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.

99/365: Excuses, excuses :P

No photo for yesterday, I was sick as a dog. It takes a lot to make me actually get off my feet and into bed but yesterdays' 103.6 fever certainly did it.

It left as mysteriously as it came. I think I probably picked up something from Mika, but since she's on antibiotics right now she just transfered it instead of getting it.

98/365: Good food!

April 19th

I'm not going to even pretend I have photos for the two days of weekend. We were really busy, Saturday Mika and I went to a Young Actors play; it was Blue's Clues scavenger Hunt and she really enjoyed it. Sunday, Mika and I went to a Snowhite's Tea Party held by Tallahassee Ballet and she had an absolute blast.

David and Jack were at the Brogan, enjoying the American Indian Art Exhibition. Overall, a very full, entertaining weekend. Unfortunately this means I sort of, kind of forgot to take a project picture :o I took a lot of photos just none really project worthy.

Today, I simply couldn't help myself: I had to take a photo of our beautiful dinner. I loved all the colors, even if my hands are completely red right now :D

On the menu: pasta with turkey and green onions, sated egg plant and Romaine/ beats salad. Yum! yum!

97/365

April 16th

Making dessert for dinner tonight, chocolate dipped strawberries. Yum!

Obviously, this was still the prep stage; on their way to the fridge for the chocolate to harden. They looked even nicer when served :)

96/365

April 15th

We went back to try and find the hands of Mika and friends. Unfortunately, the banner was broken so even though we found Mika's class only the hands of two of the kids were actually still a part of it :/

95/365

April 14th

Passion flower

I know these close ups are getting repetitive but the plants just look so amazing this time of the year.

94/365

April 13th

Decorative Chili Peppers

93/365: When you're happy and you know it...

April 12th

Children's week at the Captiol

One of the festivities is hanging of hands sent it from daycares all around Florida. The photo doesn't do it justice, it's three levels of hangings... hands as far as eye can see. There are so many we couldn't pinpoint Mika's daycare or her group :)

92/365

April 11th

Blue- eyed grass, Sisyrinchium atlanticum

This is one of Florida native grasses usually described as very sturdy and very perennial. One of the things I learned when I started our family garden was that I should pretty much forget all the plants I love and enjoy. The bulbs mostly had to go because the winters here aren't cold enough, and I had a lot of problems dealing with so much sun.

It's not just sun, it's scorching, smoldering heat the burns... combine that with the humidity and all the plants I imagined in my garden were a gonner. I had to learn the hard way but I have finally accepted that I will have to relearn everything and let the land teach me.

One of the finds is this grass, this is its second year in the garden and it is proving to be the most wonderful surprise. It is growing very fast, last year I started with two plants and this year I have three that are double in size of the originals. It has survived the winter and has surprised with an abundance of cute button flowers that resist the heat amazingly.

91/365: Ornamental

April 10th

Went plant hunting at the Tallahassee Nurseries.

90/365: Ache

April 9th

This is a detail from a photo album I am trying to make using the photos from our first family summer in Croatia, two years ago now.

I have about 10 pages so far and about 20-30 to go. The reason it's taking so long is because every time I start I end up breaking down in tears. No one can explain to you what it feels like to be separated from the people you love until you experience it first hand.

Now that I am a parent myself, I respect my parents silent acceptance of my marriage even more. Obviously, they see our happy little family and that makes them content, or maybe just not worried. But now knowing first hand what it feels like to not have your child next to you (no matter how old) I am in awe how brave they were, to just hug me and love me and wish David and me well even though their hearts were breaking inside.

To not have your child near you, your family, is like...... someone takes a piece of your heart and nothing you do can ever fill that void. It doesn't matter how happy you are, how well things are going... despite of it all you walk around with a part of you hollow; there is no filling it, there is no replacing it.

My parents knew this feeling, they knew how much every day apart would hurt and yet they never, not once, spoke against my marriage. David and I have always had their full support and for that I will always respect them and love them beyond words.

89/365: Inspiration

This photo wasn't taken so much for the azaleas as it was for ideas.

I am on an idea hunt for Mika's 3rd Birthday Party. Her birthday isn't until end of July but I have to churn things in my head for a month or two, and then when I have it all worked out I can actually make the stuff fairly quickly.

I fell in love with this color, I know I want strong colors for this party: lime green and powerful dark pink, orange and red. Did I mention it will be a bug party?

Mika's crazy for all things animal but I thought narrowing it down a little will work better so it's a bug party: D Lady bugs, butterflies, dragon flies you name it.... Ideas I have so far:
- dessert and regular food table will be under trees next to each other so we can hang pom poms and big breezy butterflies above....
- mason jars!
- pink and green lemonade, if you have ideas on how to make them be that color please let me know...
- desserts: sugar cookies and raspberry ice cream for ice cream sandwiches, cupcakes, mini cheesecakes with fresh fruits....
- regular food: mini sausages, puff pastry maybe, carrots, cucumbers, cheese sticks...
- felt crowns for all the kids
- big felt flowers all around the yard
- felt bugs for goodie bags
- bug coloring pages with crayons
- chalks (I hope the $ store has these cheap)
- bubbles!!! ($ store again)

I will have to stop by the $ store one day next week, they should have plenty of Easter merchandise I could use for this.

Please let me know if you guys have any ideas.

88/365: Peace

I cannot explain this photo, just something in that red and blue was pulling at me.

It is so simple, but I could look at it for hours.

87/365: The Brogan

April 6th

Visited the Mary brogan Museum today, we had to drop off Jack's registration forms for summer camp. This year he chose Lego robots & Oceanography.

I knew he will go for the robots but the oceanography surprised me, I thought he would choose space or camping/ survival. It was a very pleasant surprise, and I really hope he will enjoy himself this summer. I'm glad the oceanography one includes a field trip to the Marine Lab as well, to connect with people who actually do this for a living.

Hopefully, Jack will finally get hooked on a hobby that he can dedicate himself to. Last year he was attending space/ astronomy camps but wasn't really interested to do anything more with it.

Unfortunately, drama camps have really weird times so he can't attend those...

We'll see

86/365: Oregano

85/365: Eggs

April 4th

84/365: Sweet things

April 3rd

This is part of why this weekend was so hectic... Spring cupcakes and cookies!
The cookies turned out rather well for my first attempt in decorating them this way, don't you think?

I also made some "flower cookies" for day care. Not sure why is Blogger posting this one vertically, when I 'm uploading it as a horizontal photo, oh well...

83/365: Sun hats

April 2nd

Summer is the time when little kiddies need sun hats, this is Mika's for this year. I took off all the ghastly pink and plastic ribbon and added buttons.

I really dislike the stereotypical "fashion", the only thing they have for girls is pink, always pink.... seriously there are OTHER colors... the choice in the hats was either pink or white... ridiculous...

P.S. I was really trying hard to post pics every day as I take them but this weekend has been a total mess

82/365: Wisteria

April Fools
I wish there was a way to capture the smell in the photo as well :)

It is absolutely enchanting sitting under the Wisteria blossoms. The photos from these past few days really show why this is my favorite time of the year, life is coming back with such force you can almost see plants growing right in front of you.

The yellow daffodils are already gone, replaced with the white ones, and the wisteria... the dogwoods, the azaleas... the zinnia seedlings will be ready to be transplanted soon... the hostas have grown almost 1.5 inch daily...

Absolutely stunning.