Pots de Creme & Mini Smiley Pizza

Pots de Creme and Personal Smiley Pizzas

Pots de creme, & a cookie
with a whipped cream and chocolate garnish.

       Tonight we had a cozy dinner with cousins, siblings, and nephews.  We enjoyed a glorious breeze as we dined on the back porch balcony as a light thunder storm approached, whipping through the trees and creating a bit of a lightning show.  We had a crazy, disorganized menu which included homemade vegetable pizza, a chicken stir fry, pots de creme, and the infamous chocolate chip cookies from the Neiman Marcus/Mrs. Fields urban legend. 


Liliana pretends to "cut" celery and green onions with a spoon.

       The girls and I spent a lovely afternoon prepping the vegetables in preparation for the dinner.  Liliana pretended to "cut" celery and green onions with a spoon while I was working at the cutting board.   When she tired of "cooking," she would find her swan car and push herself throughout the first floor rooms stating, "Go buy milk.  Go buy milk" which is how she plays grocery store.  Vera Rose was content to toddle behind Liliana on her grocery store outing, leaving plenty of time for me to cut the vegetables which included garlic, green onions, white onion, red pepper, mushrooms, green pepper, and celery.  Working with fresh vegetables is definitely my favorite part of meal preparation. 


Homemade pizza crust topped with spinach,
mushrooms, black olives, and green pepper.

       I made mini smiley pizzas for Rowan, Jonah, and Liliana (smiles made of black olives which all three kids like) which were served on a bed of fresh spinach.  I use the Pioneer Woman recipe for homemade pizza crust which is made of just water, yeast, flour, salt and olive oil and must raise for one hour.  It has become a weekly staple at our house since it's so easy to make and so healthy since after coating it with a thin layer of pizza sauce, I always add a ton of fresh spinach, peppers, onion, black olives, and/or tomatoes and then cover with fresh mozzarella ball slices.  Today was the first time I tried a mini pizza and Liliana devoured hers so happily that I think I will do so again.
       Making pots de creme for dessert was marvelous because I finally was able to utilize my antique "pots de creme" porcelain pots for the very first time (which I had purchased at an antique store in South Carolina).  What a delightfully rich but easy dessert: made of just whipping cream, egg yolk, and chocolate bits--tastes like a smooth mousse pudding.  (I used the recipe found in the 75th anniversary edition Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and their website has a similar recipe for Chocolate Pots de Creme.)

Robot fun

A Day in Robotville



Robot snack made of bread,
cheese, and cucumber

       Liliana loves to play with her wooden robots so yesterday morning we created a robotscape from fabric, blocks, and foam flooring.  She really works to carefully stack the acrobatic robots.  While we waited for cousins to come play with us, we continued the fun by constructing a robot snack made of bread, cucumber, and cheese.  Liliana especially requested a "happy robot" with "robot toes."
       Robots are such great gender-neutral toys.  Since Liliana and Vera Rose have no brothers, I'm sometimes worried that they will become too "girly" but days such as yesterday, make me reassured.  I was just so lucky to have a brother as one of my siblings because I played lots of trucks, cowboys, etc in addition to my dolls and "play house" and I want my girls to play with such stereotypically "boy" toys, too (in addition to all the gloriously pink dollies and play cupcakes!) 
       I'm thankful that some of my earliest toys were Playmobile construction sets (complete with tiny orange cones and pipes), miniature tractors, and a huge crane.  I want to foster a love for everything in my girls--just like my parents did for me.  And kudos to my Grandma (my Dad's mother), too, who lovingly sewed clothing for a "Little Boy Blue" doll for my brother, back when it wasn't even common to view men as caregivers.  Little Boy Blue never became Jeremy's favorite (how can you compete with Cowboy Bear?!) but I thought it was such a beautiful gift of love which promotes the idea that gender does not need to be the most defining characteristic of a child.  Do you have any suggestions for raising a child to look beyond gender stereotypes?  If so, I'd love to hear them!



Yes, the blue robots are stacked two high! 
A happy accomplishment--oh, I love how children find such happiness in tiny things!

Ganache & Truffle Frosted Cake to Celebrate a Doctorate

A Ganache & Truffle Frosted Cake

to Celebrate a Doctoral Accomplishment

       My brother-in-law, Jim, just recently completed his PhD at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland and is now officially Dr. Watkins, PhD.  Since we are fortunate enough to have him and family close by since they just relocated from Switzerland, we had a celebratory dinner, complete with a chocolate cake. 

       I had asked Jim's 6-year-old son, Jonah, to name Jim's favorite dessert.  Jonah told me "Chocolate cake or non-cake chocolate" ("non-cake chocolate" evidently meaning chocolates) so I made a chocolate cake with cream-cheese frosting, topped with drizzles of Ganache and pipings of Truffle Frosting.  I constructed the doctoral pennant from paper and a bamboo skewer.  I did not care for the cake recipe I used, but enjoyed the Ganache and Truffle Frosting so I'm including those recipes below:

Ganache

1 c heavy whipping cream (found in the milk section of a grocery store)
1 -11.5 oz bag milk chocolate chips.

Bring the whipping cream just to a boil, then immediately remove from heat and add the chocolate chips into the pan.  DO NOT STIR.  Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir until combined and smooth.  Cool for 15 minutes and then drizzle or coat cake. 

Truffle Frosting

Make above but after cooling for 15 minutes, refrigerate overnight, then whip in mixer for 20 seconds, then pipe onto cake. 

A Day at the County Fair

County Fair Fun


Liliana took many rides on the merry-go-round!

        Today we spent the morning exploring Amish country and the afternoon at the local county fair. So it was a day full of quilts, antiques, rides, and animals--and also with tastes of fudge and tomato pie. Liliana's favorite moments were going down the big carpet slide (I think Brian and I took turns taking her down for over an hour), and slurping down her cup of milk given to her by her Great Great Aunt Laura Belle (after a hot but happy couple of hours looking at horses and pigs!).  Liliana actually says that her favorite part was the "neighs" which is what she calls horses, but in actuality, every time she saw a horse she'd say "ride neigh" and couldn't understand why she couldn't ride all the horses!  If there are any regrets, it would be that I didn't take the opportunity to ride the camel.  But the greatest thing about the fair (other than all the family and 4-H memories of showing sheep and exhibiting projects) is that it'll come again next year!



Liliana gazes at the vegetable exhibits.


  

Vera Rose--Walking!

Vera Rose toddles around the house:

(and Liliana "reads" my Bible as she marches along)

(Many thanks to Brian for capturing this moment on video!)

A Morning at Great-Granddad & Great-Grammie's

Liliana (in fairy attire) loving the beautiful antique dolls.

A Morning at Great-Granddad & Great-Grammie's

A lovely collection of pitchers & cups.

Liliana with fairy wings,
gazing out an upstairs window

       Today we spent a quiet and lovely morning at Liliana and Vera Rose's Great-grandparent's.  Liliana enjoyed venturing upstairs to visit the antique dolls and my Granddad's collection of Golden Books.  We were fortunate enough to time our visit with a batch of just-made applesauce, warm from the stove, which the girls adored--you know great apples were used in the sauce when no sugar is needed to make the applesauce delicious!  After dining on applesauce, cheese, and multi-grain crackers, Vera Rose showed off her new prowess at walking; yes, our 15-month-old has finally decided to walk!  (She started really walking this last Tuesday when, walking to Daddy, she accomplished 24 steps in a row, including a turn!).  Liliana and Vera Rose even convinced their Great-grammie to take a little walk with them in the rain.  Inside and out, my grandparent's house is always such a special place to be.  I am so thankful that my girls know and love their great-grandparents.

Hurray for Visits

Visits and Other Happiness

Vera Rose prepares to kiss baby Isaac

Vera Rose takes a walk with Aunt Allison

Liliana throws the baseball to Uncle Jo

       August has traditionally been a time of vacation and visits for us, and this month is proving to be another year of tradition!  Last weekend, we traveled to Brian's hometown to stay with his parents, and to visit with his sister, Allison, and her husband, Jo, and kids, Minori and Rei since they are visiting from their home in Japan.  We also love that my sister, Emily, along with her husband, Jim, and kids, Jonah, Rowan, and Isaac, are visiting with my parents for an extended stay since they have just arrived in the U.S. after many years in Scotland and part of a year in Switzerland.  It is so great to see family!  Not to mention that my Grammie's nephew, Randy, is in town on a visit from Florida, so he dined with us tonight.  It's been years since we ate together with Randy:  I think the last time was a dinner in Tokyo when we were vacationing in Japan.  Hurray for visits, conversations, and playmates for the girls!

Sunflower Cake & Cookies at a Wedding Celebration

A Sunflower Wedding Celebration

      On Friday evening, we celebrated the marriage of my cousin, Philip, to his bride, Portia.  Not only was it a special event, but the day marked the end of a delightful few days spent in food preparation: watermelon carvings, sunflower cookies, angel food cakes, and of course, the wedding cake.  I adored making all of it, from the multi-yellow toned, glazed cookies to the frosting-piped cake.  But my favorite parts, by far, were surprising the bride with an actual tiered wedding cake, seeing the happy couple cut the cake, watching the bride and groom enjoy the festivities, and spending time with family in a beautiful outdoor environment.  What a fun summer event!



The happy bride & groom!

Swan-neck carved watermelon bowl.

Peacock watermelon carving surrounded by fruit, fruit, fruit!

Wedding cake with sunflower-motif top.