Ratatouille!

Tonight's dinner!

Magdalene likes to cook and bake. Even though she is only 12 and has plenty of time to change her mind, she is considering a future career in the kitchen! To encourage her, we gave her The Everyday Gourmet DVD cooking and baking courses through Great Courses. I usually watch the lesson with her and then we get to cook together. Today, the lesson included Ratatouille!
It's a fun, colorful dish to make (unfortunately, my kids are not huge vegetable fans, but I liked it!)
But most of all, I enjoy cooking with my daughter!

Grandma Tea

Today we had the privilege of all three Grandams over for tea.

G'ma Jan (my first husband's mom) surprised us all. Madison had called with a request

to "dress-up", and "dress-up" G'ma did. She wore a nice dress, long black gloves (from

her granddaughter dress-up box), about 5 or 6 necklaces, nice big earrings, and her little white hat.

Not having and make-up, she used a marker to give herself "rosy-red" cheeks. She came walking up the drive with a cane (which she does not need). And to top it all off, since she doesn't have a long dress jacket, she wore her pink bathrobe. When she arrived she explained, "I dressed like a little old lady going to tea!" We all decided we would have to have another tea sometime and we will ALL

dress like "little old ladies going to tea!"

The three grandmas.

(Nana, my mom; G'ma Jan; Grammy, Mark's mom)

Nana and G'ma live within a couple hours, but Grammy lives in TN.

We are enjoying having her here this week for a visit.

The tea table!!

Chicken salad on cucumber slices.

Chocolate teacakes.

Mini cream cheese and fruit parfaits.

Thanks, Grandmas, for a wonderful tea!

We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

Love you all!!

A Birthday Tea

Magdalene and I had been wanting to host a Tea Party of quite some time.  We just seemed to get swept away with life and never got around to it, until Dec. 8th! In honor of Magdalene's 12th birthday (Dec. 7th), we finally hosted a Tea Party! 

To keep the "tea table" simple and uncluttered, 

we set a separate table for the food.

Chocolate is a must for any and all parties! (At least the parties I host)

Magdalene and I made cinnamon scones. We used a tulip

cookie cutter rather than having the traditional triangle shape.

This is the "teapot" cake. I am so thrilled it turned out just as

I had envisioned. I am no professional cake decorator, and I was working without

directions. I just used the pampered chef batter bowl for the pot, an ice-cream cone for the spout

and handle, and a small cake cooked in a metal 1 cup measuring cup for the lid.

I couldn't have been any happier with the results.

Chocolate mini donuts! And mini "fruit pizza" cups.

I found some free printable "photo booth props" for some photo fun.

Each guest had the honor of a photo taken with the birthday girl.

TonyJean

Regina

Madison

Clare

Anna

Dominique

Clare and Madison were the two oldest girls in attendance.

Madison (being the older sister) and Clare, a good friend of both Madison

Magdalene, were asked ahead of time to help me serve the others.

They did a marvelous job!! Thank you both!

CAKE TIME!

I had a moment of "but it's too cute to cut".  Then I just reminded myself, I made it

to be eaten. It was almost as good as it was cute :)

The girls played a dice game and each took home a teapot

or teacup they acquired during the game.

All in all, I think Magdalene and I did well hosting our first

official tea party!

Magdalene... I hope your day was special.

I hope you know you are special to us!

We love you.

ELEVEN!

Happy Birthday to a my sweet girl!

We love you, sweetheart!

Thank-you, Godparents Ron and Amy, for helping us celebrate.

Girl's Night!

With Myriah going to prom tomorrow, tonight became prep night. She wanted to do her nails, I needed to practice doing a few hair styles to find one she likes, and the other girls (including two neighbor girls) wanted to get in on the fun. So it turned into a girl's night.

I am still sitting here wondering how they talked me into putting on fake nails. But, I guess I have to admitt... doing it with my girls was fun. We'll see how long they last.

BEFORE!

AFTER!


After all the fun, the girls wanted to watch a "chick flick." So we all sat down and watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic"... cute show!

You may wonder where my boys were in all of this. Before you think we planned to exclude them, let me assure you we offered to let in on the fun. They, however, did not see any fun in our choice of activity. In fact, as quick as they could, they headed for the a neighbor's down the road. A neighbor with boys to play with. Can't say as I blame them!