Park Talk Printables

Baking With Your Kids

While I've never had a "picky eater" Miss Cheeky Monkey sure does have her days... mention the word cookie and she won't eat anything else until she gets it.. I learned the hard way to try to always be two steps ahead with my words.. doesn't always work of course, but one hot tip.. don't mention even a slight possibility of dessert until after the kids eat. You'll avoid a tray full of chewed up noodles in anticipation of that cookie coming their way!

Original post: Wednesday October 13, 2010

Monkey has been helping in the kitchen making treats.. two weekends ago, she helped mommy make cupcakes. Even with the high stool, she isn't tall enough to reach comfortably but that didn't stop her from mixing the batter.

A few days later she made cookies with her friends. One of the MOMS Club moms is brave enough to host cookie making parties.. the kids roll out the dough, use cookie cutters on paper.. then we write their name on the paper and place on a cookie sheet.. each kid gets their cookies back after they cool from the oven and they get to decorate.. she had so much fun! It was great to bring them home to daddy and share for dessert that night. It's fun to see how proud she gets when sharing with her daddy.

Value in cooking with your kids.. they have a hand in it and are more likely to participate in the eating.. especially if they're cookies!!!

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Canning Anyone? Adventures in the Kitchen

Original Post date Sunday June 27, 2010

Today I gave canning Dilly Green Beans a try.. my aunt Mary from northern WI made then when I was younger. My grandparents always had a jar in their fridge and despite them being spicy, I LOVED them! I asked her for her recipe and she was kind enough to share.

I won a House Party sponsored by Ball (just like the Ziploc and DiGiorno pizza we won the past). They wanted me to have a party with 10-15 friends and make salsa. Seems like since schools been out, everyone's weekend schedules have been crazy and with all the supplies given to me (except the food) I really wanted to give this a try. We headed to the local farmer's market to find out what looked good and bought fresh dill and green beans.

There's a lot of preparing.. washing all the jars, keeping them in simmering water, boiling a ginormous pot of water and then of course preparing the food but (again, cross your fingers) I'm hoping they turn out great.. I may have added a bit more cayenne pepper than it called for so hopefully they aren't too spicy but we like hot things. Matt practically drowns all his food in hot sauce if that tells you how much heat he likes.

Anyhow, my mom canned foods when I was younger and I always wanted to try it but didn't know where to start.. Now I can say I did it! Next I'm going to try a pepper-onion relish. Harry and David sells it for like $8 a jar.. yikes! I'm going to wait until the peppers are in season.. can't wait! I'll post a final picture of the finished jars after we try them out (2-6 weeks).. if they're horrible, they'll be in the trash and you'll never hear me speak of such canning nonsense again! ;)

I was trying to be cheesy but what's wrong with my thumb?!

Updated post: July 20, 2010

The Green Beans Turned Out....

PERFECT! We've been waiting a few weeks to try them and opened the jar on Saturday... they're soooo good. Thank you so much to my Aunt Mary for the recipe and for the great childhood memory that inspired me to give canning a try.

I'm actually going to the be guest speaker at my MOMS Club business meeting tomorrow. I'm going to give a canning demonstration and let the ladies sample my beans. Who knows, maybe I'll inspire them to give it a try. What a great way to use food that otherwise might go to waste... not to mention make very personal gifts for the holidays.

I can't wait to try other things!

p.s. the ladies loved the demo and a few wanted to give it a try.

Sweet Tweets 1st Birthday

Here's a previous blog about my little one's first birthday. Birdies and Owls are big trends when it comes to 1st birthdays. (Ladybugs and butterflies too) but birdies and owls can be for either a boy or a girl.

First birthdays for me are about expressing your love for your little one and showing everyone with amazement on how much they've changed since their little birth announcement was sent out.

Don't forget a smash cake and decorations for the highchair.

Original post date November 3, 2009

Cake Smash Photos done by Faber Photography from West Bend, WI - extremely talented family friend.

On Saturday, October 31st we had a great party to celebrate Cheeky Monkey's very first birthday. In attendance were close friends and family members, every single person there loves her so much and it was a perfect celebration. The theme was "Sweet Tweets" - birdies and yummy treats galore. No orange and black this year.. just pink everywhere!

The kids played 'pin the candle on the cupcake', and guessed the number of Cheerios in a jar (874). They were able to decorate their own cupcakes and enjoy bubbles and sidewalk chalk outside. We had Wiggles and other kid's favorites on the iPod and everyone seemed to enjoy the ginormous cupcakes, and croissant sandwiches.

Cheeky Monkey was in a wonderful mood after taking nap and looked oh so adorable in her cupcake birthday dress. We were so excited to see her little friends make it and they all played on the floor together.. chowing down on Gerber Puffs. Even her BFF (and birthday twin) was in attendance despite having to get ready for her own birthday party later that afternoon!

It was a whirlwind two hours that both went by very fast, and seemed to last much longer all at the same time. We didn't open gifts with everyone in attendance but spent Sunday afternoon doing so. Everyone was so generous!

I know Monkey won't remember it, but it's one I'll never forget. It's bittersweet as our little one grows up. We want her to grow big and start walking but those sleepless nights I never thought would end are now fading from my memory and it makes me sad to think she won't ever sleep across my stomach or nurse for hours on end.. ok, maybe I won't miss that much but you get the idea! Our cheeky monkey will always be our baby, whether she likes it or not! :)

This is the pumpkin we carved and were going to bring it to the party but it became rotten within 12 hours... just can't get a pumpkin to keep like you used to!

Party details

This is the invitation I designed and printed.. Recognize the tree? I used elements from a design I painted in her nursery and I think they turned out pretty cute.

Gift Bag for the kids and her guestbook

Birthday Banner (horrible photo!)

Tissue balls thumbtacked to the wall.

Table with photo slideshow

Table Signs

A cake as big as her head.. no cake smash.. just a tasting of the frosting is all

Birthday girl and her Daddy. Sometimes your little one won't have as much fun as your guests for this first party.. Naps aren't always predictable and all the attention can be a little overwhelming. Have something there that you know they'll enjoy. It all goes so very fast!