It's All About the Party!

Baptism Gift, Wood Burning and Graffiti

2012-01-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

We had a sweet friend get baptized this past weekend, and I was trying to think of something age appropriate (she's 8) that she'd enjoy and that would focus on the spiritual nature of the event. I also bought a wood burning tool because I've always wanted to try it. There was very little actual wood burning involved for the gift, but practicing was loads of fun. I started wood writing anything and everything and then Hubby Hotness got involved and started doing wood burning graffiti. N <3 C. Much classier than the walls or mall bathroom stalls! ;D

The date is her baptism, and purple is her favorite color.

I hope she liked the gift:

Cristina

Repurposing

2011-08-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a CUTE little shirt that went awry in the wash. Then there was a pair of pants that fit in the waist but not in the length because their owner grew FOUR inches in one year, AND they had obviously been worn while painting. They needed to become shorts. Their owner's mommy decided to pair them together.

I hope their owner likes them.
It is also college day tomorrow, so I made her a shirt.

Hope the princess likes them all together and that they live happily ever after.

Trying to reuse, renew, recycle. Isn't that how Moose says it on Nick Jr.?

The End.

Queen Mother Cristina

awesomepeoplehangingouttogether

2011-07-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

Have you all seen this blog? awesomepeoplehangingouttogether
I'm probably just behind, but I found it last week and pretty much have it up all the time. I refresh it each morning and am charmed. It has the best combos of interesting/unique/famous people hanging out. Love it and love the name. Here are a couple of fun ones:

Hawking and Mandela - AMAZING!

Taylor and Dean - Love this

Chaplin and Einstein - WOW!


Hahaha So fun! - Kanye, Diddy and the Princes

Enjoy!

Cristina

I'm Such a Sappy Fan

2011-07-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, you can still see me at an opening midnight show even though I'm a mother of three, but I can't help myself. Love me some movies.

So I can totally appreciate this guy from Comic Con:

LOVE it! Love the shirt; love the smiles. Love the photo op. If I was a filmmaker this would be the reason to make movies. Thanks again Peter Jackson for sharing.

Cristina

THE HOBBIT

2011-07-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

So I am REALLY excited that Peter Jackson is filming The Hobbit. (Did I mention in my previous life I worked in the film industry? Perhaps then you might understand my nerdy movie geekness that might come out in this blog.) So Jackson just posted a video on his FB page, and I LOVE it! Really nostalgic to see Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett in it...okay and some really cool dwarves. Have yourself a look:

And you've probably heard this bit of gorgeous elfness will be back too, right? ;)

cristina

Harry Potter was EXCELLENT!

2011-07-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

Just got back! It was SOOOOO Good! I am sad though that this part of my life for the past 10 years is coming to a close. It was something so wonderful to look forward to. Here are some fun fans!

Beware of the Nargles!

Look at Umbridge and check out Hagrid's umbrella!

Look at these adorable fans! They were so excited to be there and have their picture taken. "Put us on Facebook!" One of them yelled out. I'll do you one better little brother, FB & the blog. ;)

I'll be back on Saturday to see it a second time with Hubby Hotness. I'm a diehard like that. Have fun!

Cristina

Harry and Avocado Egg Salad

2011-07-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Go to The Pioneer Woman, make THIS:

Eat it all up and LOVE it! I'm sorry I just reposted her pic, but the fact of the matter is Hubby Hotness and I ate this right out of the bowl. No time for picture taking. It was devoured. He with crackers, me with tomatoes. Easy and yummilicious!

Cristina

(Where will I be tonight? Oh yeah, that's right: HP 7 Part 2! Can't wait!!)

Happy Anniversary HH!

2011-07-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Best 9 years of my life!

Threw that train over my shoulder and started the journey.

Best thing I ever did.

Happy Anniversary Hubby Hotness-my 9 best years ever! I am so blessed.

Love you!

Cristina

2011-06-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter

So I'm FINALLY posting about the fantastic Harry Potter birthday party we had. (See it took me a couple of weeks to unwind after it.

So what do you get when you take 30+ kids with at least one parent each and mix in 100+ degree weather in S. Texas? A last minute scramble to bring the party inside and a houseful of fun!
Let's start with the invite.

HOUSTONWADSWORTH’S SCHOOL

OF PARTIES AND MISCHIEF

Headmaster: Nicolai

Headmistress: Cristina
(Orders of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock & Witch
Supreme Mugwumps, International Confed. of Wizards & Witches)

Dear Witches & Wizards,

A special birthday celebration will be held on Saturday, May 28, at 5pm in honor of our newest Head Girl

ALCOTT

(International Confederation of Prefects,

Honorary Junior Mugwump)

who has just completed her SEVENTH year at HoustonWadsworth’s.

Transportation will depart from King's Cross Station, Your Address - Gate 9 ¾.

Please RSVP by owl or by Muggle phone at (xxx)xxx-xxxx. Wizard's or witch's work robes and hats are optional.

Yours sincerely,

Headmaster Nicolai and Headmistress Cristina

On the day of the kids got their school supply list as soon as they arrived and went shopping at Diagon Alley. (It was quite windy, thus the rocks.)

Again, a HUGE thank you to Sun Harvest for donating the shopping bags!

Here are some of the shops they went to:

By the time I took this picture the quills had been unloaded, but my sweet girls spent a good while adding feathers to pens and pencils for the kids to "purchase."

Here's a close-up of the wands before they went to the shop. I think the hubby did a great job!

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was great fun! We had Bertie Bott's Beans of course, snaps and blow horns and I SCORED with mini pop rocks at Party City-only 7 CENTS each! The regular sized bags are usually 50-80 cents, and when you have 30+kids, that's an investment on something so small.

At Potage's they got their cauldrons, spoons and phials. The phials were plastic shot glasses I got at the dollar store on the cheap.

At the Magical Menagerie they picked up a blank-slate bean bag that my AWESOME MAMA sewed up for everyone. (Yes, 33 of them!) They would need them later for Care of Magical Creatures class.

(Love how Darth Vader ended up in this shop.)

Then everyone had to pass through Platform 9 3/4 of course. (Yup, it's still on my deck.)

We all had a bite to eat at the Three Broomsticks while we waited for everyone to arrive.

Look at that bit of yumminess on the right! My dear friend Kerstin made those chocolate wands, the cotton candy and the pop rock lollies! You definitely need to check out her cooking blog.

After dinner everyone got sorted-sorry, no pics :( and then received their class schedule.

Bummer, I wish I had more pics, but in Care of Magical Creatures everyone got to create their "owl or a cat or a toad."

Then it was off to Potions Class. I taught this one, and it was so fun to make some of the potions with the kids and see their reactions to dry ice and then cornstarch goop!

And lastly Quidditch. The kids LOVED this and Hubby Hotness was an awesome coach!

Then let them eat wizard hat cake!

This was SUCH a fun party to do! I give thanks everyday for the 7 reasons why I was able to do it.

Now onto some Wizard's Chess!

Cristina

2011-05-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter Prep

So on that last post: when you have as many kids coming to this party as we do, even paying just a dollar a cauldron adds WAY up, so we're trying to be FRUGAL. ugh, I definitely need help with the application of that word when it comes to these parties. ;)

Thus, instead of buying cauldrons, I bought plastic bowls (4 for $1) and spray painted them. Same with the hats. I bought party hats (8 for $1) and used spray paint I already had.

These sweet Diagon Alley shopping bags with handles? Free from Sun Harvest- Tres Merci Beaucoup!

And these AWESOME wands Hubby Hotness is making? Free branches from my backyard. Dowel ends gorilla glued on. Spray painting happening tonight. Thanks HH! You're the best!

Also tonight: store front signs and potion experiments.

Cristina

2011-05-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

Remember this fellow?

He made his appearance a few years ago for C's 1st b-day. It was my first Harry Potter themed party and a lot of fun to do. Our little Hedwig is made of a furry fabric and stuffed with bead pellets. I made a bunch of Hedwigs for the invites because we all know this sort of thing is done by owl post! The best part of him though? I ordered several of those sound recording module things, like you get at Build-A-Bear, and put one in his front "claw." He had an invite scroll tied with red ribbon to that same claw with a note attached that said "Press here." When you did out came the HP theme song. I LOVE doing invitations!

Because this was a 1 year-old party I mostly concentrated on the invites and food, but we did attempt the floating candles. Here's with the flash:

And without:

It actually looked really great when you were sitting under it, BUT two small problems: whoops! forgot to get DRIPLESS candles. Hmmm, probably no one wants wax falling on them! And problem number two: we put them up too close to the canopy ceiling. In the flash shot you can see HH watching the candles nervously. Needless to say we had to get another canopy eventually. The canvas got a bunch of small holes in it from this little project. Ahhh, live and learn.

Here's the fun cake and gorgeous, fairy, birthday girl. I tried to replicate the cake you see during the Halloween feast in The Chamber of Secrets.

It's not the greatest shot, but it's in the very front, and you can only see the top half. It was surprisingly easy to make and had a grandiose effect. Good for me because I like grandiose, but I'm no baker. Although I LOVE baked goods!

Here are some of the fun muggles who made an appearance:

So why bring this all up now? Because in about a week I'm doing my NEXT HP party, and I'm so excited for it! Now it's for B-day number 7, and games are WAY important. Can't wait to share all of the fun details. Here's a sneaky peek:

Cristina

PURE GOODNESS PART 2!

2010-11-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

My daughter had Parents and Pies today at school. I had ingredients for a blueberry pie, but I'd never made one before, so I was nervous to try it. Then I got lazy to go to the store, so try I did, and I'm a bit surprised at the yummy turn out. Although I don't know how wise it is to try a new recipe right before you're about to serve it...hahaha I got this recipe off of pickyourown.org.

How to make the

World's Best Blueberry Pie!

An easy and great blueberry pie recipe!

Step 1 -get the oven preheating to 375 F.

Step 2- Wash the blueberries

Just rinse them in a colander or sieve in cold water, no soap.

Step 3 - Mix the dry filling ingredients.

Combine the 2/3 cup sugar (or sugar/Splenda blend), 7 Tablespoons of corn starch in a bowl and mix well! Some people like 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and/or 1/4 teaspoon of allspice, mixed in, also. That's optional, but it is nice!

Step 4 - Mix in the liquids

Add the 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice, and 3 Tablespoons of water (or grape juice) and stir it up. If you use Splenda, it will be pretty gloppy, rather than drier crumbs, but it still works the same!

Step 5 - Add the blueberries to the pie crust

Add the blueberries to the pie crust. Just pour them in! There's lots of air space and it will cook down, so don't worry if they mound up about an inch (2.5 cm) above the edge of the plate.

Step 6 - Pour the liquid mix into the pie

Just pour the mixture of sugar, juice, etc. into the pie all over the blueberries. If it is a gloppy liquid, don’t worry, just pour it somewhat evenly over the top. But it doesn’t take perfection; it will smooth itself out in the oven.

Step 7 - Make and add your topping

mix

- 1/4 cup sugar (OR 1/8 cup sugar and 1/8 cup Splenda)

- 1/2 cup flour

- 1/4 cup butter or margarine

together in a small bowl and sprinkle it over the pie.

Step 8 - Put the pie in the oven!

Cook the pie at 375 F (or 190 Celsius) for 1 hour.

Step 9 - Remove when the pie is golden and pie is bubbling

Check to see if it is bubbling and crust is golden brown. If if not, check every 3 or 4 minutes until it is.

Step 10 - Enjoy!

Set the pie on a rack to cool and enjoy!

Tips

If you use frozen berries, it helps to sprinkle 3 tablespoons of corn starch in pie crust/pan just before you add the blueberries! That helps to suck up any additional liquid, so the pie won't be runny.

PURE GOODNESS!

2010-11-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

Made this yesterday from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom. We don't need to be gluten free around here, but it's oftentimes a good source for lactose free which hubby hotness needs. As you can see she adapted it, and I did as well for our needs and what I had around. I only had regular quick oats, so I doubled the amount listed in this recipe, and I added about a 1/4 c. of sugar because we have a sweet tooth around here.
Even my super-picky daughter was liking this.

Slow Cooker Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (adapted by me to be gluten-free from a recipe I found on LaaLoosh)

15-oz. Pumpkin Puree (I used fresh but canned will work just as well).

5 cups Water

1 1/2 cups Steel-Cut Oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Steel Cut Oats).

1/4 cup Honey

1 Tbs. Pure Maple Syrup

1 tsp. ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. Fine Sea Salt

Dried Cranberries and Chopped Walnuts (optional, but yummy!)

Add all of the ingredients (except cranberries and walnuts) to a slow cooker, stir to combine, cover and cook on low for about 6 hours. NOTE: Due to the wide range of differences in slow cookers, you might need to make some time adjustments according to how your particular slow cooker operates.

2010-11-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Alright, it seems like I start off every post with "It's been a long time since my last post..." so let's just assume that and get to the good stuff! :)

HUBBY HOTNESS' BIRTHDAY!

We sure are a lucky family to have him! SO BLESSED! So we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival (one of my FAVORITES!) earlier this month, and there was someone dressed up like the Wild Thing. HH's mother used to call him that growing up, so I had to have a picture.

I used this theme for the invites and cake for his special day.

For dinner I made my empanadas. Not original, but HH LOVES them! Some of you asked for the recipe. Check out the link, and let me know how it goes. (Ellice-no tequila in mine! hahaha)

MAX Cake! :)
For inspiration I used a combination of ideas from Party Perfect and Armelle. Thank you!

It was a fun evening. Love you HH!

2010 - The 2nd Quarter??

2010-07-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sheesh! I really need to get better at posting!

APRIL, MAY & JUNE

After reading My Life in France for book club, I decided to try ratatouille. This photo doesn't do it justice, but can we say YUMMY?

Growing sunflowers in pots.

April flowers

Fiesta Float parade - the shoebox Star Wars version

Hilariously perfect Mother's Day gift from my sister-in-law - Team Edward!

Teacher Appreciation Week and End of the Year gifts for our wonderful teachers

Aunt Olga's Graduation! I don't like the length of graduations, but I love the tradition of it.

The Star Wars Exhibit at NASA! Whoa! My girls were in heaven!

Father's Day gift from the children - a candy treasure box

A sure sign that summer playgroups have started...

Now there have been a few parties that warrant their own posting, so I'll do those hopefully soon! Ciao!

HAPPY EIGHT YEARS TOGETHER!

2010-07-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Hubby Hotness!

I love you!
Thanks for all you are and do and the way you love.
The last eight years together have been the best party ever!
Here's to eternity!

2010 - the 1st Quarter (minus the Oscar Gathering)

2010-04-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

JANUARY

I was loving this random orange tree our neighbor has back in January. This isn't the best shot because the tree is surrounded by so many other plants but if you look close you can see that the fruit is attached straight to the branches-no greenery. This might be common knowledge on how all things orange tree work, but I'm a newbie and loved the visual.

January also brought my Dad's 60th Birthday. It was a nice surprise birthday party held at the India Palace - YUM - with lots of family & friends. Love you Dad!

Dad's name is Bruce; his favorite color is blue, and his favorite candy is Hershey's with almonds, so favors for his party were easy but festive.

FEBRUARY

I made these fun magnets for my children's teachers.

And these were treats for friends, neighbors & Church peeps. I just made a bunch of different goodies and cut them out into heart shapes.

Check out these YUMMMMY Lemon Blueberry Muffins I made! My awesome friend Kerstin introduced them to me. I ate way too many!

Grandma's Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Kerstin's Kitchen

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of one lemon
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening (or butter*)
1 cup frozen blueberries

Topping (this makes extra - you can try cutting it down if you want):
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tb lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs, milk and shortening. Stir in blueberries. Add dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Combine butter and lemon juice. While the muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the butter and lemon juice, then dip in sugar. Makes 12 muffins. *I substitute butter because I love the taste! It works great either way.

MARCH

The 1st two dinners al fresco of the season! First we had shishkabobs. I made beef & veggies ones for the grown-ups and hot dog & chicken nuggets kabobs for the little ones. :) For dessert: pear kabobs. That was my 1st time grilling fruit besides pineapple, and it didn't turn out bad.

The next time we made tin foil dinners. I LOVE TIN FOIL DINNERS!

For Easter we had a potluck, and I decided to try these little ditties. I know there are a ton of ways to make these, but I wanted lactose Hubby Hotness to partake, so I started with dairy free white cupcakes.

Took out the centers.

Frosted them with dairy-free frosting.

Mixed up my nest stuffing using soy milk, coconut and different dye colors.

Before the eggs were laid:

And after. :)

Then HH prepped for the Easter bunny.

Must see the tracks!

Mama couldn't wait to find some eggs! hahaha

OSCARS!

2010-03-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

So one of my ALL TIME favorite parties to throw is my annual Oscar Gathering. I did this for a few years in a row before I had children and took a bit of a sabbatical- a SIX year sabbatical to be exact. I was going to start again this year and even had most of my invites out, but life throws you some curve balls and it was not meant to be. Here is what I had planned for Sunday:

Invitations: I used Avatar as my inspiration this year. It was nominated for:

Best Art Direction -- Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair
Best Cinematography --Mauro Fiore
Best Director -- James Cameron
Best Film Editing -- Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
Best Original Score -- James Horner
Best Picture
Best Sound Editing -- Christopher Boyle and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
Best Sound Mixing -- Christopher Boyles, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
Best Visual Effects -- Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones

I found some cute little plants that were kind of willowy looking like the Tree of Souls in the movie and spray painted them with white marking spray (the kind used for football fields.)

Then I wrapped the pots in a yarn I found at Wal-mart that was fuzzy and has those hyper colors of purple, fuchsia, blues & greens.

Then I created this cover on card stock, sprayed it with glitter body paint, and attached the actual invite behind it.

Red Carpet Entrance:

I've actually never done this before, so I was excited to do it-albeit on a much smaller scale. Next year! Here's the tutorial I was using at Celebrations.com.

Paparazzi Booth:

So CUTE! Found on 2000dollarwedding.com.

Games: Everyone has to pick a celebrity and write that celebrity's initials on a gold star they receive. They also get 5 safety pins. Then you go around and ask people questions to try and guess who their celebrity is. If you get it right, the celebrity owner gives you a safety pin. Whoever has the most pins at the end wins a prize. I was going to be:

Sigourney Weaver.
I LOVE the Aliens movies, and she was fun in Avatar.

We also were going to have "poison-dipped" arrows (paintballs) for a bit of an Avatar show.

Children's Games/Crafts/Decor: Princess & the Frog - Hide & Go Frog Seek - Hide a bunch of frogs & let the kids go for it.

Princess & the Frog is nominated for:

Best Animated Feature	Ron Clements and John Musker
Best Original Song	Randy Newman ("Almost There")
Best Original Song	Randy Newman ("Down in New Orleans")

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - decorate pretzel wands. Harry's nominated for Best Cinematography.

Up - Have helium balloons tied to small doll houses (that the my girls have in their toy collection).
Up is nominated for: Best Picture (Awesome!) & Best Animated Feature.

Ballots & prizes: I was in the process of creating a nominees video that we would loop through during the pre-awards show. Here's The Young Victoria. I really enjoyed this film! It's nominated for:

Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup

Here's the link to the official ballot page: http://oscar.go.com/media/2010/pdf/OSCAR_BALLOT.pdf

For prizes I've always had the same thing, and I think people like it. Gift cards to the movies, gift cards to Blockbuster & gift cards to Barnes & Nobles. (All movies start with a story.)

Food: We always do a potluck. I give everyone a fun theme when I create the invites, and this year it was "What Wolfgang would create for the Governor's Ball." YUMMY! But as you can see the main course is deceivingly simple, so I was going to do a crock pot version. (Which is nice for me when I'm the hostess and don't want to worry about food during the actual party.) I was also going to buy some chocolate truffles.

Last but not least: FAVORS! I found these on Bakerella.com. She is incredible!

I was so excited about these that I think I'm still going to make them and give them out to those invited.

Well, that's it! Fun to plan. Will be fun to execute next year. Feel free to use any of these ideas for yourselves!

Hollywood HoustonW

Threw Me For A Loop

2010-01-13T20:20:00.001-08:00

So the holidays threw me for a loop, and I've got to get back into this blogging thing. I've actually been a little overwhelmed to try "catching up," so I don't think I will too much, but here are a few little ditties:

For Family Night we made these block Nativity sets that they taught at our Ward's Super Saturday back in October. I saved them, so the girls could do them with us during Christmas. So cute!

Then the gift prepping began:
These were for various teachers and such. One of my favorite reactions was from A's PE Teacher. What a nice fellow; he gave me a thank you card that very same day and was so appreciative when I saw him later. It makes me wonder how often the other teachers (who aren't the homeroom teachers) get remembered.

I had so much fun making this one for A's Kindergarten teacher. They are the Bumblebees.

And these are just for fun. I wish I had more to share. We went to Southern Utah, Hurricane to be exact, and there was no snow. My Texas children were dreaming of a white Christmas! DO NOT think this stops my in-laws from finding the fun. My sweet youngest brother-in-law has a tradition every Christmas: he turns on the hose Christmas Eve for some icicle beauty in the morning.

And then we drove about 45 minutes up in the mountains through Zion's Park to find this. Here's Hubby Hotness trying to make a snow angel with a snow bunny jumping on him.

So here are some fun finds for my 1st 2010 post. I'll get better at this!

Pretty Madeline Party featured at Design Dazzle. This blog is inspirational. :))

I found these on Celebrity Baby Blog from a new line called Little Bell.

Can we say CUTENESS! Shoot, can I get these in adult sizes?

I also entered my first giveaway! This is too much!

Check it out at this awesome blog: Grosgrain.

Some of you know that Hubby Hotness is lactose, so we don't usually eat things like Corn Chowder, but I've been trying to be more proactive with the soy etc. This recipe, posted on The Organizing Junkie's site, was YUMMY!!

Corn Chowder Recipe

4-6 Servings
Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients

6 potatoes, peeled and diced
Water
1 can (16 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 quart milk
1 large onion, diced
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven or kettle; cover with water and cook until tender. Drain. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the onion is soft. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 cup) equals 357 calories, 8 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 26 mg cholesterol, 760 mg sodium, 57 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 13 g protein.

Ah, one of my little indulgences? Going to Sea of Shoes to see what fabulousness Jane is up to. I first read about her in Vogue and wanted to check out her blog. Can you imagine-being a teenager and getting to do all of these awesome things? Check out her blog if you want to live vicariously sometime. I would LOVE these shoes!!

I've also started a private family blog (because I'm an internet freak with pictures of the kiddos). So if you REALLY know me and would like to check that blog out too, let me know, and I'll send you an invite.

muah!
Cristina

NICOLAI'S BIRTHDAY!

2009-11-12T01:04:00.000-08:00

Last week was Hubby Hotness' Birthday!

Since he's a pretty low-key fella, I try not to embarrass him too much. Birthday gatherings for him are usually about the food and presents. I had sent out an evite the week before. Now don't get me wrong, I love handmade, creative invitations, but I am also an ARDENT fan of the evite! They are just so perfect for really large gatherings.

The girls decided we had to have a steak cake for him. More on this below.

We made a weekend out of it for him:

Friday (his actual birthday): Birthday presents were awaiting him on the table (IBC Cream Soda, pepperoni sticks, a singing birthday card) when he woke up, along with a birthday banner. Also, an IOU for this:

If it were up to me I would have gotten him an IPhone, but I suppose I should let him pick out his own phone for his birthday!

Then he got breakfast made by our daughter and I. That night we went to the South Texas Maize. So fun! Here are some of their pics:

and my girls' favorite thing there:

This crazy bouncing pillow they bury in the ground!

Saturday, we had family & Church events, but Hubby Hotness did manage to sneak off to get that phone. A funny story about that: that night we were going to dinner at my Dad's to see my Uncle Kent. We were on our way when HH's phone rang for the first time since he bought it. He picked it up and stared at it for A LONG TIME. Finally I asked, "Why aren't you answering it?" A quiet pause....followed by..."I don't know how." HAHAHAHAHAH

Sunday, we had his big party. Food, folks & fun:

EMPANADAS - you can't go wrong with these and one of HH's favorite foods.

Here's my recipe:

MEAT FILLING
-1 small onion
-5 lbs. ground beef (not lean, you need some of the juices)
-tomatoes. You can use fresh or diced (2-14 oz cans).
-6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
-green olives (5 oz/sliced)
-Cumin, salt & pepper to taste
-Empanada discos (dough circles) can be found at international stores. They come in packages of 10 or 20. Thaw them out before using them.
-Dice onion & saute w/olive oil.
-Add ground beef and slow cook on medium until browned.
-When the ground beef is almost done, add diced tomatoes, eggs & olives.
-Add seasonings.
-Cook until fully done.

ASSEMBLING
-Lay out your disco on a light dust of flour. Have a cup of water on hand. -Dip your finger in the water and wet the outer rim of the disco. Place a spoonful of meat filling in the middle. Fold the top half over the bottom and press down the edge. You can either fold over the edge on top of itself or use a fork to press the edge down. It will make a decorative edge in the process. (This probably sounds confusing. I can send you a picture if you'd like.)

EGG COATING
-Whisk one egg and brush the tops of the empanadas for color and moisture. Use more eggs if needed.

Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

(makes 65-80 empanadas, depending on how much you stuff them. HALVE the recipe if you need to.)

FABADA - Spanish Asturian stew/soup - SO FANTASTIC! We first had this when we traveled to the Asturias in 2008. It was some of the yummiest food I'd ever had. The locals make it with blood sausage though, and I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I used the recipe from The Hungry Cyclist. It was easy, and I'm not a great cook, so that means something.

This recipes serves four hungry cyclists...

500g of Asturian fabes (dry broad beans)
2 Asturian blood puddings/black pudding will do
2 or 3 threads of saffron
50g of ham chopped into small cubes
2 Asturian cooking chorizo chopped into slices
200g of bacon, diced
a good glug of olive oil
paprika
salt
parsley

1. First you need to soak your fabes in cold water for eight hours. if you are using fresh beans you only need do this for an hour or two.

2. Drain your fabes and put in a large, shallow pot and cover with two inches of fresh water. Cook until they come to the boil making sure to skim any scum that gathers on the surface.

3. Heat your oil in a pan then add it to the pot. Add the saffron too. Add the bacon and ham, trying to make sure that they go to the bottom, in order not to break the fabes during the cooking process. Leave them to cook for about five minutes with the lid on than skim once again.

4. Now add the chorizo and black pudding. Boil for another five minutes still skimming any nasty scum that comes to the surface again.

5. Now all the ingredients are in the pot you can relax. Over a low heat with the lid on cook for about 2 or 3 hours. Have a glass of tinto and check the pot every now and then to make sure the fabes are covered with water at all times. If the sausage and black pudding poke above the surface it doesn't matter.

6. Locals in Asturias will top up the pot with cold water, which they claim gives the beans a firmer texture. They will also shake the pot in order to avoid any sticking to the bottom.

7. Once the beans are tender let the fabada stand for 10 minutes so the stew thickens and then serve garnished with chopped parsley and wash down with plenty of Asturain cider.

I love the way the Argies & Spaniards eat their salad. Simple with some olive oil & vinegar.

Here are some lovely people:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLAI!

PS. Don't forget that cake!

A rib eye steak. I should have gotten a shot of the inside: red velvet.

PSS. A couple of other recipes because you asked:

Tortilla chip, soy milk cornbread

WHAT?! You're asking? Well, Hubby Hotness is lactose intolerant, so I subbed the milk for regular soy, but then I realized too late (like after the craving had hit) that I had no cornmeal. Like I've stated before, I'm not a genius in the kitchen, so I Googled "cornmeal substitute," but seriously, how can you substitute CORNMEAL IN CORNBREAD? Until I saw that someone had actually used tortilla chips, smashed into the tiniest pieces. HH LOVED it! I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Golden Sweet Cornbread

Prep Time:
10 Min

Cook Time:
25 Min

Ready In:
35 Min

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch round pan

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Potato Peel Pie

For real! It was GOOD!

I belong to this darling book club, started by my super, cute friend Grigg-so named for the adorable character from The Jane Austen Book Club. Check out her blog: http://lifefrosting.blogspot.com/. Last month, we read this book, and I wasn't able to go. I repented of this great sin, and brought this last night. Here's the recipe I used from cookeatshare:

Prep time: 30 Minutes	British
Cook time: 35 Minutes	Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

2 cups raw, grated potato skins (I added some of the white part to keep the texture somewhat tender), use mashed potatoes for filling
1/3 cup grated onion
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbs flour
beetroot
sour cream (optional)
chives (optional)
butter (optional)
garlic (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a small pie plate. Mix grated potato peels with egg, onion and flour.

Press the mixture into the pie plate and up the sides to form a crust. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes. While the crust is baking, cook potatoes, drain and mash. You can add your favorite mashed potato flavorings here i.e. garlic, onion, milk, butter, salt, etc. Fill crust with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with beetroot. Bake in oven at lower temperature of 375 for 10 minutes or until browned.

Whew! Sorry for the long post. Hope you enjoyed it!

(And Ellice, how is it that I somehow became a member of the former Bunco group without you being there? That is laughable and sad at the same time!)

October & Halloween

2009-11-03T11:06:00.003-08:00

Did you all have a fantastic Halloween? Ours was pretty good! A bit more low-key on the actual date than the rest of the month but all good. Here you go...

I love holiday decor, and we made these at our Super Saturday, a craft class that was put on by the Relief Society of our Church-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .

The first festive gathering we attended was the Texas Renaissance Festival. I.LOVE.THIS.FESTIVAL! These people play it all out, and I can seriously appreciate that. You feel like you've gone back in time when you step on the grounds. I will cover the Texas Renaissance Festival more in the future. One of my favorite fall parties!

The rennies are probably the ultimate Halloweeners.

While near Houston, we decided to stop by and visit some friends (The awesome Wirthlins) & family, including our cool cousin Michelle. She is the lead singer of Look Alive and fabulous all around. If you're nearby, check out one of her shows: http://www.myspace.com/lookalivetx

Then in quick succession was our Sleeping Beauty party, followed by my brother's birthday (you see when you have 6 brothers & sisters, 9 brother & sisters-in-law and 10 nieces & nephews, there are a lot of birthdays), Church Trunk or Treat, school Halloween Party & then Halloween.

Look at my son's darling costume! I saw it on Grosgain's blog and thought it was perfect and timely since I was getting frustrated at my Prince choices. Everything I found for this age was a frog with a crown on its head. grrrr. This was easy and wonderful, and here's the link to the Martha tutorial.

Ah, those of you that really know me will appreciate this shot, an oldie but a goodie!

Starting Out with Sleeping Beauty

2009-10-31T03:57:00.001-07:00

So the title for this blog comes from my dear friend Gail who often comments to me that I'm "all about the party." It's just a hobby, I suppose. My husband thinks it's pent up creative expression from when I used to work in the film industry. Who knows, but it's good fun, and it makes me happy when a party that's supposed to go from 4-6pm lasts until 8 because everyone is having a great time!

Princess Turning Three
So my youngest daughter just turned three. When I asked her about a month ago what kind of party she wanted she requested a mermaid party. ??!! A mermaid party in October? I know it's Texas, but even here swimming wouldn't be fun unless the pool was heated. BUT I looked into it. (I even looked into renting a hot tub!) I checked out kid swim schools, aquatic centers, even hotels, but the problem was her age group. They all either had to be potty trained or wear these special swimmers that were not the regular kinds you get at the store. What's a mother to do? Nothing, let fate take care of itself, and with that the Disney deity showered down in a timely manner: Sleeping Beauty. Now my daughter is everything Aurora, (thankfully) and here are the results:

FAIRY TALE PILLOWS

I love invitations! It's probably my favorite part of party planning, and I think it's one of the most important elements. If you have a great invite, people get excited about your gathering.

The Entrance through the thorny hedge

Too bad I didn't get a picture before the knights claimed the hedge for their armory! :)

After conquering the thorny hedge all princesses & knights collected their royal jewels & swords.

Then it was time for crafts - wands & shields - and lots of eating. I forgot to take pictures of the food, but we had food fit for a kingly feast: sausage & hot dogs on a stick w/rolls, beef stew soup bowls, apple dumplings, veggies & dip and chocolate pudding in a cone. YUM!

All along there was lots of playing.

Then it was time for cake & presents.

Needless to say everyone was tired out that evening.

Well, that's it. First post; I hope you enjoyed it. I'll add some oldies but goodies as I go along. And any of my friends out there who remember some of our past gatherings, remind me, so I can add them too!

:)
cristina

It's All About the Party!

Baptism Gift, Wood Burning and Graffiti

Repurposing

awesomepeoplehangingouttogether

I'm Such a Sappy Fan

THE HOBBIT

Harry Potter was EXCELLENT!

Harry and Avocado Egg Salad

Happy Anniversary HH!

Happy Anniversary Hubby Hotness-my 9 best years ever! I am so blessed.

Love you!

PURE GOODNESS PART 2!

How to make the

World's Best Blueberry Pie!

An easy and great blueberry pie recipe!

Step 2- Wash the blueberries

Step 3 - Mix the dry filling ingredients.

Step 4 - Mix in the liquids

Step 5 - Add the blueberries to the pie crust

Step 6 - Pour the liquid mix into the pie

Step 7 - Make and add your topping

Step 8 - Put the pie in the oven!

Step 9 - Remove when the pie is golden and pie is bubbling

Step 10 - Enjoy!

Tips

PURE GOODNESS!

2010 - The 2nd Quarter??

HAPPY EIGHT YEARS TOGETHER!

2010 - the 1st Quarter (minus the Oscar Gathering)

OSCARS!

Threw Me For A Loop

Corn Chowder Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

NICOLAI'S BIRTHDAY!

Golden Sweet Cornbread

Prep Time:10 Min

Cook Time:25 Min

Ready In:35 Min

Directions

Ingredients

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a small pie plate. Mix grated potato peels with egg, onion and flour.

October & Halloween

Starting Out with Sleeping Beauty

Prep Time:
10 Min

Cook Time:
25 Min

Ready In:
35 Min