S'mores in a Cone

We decided this weekend that Memorial Day is like Thanksgiving... well in the sense that it is a day to say, "thank you!"

But after the parades, Memorial Day becomes a kickoff to summer...

and is the beginning of BBQ season!

This Memorial Day, like others that have come and gone, we gathered with friends to relax, celebrate, and of course eat.  But in our last minute efforts to pull off a simple BBQ for 16... I failed to buy a key ingredient for dessert.

So when Julia proudly announced that it was time to make s'mores, I cringed at the thought of disappointing the eight eager beavers.  So I did what all moms do best... I improvised!

Instead of the graham crackers, which I left on the shelves in the store, I opted for sugar cones!

We layered and stuffed each cone with Hershey's milk chocolate and strawberry marshmallows (Julia's new favorite).

Wrapped 'em in some aluminum foil and threw them on the BBQ.

And in a few short minutes... a yummy treat (that I must admit was far less messy)!

Pinkalicious!

A few weeks ago I received this advertisement in the mail for Pinkalicious, The Musical, playing at The Culture Project, Bleecker Sreet, Manhattan.

I was instantly taken back to the fun we had when we took the girls to see the play three years ago (oh where does time go?).  Dressing in our finest PINK duds... Lunch in the city at Max Brenner (who doesn't love chocolate) with Aunt Madelyn... Our first taxi ride... And of course, one fabulous pinkatastic show!

I was also transported back to the pre-show pink cupcake bake fest we had the night before!  

Pink batter... 

pink icing,

 and of course pink hands and faces to match.

A PINKATASTIC DAY!

April Fools' Fun

So April... and most of May... have come and gone, I had failed to write a post about one of our favorite days of the year, April Fool's Day!  On the eve of this wacky day, I posted this blog about our Wacky Sunday (aka April Fool's Day), 2012.

My idea for these wacky days comes from the Dr. Seuss book, Wacky Wednesday, which begins with the main character waking up to find a shoe on the wall! As the pages of the book progress the number of items gone awry increases.  The best part of the book is the illustrations, which double as picture puzzles needing to be solved.  

This year we celebrated April 1, 2013 as Wacky Monday.  After composing this letter,

we brought back our favorite shoe on the wall...

 a note in the toilet... (insert giggles)

a refrigerator staring back at us...

a quick update of our kitchen sign...

and my new favorite...

Oh how I wished I would have been there to capture their reaction when they realized their 'orange juice' was Jello and would never make it through the straw!

Hope you April Fools' Day was as *wacky* as ours.

Pound Cake French Toast

While making my rounds at Dollar Tree for my Mother's Day craft finds, I came across boxed pound cake.  Now I am typically skeptical of food purchases from a dollar store, but it was the same pound cake I had seen at Stop Shop earlier that day.  A quick expiration date check and we were good to go!

At that point I had no idea what I was going to make with it, but since I was in charge of breakfast for my mom and dessert for my mother-in-law, I grabbed four boxes!

Recently I have been on a french toast kick!  Those french toast rollups last month were super easy and to die for.  So I figured why not try pound cake french toast.

After slicing the pound cake, I whisked up a bath of egg, heavy cream, and vanilla.   A quick dip for the pound cake and some time in a pan with heated butter.  When cooked, another dip in a cinnamon and sugar mixture.

I then quickly heated some raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan for an instant sweet sauce.

Another delicious french toast treat!

Silhouette Plates

So during my Mother's Day pedicure today, I realized I needed something crafty for my mom to open from her granddaughters this Mother's Day. And yes, of course, Mother's Day would be tomorrow. Luckily, and conveniently, my nail place is just a few doors down from one of my FAVORITE places... Dollar Tree!

Flower pots... vases... picture frames... all of your crafting staples crossed my mind. But one of the best things about Dollar Tree is that you never know what crafting wonders you are going to find. So for  today, it was the glasses and plates aisle that sparked the idea for a pair of silhouette plates.

I must say, that this was one of the fastest DIY projects ever and they really are super cute. It also was one of the cheapest... two salad plates ($2 plus tax... score!) and a Sharpie (who doesn't have one lying around).

Step 1: To create the silhouettes for the plates, start with a profile picture of your subject.  It probably took longer to get Julia to pose then it did to make the entire project.

Step 2: Scale the photo to the perfect size directly on your computer screen. Use your screen as a light box and trace the image onto paper.

Step 3: Cut the silhouette out.

Step 4: Center stencil on a pre-washed plate. Trace your silhouette stencil. I used an ultra fine point Sharpie for this part.

Step 5: Color in your outline with a fine point Sharpie.

Step 6: Bake in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes.

That simple! And super cute!