{in the kitchen with Sam} Perfect Pumpkin Roll

{Pumpkin Roll}
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup Libby's Pumpkin Puree
3 eggs
{Filling}
8 oz. whipped cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbls. melted butter

Last Fall, I started baking. I suppose I have baked before last Fall but never with success, so I count last year as when I started. Fall was a perfect time because it was pumpkin season and I really wanted to make a pumpkin roll. I found a recipe online and as I read through the directions it had this whole towel scenario with words like "no sticking" and "carefully wrap", so I made pumpkin cheesecake muffins. They were fantastic! Then I tried my hand at pumpkin cupcakes and made hand whipped cream for the first time ever. My two girlfriends loved them, so my confidence grew. I found myself back at the pumpkin roll recipe, and one random weeknight, I went for it. Best decision ever. Not only did I successfully roll it, but Chris loved it. And since I've mentioned his pickiness for dessert before, that is a big deal for me. Christina also loved the pumpkin roll, so in honor of Matt cooking us lobster cakes tonight and Chris having to travel this week, I thought I'd surprise my boo's with a yummy treat!

My trusty sidekick in action, mixing up the first five dry ingredients.

Then we added the pumpkin puree and eggs for COLOR!

You're supposed to use a 10x15 jelly roll pan that you grease up, but I only have 12x17 pans, so I don't use the whole pan when I spread out the batter.

As it bakes for 14 minutes in a 350 degree oven, you take a picture of the cutest little helper!

I didn't take any pictures of rolling it up because it took both of my hands, and has to be done quick so the wax paper pulls off without tearing up the pumpkin-y goodness. Basically you spread out a towel and dump a lot of powdered sugar on it. Then you remove the roll from the pan and flip it over onto the towel. Remove the wax paper slowly, and then roll it up with the towel and let cool. It may not sound all the difficult now...

As it cooled, we started to whip up the filling. Hey, if you ever want a three year old out of your hair, have them scoop cream cheese into a bowl. It takes foooooorever. "It keeps sticking Mommy!" yelled Sam. (note to self: this is awesome!)

Add the remaining filling ingredients, for a yummy, whipped cream cheese-y delight!

Once the roll has cooled, spoon on the filling and roll back up. Then take pictures of the beautiful pumpkin spiral!

Since we are surprising Chris and Christina, we didn't taste test it, so again no "Sam" of approval...yet. I know she will be digging in tonight. Finally, another attempt at a food blogger picture.

Slumber Party

Cara had her first official sleepover this past weekend! Her little BFF from school, Olivia, was over for the party and requested a longer visit, so her mom and I worked out a plan for her to spend the night. Cara was thrilled! I was pretty happy too, because they got along so well! They had snacks, played with the new birthday toys and talked and talked and then talked some more! We loved having her over and look forward to more slumber parties in the future.

the baby

Yesterday, my baby turned 3. She's the baby of our family, and if we don't add more children in the future, she will be the youngest. It's bittersweet to watch your children grow. I admittedly was less than thrilled with the feeding, lack of sleeping, and crying that came with infancy. But when we had Sam, I tried to enjoy it more, in the event that we didn't add children. And it seems like it went faster! I guess having an older sibling makes the younger kids want to be older quicker! She seems every bit of 3 and as exciting as it is, I still get a little sad that she needs me less and less. I'd say she's physically gotten so big, but that's just not the case. She's my little midget! Her favorite things at three are dressing up, wearing ballet clothes, anything Disney princess, anything Mickey or Minnie Mouse, going to the playground, spicy foods, her Sissy, her pink blankey and doing everything on her own without anyone's assistance! She's loving, moody (like her mom), needs a lot of sleep, sweet, talkative and inquisitive! Welcoming Sam into our lives has been so rewarding and I am so thankful to be with her each day to watch her grow and become her own little person! She's my cuddle bug and I hope she never outgrows wanting to lay with mom, snuggled up with a blanket. I would be okay with it if she wanted to start sleeping in her bed every night though, because she is a snorer! I'm guessing she has the Kenny tonsils, considering her doctor has already made a comment about their size.

Sam's birthday fell on a Monday this year. She kept giving me this look like "are you sure it's still my birthday?". After attending Disney on Ice and having a double party Saturday, I am thankful she recognized that the celebrating was becoming excessive. I'm a celebration person though, so I didn't feel it was right to not at least acknowledge her birthDAY. We met Christina and Matty for lunch and Tina got her a cupcake. She took a bite then put it back saying she was "saving it"...another sign she might be partied out.

For dinner, Chris and I took em to Chuck E Cheese because they were given a gift card as a present, and they had free birthday tokens coupons thanks to their frugal mom for being a part of their eClub. The kids loved it, of course. By kids, I am including Chris. Sammy does NOT like the dressed up Chuck E though so she spent a lot of her time looking over her shoulder. That wraps up the girls birthday week! Please let this be a reminder that next year I promised myself I was doing small scale celebrations...

rockin' ever after

Yawwwwn! I am still trying to wake up and recover from a Disney hangover this morning. I must say, after going to Disney World last year, and visiting Disney on Ice last night, those guys know how to put on a show! Most people chalk Disney up as "over priced", which I will admit some of their toys could afford a discount, but overall, you get what you pay for. Down to the smallest details, Disney makes every element enjoyable. The guy who hands out programs is charming, the shows are spectacular, the songs stick in your head, the characters are lovable and even the $12 bag of cotton candy seems magical. I kind of have a major crush on Disney today, so I might not agree with the cotton candy in a week, but my point is that Disney delivers! And they know how to put smiles on your face!

We headed downtown after Chris got home, and kept our destination from the girls top secret. The details of our evening were stowed away in a perfectly appropriate Disney princess gift bag, and one randomly chosen trunk. Cara made guesses such as "ooo, Monkey Joe's!" and "oh I know, the kid's place with lots of things to do". As we pulled into our ever so shady discounted parking garage, I handed the gift bag to Cara. She looked at us baffled when only discovering a piece of paper. "I don't know how to read," she admitted. So I took the ever so decorated card stock and began to reveal the surprise.

{You are cordially invited to join me and some of my most special friends tonight for a birthday surprise...}

It was a cryptic letter from Ariel telling Cara and Sam that they had a huge night in store and to make sure they thanked Gigi, Perry and Ms. Jo-Ann. Both parties contributed to the night and I wanted to make sure the girls knew since neither of them were with us. The last line said "p.s. - look in the trunk".

The dresses were stowed away with a picture of all the princesses from the Disney on Ice promotion. Cara caught on right away having seen the commercials, which made it so much more awesome for me, because she got the surprise! From then on it was all smiles! They immediately put on the dresses and started posing...

We ate in the CNN center and had a birthday toast!

And then it was showtime!

It wasn't the best lighting and I'm not the best photog, plus I took some pics on my phone...so that's the best I got. We had an awesome time! The show was phenomenal and the girls loved it. Surprisingly, I think Sam loved it more. She was in awe the entire time. Pointing, laughing, smiling! Cara loved it too, but she might have been more interested in cotton candy and toys for part of the show. Ariel went first so her attention slowly started to fade afterwards. If anyone is wondering, my favorite part was Rapuntzel. I love the movie Tangled! Plus they had the horse, which was two people skating under one giant horse costume. That is talent! We had a blast and again, are very thankful for Gigi, Perry and Ms. Jo-Ann for making the night possible! The best part might have been this morning when Sam woke me up saying, "Mommy, that was the best movie ever last night!". She hasn't stopped talking about it...

"Look Mom, this was from the movie last night!"

the big 5

Regarding my first memory of Cara, this picture says it all. Join me as I take you down memory lane of the days Chris and I became parents. We were pretty young when we had Cara, and although I had a niece whom I thought I handled great as a baby, I was clueless when it came to being a mom of a baby. Chris was right there with me. We were a pair of bewildered parents(arguably, this could still be the case). Two relevant, no three relevant memories come to mind. The instant Cara was born, our doctor handed her off to Chris. He literally said, "how do I hold her?". It hadn't occurred to me during the entire 9 months of pregnancy that my baby daddy didn't know how to hold a baby. I'd say I was scared, but instead I remained silent because honestly, I didn't know how to correctly hold an infant either. So the first minutes of her life, her parents didn't know how to hold her. We were off to a great start. Second memory worth mentioning was the second day when the nurse wheeled Cara in to our hospital room and left. She left and my baby was crying. Instead of I don't know, trying to figure out why she was crying, I pushed the nurse button. The nurse came back and I asked her why she thought my baby was crying. She asked "did you feed her?" to which I replied "huh?". Feed her! Oh yeah, I have to feed her!!! Don't worry, we learned how to feed her. My final memory is the night we brought her home. It was mid October and the temps in GA started to fall that night. Normally Chris and I would just get under a heavier blanket, but now we had a baby who was too precious to sleep in a cold house! So we turned on the heat, which happened to be the first time in a while it had been started. Suddenly we start smelling the VERY NORMAL smell the heater makes the first time it's turned on. Instead of using rational and conclusive thought, we started to convince ourselves it could be carbon monoxide. You know, the odorless gas. I am certain of my husband's intelligence and fairly certain of mine, but that night, neither of us were using our brains. We were using our "new parent" brains which led us to the front porch at 12 AM freezing (ironically what were trying to avoid) and dialing Paula's number in a panic. Being a seasoned pro, she talked some sense into us and we were able to survive the night. We needed some work, and we always will. For five years I have been a "mom" and I thank God every day for that title. I also thank Him for my family and friends who have been so incredibly valuable to me in this process. Chris and I have been so fortunate!! I can hardly believe it's been 5 years since I brought that smooshy, adorable little baby home as my child!

Fast forward to 10/11/12! Which, worth noting, is such a fun day to have a birthday. It has fallen on a Thursday, the day she was born, and also a school day, so I made treats to take her to school. I didn't catalog the process of making the treats, because I did it late last night, using every muscle in my body not to cough on them. I always get lovely sinus infections in October! But I did take pictures of the drop off and it was so fun! It was Cara's first birthday at "school" and my first time as a mom celebrating it that way. Normally, I have the girls home and they get extra treats and hugs, so naturally I was a little sad I had to share the day with school. But, it was totally worth it when I took the treats in and watched her get serenaded by all of her classmates and teachers.

Sam waiting for Cara's class to finish up centers. (I gave her a clue for her impending surprise tonight by putting her in Minnie Mouse, but she hasn't caught on..)

Rice Krispy Treats dipped in chocolate with blue sprinkles was Cara's special treat of choice!

Cara acting shy during her "Happy Birthday" serenade...

The birthday girl!

Cara and her very proud little sister!

The class enjoying the treats :)

Up next is a SURPRISE visit to Disney on Ice tonight thanks to Gigi and Ms. Jo-Ann, and then a big party this weekend to celebrate some life!

little monsters

There are people who decorate for the holiday's, and people who don't. Among the people that do, there are many opinions on when you should decorate. Some people like to get em up early and enjoy them as long as they can. Then you have the people who get very angry when Christmas decorations cut into Halloween time. I, for a first, don't have too strong of an opinion on it. I love the holiday's. I think I may love every single holiday, so much so that we celebrated National Pancake Day this year. I'm all for enjoying each and every single one of them in their own right, so maybe I lean more towards the "chill out on Christmas in August" crowd...but then again, who doesn't love a beautiful Christmas tree!

I did wait for October 1st before I climbed up into the attic to get down the Halloween tote. Yes, you read that right, I climbed up into the attic. Well fine, I did the inside attic. I made Chris get the totes from the garage attic. That one just creeps me out too much. (Side note: Having 20 Christmas totes is not Chris' favorite thing about me.) I don't go too crazy with Halloween. My favorite things are a Fall inspired mantel and my Halloween tree. I've been decorating ever since I got pregnant with Cara and each year has provided new experiences with the girls. This year, I wanted to kick off the Halloween season with a fun, family craft. As they get older, we get to do more interactive crafts that we all can enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I like the felt pumpkins you decorate with Halloween shapes as much as the next mom, but they don't pack a punch like a monster decorated front door! Also, I might secretly be trying to outdo a neighbor for yard of the month.

{Monster Inspired Front Door}

A door
Two white paper plates
A black marker
Crepe paper
Duct tape
Halloween spirit (important)


Cara started this craft off for us by taking the two paper plates and transforming them into spooky eyeballs.

As she created the eyes, Sam and I worked on the hair. Some doors were meant to be monsters, mine however, was not. In preparation for our craft this morning, I got to meticulously fit a black plastic table cloth to my door to provide a realistic base for Mr. Monster Mash. Thank goodness, cause it really made the green hair pop!

The monsters hair resembles a recent bang trim I gave Sam. Reminded me of a movie from back in the day...

We added Cara's eyes and some lovely brows...

And a stitched up mouth, rounded him out!

I wanted to see it the way my neighbors (cough, voters, cough) see it...

I think it came out great! (Side note: Yes, those are MY mowing lines, and yes, I think they should be considered when voting.) Another fun thing, Val and Cali also did a door all the way in Colorado.

And of course, I took a picture with all of my monsters. Yay, Halloween!

Now, let's hope it doesn't rain...

{in the kitchen with Sam} Anniversary Chex Mix

So yesterday was Chris and I's 4th wedding anniversary. September 23rd marked 6 years of dating! Seems like we've accomplished quite a bit in that relatively short amount of time! In honor of our anniversary, I decided to prepare a yummy dessert. Now, let's be clear, Chris and I have different opinions of "what's yummy". He will house three bowls of cereal for dinner, while I crave home made squash soup. He's simply pleased, I however require a little more complexity. Probably explains our marriage! Since I was preparing a dessert for him, I took into consideration some of his favorite ingredients like cereal and caramel and knew I needed to keep it simple. I found a recipe for a chex mix dessert that I instantly knew, Chris would love. Had it been I was cooking for myself, I would have probably chosen a decadent cupcake of some sort with a delicious raspberry filling. I just want the blog to be clear, in the event I ever forget, what kinds of foods I like. So to keep the blog G rated I changed the name of the dessert. It was originally titled "Better than (rhymes with chex) Chex Mix". I figured since I let Sam help me prepare these foods, that title wouldn't work. I renamed it "Anniversary Chex Mix". I know, super creative title. I am going to go ahead and disappoint all of my faithful readers now by admitting I didn't get the "Sam" of approval yet. Let's just say there was a situation yesterday with a bag, candy wrappers, my carpet and my daughters. Treats weren't on the top of the list for them yesterday!

{The Recipe}
1 box of Chocolate Chex Mix (8 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of expensive Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, MINI size
1 cup MINIATURE marshmallows
1/2 cup caramel squares
1 Tbsp half and half
1/2 cup MILK chocolate baking chips
1/2 cup WHTIE chocolate baking chips
1 tsp coarse sea salt

I have seen on a lot of cooking blogs these really great pictures, and wanted to do my own version of the "line up all of your ingredients picture". This would be a realistic "my kid won't stop eating the chocolate chips from my lined up ingredients picture".

What will be important for me to remember about this recipe is that if you do not have any of the ingredients, it is a very pricey dessert. BUT, you don't use all of the chocolate chips and Reese's, so I see a yummy trail mix in my future. I started off by heating up the sugar, butter, and corn syrup in the microwave for a minute. Then you mix it up really good, so it's nice and creamy.

Mix in the baking soda and in a separate, larger bowl coat the 8 cups of cereal. I had to microwave in minute increments, for three minutes, and mix the cereal each time so that all the pieces were covered. Worth noting, Cara was home sick from school yesterday and so badly wanted to help, but she couldn't stop coughing long enough to do anything constructive without spreading her germs into my dessert. You can't see her in this picture, but she is standing in the background crying as Sam helps me coat the cereal. I guess I will need to have our own baking session soon, which is totally fine with me!

After it's coated, you spread it out on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and let cool for about ten minutes.

After it has cooled, you sprinkle on the mini mallows and Reese's, which makes it look so incredibly delicious. And at this point, you also need to pop a few mallows and Reese's in your mouth, to make sure they are suitable for the recipe.

Now for the messy, create a lot of dishes part. You have to melt the chocolates and the caramels so that you can drizzle them on. Sure you could do a double broiler thing, but I mean, I know myself and that's a little too much work when the microwave is right there, waiting to be used. The trick though is getting the chocolates melted without burning them. And having melted A LOT of chocolate in my microwave, I have found the perfect time of 47 seconds for white chocolate chips and 1:23 for milk chocolate. The caramel proved easier with the added half and half and also took a little more than a minute to melt. I created three dirty bowls and three dirty spoons in the process...booo. But when you see all of these ingredients come together as one, it's hard to worry about dishes. The last step would have been to sprinkle on the coarse salt, but I chose to take pictures and forget.

Delightful! Not so delightful was my cell phone attempt at a cool food blogger picture. It's blurry and horrible but whatever, no one reads my blog.

I made some romantic parfaits in wine glasses tied with our wedding colors as well...

...and Chris loved it! He ate his entire parfait! I only made it through the first layer, that's how sweet it was. Our anniversary dessert was a success! Happy four years of marriage to us...cheers!