New Recipes...

Here is a little taste of what has been coming out of the kitchen around here lately.

I had been dying to try this recipe I had for a creamy- vanilla raspberry pavlova for some time and I finally made the effort . It was well worth the effort because it was super yummy! I used a simple recipe that I found in one of the Kraft food magazines. The hardest thing about this recipe is the wait time as the meringue cooks for an hour and a half.

The picture doesn't really do it justice. It is a melt in your mouth dessert perfect for the warm weather. I think it would be good with any type of berry. I'll just have to force myself to make it again so that I can try it with blueberries!

Another new recipe that I recently cooked is actually an appetizer. I had puff pastry on hand and was not in the mood to cook much for dinner one evening so I though and appetizer and salad would be enough to satisfy hubby. The full recipe is here.

The picture version follows...

Take thawed puff pastry and roll out as thin as you can creating a 10 x 14 rectangle. Cut in half. Brush with egg white and water mixture.

Coat one piece with grated Parmesan cheese and dried red pepper.

Layer on thin sliced ham. I used Boar's Head tavern ham because that was what we had handy.

Cover with other half of puff pastry. Roll to seal.

Roll up like a jelly roll.

Slice into 24 pieces. Cook on parchment paper until lightly browned.

Enjoy! The recipe says it makes 12 servings of 2 pieces each serving. Hubby and I ate all of them in one sitting with a salad. (Not sure I should share that fact!). They would make a great appetizer as the recipe says they are served well at room temp so you could prepare ahead. I wouldn't know what they tasted like at that temperature because none of them had a chance to cool that long. :)

I have been wanting to make some oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies so that is on this weekends agenda as well as getting started on painting the guest room! I think I will make the cookies first so I can motivate myself with the cookies to paint the room!

Makes Me Feel Smart...

Can you spot the misspelled word?

Someone needs to use the spell check!

Happenings...

Since the weather is warm I have a hard time making myself sit in front of the computer long enough to do more than check my email, so this post may be a little all over the place.  

I had forgotten that I never posted finished pictures of the little one's new playhouse. Hubby painted it pink and put a metal roof on it. It turned out super cute!

My neighbor bartered with us for hubby to do some work at their house in trade for her sewing the curtains for the two windows and the door.  The material is a shower curtain that I found at target. Which I thought might work out better than regular fabric since it will be exposed to the elements.

All the kids love playing in it, opening the curtains and playing inside is lots of fun! We keep a small stash of toys and books inside for them.

We also up sized our pool this year!  It's a $30 walmart special but I feel like we have already gotten our money's worth out of it as we have played in it just about everyday!

She loves the slide and mommy and daddy like the fact that we can actually fit in the pool too!

We have already spent many days trying to beat the extreme early summer  heat in the pool with a little help from Popsicles too!

Another ongoing project has been working on the little one's new room. Hubby and I decide to move her into a bigger room so that we could contain the toys a little better. This has been a project for the better part of a month now because I couldn't decide on the paint color.  I think I almost paid more for the half dozen sample jars then I spent to paint the whole room itself! We painted three walls a soft green and the remaining wall a creamy white.

I also found this awesome wall decal online. I was a little unsure how it would work out whether it would stay stuck on the wall or not but it was super easy and looks really cool! I am excited that it will peel off and that I can move it around as needed. I never realized how many wall decals that there were out there and I was worried that it might look cheap and tacky but so far I am pleasantly surprised.

We divided the room in half using a bookcase turned on its side. I still am planning on painting the bookcase white but that is a project for another day.

One half of the new room is her play area. The floor tiles that we had used in her previous play area work great and fit together to make a nice big area that fits her kitchen and table and chairs. She has enjoyed having tea parties with everyone who comes over and when no one is available for tea her teddy bear fills in nicely.

The other half of the room is now her designated sleep area.  (Dresser not pictured is on opposite wall)

I was worried that she might not transition well to sleeping in a bigger different room and that she might not go to bed but play with all of the toys but so far so good! She loves to invite people to come see her "new room" and has surprisingly resisted the temptation of toys after bedtime, for now at least. 

The next challenge is to decide what to do with her old room...

As much as I love it, as a guest room purple polka dots may be a little much. For now they will stay as I am still trying to put the house back together from the first redecorating job!

Oh Sh*t!

Nothing like starting your day by getting locked out of the house by your two year old.

Fortunately for me there are several people close by that have keys to our house. Unfortunately for them it happen to be the ass crack of dawn. My first stop was to my next door neighbor's, sadly she could not locate her copy as her toddler had dumped several drawers in her kitchen out and it had gotten misplaced in the shuffle.  My next unsuspecting victim was a good friend who lives close by, I felt horrible having to call  her as it was her day off but there was an unattended two year old in my house!

Luckily she was able to deliver the key in just a few minutes so the little one was not trapped for very long!

Little one was fine when we busted back in the house. For some reason she had

shut every door in the house.

It's a shame she is not better at opening them!