In the Clear | Party Packaging Etsy Shop

Today I did a little online shopping at In the Clear, an Etsy shop that gets an A+ for cute packaging and disposables at great prices. I'm not planning any parties any time soon but I do have to pack a lunch and a snack for Enzo 5 days a week and a lunch for Maria 2 days a weeks.

I thought that by now the novelty of packing a lunch for Enzo and Maria would have faded, but it hasn't. I like packing their lunch and leaving little notes and making it as cute as possible. Maria gets so excited when she gets to use her lunch box, she always says "today I get to eat a pretty lunch." She is definitely a fan of all things cute. Luckily I have a stash of very cute bento accessories and boxes, some I got as gifts and some I bought in Japan town in San Francisco. I'm excited to use some of the stuff I bought today to use for their school lunches.

I used to never use any of my cute things, my pretty stationary, even my stamps. Now I try to use it up as much as I can. When you have cute things, like washi tape, do you tend to use it or save it for something special?

+ Polka Dot Nut
+ Design Paper Straws
+ Vintage Style Foiled Paper Lined Hot Dog Bags
+ Vintage Style White French Fries Bags
+ Crafty Wooden Utensils
+ Multi and Neon Dots Paper Tape
+ Green Stripe Paper Bag
+ Washi Skyline Tape
+ Gumball Favor Tubes and Corks
+ Baker's Twine

The Real Cookbook

The Real Cook Book as in a book that you cook. Need I say more? I didn't think so.

Birthday Breakfast | Rainbow Heart Banana Pancakes

Yesterday was Maria's birthday. We celebrated her birthday on Saturday. She got a party with friends and a special breakfast with her bestie, Enzo. I think she had a really special day, at least she mentioned it on Sunday when she was peeing in the church bathroom. She sat there in the big toilet with a smile on her face and proclaimed "my party was beautiful and ugly." I asked her to elaborate. Apparently the the bee trap that was attached to one of the trees was ugly but the balloons made everything else beautiful.

This morning I watched the short videos I took of her opening her presents while Christian took her to her first day of preschool (my baby in preschool. Whaaaat?!). The videos are cute, it shows her and Enzo and their special relationship. For example, she wanted Enzo to open all of her presents for her. I tried to get her to open them but she wanted Enzo to do it and of course Enzo was thrilled to do it. I have to remind myself constantly to give them space. They obviously have a good thing going and it's even better when I don't interfere.

Enzo opened her presents and they enjoyed them together. Her aunt Sienna made her a cool Hello Kitty crayon case which she was thrilled about and sent her a Hello Kitty coloring book which she had Enzo color in for her because she doesn't like coloring outside of the lines. On Wednesday night I took Enzo to our local book store. He had been wanting to buy her 3 new books because she was turning 3. He picked her current favorite, The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog, and a Dr. Seuss pop- up-book, and a board book about mice. Her auntie Karen gave her an Angelina Ballerina stuffed mouse a couple months ago and she loves it so much, Enzo knew she would like a book with cute mice. He was right. When I was in NYC last month I went to Muji and picked up a sticker book and London in a Box for her. Her dad made her a play kitchen which she has been enjoying for over a week now. For her party I told guests that gifts were optional but that if they decided to bring something a book would be best. We don't have much space in our 2 bedroom apartment for new toys, but we always make room for books.

I think her presents were perfect and she definitely seemed to think so too.

For her special birthday breakfast I wanted to make heart-shaped something. She is really into hearts and also the colors pink and purple. Is this a surprise for you? It kind of is to me since we never encouraged pink and purple or hearts or princesses or any of those stereotypical girlie things. But we never encouraged Enzo to like trains and he did and he's fine. We figured she'll be fine is she likes hearts. Heck, I {heart} hearts! I thought rainbow hearts would be ideal and Enzo sure loved them, but she was only willing to eat the pink-redish heart and the purple one. She doesn't eat much anyway so I wasn't offended. As for the bacon I think it could have been dyed yellow and she still would of ate it. My baby does not discriminate against bacon.

I love Maria so much. I love that she is mine. She is such a great snuggler, always kissing and hugging us, and I love that she makes us feel so lucky to have her as ours. I love that she is smart and loves to learn. That she is fierce and has opinions. I love that every 5 minutes she changes her mind about what animal she is but always checks in to make sure I am o.k with her animal choices because she only wanst to be that animal if I am willing to be the mama version of that animal. Just today we were horses, bears, koalas, and unicorns. Maria loves people. She loves having friends, real and imaginary. She really loves ice-cream. She loves books and I love reading to her. She adores her papai and her big brother and spends a long time on the phone, every weekend, talking to my mom and her cousin Bruno in Brazil.

The day she was born was one of the happiest days of my life. I just felt so happy, so complete. I remember feeling like I was swimming in an ocean of bliss. It felt so right to have her in our family. I am so glad she's in our family. I'm so glad I get to be her mama and she my Baby Maria

Rainbow Heart Banana Pancakes
printable version

(makes 12 small 3-inch hearts + 12 medium 5-inch pancakes)

2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups buttermilk
3 mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
food coloring

1. In a medium bowl beat the eggs until fluffy. You can use an electric mixer or a wooden spoons. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except the food coloring, until smooth.
2. Heat skillet over medium-low heat and grease with oil or butter if necessary.
3. Measure 3/4 cup of batter into a cup and mix with red food coloring. Place your metal heart shaped cookie cutter on the skillet and pour a couple tablespoons of red batter inside the heart. Cook pancake until puffed and dry around the edges. Carefully remove the metal cookie cutter and turn and cook other side until golden brown on top. 
4. Repeat with the different colors. Depending on what kind of food coloring you're using and also what brand you're using you need to play around with it to get the color you want. Usually in the back of the food coloring box it will tell you how many drops of dye you need to make a certain color. I omitted violet because it looked so much like purple.  

Sugar Cookie Birthday Pops | Easy Party Favors

We were so excited to celebrate Maria's birthday today! Christian and I enjoy throwing parties. We like cooking for a crowd and we definitely enjoy our friends. Parties can be a lot of work, but honestly they don't have to be.

When planning a party there are things I don't prioritize, like piñatas (even though they are awesome) and paid entertainment (also awesome, most of the time). However, I am a huge fan of serving good food and making meaningful party favors. I try to get the kids involved in doing both. As far as food goes they can help plan a menu and even help us cook. As for party favors I try to make something with them that is meaningful to them.

When a guest leaves I like for them to leave with a little something. I have my kids stop what they're doing and hand the party favor to the guest as the guest is leaving and thank them for coming and for their gift. I remind my kids that  the only reason why it's so special to have a birthday party is because our friends took the time to come and help us celebrate. Having the kids thank them for coming and giving them a little treat is a small gesture but a good reminder that even though they are at the center of attention they still need to show gratitude.

For Maria's party she and I made sugar cookie birthday pops. Maria loves sugar cookies and she certainly loves lollipops, so I knew that sugar cookie birthday pops would be a meaningful treat she could give her special guests.

I too love sugar cookies and I am all about glorifying them. I've made them from scratch and turned them into lollipops for a graduation party and I've also made them into stained glass and put them in a snow globe for a Christmas party. As part of the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker program with Nestlé® Toll House® I was given the opportunity to sample the new Nestlé® Toll House® Birthday Sugar Cookies. There are 24 cookies in a pack with 12 different designs. Maria was so excited about the designs. She carefully chose which cookie went on which lollipop stick and then which ribbon to tie each baggie with.

Sugar Cookies Birthday Pops

1 pack  Nestlé® Toll House® Birthday Sugar Cookies (makes 24)
4-Inch lollipop sticks 
3-Inch-by-4-3/4-Inch Clear Treat Bags
Ribbon for tying

Pre-heat oven to 350*F. Remove the sugar cookies one at a time. Carefully insert a lollipop stick in the middle and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with each cookie. Separate them out so that there is enough room for the cookies to bake and expand. We baked 10 cookies at a time instead of 12 just to make sure the cookies didn't stick together. Bake for 9-10 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack. When the cookie pops are completely cooled you can place them in a treat bag and tie a ribbon around it to make individual cookie pops. Serve them at your next birthday party!

This post is brought to you by Nestle Toll House Birthday Sugar Cookies. Bake some birthday love.

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese

We moved into a new apartment where the living room, kitchen, and office are all upstairs. At first I was bummed but now I'm glad. It's mighty convenient to have the office an extension of the kitchen. I work, and then when I need a break I cook. I've been cooking a lot with tomatoes these days. Heirloom tomatoes are the best!

Our house is coming together. We have an ocean view. Fancy!

We like our porch area, it's perfect for a small garden and for Maria's birthday purple kitchen. I might have to do a separate post on this play kitchen but I was lame and didn't take a before picture. Basically before this purple kitchen existed in it's current form it was a total beaten up side table that was on the side of the road for grabs. Christian grabbed it, fixed it up, took Maria to Ace to pick a color, and now it's a cute little stove which she l-o-v-e-s.

And our hammock is up which is a sure sign that things are coming together. I remember putting Enzo in this exact same hammock when he was a tiny baby. What the heck?! Stop growing!

By the way I've been getting a lot of emails asking when new baby is due. It's due in November, 4th or 6th I can't remember which date exactly. My first two were late, this baby will probably be late as well. I've also been asked about cravings. Right now I'm still catching up on eating all the things I craved when I was in Brazil - like sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes. Lucky for me both are still plentiful.

So are you ready for a roasted heirloom tomato tart recipe with goat cheese? This is what we had for dinner last week and we loved it!

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese

Ingredients
8-10 heirloom tomatoes
salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh herbs for seasoning
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1/2 -1 cup goat cheese

Directions

Oh boy, how many tomatoes will you need? I'm not 100% sure. Lets say 8-10, depending on the size of your tomatoes. Basically if you have a whole cookie sheet full of tomatoes, like I do on top, then you're good to go. It will be enough for 1 tart. Rinse out your tomatoes, cut them up, and generously, I mean really generously, season them. Use salt, use pepper (lemon pepper is my fave), use fresh herbs like oregano and basil. Drizzle with olive oil. Then bake for 2 hours at 300*F.

During the last 30 minutes of roasting remove your puff pastry sheet from the freezer so it can thaw out. The tomatoes are done when the outside has shriveled up.  The middle should still be soft and juicy.

Remove the tomatoes from the cookie sheet. Leave the tomato juices on the pan. You're going to want your puff pastry to soak up all that good stuff. Roll out your puff pastry dough so it's thin and covers up the entire pan.

Crumble your goat cheese and spread it out on top of the puff pastry. If you love goat cheese sprinkle more.

Add the roasted tomatoes on top. Bake for 15 min at 400*F.

Enjoy!

Solar System Lollipops

So someone, Vintage Confections to be exact, makes these planet lollipops by hand (bonus, the Sun and Pluto are also included). People are amazing. These are way too pretty to eat, though if I were still homeschooling Enzo I'd buy these in a second and do a whole unit on the Solar System. At the end of our unit we would binge on pretty lollipops.