really cute story with fantastic illustrations! 

On the topic of this theme; Since we've moved a few months back, Van now has a tree in our back yard to climb. Just about every time he is back there climbing he yells for help. At first we'd run to his rescue thinking his foot may be stuck or a branch is weak. This became old real quick.. So I set out to the library for this book to teach him that yelling 'HELP!' will eventually lose its urgency when you yell it for no reason. Well, with that we've read just about every version of this book and he still yells help. Only difference is we don't RUN to his rescue, just glance over to see him smirking at us. Cheeky Monkey...

Fresh Baked White Bread

I wished five lucky ladies a 'Happy Mothers Day' with a fresh baked loaf of bread and a jar of raspberry jam! The bread was a success in our house! I made three loaves before finally giving another five away. We went on a strenuous 5 1/2 mile hike today in hopes to shed some of that gluten! 

As for the jam... I used a recipe with pectin for the first time and ended up overcooking my pectin which never set leaving my jam in more of a syrupy condition. I'm not actually complaining because that "syrup" dripping off a piece of cheesecake or warm slice of bread was heaven. But this jam will never make it to a peanut butter sandwich. What a shame..

White Bread Recipe

3/4 Cup of Warm Water

1 Package of Active Dry Yeast

1 Teaspoon of Salt (I used Sea Salt)

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Sugar

1 Tablespoon of softened butter (or Vegetable Shortening)

1/2 Cup of Whole Milk

2 Cups of Flour

(and an additional Cup of Flour to grab from if your dough is still sticky after 2 Cups)

In a medium bowl add warm water and yeast. Stir until yeast is dissolved.

Add salt, sugar, butter and milk to the bowl and stir.

Adding your 2 Cups of flour until dough is formed, adding flour as needed.

Your dough should not be sticky when added to a floured cutting board (or countertop). 

Knead your dough and place in a buttered bowl (turning over so both sides are greased) for 60 minutes, covered with a clean towel.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Punch your dough and turn it out onto your floured surface kneading for the second time. 

Form your dough into a loaf shape and place in your buttered baking dish for another 30 minutes. 

Covering again with a towel.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

When you remove your bread from the oven the crust will be hard, once it has cooled it will be as soft as your average white bread.

Since this bread is so easy to make and so delicious, I recommend making extra loaves to share!

Enjoy!