Macgyver's 4th of July BBQ

Bombes away

Getting prepared for tomorrow. Making a watermelon ice cream bombe, a chocolate cherry ice cream bombe, homemade mac 'n' cheese (so the boys will have something to eat besides hot dogs), and I think, maybe - zucchini muffins? Hm. Or cupcakes? I think that's it.

Watermelon Ice Cream Bombe recipe.

Putting back the pieces of a broken dream

Fourth of July is a big day. My Uncle's party doesn't start until the late afternoon, but I like to get there early so I can snag me a good parking space. That of course leaves hours of time to kill. While I wish that meant me sitting on my ass eating guacamole for two hours, sadly, it means I need to find things to entertain the boys. Damn kids.

I packed a big bag with puzzles, toys, snacks, and crayons. The Kid loves to draw, so I designed an notepad and I thought I'd add a little circus tent with his name on it, to decorate the top of the sheets. I bunched a few together and made them into a notepad. Now he can draw all kinds of circus-y things under the big top. I figured it was better than plain old paper.

They are, of course, for sale in the shop. While they are great for kids, I think I will make one for myself and take it into the next staff meeting...

From now until this Sunday, July 6th - buy one, GET ONE FREE. After that, you're on your own, sucka. Happy Fourth! Circus notepad, here.

Oh well I don't mind, if you don't mind, cause I don't shine if you don't shine, before you go, can you read my mind?

People always ask me to plan or cater their parties. The answer? HELLZ NO. I was in the wedding invite biz and I ain't goin' back. It's too costly (even if they are paying for it) and too time consuming (I have 'The Mole' to watch on tivo, hello. Time is precious.)

The only thing I will do is offer to throw a shower for a really good friend, once in a blue moon. Apparently, the moon is blue. In case you haven't figured it out yet, the upcoming party that I am planning is a baby shower. The mom2be had only one request, that is for each guest to bring a book to start the child's library. A great idea. There are tons of books that my kids adore. While these are not classics in the sense that they were written fairly recently, they are still really enjoyed by the kids every week.

Little Pea - Amy Krause Rosenthal & Jen Corace
Ok, first off, who doesn't love Jen Corace. Any indie designer with a love of art, really. But more than that, my kids ADORE this book. They recite it at dinnertime it's that hilarious. It's one of the first things I ever posted on this blog when the Kid learned to speak and memorized it. It's a great modern book.

The Pigeon Wants A Puppy - Mo Willems
You know that we are Mo Willems devotees up in this house, and this new book from the pigeon series does not disappoint. Like all the pigeon books it's lively, interesting and hilarious.

Only in Dreams (Julius) - Paul Frank
True, this book is a bit biased given my own kids love of monkeys and the mom2be's love of Paul Frank, but this is a really good book. Very visual, a great bedtime book that takes you through your dreams and senses.

I'm always looking for new books for the kids, so if you had to bring a book - an old classic or a new favorite - to a baby shower, what would you recommend?

No moneyman can win my love,it's sweetness that I'm thinking of

Well, I'm busy getting ready for the annual Fourth of July party up in here. There are bombes to be made and fireworks to be seen. This year I am doing the same old Watermelon Bombe, but I am also making another one...let's see how it goes before I say anything.

As usual, I am trolling the farmer's markets for inspiration. Right now cherries are at their peak, and passing up those bright shiny fruits is just too hard for me. Even though I showed the Baby that there was a pit in there, he still stuffed the whole thing in his mouf. Ridiculous.

A long time ago I saw these little cherry cakes at Martha Stewart. I have to tell you, the recipe is ridiculous. It's cute, but putting a whole cherry inside a bite sized cake? Come on. That's just stupid. Some idiot (me) is going to bite that pit and wreck a crown, not to mention, as I just said, I have kids. Those pits will hit their stomach and I'm back in my second home, the ER.So I took her 'idea' but made it better. They are still bite sized, still have a little stem 'handle', except I made them nice and vanilla-y. Vanilla + cherry = yum, in case you didn't know. The kids LOVED these, and really, there's not a lot of work involved. Except for pitting the cherries. Every year I make stuff with cherries and I scream four letter words about how 'NEXT YEAR I'M GETTING A CHERRY PITTER DAMMIT," then the season ends and I forget. Cut to the next year when I am pitting cherries by hand. Again.

And so, with stained red fingertips, as I finish off this season's baking with cherries, I am already thinking of all the things I want to make for next year. I think I finally will go get that cherry pitter. Eh, forget it. Maybe next year.

Cherry Vanilla Teacakes recipe

To infinity and beyond

The point of our two day Disneyland excursion (minus the ER visit) was to see the new Toy Story Ride. I have friends that work for Disney that said it was fantastic. Usually I stay far and clear from new rides until the frenzy dies down, but since we had a hotel room, I had a plan. Get to the park exactly when it opened avoid the lines. A great plan - to a point. DisneyLAND opened at 8am - California (where Toy Story is) opened at 10. Lame. I stuck to the plan anyway, and got the kids into the park exactly at 8am, and you know what? TOTAL SUCCESS. No lines for an hour straight. We walked onto everything with no wait at all AND had a good breakfast.Eventually we headed to California where we did wait an hour for Toy Story - I'm almost sure this is what killed me and landed me in the ER. It was so damn hot that day, and I was just exhausted. In any case I told the kids that "Disneyland made mommy sick, and we're never coming back." I was the only one laughing, but hey, I thought it was funny.
The technology for this new ride is amazing, it truly is 4D, believe it or not. They've also implemented new actions into this Mr. Potato Head greeter, who can see and talk to you - but that's not the amazing thing, he can actually pull off his body parts (ears) and put them back in...when it works. Of course it broke right when we were standing there, but to see these things finally in action after reading about them for so long, is was amazing. Love them or not, Disneyland is always at the forefront of technology.

Readers always write to me and ask me for ideas on surviving Disneyland, since I go there so often. I've actually compiled a full list, and usually just email it to them when asked. I should probably post it someday. Sadly, our stay-cation is over. Except for the dying and all, it was a lovely weekend. Today I went to the doctor to follow up my ER visit. The diagnosis?

"I don't know what's wrong, I don't have radar glasses."
"You know women's bodies, WHO KNOWS."
"Maybe you should poop."
"Come back when it happens again."

Ok, the doctor didn't have the best bedside manner, but still. If I wake up tomorrow it will be a miracle.

More Disneyland stay-cation pics, here.

Vacation have to get away

Stay-cation. It's the 'it' term of the moment and something I've been doing for years anyway, that is taking vacation, locally. What with the gas and airline prices the way they are, there's no where to go...but home, anyway. My mom had a hotel in Anaheim for a convention, which means two things, Disneyland and a free babysitter.

The first night we didn't even go into the park. The kids were none the wiser. Well, that's not true, but I assured them that we'd go in early the next morning, so we just hung around Downtown Disney, enjoyed the music, had dinner and ate treats of course. What's vacation without treats?
Personally, I just enjoyed just standing in front of the candy makers window and watching the magic happen. I could stand there for hours watching them work. Mmm. Caramel.
Back to the hotel, kids in bed and then back out to the movies. This is vacation, baby! I have always had a love of the Hulk, but I didn't know if I would love a $14 movie's worth of him. It turned out to be very good, just well done all around. I'm not a snob about movies, I just want to be entertained. And I was. But with all movies like that I wondered, 'Who's going to clean all that up? Who's going to rebuild the city??' The important questions.
Speaking of rebuilding, the kids wanted to see Wall-E earlier in the day. Er. It was good, no really. Robots. Space. I love that crap. The boys were over it about 40 mins in, but I forced them to stick it out because I still haven't seen the end of Ratatouille dammit, so I need to finish something. It was visually stunning but I felt like...it was way preachy. I get it. We're fat. We destroy everything that is good. GOT IT. Through most of the movie the kids were all, 'I WAN MY HOT DOG. Let's go home.' Course now that it's over they can't stop talking about how great it was. Maybe they mean the hot dog.

As with most of my vacation stories, this one too ends in tragedy, as I ended up in the ER today, once again. Sigh. My body won't give up until it puts me out of my misery. But that's another story for another day. Tomorrow, more on the whole POINT of the stay-cation in the first place...

Wanna have you near me, I wanna have you hear me sayin', no one needs you more than I need you

I love shopping at Farmer's markets, the best of the season is always on display.
I know we are spoiled out here, when I go to the east coast it always amazes me how the fruit is so...terrible. If only they could walk our market aisles and see the colors and textures are of truly fresh produce. It always inspires me. I just pick up and item and then come up with a plan.

I've been working downtown a lot lately. Too much if you ask my gas tank. Recently I went to the Thursday Farmer's Market at City Hall. They had some really good food there but I already had lunch plans (blog post on that to follow) so I just went through and bought whatever caught my eye. Cinnamon roasted almonds of course. An olive roll. And then I saw berries. Really ripe strawberries, blueberries and...yellow raspberries. WHAT. I have to say I don't see those that often. Very rare stuff here, folks. They were softer than a regular raspberry, sweeter. I knew had to have them so I bought a three tray and hoofed it to my very expensive $16 parking. I was only there 20 minutes, a-holes. Stupid downtown parking.

The whole time I was at my meeting and driving home all I could think about was what to do with the berries. Hm. Trifle? Done. Parfait? More done. So of course, cupcakes. But not in the regular, chopping up the berries sort of way. These were so pretty, I couldn't part with them.

So I made some lemon cupcakes, pushed the biggest of the yellow raspberries in the center and baked them. Like a little filled treat, but without oozy filling. Then I thought a white chocolate frosting would punch up the citrus. And OF COURSE, the little yellow raspberry sitting on top would make it all the prettier.

And that's how inspiration works. Sweet, sweet, tasty inspiration.

Lemon Yellow Raspberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate frosting, recipe.

'Cuz they be all up in my business like a Wendy interview, but this is private, between you and I

Things may have done with under prescription medication for the death virus:

I may have yelled out loud:
STOP STARING AT ME DORA THE EXPLORER OR I WILL CUT YOU. Look at her eyes. Look at them.

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I may have bought:
$100 worth of bras online at Victoria's Secret. It didn't buy much.

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I may have promised:
the kids a trip to the donut store. I don't remember this, but the Kid aka 'elephant that never forgets' swears it to be so to the point that he started crying hysterically about it. Ok, jesus, let's get donuts then.

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I may have listened:
to an ass ton of Mariah Carey. Not on cds. On the radio. She's on every damn station. I keep changing it, she's always there. But how can you go wrong with someone who casts Kenneth from 30Rock in her videos?

Follow me, don't follow me, I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush

With sickness comes boredeom and a little sadness. I am trying to stave that off by thinking happy thoughts. What pops into your head when you think happy thoughts? For me, with the heat, it's ice cream.

Next week is Fourth of July. How that came up so quick I have no idea, but it means my Uncle's annual party and my making of the much looked forward to Watermelon Ice Cream bombe. I love bombes, that little surprise in the middle and melding of flavors, so fun. Also, they kind of go along with my theme o' the month, that is, inside out.

Seeing as how I am home alone and bored all day, I made little mini single serving bombes for the kids to have when they got home. I took some ramekins, lined them with plastic wrap, put a layer of orange sherbet, then stuffed that with vanilla.

They fit in the palm of your hand they are so small, and the combo? SO GOOD. A little 50/50 bar, if you will. The kids were thrilled and happy to see the vanilla surprise in the middle. It was great for this hot summer day and lifted my spirits immensely. Nothing like ice cream to make the world a better place. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts...

50/50 mini bombes how-to, here.

Play with your food

Three posts in one day? I must be doped up. Or at home bored. Whatever.

In any case, my world famous (ha) Burger Bites are a finalist in the 'sweets' category of the Fun Food Contest. Scroll to the bottom and vote for me so I can win some stuff. I need something good. And yes, I am playing sympathy sick card. >cough. hack.< Sigh.

If you want the recipe it's all yours! Burger Bites recipe, here.

The highest of highs, the lowest of lowsI'll come driving, I'll come driving fast as wheels can turn

The worst day of my life is coming. July 1st. That's when Los Angeles goes HANDS FREE. Which means you cannot drive and talk on the phone. Well, you can, but you have to use a hands free headset. I do a lot in my car. I am always running to the city for plan check, or going to a jobsite. If I'm not doing that I'm running around for the kids, which is why my gas tank is emptying my wallet.

I do most of my work calls and business in the car. I'm not saying it's safe, I'm saying that's how I live. I hate those headset thingies - probably because I wear giant sunglasses and it never fits quite right. Maybe I need Spock ears. I can't stand speakerphones either. Talking out loud takes just as much effort as holding the phone, they should just ban everything all together. Oddly enough, texting is not banned. LAME DASH OH.

Things I also do in the car - eat. I usually eat one meal a day and that's dinner, but if I can squeeze in lunch that's great, but sometimes, I know it's dangerous, it's on the road. I have an elaborate set up in the middle island of my car that allows me to eat almost anything. I bet I could do a nicely set table featuring a steak dinner, heh.

Here is a picture of my lunch the other day, chicken taquitos, while driving myself to the doctor. Dangerous, yes, but at least I got some food - this ended up being my only meal of the day.

One of my contractors was drinking a bottled water, started choking and ran his truck into a pole. They should look into banning bottled water too. Joking, folks. So go ahead, ban talking in the car. But if you start banning 'yelling at your kids to stop kicking my chair and stop screaming I'M A DINOSAUR RARR', then lock me up. Cause that's just never gonna stop.

To the extreme I rock the mic like a vandal

I can't get sick like a normal human. No, I do things to the EXTREME. I am the Mountain Dew of sickness. It's all or nothing, baby. And so, I finally went to the doctor, with what I thought was pink eye, turns out I have...Walking Pneumonia. Alright, simmer down, let's all relax. No need to get hysterical.

I feel eh, but with these bajillion pills they've given me I am supposedly on the road to wellness starting now. We'll see. My body doesn't take good news well, it would rather see me dead first. The only thing that I'm worried about is that I shared food with the kids this weekend. The last thing I need is them sick too. While I make them wash their hands 100 times a day, sick or no sick, I am still very upset and worried.

Before I knew I was full blown sick, I took the kids shoe shopping. The Kid's feet never grew so I didn't have to buy new shoes for a whole year, but the Baby - last month he asked for Spiderman shoes, I happily bought them thinking they'd last forever. Cut to today and he's outgrown them already. So off we went to buy new shoes, a little comfier plus I added half a size. We are Southern Californians after all, so we headed to the Vans store. These are very cute on him and in the store he 'stomped like a dinosaur' to try them out. At least one of us is healthy, meanwhile I feel like I'm about to be extinct. Blergh.