Archive for June, 2009
June 30, 2009
· Filed under Molly, Recipes & Food · Tagged cranberry scone recipe, easy scone recipe
I decided to make a little something special for Sunday breakfast this past weekend – fresh scones. Cranberry (upon Rolando’s request).
I’ve wanted to try out this cast iron pan with heart shaped molds, which I inherited from my dad, for a long time now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. But of course, all you need is a simple baking sheet.
I used this recipe from Savory Sweet Life*, which I found on Tastespotting; I really love to look at the pictures on Tastespotting – you should check it out.
*if you happen to print out her recipe, note that she forgets to include the baking powder in the directions – add it in with the dry ingredients.
This is a super simple, fast recipe. I highly recommend it, with or without the cranberries.
Cream Scones with Cranberries
Ingredients
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
4 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp. of vanilla
2 Tbl. of sugar for sprinkling on top
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and butter in a food processor or blender. Pulsate everything until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer everything to a large bowl. Stir in heavy cream, egg, and vanilla, mixing the dough by hand until it forms into a uniformed and slightly moistened dough.
On a floured surface, grab enough dough to fit into your hand about the size of a baseball and gently roll it in a ball.
Flatten the ball and until your disk is approx. 3/4″ in height. Press down the outside of the dough circle so the center is slightly taller. Evenly sprinkle sugar on top of each circle. Cut each circle in quarters. You should have enough dough to make 4 circles and 16 scones.
Bake on a ungreased cookie sheet (or heart-shaped cast iron pan!), or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove scones from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
I served mine with whipped cream and fresh blueberries. Delicious.
June 29, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, Kids Crafts, Molly · Tagged firefly craft, lightning bug craft, summer crafts
I’ve been thinking about lightning bugs lately (or do you call them fireflies?) because it’s lightning bug season around here. So I stopped at the craft store this weekend and bought some glow-in-the-dark paint, some wooden ice cream spoons and assorted other craft supplies.
After a disastrous start (paint on a favorite shirt, the girls not understanding that the paints were acrylic and not watercolors), we finally got down to business. Read the rest of this entry »
June 26, 2009
· Filed under Design, Kids, Molly · Tagged online magazine for parents
lmnop (laugh, make, nurture, organise, play) is a beautiful online magazine (based in Australia) for “hip, stylish parents and their kids.” If you can get past that tagline, it’s worth subscribing to and admiring the pages. It’s free, the design is exquisite, and you can find a lot of the gift and product ideas online – it’s not exclusive to Australia. I’ve recognized a lot of Etsy finds.
Take a look at some of their beautiful photo spreads from the current and past issues:
For me, it fills the hole left behind when Martha Stewart KIDS Magazine folded – at least in terms of sheer beauty. But Martha crammed her pages with a lot more crafty ideas, and it would be nice to see more of that from lmnop.
Subscribing is as simple as typing in your name and email address. lmnop also has a beautiful blog.
Thanks to Chez Beeper Bebe for the lmnop tip.
June 25, 2009
· Filed under Design, Molly, Pretty Things · Tagged Etsy, Junibacken, Lauren Child, Natascha Rosenberg, Pippi Longstocking
I ordered this print last week from Natascha Rosenberg, who is an illustrator living and working in Madrid.
It’s Pippi Longstocking! There are her friends Tommy and Anneke, her horse Old Man, and her house Villa Villekulla.
But this is even better: look at the hand drawn envelope she sent it in.
Amazing, right? I just love all the sweet extra touches that people put into packaging. I was so delighted to find this envelope in my mailbox.
Have I mentioned how much I love Pippi Longstocking? I read the Pippi books when I was a kid, and I have also read them to Elena and Rosa. We have this lovely version, illustrated by the *oh so fab* Lauren Child (creator of the much adored Charlie & Lola books/cartoon).
And visiting Junibacken in Stockholm, which is a beautiful playspace for children celebrating many of Astrid Lindgren’s characters (and featuring, of course, Pippi), was a major highlight of that trip for us. (See a pic from our trip here – scroll to the end of the post – of the replica of Pippi’s house at Junibacken).
Elena dressed up as Pippi for Halloween two years ago, thanks to a wig we bought at Junibacken:
(Although some people thought she was Wendy, from the fast food chain.)
So, yes, I do love Pippi. And I love Natascha Rosenberg’s illustration of her.
She also sent me some sweet postcards and one really lovely print:
Natascha has a blog here, which you will enjoy. Certainly be sure to click through the illustrations on her website.
June 24, 2009
· Filed under Etsy Finds, Kids, Molly, Pretty Things, Stationery & Paper Goods · Tagged Alexander Henry fabrics, Etsy, HearthSong, Kathe Kruse, Moleskine
Today’s assortment of pretty things feels especially random to me.
I was at the bookstore the other day and stumbled across a beautiful box set of Moleskine planners – a different color for each month – for 2010. Small enough to fit in your purse and carry with you, but not too small that you can’t write in everything you need to jot down. These pictures do not do it justice.
I saw this cute fairy door from HearthSong on Ohdeedoh. (They say elfin, I say fairy.) I am seriously contemplating buying one and putting it up against a tree where I know Elena and Rosa play, and see what their reaction is. What if someone left this Kathe Kruse fairy baby at the fairy doorstep? Would the girls be baffled, or enchanted, or skeptical? Would they automatically suspect me? Would I be able to keep a straight face?
I love downloadable stationery on Etsy – it’s fun to print out as many of a particular notecard, calendar or gift tag that I want. (Conveniently forgetting how much ink costs for my printer). This cute, customizable stationery package from olliegraphic reminds me of Shinzi Katoh’s illustrations. It includes patterns for a folded card, a gift tag, a notepad, letter paper and an envelope. Cute stuff.
And because I have baby gifts on the brain (more on baby showers and baby gifts in the coming days), I just love the fabric Hazel May uses for this blanket. It’s Juicy Jungle by Alexander Henry. Her Etsy shop is filled with cute fabric choices.
June 23, 2009
· Filed under Design, Etsy Finds, Molly, Pretty Things, Recipes & Food · Tagged cherries, design sponge, Etsy, Letterspace Paper
When I was a kid, we had two cherry trees in our front yard, and we use to stuff ourselves silly with bright red ripe cherries. I remember feeling so frustrated about not being able to reach the top of the tree for the very reddest and most perfect cherries.
Rolando took the girls to the orchard yesterday to pick cherries, and then he came home and made this totally delicious chicken, cherry and rice dish. So today, I celebrate the cherry in all things cute and tasty.
I love this cherry desk organizer (as well as all the other fruits you can get too). You get a lucite file box, three fruit folders and three solid color folders. You can get them from Edesse Designs on Etsy.
How girly (and therefore completely adorable) is this cherry apron? By SpiceRak Designs
Cherries personalized stationery by d g invites
And the best flavor of lollipops. And popsicles.
And pie.
And finally, my favorite color combination: cherry red and light blue. (Okay, the red is not so cherry in this particular photo, but don’t you love the red polka dots and hearts with the blue cake stand?)
(Photo: Design Sponge’s Sneak Peek Hannah Berman/Pie Bird Press)
Here’s a better example -
Letterspace Paper’s Bubble Gum Machine invitations
Don’t all of these pictures make you feel happy? I love cherries.
June 22, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, Kids Crafts, Molly · Tagged birthday craft, custom beer bottle labels, Father's Day craft
The Naughty Secretary Club posted this idea for making custom beer bottle labels for Father’s Day, and I decided to do it with the girls for Rolando. This craft can easily be adapted for a birthday present or any other fun occasion.
As you will see, though, I didn’t feel particularly ambitious about the design of the bottles and carrying case. We just got out some paper, scissors, tape and art supplies.
Yuengling – Daddy’s beer of choice
We traced ovals, came up with six great things about Daddy, and decorated each label. I simply stuck them on with double-sided tape.
“You teach us fun stuff” and “You take us rollerskating!”
“We like the dinners you cook” and “You really know how to use a computer.”
“You are really good at math” and “You are good at Super Mario.”
I let Rosa design the front panel of the carrying case. Katamari Damacy is a fun Japanese video game where you roll around a sticky ball and and you try to pick up as many things (trees, houses, animals, etc.) as possible. The girls like to play it with Rolando, and Rosa’s representation of it is quite good.
Anyway, he got a kick out of the gift.
June 19, 2009
· Filed under Family Fun, Kids, Recipes & Food · Tagged Chocolate Banana Pop recipe
What do you get when you cross chocolate and bananas with Father’s Day?
Wait for it…
Chocolate Banana Pops!
Get it? Pops! Hee hee. She said, “Pops.”
They’re cute, right? And easy for kids and dads to make, or easy for kids to make for dads.
The ingredients are pretty simple:
3 bananas not overly ripe
5oz semi-sweet chocolate
5oz white chocolate
3tsp shortening
Rainbow sprinkles
Chocolate sprinkles
6 popsicle sticks
Parchment paper
Measuring spoons
2 small bowls
2 spoons
Cutting board
I won’t show the whole how-to here. You can check it out on the Craftzine blog.
I can’t think of frozen bananas without thinking about Bluth’s Frozen Banana Stand from Arrested Development, so in honor of Father’s Day, this one is for Rolando, who makes me laugh as much as that show did:
Tobias Fünke: So what are your plans for this evening?
Bob Loblaw: I thought that maybe I would stay in and work on my law blog.
Tobias Fünke: Ah, yes. The “Bob Loblaw Law Blog”. You, sir, are a mouthful.
June 18, 2009
· Filed under Design, Molly, Pretty Things, Stationery & Paper Goods · Tagged Dee & Lala, Night Owl Paper Goods, Red Stamp, Rock Scissor Paper, Smudge Ink, stationery, Tiny Prints
I spent a long time catching up on Paper Crave posts last weekend, and also clicking around all of my favorite stationery sites. Here are the cream of the crop, heavily influenced/inspired by summer weather and colors.
Kaleidoscope Note Paper by Smudge Ink. You can get these and lots of other great notecards and invitations at RedStamp.com.
I found several adorable invitations/notecards from Tiny Prints, including the “Swimming Pool: Siren” design by DwellStudio, which I seriously, totally love. I mean, I would consider having a party just to be able to use these invites.
And the “Blissful Bird” design (also by DwellStudio) is very sweet.
One more by DwellStudio: the “Party Line” notecards would make for some pretty cool personalized stationery.
I also really adore all of Night Owl Paper Goods’ work (remember these valentines?), including this too-cute-for-words notecard, “Teddy Teamwork.” This would make a good teacher gift (if only I’d seen it two weeks ago):
This might be is definitely my favorite of them all. The “Water Otter,” which you can get from the Night Owl Paper Goods website.
Lordy, that otter is adorable.
Other summer lovin’ ideas -
“Party Pinwheels” by babyGap for Tiny Prints
and “Striped Ice Pops” by Rock, Scissor, Paper:
Also from Rock, Scissor, Paper, “Cursive Personalized Stationery” – don’t you love the color combo on these?
And finally, some really gorgeous letterpress notecards from Dee & Lala. I especially love – and perhaps this is very predictable – the “Candy Jars” notes.
But how can you not love “Chickens” too?
