Summer Project – Painted Rocks

This project has been on my to-do list for a long time! A few years ago, our children's museum added a row of painted rocks along their outdoor walkway and I LOVE the way it looks. Thanks to some post-vacation freedom and cooler temperatures last week, I finally got our crazy, overgrown garden back under control and it is more satisfying than I can describe! Yesterday was finally a good time to add our little painted rock border.



We gathered these rocks two summers ago ...



Painted the base colors last year ...



And finally put the finishing touches on over the last two weeks.



(I think the rainbow is my favorite!)



Overall, the rocks look a little girly since the boys weren't really interested in painting - they each put minimal details on one small rock apiece.

I'm looking forward to adding some new perennials in some of the empty spaces this week. (Sadly, the ornamental cabbage that was growing around the mailbox died out a long time ago ...) Yay! This makes me so happy! 

Patriotic Dessert Round-Up

(A few weeks behind Independence Day, but that's okay!)

I picked up this star ice cube tray in the dollar section at Target, thinking it might be good for chocolates. Dora helped me fill them with red, white, and blue chocolate melts.



Turns out, it's not as smooth as a candy mold would be (lesson learned!), but it still made some neat-looking treats.



We also tried it with sprinkles, just for something different.



Oh, and some Han Solo-frozen-in-carbonite molds just for fun. These were white chocolate mixed with crushed cookies ... super yummy!



Almond sugar cookies got the star treatment ...

And one of my favorites, soft sugar cookies with red, white, and blue frosting. Happy America Day!

Baking Monday – Chocolate Coffee Cake

I'd been looking for a reason to make this cake for awhile, and happily we had some small friends over for a playdate last week - plus one mom, so company for me - which gave me the perfect reason to bake!

I have a good friend who did not know until very recently that coffee cake was not actually made with coffee. However ... this one is! (I used decaf because I knew little ones would be sampling.) The coffee flavor is very subtle in this very chocolatey cake. Jeff recommended that he try a piece before our guests arrived – you know, just to make sure it wasn't poison.  

One small guest commented: "Why are we having cake when it's not anyone's birthday?" Behold, the wonder that is coffee cake!

Magic Cookies

These cookies were for a friend's Bar Mitzvah last weekend. The party was magic-themed, so we did magic hats, playing cards, and shooting stars. Had a little bit of bleeding on the red playing cards (waaah!) But otherwise very happy with how these turned out. These cookies were individually wrapped and given as favors to the younger guests.

Mom posted pictures of the party on Facebook - it looked absolutely incredible, and I was honored to be a small part of the celebration!

Baking Monday – Splash Party Cupcakes

Today's dessert is a little cheat-y ... boxed cake mix and canned frosting ... but it was a nice break to bake something quick and have fun decorating.



And I had a helper!

We had "splash party" over the weekend - our family won a package of Super Soakers and Cheetos from Houseparty.com, so we decided to do a water-themed dessert ... little teddy bears in swim tubes!

(It was Dora's idea to use gummy worms as pool noodles when we ran out of peach rings.)

And the party itself was a blast - kids wore swim gear and brought water squirters, plus we had a Super Soaker for each family in our party pack. I also stocked up on some extra water guns - which were hard to find, I looked at three other stores before finally finding them at Five Below. I wondered if maybe stores are choosing not to sell them anymore? Anyhow, the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day. The kids had so much fun and it was just the right amount of activity and chaos. Most of the dads were right in the mix, while most of the moms stayed happily dry on the deck with cold beverages. A much needed day of fun in the sun with good friends.

Baking Monday – Chocolate Banana Muffins

Historically, my favorite thing to make with overripe bananas is muffins - I use the banana bread recipe from the red & white cookbook, substitute half whole wheat flour, add mini chocolate chips, and bake in a muffin pan. They are wonderful, especially shortly after they are done baking. But I make them often enough that they've lost their wow appeal with the kids and I'm always looking for something new to do with expired bananas. 

This recipe (once again, from my favorite baking blog) is my new favorite! I've made them with peanut butter chips as originally suggested, but we like them better with chocolate chips. I made a few substitutes to the original recipe: use 1/2 c whole wheat flour, substituted fat-free Greek yogurt for the sour cream and added 1/2 tsp baking powder to the dry ingredients. Remembering to sprinkle extra chips on the tops of the muffins is key! I stretched it out to make 26 muffins, using a large batter scoop for portioning. 

These are terrific - moist and chocolatey, and I don't feel guilty sending them for school snack because, hey, bananas! 

Taking a Break

I'll be back soon ... promise! Lots of things have gotten in the way last month, some minor, some very major. Most recently, I've been getting wrapped up in end-of-the school year activities and responsibilities on top of my regular work load. Looking forward to a break in routine this summer and hopefully some fun baking and crafts in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy this card that Clark made for his Sunday school teacher - he's crying a sea of tears, because he didn't want class to end.