Spring

Spring has officially begun in our house with the long anticipated opening of Bobbie's Dairy Dip. Today was the big day. Nola announced this morning, "Bobbie's is open, so it is warm."

We put on our warm jackets and shivered a bit through our ice cream.

It was fab.

Our celebration was completed with a trip to Eric's office to deliver his ice cream.

Yum

Every piece of fruit I make turns out cuter than the last, and I just can't stop.

The patterns are from this Japanese craft book that I borrowed from a friend.

I can't understand a thing, but the illustrations are so good that it doesn't matter.

I have lots and lots more things to make...stay tuned for progress reports.

I heart Mrs. Bero

My favorite biscuits (cookies) are from my favorite cookbook, and my favorite cookbook is on a shelf in my mum's kitchen. We refer to the cookbook as Mrs. Bero and only recently (just a few minutes ago) did I notice that Bero is the name of the flour advertised throughout the book and isn't an actual person. Mrs. Bero - you will always be my goddess of domestication.

I heart Mrs. Bero

the perfect biscuit with pot of tea

I must blame Multiples and More for demoting my childhood hero into an imaginary friend (but thank you for caring about my cookie preferences.)

Weekend Fun

I hope your weekend was as yummy as ours.

Buckette of Blueberries

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while. On a gorgeous day last month we went with our boyfriends, Willie and JT, to pick blueberries.

The boys and girls had a fabulous time and picked many blueberries. Not so many berries ended up in the bucket. We didn't have enough berries to make jam, so we made yummy muffins to share with Eric's grad students.

Citrus and Blueberry Yogurt Muffins (from 500 Cupcakes)

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup superfine sugar

1 tbsp. grated lemon zest

1 tbsp. orange zest

1 tbsp. grated lime zest

1 tbsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup fat-free plain yogurt

1/2 cup sunflower oil

1 lightly beaten egg

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, lime zest, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the yogurt, oil and egg until well blended. Add the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Do not over mix.

Fold in blueberries. (The book calls for 1/3 cup dried blueberries, but we used 1 cup of our fresh ones.)

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Share with your friends - yum!

Hungry

Hubby out of town Twin A throwing up all night Two days of dishes in the sink Hit the freezer with no hope of dinner What to eat? A beautiful, plentiful, comforting tub of mother-made scalloped potatoes. Happy Helen

Muffin Tin Monday

I have been reading a lot about bento boxes lately and thought Muffin Tin Monday would be a good place to start. My first attempt is inspired by our recent trip to the beach... Sun: carrots and carrot sticks Boat: deviled egg and green bell pepper on blue colored rice Sand Castle: pita bread on hummus Water: Gold Fish on blue colored rice Beach Ball: jam spread on a banana slice with apple sauce

Our First Crop

I have dreamt of gardening with the girls since I first found out that I was pregnant. Not that I have ever gardened before, I just loved the idea of growing things - babies and veggies.

Last year Eric secretly cleared a space and planted herbs for my birthday - very loving as it was July and 100 degrees out. Only the rosemary survived.

This year we did a lot better. The girls and I planted more herbs as well as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. The squash was doing very well, but rotted at the root and died (any tips on what might have gone wrong are appreciated...) Everything else is still alive and growing.

We were all very excited to harvest our first cucumber. We brought it in, cut it up, and munched on it all afternoon.

Cupcakes for Daddy

The Curly Birds were so sad that Eric had to work last weekend that they made strawberry cupcakes to cheer him (and them) up. It worked!

The Art of Making Butter

The girls churning butter at their Waldorf play group.

How Far We've Come...

I had a perfectly lovely Mother’s Day with hand made presents, pictures and cards. We went to a nearby park for a picnic – my very favorite thing to do.

On my first Mother’s Day, we bought sandwiches and took the girls to the park for a picnic. We hadn’t planned to do this – with 6 month old twins we were still living hour by hour. It was a beautiful day and it was one of the first times either Eric or I had relaxed since the girls were born.

This year we went to the same park with our basket full of home made treats. As I was eating quiche and watching the girls run around, I thought about that day two years ago and how very far we have come. It is such an honor to be these girls’ Mummy.

Nola

Kira

Nola :: Kira

Yummy picnic treats

Nola and Daddy go for a run

My first Mother's Day

Kira

Nola

Kooky Faces

Kooky faces for dinner!