Santa's surprise

Happiest holidays!!!
Hope they were wonderful everyone!!

Santa brought into our house this year a fuzzy baby in the shape of a super cutie bunny!!
Today, her name is marshmallow ...
Yesterday, snowball ...
But one thing is for sure... We are in love!!!








Helloooooooo!








Auntie Kirsten gave honeypie a beautiful handmade sewing basket complete with wonderful candycolored threads, ribbons and soft fabric . It was a was a wonderful thoughtful gift that honeypie is in love with too and full of ideas to sew like mama!




Santa also bought a fancy Nancy girl and her very own sewing machine... We are going to have wonderful sewing adventures!!!










Nothing but pure love!

Hope the new year brings joy, love, good health and prosperity for everyone!



~ ^_^ birdycake

Beautiful snowy Sunday

We haven't seen this much snow in years!!!
(Oh sweet and scary global warming...I won't think about you today )...

What did this snowy Sunday bring?

Hot cocoa with tons of whipcream...




Peppermint bark making...
















And tons of snow frolicking with some mayhem thrown in... Frosty is cute too!!











Ending in a mama and girl evening full of nutcracker ballet and sugarplum dreams...!





-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Snow day!!

Ohhhhh!!! looks like we might have a white Christmas after all... The first in years!!!
Warm and cozy inside today as 12 plus inches of snow continue to fall...

Our day?

Finishing our letter to Santa ...





Making a gift from a friend...





Reading lovely Christmas books...















Honey bread bakin'





And late night Bellini makin' !







-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Julie and Julia....

This week we were visited by the stomach flu bug...horrid!! And as I curled in agony over the pain... Honeypie and I decided to snuggle on the couch to watch the movie Julie and Julia . (If you've ever had the misfortune of having this bug, you'd understand the dark humor behind watching a movie about a wonderful talented chef who adores butter and cheese!!!)
The movie Julie and Julia is two stories in one about the life of the chef Julia childs, brilliant woman pioneer and another very whiny, annoying, self centered woman named Julie... Who attempts to take on one of Julia childs cookbooks and decides to make every recipe in the book within a year's time.
Meryl Streep as Julia childs is brilliant , loved learning all about her life and her persistence. ( did you know she learned how to cook in her late thirties??)
Honeypie's favorite line was when Julia talks about Brie cheese (honeypie's love) Mine? The wonderful thing she says... When cooking for guests , if a meal does not turn out quite right or is not perfect to your standards... Never apologize or make excuses. Just let the food be.
That's a good thing!

And as days are when learning has been quite organic ... The credits roll on the movie and honeypie says...
"mama!! Mama!!! That says "cast"!!! I say... "where??" "there on the tv!!!" she says... And sure enough... Honeypie had read her first 4 letter word on her own, at the end of the movie as the credits were rolling!
She says... "it's like cat but with an "s" that's how I knew it was " C -A-S-T" !

I am so proud and amazed. Proud and so amazed!


Snuggled together...



"and if it's not perfect... Never apologize"



French apple tart!




First word read... Cast.



Healing as we speak And ready for baking when this is over!!


-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Pinecone Christmas ornaments

Mama is sick in bed...
A little late in the season, so it caught me off guard.
But fortunally honeypie and i did manage to make some christmas ornaments this weekend...
Feel like I wanted to do so much more fun Christmas projects this year...But I'm going with the flow and letting it go. It's better ... No expectations ... Just enjoying the moment as is.
For honeypie the NOW is always amazing...
For mama... There is always MORE to do.
So New year's resolution?
As Ram Dass says... "Be Here Now".

^_^

if you'd like to make these ornaments, all that you need are... pinecones, glitter, glue and a brush. Also some wooden balls you can buy at a craft store and acrylic paint for painting them, felt scraps, buttons, and a hot glue gun. (which by the way should be handled only by an adult!!!!)





Brush the glue on the pinecones.
Spoon the glitter over the pinecones.



Paint your wooden ball heads with the acrylic paints.




Let them dry.



With a hot glue gun, glue the heads on to the pinecones .



And use felt scraps to hot glue decorations on top... Ribbons, buttons etc.

Here's mama's winter elf...




And honeypie's Christmas girls!






-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Holiday Flapjacks...

Ok...
I'm feeling the holiday spirit AND due to this lovely sweet feeling... I feel compelled to share with you a secret...
Our secret and THE secret to a good flap Jack!
You might think this is funny or not nessesary BUT...
If you like a good Sunday pancake (we do) , and you like making them from scratch , (we do) and you love a nice fluffy not too bread-y or dense pancake.., then by all means... Read on!
I would say comfortably... That I might be a carb expert... I'm talking bread (the best is a french baguette baked IN France), bread pudding , (the best is made in New Orleans with bourbon and caramelized pecans), French toast ( the best was made in a little dinner in the west village of NYC called "mantus" and I can't tell you exactly why or how all I know is that they used challah bread and they were Greek!)... The mysteries of bread has led me to a life time of searching for the perfect pancake... And look no further my friend.
I think a buttermilk makes the best flapjack and here is a pretty good recipe... Now if you know a better one by all means... Email it to me...
That would be soooooooo Nice and full of the good ol' Christmas spirit!

Buttermilk flapjacks
(I am listing the ingredients on order you should be adding them)

2 eggs
2 cups of buttermilk
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 tb of unsalted butter melted and cooled
Whisk together
And
Add 2 cups of all purpose flour
Blend/mix only until the wet is well mixed with the dry ... It should remain a bit lumpy.

Now for the good part... ( otherwise known as the golden rule)
1.Overmixing the batter will result in too dense pancakes
2.Letting the batter rest a bit allows the gluten to relax, making the pancake more tender
3.Keeping the griddle at a medium temperature is best. Too hot and they will burn, too cold and they will not rise.
And 4. Know when to flip ! The pancakes are done when bubbles begin to rise and the edges of the pancakes begin to brown!
And if you are using a pancake mold...
The secret is to oil the molds with canola oil spray and spoon the batter little by little into the molds with a small spoon making sure to spread the batter into all the nooks... BUT do not overfill!!!!

*You can add pecans or berries to your batter and if you are feeling naughty ...
Chocolate chips!!!



















Enjoy!!!!!


-Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Candy Wreath Ornaments

Here's a great idea we got from the "crafty crow" on how to make a candy wreath ornament!
We made ours with peppermint candies.
All you need is some decorative ribbon, peppermint candies and your oven. Arrange the candies on a baking sheet in a circle or wreath shape...
Bake at 250 f for 4-5 minutes or until slightly melted. Wreath is done when the candies have stuck together.
We baked it according to the instructions if 8 minutes and the candies melted too much. So 4-5 minutes seems like a good time.










Cute and you can eat it too!



-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

All about Santa...

Here are 3 great Christmas books we read this week!
The first two, Santa Claus and Santa's Reindeer are wonderful books chuck full of detailed information about the mystery of the north pole and Santa's life.

Lots of flaps to open and things to pull out and explore. I must say I have learned alot!

I did not know santa's suit was woven from spider's silk!
Wonderfully informative and full of pictures.


























This third book was a great discovery! Holly claus the Christmas princess is daughter to Santa Claus. She was born after a child wrote a letter to Santa telling him that he did not need anything for Christmas but wanted to give him a gift and wanted to know what Santa's wish was. A great lesson about selflessness.

I won't tell you the rest ... Just know there is mystery and a great happy ending!













Happy reading!


-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!