Tickled Pink Diaper Cake!

This past weekend my mother-in-law asked me to make a baby diaper cake for some friends of theirs who had just had a new grandbaby......a little girl.

Scroll down to see how it turned out.........

60+ disposable baby diapers rolled and arranged in tiers wedding-cake style......

decorated with lots of baby essentials..........




like, of course, the pacifier........I like this Disney one because it comes with a snap on cap.

Cute little piglet!





a ring of teething keys.........





a pair of tiny socks (with a second pair tucked inside).......

in keeping with the Disney theme, a Winnie the Pooh Bib.........

and a Winnie the Pooh Comb & Brush Set

travel size baby wash and lotion......

what's bath time without a rubber ducky......got to be pink for this girly girl........

Baby Washcloth "Rosebuds" (secured with a clear hair rubberbands with green plaid ribbon "leaves" cut at an angle and tucked into the rubberbands)

and to top it all off......Baby's First Bear, wearing a pink plaid bow....

My mother-in-law was tickled pink and couldn't wait to give it to her friends for their new baby granddaughter.

View another one of my diaper cakes, with tutorial, here.

July 4th Parade Mosaic

What's the 4th of July without a smalltown parade....... an annual tradition enjoyed by young and old alike, even the family pets line the street curbs in the sunny summer mid-day heat to enjoy the sights, the sounds, the bands, the sirens, the flags, the candy, the squirt guns, the clowns, antique vehicles, festival kings and queens, local merchants and more.

See more Monday Mosaics here http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/ .

Happy July 4th! Celebrate with a "Red White, & Blue" Smoothie

*=*=*=*=*=* HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE *=*=*=*=*=*

I thought today would be a good day to share my

RED WHITE & BLUE Smoothie

My son gave me a Magic Bullet Blender for Christmas and I LOVE IT! I've had a smoothie most every day since; usually for breakfast but sometimes for lunch or later in the afternoon for a quick pick me up. Here's a look at the ingredients........

Start with........

3 - 5, Strawberries (red)

just 2-3 Fresh Red Raspberries add so much flavor (optional)

1, Banana (white)

small handful, Blueberries (blue)

fresh or frozen, whichever you have on hand.....or you may just want to store all three of these fruits in freezer for convenience (I feel the packaged frozen blueberries have more flavor than the fresh ones and the fresh ones are not always available so it's a double plus, but I do prefer the flavor of fresh strawberries)

Just drop into the blender cup...........

I sometimes add a big spoonful of vanilla yogurt (optional)




A splash (approx.1/4 cup) of milk or even better--heavy cream, this makes it thicker and richer (my personal favorite for late fall & winter months~eggnog~ got to be Anderson Erickson)........

Sometimes I add just a small dribble of orange juice to give it an even fresher flavor(optional)......



And a few ice cubes, or not, depending on time of day and how hot the day is....if it's a hot afternoon I like it icy.......






Refreshment is just a few quick pulses away..........





Like having a milkshake for breakfast. Fills me up without being heavy and keeps me energized for hours, which is important working in the doctors' offices--we don't get regular breaks and some of the doctors schedule patients right through lunch!




Enjoy!

Wedding Cake Mosaic

Since my hours at work have increased, 

many of my projects have been put on hold. 

But I wanted to share a wedding cake 

that I made a couple of weekends ago 

for a friend of the family. 

This bride requested the cake be frosted chocolate 

rather than the traditional white. 

She stayed away from alot of heavy 

frosting garlands and borders. 

Instead, she requested ribbon be 

wrapped around the bottom of each tier--

royal blue (the color of her bridemaids dresses) 

set against a wider white ribbon 

made the color pop. 

Fresh wild flowers, 

to match the brides bouquet, 

were arranged between the center cake tiers,

 as well as the cake topper bouquet,

was made of deep blue delphiniums, 

orange miniature orchids & zinnias

  and white chrysanthemums (chosen instead of 

daisies as it was felt they were a hardier flower 

and would hold up better). 

The bridemaids carried bundles of deep orange gladiolas, 

so to incorporate this to the cake table, petals from the glads were sprinkled randomly -encircling the cake.

I'm linking to http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/Little Red House for my first Mosaic Monday post.

Today is National Chocolate Chip Day!!

" Did you know today is National Chocolate Chip Day?!......" my daughter exclaimed as I entered the kitchen after running some errands this morning. "......So I made some chocolate chip cookies........" she was just taking the last of this batch of cookies out of the oven.

MMMmmm...........golden on the outside...........

and warm and delicious on the inside...........

Here's a little trivia I thought you may enjoy.

From WIKIPEDIA, the free encyclopedia:

Chocolate chips are a required ingredient in chocolate chip cookies, which were invented in 1933 when Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe. The cookies were a huge success, and Wakefield reached an agreement with Nestlé to add her recipe to the chocolate bar's packaging in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, but in 1939 they started selling the chocolate in chip (or "morsel") form. The Nestlé brand Toll House cookies is named for the inn.

Ruth Graves Wakefield (June 17, 1903 – January 10, 1977) was the inventor of the Toll House Cookie, the first chocolate chip cookie.

Ruth Wakefield educated at Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. She worked as a dietitian and lectured about foods. In 1930, she and her husband bought a tourist lodge (toll house) in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts in Plymouth County. Located about halfway between Boston and New Bedford, it was a place where passengers had historically paid a toll, changed horses and eaten much-welcomed home-cooked meals. When the Wakefields opened their business, they named the establishment the Toll House Inn. They took it upon themselves to uphold the lodge's tradition. Ruth cooked and served all the food and soon gained local fame for her desserts. The restaurant had many visitors including Massachusetts' Senator John F. Kennedy. Ruth was very intelligent and creative. Andrew Nestle also worked with Ruth and became business partners.

From ALLRECIPES.com:

Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Cookies
This famous classic American cookie is a treat no matter what the age or occasion. Enjoy it with a glass of cold milk.
Prep: 15 min Cooking: 9 min Cooling time: 15 min cooling Yields: 60

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs

• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

• 1 cup chopped nuts

DirectionsPREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.
Slice and Bake Cookie Variation: PREPARE dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
* May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks.
For High Altitude Baking (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.
Remember to follow baking instructions before consuming.

"FRIENDS ARE THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN THE COOKIE OF LIFE"

..........anonymous

Flatbread Pizza with Fresh Basil

I was over at Olga's Home & Garden Blog earlier today where she was showing a beautiful basil plant she had purchased and mentioned how it was so fragrant, giving her a pizza craving. It sounded soooo good, and ironically when my husband came home from work tonight he suggested that we make up a quick flatbread pizza for dinner before he had to leave again for a meeting.

There are several flatbreads that we like.....tonight we are going with Joseph's (our favorite) made with whole wheat.

We usually already have ingredients on hand.......

Contadina squeeze sauce makes it quick and easy. Just use what you need and refrigerate the rest. No half used big jar of leftover sauce that may get tossed later.

There's always the question about the cheese.....does it go on under the toppings or over top? So I scatter a little shredded mozzarella over the sauce and then add provolone later, or a blend.

Tonight we're adding some torn deli chicken (sorry Olga I think you're vegetarian).

Sliced fresh tomato and mushrooms....the thinner the better so as not to make the crust soggy...my goal is for paper thin slices.

Then fresh basil leaves give it such a great flavor!

Slices of provolone and a sprinkling of parmesan from the shaker. A dash of dried oregano, I don't have any fresh oregano tonight.

Dab on a little good olive oil with a pastry brush (oops I forgot to snap a pic of the oil, but it really is an important ingredient, a little goes a long way in the way of flavor and remember you don't want to make the crust soggy.)

And it's ready to pop into the oven. Just a few minutes at 400 degrees to heat through and melt the cheese really is all it takes as long as there is no raw meat.

And really the key is to keep the toppings to a minimum since this is a flatbread, you want to keep the toppings in balance with the bread/crust. You don't want it to be all toppings (it's easy to go overboard and pile on the toppings--I may have gotten a little carried away with this one). You want to taste the crust too.

To have it bake up as crispy as possible, lay it right on the oven rack and place a foil underneath to catch any drips. Many times upon removing from the oven I crisp up the bottom by transferring the whole thing right onto a hot pancake griddle and cook on a high or med/high heat on the stovetop.

Here's the before.......

Here's the After.......
MMMmmmm.........HOT from the oven, fresh ingredients, goey melted cheese, bubbly, just begining to brown, crust crispy and crunchy around the edge.........

Is your mouth watering yet? Take a closer look..........