And I don’t ever need an excuse to use washi tape.  This morning while I was writing this post Creamie asked me if her surprise tomorrow could be more little tapes.  I might have created a washi monster yesterday. Haha!

I don’t remember having an exact start date, we usually made them about a week or a week and a half before Valentines Day.  And we never got candy in our pockets, it was always a not sugary surprise.  This morning Creamie found a little blue car in hers.  Blue is her favorite color and she carries blue things around with her all the time.

Creamie really loves paper crafts.  That girl is the happiest with scissors and glue and her rainbow of crayons.  The other day I found a blue piece of cardstock glued to her wall behind her door.  Yep, glued.  She tried to hang it up with the magnets from the fridge, and when that didn’t work she grabbed her gluestick.  I just left it there, it was too funny to take down, and I don’t know that I want to see what kind of surprise it leaves on the wall…

To make Valentine pockets each person will need two paper plates, and something to stick them together with.  You can staple, or sew them together with yarn, or anything else that will hold those two together.  And then add in whatever else you have. Crayons, glue, scraps of paper, washi tape, glitter, sparkly confetti, paper doilies, and a big pile of cutout hearts.   See, not an exact science, but a really fun project to do with kids.

So we sat at Scott’s desk yesterday afternoon and cut and glued and crayoned (her word not mine) for 45 minutes or so and it was awesome.  I cut out some hearts and a few letter C’s for her to glue on, but the rest of it was all her.  I think she is of the mindset that more is definitely better. I think she would have piled things on there all day, but we had to leave for dinner at grandmas.  But I think that I’ll make Valentines with her again this week.  She had such a good time.

She wrote her name on hers.  She gets all the letters in there, a different order everytime, but they are all in there.  She always sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating.  And writing your name is serious concentrating business.  Also, I love how her little knee is up on the table.  Better leverage that way.

I cut one of Creamie’s paper plates into a heart shape, which you can kind of see in the lower right picture above.  That way you can put stuff in it easily.  Then I used a hole punch to make holes and gave Creamie a piece of yarn on a bobby pin so she could sew the two plates together.

Then I punched two more holes in the top and added another piece of yarn to hang her pocket up on her doorknob.

She was really into the washi tape.  I think I might have to do more projects with these with her.

We both had our game face on.  This gluing is serious stuff you know.  I think the most important part with making these is to let your child do whatever they want with what you have laid out.  And be prepared to wash glue off the table and out of their hair.  I never could have predicted what Creamie’s would look like.   And I think it will be fun to compare this first one to the next years.  And thanks to digital photography I am pretty sure I’ll have pictures of this process every year.

She was so proud of her creation and so excited to show her finished product to her daddy.  And that makes me smile.

And it made her smile too.  Like a lot.  We are totally doing this again next year, and every other year till she decides she’s too old for treats in a paper Valentine pocket.

A few weeks ago I bought a heart shaped pie press at Target.  (Here is a similar one at Amazon.)  I am a total sucker for heart shaped bakeware, and when combined with pie it was a total control fail.  It had to come home with me.

So basically, they are like poptarts.  I didn’t frost mine, but you totally could.  I made a big batch of pie crust and it was enough for these six plus a full size pie.  Without a pie press you could totally make these as well.  Use your favorite pie crust recipe, or purchased frozen pie crust.  Roll it out and cut out two shapes.  (You can use the back side of the press to cut them out.)  Fill with whatever you choose and then crimp the edges and bake on parchment paper for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.  Easy peasy!

I made three kinds two of which turned out awesome, and the third turned out awesome in theory.  I tried a Smores pie, filled with marshmallows, chocolate chips and crushed graham crackers.  And it smelled good, and looked great, but the marshmallows had carmelized on the inside and were completely gone.  Next time I’ll try marshmallow cream or something else before I share that recipe.

Raspberry or Blueberry Handpies

My hearts are about 4″ across, and I filled each with 2 tablespoons of fruit.  I used frozen, thawed raspberries and fresh blueberries.  Then I mixed together 1/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.  I added about 1 tablespoon of the sugar mixture to the middle of each pie before adding the top crust and sealing it up.  Then I turned them out onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and brushed the tops with milk before sprinkling with sanding sugar.  That makes it sound pretty easy, but getting them out of the pie press was kind of tricky.  Be warned.

The fruit to crust ratio is a lot different than a regular pie.  A lot less fruit and a lot more crust, which for me just means I’ll need more ice cream to wash it all down.  But they were fun to make, and delicious even though there were very few ingredients involved.  Next time I’ll try a savory filling I think.  Sausage and rice and veggies or something.  It was a really fun treat to make and it is something that I am going to play with over and over.  (Be warned that it took me 30 minutes to put together these 6 pies.  Assembly takes a while, so keep that in mind if you decide to make some.)  I’m working on one of my very favorite childhood traditions with Creamie tonight.  I’ll share some pictures tomorrow.  Hope your Sunday was lovely.

Creamie turned three.  And now she’s three going on seventeen.  She finally gained some weight and is no longer in the fifth percentile, but has moved right on up to the thirtieth.  I can stop buying whole milk.  On her birthday we went to her choice of places for dinner, had cake and ice cream at home and opened a few presents.  It was perfect.

She is in love with the bathtub.  I usually have to fill it up with hot water twice so that she can stay and play as long as she likes.  I am continually amazed at how entertained she is in such a small place with a few measuring cups and two ducks.   She loves the tub.

My sister Heidi got married on January 20 to a wonderful guy.  Really, he is one of the best men I know.  For the occasion I made seven little flower girl dresses.  And I made her invitations/announcements, designed the programs for the ceremony, helped her make the centerpieces, the groomsmen boutonnieres, and some ribbon wands for the little girls.  Thanks to my mom for babysitting me through the zippers in these dresses, I can finally do them on my own. Now i can cross that irrational fear off my list.  Zippers? Conquered.

These cutie little girls.  I wish I had a not phone pic, but it will be another few weeks before the photographer gets any proofs back to Heidi and I didn’t take a single picture with my camera.  I was a little busy tying sashes so they were all the same and straightening hairbows.  But I can’t wait to see real pictues! (One little girl was MIA.  Ok, it was cold, she is 2 months old and she stayed wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket with her mama

The little boys.  SO so cute.  Seriously, these boys were the cutest little groomsmen ever.

This is all the snow we have had since the end of last April.  (I got to at least see snow in October, but not at my own house. Lameness.) I am pretty upset about this whole fakeout winter.  This so doesn’t count as a snowstorm in my book.  I guess I still have a few months before our chances are completely gone, but now that it’s February my hopes are pretty low.

Her big request for her birthday was balloons, pink orange and blue.  It took two full weeks before they lost all their sauce and were rolling around the floor. Best birthday present ever in her mind.

Last week I went to my first Modern Quilt Guild meeting in Salt Lake City.  I got to work on a new project, which is almost finished, and hang out with these girls and sew and eat and chat.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday.  What with the wedding sewing and the birthday sewing and party planning it was really nice to have some time to myself where I could work on something that I wanted to work on. (Me, Amy, Leigh, Erin).  I really can’t wait to move to the big city so these meetings and these girls are closer.  Oh, and Scott’s work and blah blah blah.

We’ve been listening to records.  My dad gave Scott a record player for Christmas and I’ve been collecting old vinyl every time I visit the thrifts.  It’s been a really fun hobby.

And I know I showed you the phone version of this a while ago, but it’s one of my very favorite pictures from the past little while.  You just can’t go wrong with pancakes and sprinkles and washitape flags.  It’s a no fail plan for a party.  Everytime.  OK, I’m working on a few Valentine projects.  Starting tomorrow I’ll have a new project or treat or something each day till Valentines day.  And after that I think I’ll officially be back on the blogging wagon.  Thanks for all your support friends, you are the best.  I’ll get into a really mushy sentimental post about all that later, but just know that I so appreciate those of you who leave comments, who email me, who don’t ever leave comments but are just a little number in my site stats, and those of you who receive updates in your email.  Thanks for the virtual support network that you have been for me.  //End of the sappy/sentimental crap for this post. //

1. Grinding my own wheat into flour so I can make bread today. Little Red Hen style., 2. Wheat. Here goes! #afirsttimeforeverything, 3. I made flour!, 4. And who will help me knead the dough? Kitchenaid said she’d do it. , 5. Rising., 6. Only 30 minutes to go. , 7. Big and beautiful. Also, my oven door is FILTHY!, 8. The worst part is waiting the 4 minutes till they are cool enough to cut., 9. I could eat this whole loaf by myself in one sitting. Homeground flour a success!

I posted the whole process on Instagram (@pinksuedeshoe or follow along on webstagram here). And I am just so excited about it I had to post it here too.  I made flour today.  And then turned that into usable food.  So so awesome.

Creamie ate it too and loved it.  And that made my little heart grow two sizes.  Some days I feel like the worst mom in the world (I think everyone has those days).  But today I took hard little bits of wheat and made food out of them that she loved.  And now I want to try grinding other stuff.  Red wheat, corn, barley and dry beans are all on my grinding list.  And this afternoon I am taking some of that fresh ground flour and making it into cookies with her.  Because I’m the mom and I get to do stuff like that.  Which is awesome.

A few months ago I found this pink felt cowgirl hat at a second hand kids store.  It was on their after Halloween costume clearance and I snagged it for about $1.50.  And it’s real felt.  Like, the kind I could take to whatever place you take them and they could reshape or dye or whatever.  Not that I am interested in dying it.  Creamie might be, her favorite color for the past few months has been blue.

Not too long after that I saw a Western store that was going out of business and stopped in to check out their sale.  And I found boots.  Little girl leather boots.  Real honest to goodness cowboy boots, and they were 70% off.  And it was all I could do to not buy four or five pairs.  I picked these ones with a few sizes to grow so she can wear them for a while.  They are really big on her now, but I couldn’t handle her growing out of them anytime soon.  I gave them to her for Christmas and she wears them all the time.  It’s hilarious.

In this crazy unseasonably warm winter weather we stopped by a historic cabin in my little town to take some pictures.  And I am so glad I did.  I didn’t get to take pictures of her for her birthday (yet).  But these will be a really good reminder of what she looked like right now.

Her hat, sweater, denim skirt and tights are all thrifted, as is her vintage embroidered top.  This is one of my very favorite of her outfits, even before she had boots and hat.  I’ll be sad when she has grown out of all these pieces.  This sweater is already in the too small box, she’s been wearing it for two years now, haha!

Boots, stripey tights, ponytails and  a hat.  I love this girl.  Also, I really need to remember to take pictures of her wearing more of my favorite clothes.  She doesn’t care, but I sure do love looking at them.  I think I am going to do one post in the next few days with my favorite pictures from the past, oh you know, like two months since I fell off the blogging wagon and then I’ll be all caught up.  And I’m already working on a few Valentine projects (February is my favorite month!) and a few secrets.  Be back soon!

[ I wore lipstick for the first time for my sisters wedding on January 20.  First time ever. ]

Our photoshop version is probably 10 years old.  Yeah…. old school photoshop.  And it’s been on several computers, but this time around we couldn’t find that slip of paper that has that really important serial number on it.  Lamesauce.  So I was gearing up to be excited about The Gimp (free photoshopesque software that I have tried before and didn’t like, because it wasn’t photoshop) or something else.  But then last night Scott surprised me with an early birthday present.  He got a new version of Photoshop Elements.  It is 10 version updated from our last software.  Which makes me feel really old, even by computer standards.  Of course, I don’t have the slightest idea what I am doing with that either.  And all my settings that I have been tweaking and perfecting on every single website I have ever used in the past 8 years we’ve had our last computer are all gone.  Saved passwords,  browser history, automatic fill in the blank on those things I google all the time, blah blah blah.  Stupid computer.  (We got our new computer at an office surplus sale at Scott’s work for $25 with monitor.  And it is 7 years newer than our last one.  It was a really good idea… or will be once I get things put back together.)

[ I figured out how to do a sock bun.  I love it/hateit.  But it's better than a ponytail which I love.]

So, please be patient while I figure things out. I have things to blog. I have pictures taken!  And they are lost in the newness of the new computer.  Frustrating.  I’ll figure it out, but just be patient for a bit longer.  Thanks blog friends, you are the best.  In the meantime, forgive the phone pics.  Some more of them.  Sorry, changes coming soon. For reals.

One of my 2012 goals is to do a 365 project.  And I picked a 365 Picture a Day project.  Here is my first months worth.  I love that it doesn’t feel overwhelming to me.  And I also love that most days I have more than one picture to choose from.  I have a plan for all of these at the end of the year… I think.  If you use instagram you can follow me (username pinksuedeshoe) and if not, you can follow me on web.stagram which is basically instagram on the real world wide web where non iphoners can still be in the loop.

I love this girl.  This picture is from Sunday after church.  Two things to note.  #1 She always picks red shoes (but her favorite color is totally blue). And #2 She kept her tiny little hairclip in her hair for the whole day.  It’s a record.  She always wants to wear one… for 10 minutes.  This one stayed in for probably 7 hours before she got tired of it, after which she took it out and put it back in the bathroom drawer where it belongs.  #3 That’s the first time that’s happened too.

But today my little girl turned three.  And this is what we had for lunch.  We had a real party last weekend for her with our family, the morning after my sisters wedding.  I had 27 people in my house.  My very small house.  But it was wonderful. And now I’m back to mostly normal, I slept a full 10 hours last night and I hope that in the next few days our computer will be recoverd enough so I can get to all my photos and my camera software and photoshop and blah blah blah.  I’ll be back soon.  I have a lot of things to share!

I don’t think I’ve made a paper snowflake for more than ten years.  And it was surprisingly therapeutic to sit down on the floor with my paper and my pink scissors and snip away.

The best part is opening them up and seeing what you’ve made.  It’s always a surprise.  After I cut them out I gave them a quick press with a hot iron to help the folds lay flat.

Well, Creamie’s was less of a surprise.  It was pretty obvious to me from the beginning what she was going to end up with.  But she was as happy as could be doing it.  I don’t think her scissors and sharp enough to cut all the layers of a snowflake anyway.  And that’s probably for the best.

Man, I love this little face of hers.  I mean, she is two going on thirteen, but sometimes she is just so sweet it makes my heart ache.  I am so lucky to have her in my life.

This was my favorite snowflake I made today.  I think I’ll be doing this a few more times this “winter”.  One of Creamie’s favorite Christmas movies is How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  There is a line in there when the Grinch is deciding to pretend to be Santa and steal all the toys where he says “If I can’t find a reindeer I’ll make one instead.”  I really feel like that sometimes.  If I can’t find snowflakes, well then I’ll make them instead.  Me and the Grinch.  Getting innovative with our available resources to accomplish our goals.  Or whatever.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

In a heavy saucepan (at least 3 quarts) melt 2 TB butter and add 1 chopped medium onion.  Cook and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes until golden brown and tender.  Add 1/4 cup sifted flour and stir while cooking 2 minutes.  Then add 2 cups chicken broth (or 1 14 oz-ish can) and 3.5 cups fat free half and half.  Add a head of cauliflower, chopped into 1″ chunks and then bring the soup to nearly boiling before you turn it down to a simmer.  Cover the pot, and simmer for about 15 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.  (If you don’t have a heavy bottomed pan, you’ll probably need to stir this while the cauliflower cooks so the milk doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan.  I have great pans and with the correct temperature I can cook milk without burning it.  But be careful on this step, you don’t want burnt milk soup.)  When the cauliflower is soft, blend it either with an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender (what I did) until it is smooth.  Return soup to the stove and bring back to a simmer, then add 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese and 1 cup shredded pepperjack.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp salt (to taste) and 1 good squirt (1.5 TB maybe?) of dijon (or honey dijon) mustard, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg (two good shakes).  Stir soup until cheese has all melted and serve with extra shredded cheddar on top.  Serves 6.

*Adding a little sugar would make it a lot closer to Zupas original soup, but I decided to skip that step and live with a close enough taste. Adapted from this recipe.

And my other favorite winter treat is Stuffed Mushrooms.  Scott hates them.  He doesn’t like mushrooms at all, and he really doesn’t like the way they smell when they are cooking.  So I reserve my mushroom consumption for lunchtime, when he isn’t home.  These make a great side or an appetizer for a party.  They will disappear right before your eyes.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Brown 1 pound of Italian sausage, drain and dump on a paper towel lined plate to remove any excess grease and to let it cool.  In a separate bowl combine 1 8 oz package soft cream cheese (I always use the 1/3 fat Neufatchel cheese, which is great.  But don’t use the fat free version, it gives a really weird texture to the finished mushrooms) 2 cups sharp shredded cheddar, 1 bunch minced green onions (green part only).  Add the cooled sausage and mix together.  This is the filling, which will keep in a covered container in the fridge for about a week.  Next you’ll need 1 pound to 1.5 pounds crimini/button/small brown mushrooms.  I like the brown one’s because I think they have a better flavor for this dish.  If they are small (1.5″ across) you’ll need more than if they are a larger 2-3″ across.  Using a melon baller (available in most kitchen sections of grocery stores, walmart, target, or any kitchen specialty store) scoop out the stems and inside flesh of the mushrooms.  You can chop this up and add it to your filling mixture if you like.  Then use your melon baller to scoop the filling inside each mushroom.  It’s the perfect tool for this job.  You can bake a whole 9×13″ pan of mushrooms at a time (packed in side to side) at 450 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, until the cheese is melty and bubbly and the mushrooms have released their juice, or if you are only making a few, space them out on a foil lined rimmed sheet like you were baking cookies.  If they are spread out they cook a lot faster, more like 12 minutes.

Sprinkle baked mushrooms with fresh chopped parsley. And eat them while they are still hot. (Cook them at the party if you decide to bring these as a pot luck dish or something.)  I usually keep my filling in the fridge and each day for lunch make a half a dozen more mushrooms.  And combined with this soup it made for a very satisfying low carb (though not exactly “diet”) lunch these past few days.  And the next few.  Yum.

We made Raspberry Orange popsicles.  And wow.  So good.  I am sure that I am going to start an entire pinboard just for zokupop recipes.  (UPDATE: I made one.) Because I kind of want to eat them after every single meal they are that good.  And since we are going on day four of over 55 degree weather (IN JANUARY!) popsicles were a great idea for today.

So, the Zoku maker goes in the freezer overnight, you pour in the juice/popsicle mix and then let it sit for 10 minutes and you have popsicles.  Easiest thing ever.

She was in heaven.  Except she kept getting irritated that she was getting popsicles on her face.  Thanks dad for a great present!

PS. She is wearing a 6-9 month shirt and just graduated to 4T pants.  She’ll be three in two weeks.  I grow ‘em tall and skinny ’round these parts.