Long time no see!

Hi guys, I've been very busy lately working on starting Sugarsticks Parties. Find out more about what I've been up to at www.sugarsticksparties.com or at the blog www.blog.sugarsticksparties.com.

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141/365: Dragonfly

140/365: Cupcake Trial 1

I baked a trial run of cupcakes for Mika's party, since I wanted to make sure I can make them look like cups with ice cream.

The cupcake cups are from Bake It Pretty and they work amazingly well; they are self- standing so you just fill them and line them up on a cookie sheet.

I overfilled them though, they are taller than the regular wrapers so I thought I should fill them up more but.... they really need to be filled half way. That's what the trial runs are for, right? :)

The dough is the lemon cake from the book Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss and it is absolutely brilliant. It is extremely light and fluffy (uses only egg whites) although I will double the lemon zest and juice, since I want it to have even more lemony flavor... I will also probably reduce the amount of sugar in the dough, since the frosting is basically pure sugar...

139/365

Father's Day Card

The kids both put their hand prints in the card, one on each side: Mika on the left and Jack on the right.

Across the top we wrote:

Dear Dad we love you because, and then the kids came up with reasons why. Mika's reasons were written on the side with her hand:

- you tickle me
- make me laugh
- hold me up high

- play with me in the sand

- build lego castles with me

... and Jack's on the side with his hand:

- you help me with Pokemon

- you play video games with me

- you protect me

- you teach me things I need to know

- you tickle me; help me laugh

For the outside I cut out three circles for the letters DAD, and then we used the cutouts for 3 coupons. The coupons are for:
- a kiss
- pick a movie for movie night
- add a $100 to a Dream PC fund

I hope he likes it :)

138/365: Mother Nature kicks ass...

Just look at those colors!

I will have to take a break from this project, I will still post photos of interesting things I notice around me, but there is so much going on I simply don't have the time to post daily photos.

Right now on our to do list: clean up around the shed (at least a weekend), wrap up Mika's birthaday party, paint two walls in the house (another weekend), clean up Jack's room before he comes home for the summer (one day), back to school shopping, get the business off the ground....

137/365

June 9th: Manizotti for dinner... I followed the recipe from the box with a couple of changes, the family enjoyed. It's pretty much pasta filled with mushroom and green onions (original recipe called for spinach) in a ton of ricotta cheese.

136/365

June 7th: The little hiatus was due to me not having the camera since David and Jack took it with them to the Pokemon tournament. I'm afraid I don't have much today, I'm exhausted and ready to start winding down so just a shot of Mika's hopscotch...

135/365: Cupcake toppers

June 2nd: Here we go! Mika's birthday party is starting to come together, we have the invitations and most of the paper items designed. These will be the cupcake toppers...

In other news, we came home today to the table fully set and dinner made... all by Jack :) Granted, he made scrambled eggs (6) so some additions had to be made in order to feed us... but still, the kid made dinner :D

134/365: Oh ladybug, oh ladybug

June 1st: I originally wanted to capture the new shoots of this palm tree when I noticed the ladybugs...

133/365: Surprise in color

May 30th: I wanted to buy a couple of yellow day lilies, but this one snuck up on me... bloomed overnight to surprise me with a new burst of color...

132/365: Blood red

May 29th: new color in the garden

131/365: Cars

May 28th: I just took these from Mika, she's supposed to be sleeping but she was sitting on her bed playing with these. She claimed them a while back in Jack's room and since Jack is getting a little too old to find them interesting he gave them up willingly.

They are definitely one of her favorite, go to toys...

130/365: Morning on the river

May 27th:

I finally caught the vultures on their regular morning hang out, some morning there'll be as many as twenty on it. There seems to be a lot of herons on the shores as well.

Ochlockonee river is the river that separates Liberty and Leon counties and we drive over it every morning on our way to work.

This is really where I realize how much I need to invest into some good lenses but something else always takes priority.

129/365: Sunlight

May 26th: Just a tree we were sitting under ...

128/365: Jake's Butt Stop

May 24th: We came across this "plaque" walking around the Capitol. It reads:

This plaque is hereby dedicated on August 31, 2007 by the Florida Senate smokers to:
Jake

By the powers vested in us, we hereby declare this spot henceforth and forever more
JAKE'S BUTT STOP

127/365:

May 21st

Department of Education bulding. This was one of those "Okay need a photo. Snap!" days:)

126/365: Thinking of mamma

May 19th

Blue hydrangeas are a favorite of my mom's, I think of her every time I pass by these.

This particular bush is on Park Avenue, downtown Tallahassee.

125/365: The green

I am so behind: May 18th

The shadows on the grass looks so warm and menacing at the same time. The only thing better would be if a breeze was gently rustling the leaves overhead.

124/365: Death by chocolate

May 17th

So, yesterday was a rainy Sunday... actually, let me backtrack here by first explaining my untested recipe stash. In my daily wanderings on the internet I will often come across recipes that sound interesting enough to try, it is then that I print out the said recipe and stash it... literally

There is a designated place on my cookbook shelf for these slivers of paper, magazine rip outs, quickly scribbled notes.... Some recipes will sit in their spot gathering dust and wilting away for a looooong time but some tug at me, and refuse to leave my mind...

Yesterday, a rainy Sunday, was a perfect day to try one of these; between piles of laundry and episodes of True Blood season 1.

These little babies came from Pioneer Woman and let me tell you: the moment you take a first bite your mind will immediately start playing that -sweet mother of god- reaction you will sometimes see people in movies get. Seriously, I am not joking.

I think it has to do with the fact the the recipe doesn't use chocolate but cocoa that you melt with butter. I didn't use Hershey kisses though, as with most US chocolate I consider Hershey kisses to be an abomination that couldn't be further from chocolate. Instead of Kisses I used blueberries, I had some in my freezer.

I was afraid they might make the cupcakes soggy but no, it was pure perfection. I made mini cupcakes, a perfect bite size for this recipe, and put 3 blueberries in each. The blueberries created this amazing layer of freshness in the cupcakes, just absolutely perfect. I cannot wait to try this recipe with different fruits, blackberries maybe.

Oh, I also didn't have buttermilk so I used the milk with white vinegar trick... and no cream so I used butter to make the chocolate silky. I was fighting using corn syrup in the ganache but with a sad heart I have to admit that the difference in the gloss of the ganache is unmistakable between syrup and non- syrup cupcakes.

123/365

May 16th

Raining today... Mika left her watering can on the porch...

Hopefully, the garden will get a good drenching.

122/365: Red and Green

May 15th



Just a detail from the garden.

We spent the day mowing the lawn, trimming and all the other not so interesting stuff ...

121/365: New season

May 14th

Remember this photo?

Well, this is what the same plant tlooks like in bloom.

120/365: Green city

May 13th

Tallahassee is known for it's trees and the street canopies but usually they will cut off almost completely the side of the tree that meets the poles and wires.

I was surprised to see this one where they allowed for the growth to continue.

119/365: Skyline?

May 12th

A really tiny skyline? :)

118/365: I got nothing for ya'

May 11th

Just the Hostas from the garden.

117/365: MJ

May 10th

This was my Mother's Day present. Isn't it just perfectly dainty?

It's from The Vintage Pearl.

116/365: Where did I see it?

May 9th

Remember that mulberry tree photo? Well, the berries are ripe and taste really good! We picked some today to use in a fruit salad. Yum!

P.S. This is one of the rare occasions where I'm pleased with the unfocused quality of the photo.

115/365: Bunny!

May 8th

We have loads of wild bunnies around here. Unfortunately, they start coming out at dusk and I cannot use flash or it would scare them away. Hence, the grainy photo...

114/365: Blue

May 7th

Meringues for the Teacher Appreciation Week, for Mika's daycare. I don't have a photo of the final product, but I did a platter of strawberries with the teal meringues in the middle.

I hope the teachers like it. I got the recipe from TomKat Studio. These were so easy to make I think I will use them for Mika's birthday party.

113/365: Oh la la

May 6th

Made some aprons for Mika's daycare

112/365: Tutus!

May 4th

I had some leftover tulle from Mika's Halloween costume so I made tutus for her daycare. The TomKat Studio had a really good tutorial.

111/365

May 3rd

Another addition to the garden. It has just started blooming and I hope it will be a decent sized shrub by the end of the season. Alas, I cannot find the exact name of this shrubery...

I have finally gained some confidence when it comes to our family garden. Sure, the plants planted this year are scrawny but the ones that are 2 to 3 years old; they are well established, luscious speciments.

Yesterday, my photo plan was to snap a shot of the wheelbarrow filled to the brim with weeds; a product of my daily labor. By the time I was done, I was so exhausted I totally forgot to take a photo before putting stuff away *blush*

110/365: Nice surprises!

May 1st

Today was a good day! It is Beltaine for one... we went to see Snowhite and the Seven Dwarves by the Tallahassee Ballet. Mika was mesmerized and couldn't stop commenting on what was going after she got used to the setting.

Jack was one of maybe ten boys in the theater that seats close to 400 but my philosophy is "A bit of culture won't kill him"; and to his credit he did sit through it without complaining.

Afterwards, David took us to a place he swore I would absolutely love and he was right. It is on Railroad Avenue in Tallahassee, it is an art park but also a place where the city gave space to FSU Art Department Students/ graduates to open shops.

It has such a lovely communal feel, we scrounged through a vintage store and I found a couple of really cool broaches. It is a also a place where the original Cosmic Cat is and since today was a National Free Comic Day we grabbed some free comics too. There's also a rock gym, a co-op, a bike shop and those are just the ones we had time to visit. We will definitely be back. The peace art is from there.



Later this evening we also found out that Macak, our cat that wondered off about a year ago is back.

The second lovely surprise came when David entered the shed only to have a bird fly out and just barely miss his forehead.

On the shelf where I keep all of my gardening stuff and empty planters a mama bird decided to make a nest in one of the empty planters, as you can see she is keeping busy. I'm not sure how she managed to survive the cats so far and I worry how to protect the little birdies from them....

109/365: Colors

April 30th


Flower bed in front of the Old Capitol, mostly petunias and a little bit of pansies.

108/365: Tlingit

April 29th

Remember that American Indian Art show I mentioned earlier?

It is a very good exhibition, interesting because they focused on the tribes NOT typical for this area. The mask in the photo is a Tlingit Shaman's Mask from 1920's.

The jewelry and ivory figurines were most impressive but without flash it's hard to get a good photo.

The Mary Brogan Museum

107/365: Samo za Zivu part 2

I feel like a disclaimer is needed here: it is not my intention to turn this into a cooking/ baking blog. This blogs' intention doesn't change, it is still a Project 365, daily photo diary first and foremost.

My reasons for baking are the same as for cooking 95% of our family meals at home. I want to make sure my kids eat the best they can, even when it comes to sweets.

Who is Ziva?

Ziva is a very good friend from Croatia who has been asking me to share some of the recipes I use for a while now. Since none of these were created by me, but were found online and tweaked through trial and error, I don't see a problem in sharing them (I will try to reference where I got them from when possible).

I hope this explains why recipes will show up here and there on the blog.

Onwards to my most favorite cookie EVER, no joke!

CHOCOLATE CUT- OUT COOKIES
I found these by literally googling "Chocolate Cutout cookies" and I cannot find the site I found them on, for the life of me....

11/2 CUP flour
3/4 CUP cocoa powder (unsweetened)
11/4 TS baking powder
1/8 TS salt
3/4 CUP butter/ shortening (I use shortening because I cannot successfully soften butter, without melting part of it )
2/3 cup brown sugar (in muffins, you could substitute brown sugar for honey, but I don't recommend it here)
1 egg

In a mixer bowl: cream shortening and sugar, beat in the egg. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly start adding to the mixer bowl. In the end, you will be left with an equally moistened mixture that will be on the dry side and not completely cohesive.

I really like playing with flavors so I will usually add a flavor to the original recipe before I start adding the dry ingredients. For these cookies I like adding orange extract, or raspberry: about 1 TBSP since you don't want to water the dough too much.

You will need to kneed it a bit for it to be cohesive. Split the dough into two equal parts, wrap into plastic wrap and refrigerate for AT LEAST 2 hours.

I usually don't have time enough to do this all in one go, so I will leave the dough in the fridge overnight; take it out the next day about 3 or 4 hours before I'm ready to start rolling it out. This dough does tend to break easily but trust me all the frustration is worth it in the end. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness, bake for 8 min at 375F.

Once the cookies cool I will usually melt some dark chocolate, spread over the cookies and add what I feel like on top, i.e. shredded coconut, almond slices..... play with it

106/365: And to think that I saw it on....

April 27th

David tells me this is Mulberry. I guess I'll take his word for it :P

105/365

April 26th

Kleiman Plaza detail

104/365: Fresh

April 25th

African Blue Basil

This basil handles the Floridian sun a lot better, because the oil content is higher than in regular basil. I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised with it, none of that sagging wilting mess.... it is really doing well and I'm hoping it's going to continue like that for the rest of the summer.

103/365: Samo za Zivu part 1

April 24th

Breakfast muffins

These are my go to muffins, they are extremely easy and fast. I didn't start baking until we got married and I wanted to give Jack snacks that were healthy and I knew they weren't filled with preservatives and chemicals.

My philosophy is simple: find a recipe base that is easy and simple and that you can add to depending on the flavor you want. These muffins are just that:

THE BASE
11/4 cup oats
1 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 ts salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Dump it all in a bowl in the order listed and mix with spatula until there's no dry pockets and everything is nice and moistened.

Add whatever fruit or chocolate you want, 2 cups. My go to choices are usually: shreded apples, bananas, blueberries, dried apricots, raisins or chocolate chips.

Fill a dozen cupcake pan, bake at 425F for 20 minutes. Decorate with chocolate or almonds and honey or whatever you feel like really.

Ziva, let me know if this is detailed enough....

102/365: Brick fascination

April 23rd

A wall, that's all I got... heh...

101/365: Cuppy cakes:)

April 22nd

I've picked up these baking cups a while back and decide to use them this evening. I attempted to make filled cupcakes and they seem a success.

The cups are cute and have a potential to be striking but definitely cannot be used for actual baking. If I can find lime green ones I'll use them for Mika's birthday party.

Cupcakes are lemon, filled with blackberry jam and chocolate icing.

100/365: Golden treasure

Sticking to chamomile tea with honey today. The fever is gone, but I'm sticking to bed as much as possible.

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to go to work.