Just want to share the valentine that I made for my hubby with you...I saw some fun things on various blogs and kind of put them all together to create a little something.
First I cut out some hearts from papers that I like - the ones up above.
Then I printed some words and a little title for my card and cut them out...
I arranged them on a piece of card stock and stuck them on with a little bit of tape so they wouldn't move around.
I put the words on top of the hearts...
and added some stitching to hold everything in place...
Simple and Fun!!!!!!!
Now, here is a Valentine present from my Madison...she has been having such fun with her new camera and took some wonderful Valentine's Day photos.
Let me clarify that...I love water colour painting...in fact I would love to be doing that right now - it's house painting that I am not fond of.
Have you ever started a project and then wished with all your might that you never had?
Here is my pantry...I know that I am very lucky to have a pantry (thank you Daddy!), but right now it is the bane of my existence!!!!!!!!!
I had a little idea to sort of rearrange this pantry - and my hubby said well as long as you are rearranging take all the stuff out and I will paint it for you - this is where I heard warning bells but ignored them...
I really didn't need a big project right then...(the ballet studio has a performance coming up, the house is a mess, I have sewing to do, etc. etc. and so forth...) but I unloaded all the stuff that had been jammed in there over the years...
why do we have at least 8 boxes of cereal ??? Well everyone likes a different kind...then rice krispies (or the cheap imitation) went on sale and you need those around for rice krispy treats and Brian went to Costco and couldn't resist the HUGE Box of corn flakes...
I found three boxes of candy canes!? I think I was going to make peppermint bark and never did.
There were some things in there that I didn't even remember that we had...like the very cool back pack picnic set - planning a picnic right now to use that!
So, all the items were out and Brian began the painting...but what we didn't think about is that it is a very small area and he has a bad back - you can see the writing on the wall here I am sure...
I painted the rest of the pantry - and I hated it!!!!!!! Because it hadn't been painted before it took tons of coats to get it to look nice (yes we should have used a primer) and it truly was uncomfortable painting in that tiny space! My mood just kept getting worse as the days of our kitchen filled with food from the pantry went on and on. What should have been a few hours was turning into days and days because there were other things that needed to be attended to - like school, meals, ballet, life!
Any way enough whining (I am really good at it though) it is finally coming along and I want to show you something I did to make it a bit cuter.
I bought some funky little boxes at the $$$ store and decorated them! If you go in search of this for your own pantry project these boxes come all folded up.
I got some garbage bags and printed up some vintage labels I found in 'images' on Google...
I cut a piece of the paper bag to fit the front of each box and cut out a label to decorate it with...
then sprayed glued the brown paper to the front of the box and the label onto the brown paper!!! So for a dollar each I have these cute boxes to put crackers, chips, marshmallows and such in!
Not bad huh? As I write this that pantry is still not finished...but my girlies have taken pity on me and they are helping me reorganize. I became a bit overwhelmed upon seeing all those piles of food and trying to decide just how I wanted them to go back in. And of course there are the things that I am not sure I want back in there...and just where will they go? That my friends is another story for another day! I will take a few pics of the finished project to show you...should be soon....I am hoping...fingers crossed...
I wear a special little necklace that I got from one of my favorite stores online...
In fact we all have them in one form or another...
Madison took these pics and one got mentioned on their website.
I just love their jewelry and that it can be personalized makes it that much more special. Their newest piece is just up our alley...
and, they are having a give away - so now is a perfect time for you to check out their blog and enter for this beautiful necklace and a $50 gift certificate!
We just don't get out enough...we want to...we say we are going to...and then we do a craft.
So the other day the girlies and I took a little walk in our neighborhood...
We live in a nice old (I mean that in a good way) neighborhood. There are lots of trees, (but they prune them all wrong...and I've tried to tell the city workers, but for some reason they don't want to hear it!?) quaint older homes, our neighborhood pool and friendly people.
Madison and I both brought our cameras...
This is her new camera!!!!!! She saved up and with a little help from a savings bond treated herself. Someday when she is a photo journalist for National Geographic you can say "I knew her when!" I always take a picture of her...
and she always takes a picture of me! Do you like my style - with the pinky up?
We headed out to explore a little and get out the oogly booglies.
Sisters...what a wonderful thing! I read a story once (a true one) about a mom whose sons always brought her heart shaped rocks...and even as grown ups out on their own they still find them and send them to her...how sweet is that!? Well, I found something along that vein on my walk...
the cutest little heart shaped patch of grass in the sidewalk. Down at the end of our street is a very unusual house and gardens. The house actually backs up to the creek and from the road on the opposite side of the creek there is a great view. There are beautiful rock walls that go down to the water and the house actually looks like it belongs in ancient Rome.
This is what we can see as we walk by...
The walls are so pretty and the bright green shrubs are pruned in interesting shapes.
I just love rock walls...and I have always wanted to go into these gardens and wander around.
We had our little outing (the oogly booglies were at bay) and I am determined that we will do this more often...and maybe even venture out farther... I am going on a search for wonderful 'nature' places not too far from us - I will keep you posted on my findings.
Did you know....there are a million ways to use wonton wrappers? Well...maybe not a million...but quite a few!
On our cooking with Stacy and Tatum day we started off making Wonton Soup...
Stacy shared a great recipe from one of her favorite cook books...
Our girlies got right to it and made the filling for the wontons...
Here's the recipe if you want to follow along:
6 oz pork, not too lean and roughly chopped
2 oz peeled prawns finely chopped (we left this out because my girlies have a possible shrimp allergy - that's a story for another day...we added a bit more pork)
1 t light brown sugar
1 T Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 T soy sauce
1 t finely chopped scallions - the recipe calls them 'spring onions' - much prettier huh?
1 t finely chopped fresh root ginger
24 ready-made wonton wrappers
3 Cups stock
1 T soy sauce
Finely chopped spring onions
A couple great things about this soup...1.)you can double the ingredients for the wontons, freeze the extras and have them in the freezer for another day...2.)once you get the wontons done all you have to do is heat your broth and throw them in...3.) Ok three is more than a couple! ...you can add other things to the soup if you want - like those funny mini corns that Tom Hanks ate in Big...
or thinly sliced carrots...or those little dancing mushrooms from Disney's Fantasia...
After watching this you may not want to eat these darling things...but if you do make sure you let them dance around your plate like I do at the Chinese restaurant - it drives my girlies crazy!
...add what ever you would like!
So mix up the first seven ingredients and let that stand for 25 - 30 minutes.
You will notice as you are preparing this that your kitchen will begin to smell much like a Chinese kitchen might...fresh ginger...soy sauce...everything blends so nicely and just smells yummy.
While the girlies were working...Stacy and I were drinking tea and thinking....
We never miss an opportunity to share a cup of tea....
What else could we do with those wonton wrappers??? Hmmmm....
So we whipped up a bowl of crab filling and had the girlies fill and fry some of the wontons - for an appetizer of course!
They were delicious, here's what we did...
Mix together -
1 can crab meat
2 T mayonnaise
2 T Parmesan cheese
2 t garlic (freshly chopped or in the jar from the store)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Then just put a dollop in each wonton wrapper, fold it up and fry in hot oil til slightly browned.
Here are Tatum and Lane hard at work making the crab wontons.
Now that the pork mixture has set a bit and all it's wonderful flavors have mixed - you are ready to make those wontons.
Forming the wontons isn't hard - I have some pictures below where me made yet another form of wontons...dessert wontons!
After you have formed all of your wontons put the broth in a large pot and add any other ingredients that you want to include. Bring the broth to a boil, add the wontons and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Don't cook this too hard or the wontons will open up - just sayin'. Season with the remaining soy sauce and spring onions (I feel so fancy saying 'spring onions').
Get out some pretty bowls and you are ready to enjoy your Wonton Soup...
This was just the yummiest, most soothing soup... perfect for an overcast winter day!
We sat right down and ate it up! We did save a bowl for Papa and some for Brian!
It was really this good!!!!!!!!!
The next day still on a wonton high we decided to make a dessert wonton.
So simple....a little dab of Nutella in the middle of your wonton wrapper...
then wet the edges and fold it into a triangle...
wet the opposite corners and curl them around and press...
the two corners overlap and Voila! a dessert wonton!
Don't be nervous because the wonton package has the directions also.
We fried them up and dusted them (well liberally sprinkled them) with powdered sugar...
not quite a restaurant presentation, but we were anxious to try them...scrumptious!
I think you could just keep going from here...you could easily make a vegetarian wonton and use vegetable broth for the soup...what about cream cheese and pepper jelly in a fried wonton...or maybe blueberry filling for a dessert wonton...and then you could dip them in things....the possibilities are endless........
So, get out to the store and pick up some wonton wrappers and have at it...just let me know what new things you come up with!
xoxo Elizabeth
PS There is some question about the proper spelling of wonton...and since I used the word so liberally here I thought it might warrant some looking into...
Dictionary.com says it can be spelled either way won ton or wonton, the spell check on this blog wants it to be spelled won ton and the cook book above and the wrapper package both say wonton...
Thought and things from a sometimes messy, sometimes disheveled, but always moving (well except when I'm not) wife, mom, daughter, sister, auntie, friend.
