Month: May 2019

It’s a Girl!

Dear Sis,

Today we found out the William was right all along. He is going to have a sister!

After the sonogram, we stopped at an aviation shop with Daddy. They had a small park outside, which William was eager to try out:)

Love,

b

Kite Festival

Hi Sis,

This weekend we met up with Nate’s mom and went to an international kite festival, located in Mentor on the beach of Lake Erie. It was Nate’s mom who discovered the event… who would have even thought there were international kite flying events!

They actually hired a man from China to come fly kites! Some of his kites were up to 40lbs! It was cold and rainy, so we went for breakfast and came back again later in the afternoon. 

Evelyn and her grandma

I don’t think we will be yearly attendees, but it was a fun time to spend with family. Poor Evelyn was coming down with a cold (I later discovered that night) and slept most of the day.

Brian loves music and plays and sings for Evelyn. Now she is starting to want to play too!

When we got back from kites, mom and Brian soon arrived to spend the rest of the weekend with us. We made Chili Mac, Cream of Potato Soup and Apple pie for dinner, and had fun cooking a few other tasty meals!

It was so nice to have mom around to help me take care of Evelyn while she was sick. Evelyn kept me up most of Saturday night, so her and Brian played with Evelyn and let me get some much needed sleep Sunday.

Mom and Brian left Monday after we walked to the covered bridge park together! The weather was perfect! We also saw some fish spawning and learned a bit about fish from a kind fisherman!

Love,

Jamiegoof

Books & Butterflies

Dear Sis,

Today we got up bright and early and drove 3.5 hours to the homeschool expo is Ft. Wayne, IN. It comes highly recommended by our IN relations. It wasn’t as large of an event as I imagined and it only took me an hour to make my way through all the things that interested me. I’m glad I went. I won’t wonder in future years, if I’m missing something by not attending.

Josh decided we would go on another outing before the drive home, so he took us to the Ft. Wayne Conservatory. William enjoyed the butterfly room very much! One landed on him:)

He walked around the exhibit saying, “Ou-y, No Touch!” as he went. 

It was a good day!

Love,

b

Watermelon Cupcake Test

Dear Sis,

Today has been a fun day at our house. There are cupcakes everywhere! …which is okay with William and Josh:)

The colors are flipped in cupcakes 1 and 2, because the component that contains the watermelon flavoring, is the component that has to be pink. 

CUPCAKE ONE

Chocolate Chip Watermelon Cupcakes
Yields 24
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Ingredients
  1. 1 box white cake mix
  2. 1 c buttermilk
  3. 1/3 c oil
  4. 3 egg whites
  5. 3 T watermelon gelatin
  6. red food color
  7. 1/2 c mini chocolate chips
  8. 1 recipe Swiss Buttercream, colored green
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 dozen cupcake tins with parchment liners.
  2. Beat together cake mix, buttermilk, oil, and egg whites until smooth.
  3. Stir in gelatin and red food color, until desired color is reached, but remembering that the color will appear slightly darker after it is baked.
  4. Bake 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
  5. Frost with Swiss Buttercream, recipe link below.
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Swiss Buttercream

Gelatin in cake creates a very moist, but slightly denser cake. Baking the chocolate chips into the cake makes the chocolate flavor much richer. In my opinion, I taste chocolate first with a hint of watermelon flavor. If my panel of taste testers picks this cupcake, I will add fondant toppers to complete the look.

CUPCAKE TWO

Watermelon Cupcakes
Yields 24
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Cupcakes
  1. 1 box white cake mix
  2. 1 c buttermilk
  3. 1/3 c oil
  4. 3 egg whites
  5. green food color
Watermelon Frosting
  1. 1 batch Swiss Buttercream, colored red/pink
  2. 1 pkg. watermelon Kool-aid
  3. mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 dozen cupcake tins with parchment liners.
  2. Beat together cake mix, buttermilk, oil, and egg whites until smooth.
  3. Stir in green food color until desired shade is achieved. I even like to add a bit of yellow to brighten the green. Keep in mind that the color with be slightly darker after baking.
  4. Bake 15 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.
  5. Prepare Swiss Buttercream as directed in the link above, but leave out almond extract, and add Kool-aid in its place. Color with red food color to desired shade.
  6. Pipe over cupcakes with a large star tip. Sprinkle each frosted top with some chocolate chips.
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The cake is lighter in this cupcake, since it doesn’t contain any gelatin. The Kool-aid adds a very slight grittiness to the buttercream, but the watermelon flavor is very apparent in this presentation. The chocolate chips take the back seat and become part of the ascetic. 

 

I will post the results in the comment section:)

Love,

b

Recipe Testing for Evelyn’s First Birthday Party

Dear Sis,

I am super excited to be working on recipes for Evelyn’s First Birthday Picnic! We tried one of our watermelon theme desserts and a sandwich option.

Fruit Pizza
Serves 16
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Sugar Cookie Crust
  1. 1 pkg. Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
  2. 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
  3. 1 T all-purpose flour
  4. 1 t almond extract
  5. 1 egg
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. 2 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
  2. 1/2 c powdered sugar
  3. 1 t vanilla extract
Fruit Toppings
  1. 2 kiwi fruits
  2. 1 lb. strawberries
  3. 2 T semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Sugar Cookie Crust
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line 2 (9 inch) round baking pans or pie plates with parchment cut to fit the base.
  2. Combine cookie dough ingredients until dough forms. Divide dough into two portions and press one portion into the bottom of each prepared baking pan.
  3. Bake 15-18 minutes. Cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. Beat together frosting ingredients until smooth and fluffy.
  2. Remove crust from baking pans and place on serving plates or boards. Cut each cookie into 8 slices before frosting. It makes serving much easier later! Spread half frosting over each crust. Chill.
Fruit Toppings
  1. Peel, half, and thinly slice kiwi fruits. Layer sliced kiwi around the outer edge of the fruit pizza.
  2. Wash, remove greens, and slice strawberries. Layer sliced berries in the center of the fruit pizza.
  3. Sprinkle each pizza with 1 T mini chocolate chips.
  4. Chill until ready to serve.
Notes
  1. Fruit Pizza doesn't have to look like a watermelon. You can use your favorite fruits in any design you desire!
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Spicy Buffalo Chicken Pinwheel Sandwiches
Yields 32
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Cheese Spread
  1. 1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
  2. 1 c cheddar cheese, shredded
  3. 1/4 c blue cheese, crumbled
  4. 2 T sour cream
Buffalo Chicken Filling
  1. 2 c rotisseri chicken, shredded
  2. 1/2 c Buffalo wing sauce
  3. 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  4. 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
Cheese Spread
  1. Cream together all ingredients until smooth.
  2. Place equal portions in the center of each tortilla and spread smooth.
Buffalo Chicken Filling
  1. Toss together chicken, wing sauce, and onion.
  2. Spread equal portions over the cheese layer on each tortilla.
  3. Roll up each tortilla and chill 2 hours.
  4. Cut away ends and slice each tortilla into four equal pinwheel sandwiches. Serve.
Adapted from Sugar Apron
Adapted from Sugar Apron
Tag Sis, You're It! https://www.tagsisyoureit.com/
I am going to put these sandwiches on a platter with ranch dip, baby carrots, and celery sticks. The flavors complement each other so well and remind me of eating real wings… only less messy:) 

We went to a library program, while the wraps were chilling, and ate them for lunch. William has an amazing tolerance for spicy considering he is only 2.5!

Love,

b