Calling all knitters!

Source: marmaladebabycreations.blogspot.com via Tabatha on Pinterest

Anyone with mad knitting skills want to hook me up??? I found this on Pinterest tonight and would LOVE to have it for Amelia but I am not so talented as to make it myself.

More blueberry fun!

Spice up Banana Bread

I'm guilty of making the same banana bread muffin and loaf recipe every time. I never mess with my Mom's banana bread recipe and I've never messed around with my muffin recipe either. That all changed the other night thanks to this little website called Pinterest. Have you heard of it? If not I don't suggest that you accept an invite. You will be in up to your ears in ideas and projects and will find there are not enough hours in the day to get everything you want to do done...but I digress...I saw a recipe for Reese Peanut Butter Cup banana bread. It looked so good I had to experiment with my recipe and peanut butter and chocolate. The results were pretty good if I do say so myself!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

3 mashed bananas
1 banana, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all natural, unsweetened peanut butter
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup mini peanut butter baking cups, frozen (I used PC mini baking cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine the mashed banana and sugar. Melt the butter and peanut butter in the microwave. Combine with the banana and sugar mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking to incorporate them into the banana mixture. Add the dry ingredients and then fold in the peanut butter cups. Divide into muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce oven to 200 and continue to bake another 10-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins (7 WW PointsPlus each)

7 Months

Time is flying!

She's sitting up and making babblings of her own. Her first word was Dada and she says it all the time. Just the other day she started blowing and vibrating her lips. She loves the sound it makes. Amelia has changed so much in just the last few weeks. She's finally doubled her birth weight and her cheeks and little thighs have filled out. And boy does she love to eat! Bananas, Cheerios and pear were her favorites but now there is a new favorite on the block...

Say hello to blueberries!!! It took a few days but her little hands are no longer purple. Gotta love it! She's having fun and her personality is really starting to shine. Now if I could just get her to sleep through the night.

Happy New Year!

We rang in the New Year with a great group of friends. Everyone had a great time! Conversation was rich, drinks were flowing and the children  made it past midnight with no meltdowns. I've never seen anything like it. Once the clock struck 12 "Glittergate 2012" took place!



Glitter in her hair!



Glitter, glitter everywhere!



As 12am struck, fistfuls of glitter went everywhere, covering Kelly's house, every one's hair, clothes and, my personal favorite, little baby toes. It was so much fun. The girls kept scooping it back up off the floor and celebrating the moment all over again. It was a great memory and I'm sure 3.5 Dyson canisters of glitter later, Kelly would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Austin takes after his Daddy for sure. As the girls continued to play with the glitter, Austin was using a horse's mane to try to sweep it up. All he did was push it around but he thought he was helping.

Little Mark partied too hard and didn't make it to the glitter  but I think this picture is probably an accurate reflection of his New Year's to come!

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for reading this blog and for being interested in what I have to say, share and bake!

Delicious Winter Warm up

What is better on a cold day than hot chocolate and marshmallows....why HOMEMADE Hot chocolate and vanilla marshmallows!! I gave this as gifts this Christmas and it was a huge hit. I will not buy hot chocolate in a canister again. Not when this one is so easy and so delicious!

Hot Cocoa
Recipe from My Baking Addiction


Ingredients

2 cups Powdered sugar

1 cup Ruby Red Cocoa

2.5 cups Skim Milk Powder

1 tsp Sea Salt

2 tsp Cornstarch

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a whisk to ensure that everything is well incorporated. Store in an airtight container. This makes 5.5 cups of mix.

Combine 4 tbsps of the mix in a large mug. Add boiling water, stir and savour!

4 tbsps of the mix is 2 PointsPlus values

Now if you really want to make this special add a homemade vanilla marshmallow. They are super easy to make but very impressive.

Vanilla Marshmallows
Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1 oz gelatin (three packets of Knox gelatin)

1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste

Directions
Sprinkle the gelatin over the first amount of water in the mixer bowl with the whisk attachment in place. Do not stir this. Let it sit until you are ready to add the sugar mixture.

In a pot combine the remaining ingredients except for the vanilla bean paste. Stir until combined then allow the mixture to boil. Once it is at a rolling boil, allow that to go for 1 minute. Carefully pour the sugar mixture down the side of the mixer bowl. Turn the whisk to medium high as you do this. Use a spatula to get all of the sugar mixture from the pot. Turn the whisk to high. Set a timer for 12 minutes. Add Vanilla at the 10 minute mark.

Spray a 9x9 square pan with cooking spray.  Working quickly, pour and scrape the marshmallow from the mixing bowl in the the pan. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray. Put this on top of the marshmallows and use your hands to smooth the top. Allow to sit for 4 hours or overnight.

Cut into 36 squares. Lightly coat each square with icing sugar to prevent it from sticking. Store in an airtight container. Each marshmallow is 2 PointsPlus.

Enjoy!

Christmas

I'm behind and one of my commitments for 2012 is to get organized and that includes keeping the blog up to date. So I have a post or two to catch up and then my goal is to stay up to date!

Christmas Eve in Nova Scotia is much more laid back and subdued than back home in Newfoundland. We woke up in the morning (after a late night of gift wrapping, cleaning and gift sorting) and spent the morning in jammies eating buttermilk pancakes shaped like snowmen, reindeer and elves and played with the kids. Austin sang Christmas carols (he wouldn't let anyone join in) and was beyond excited about Santa. We were making some Christmas cookies when he received a special email from Santa. That pretty much did him in...I think he floated on pure excitement and Christmas Spirit all day. In the afternoon we delivered gifts and then went to the early mass.

After mass, Austin opened his first Christmas gift.

No Christmas is complete without new jammies! Austin was showing Amelia all the presents under the tree and explaining to her that Santa was going to come and bring her things to play with and it would be pretty cool. We checked the Santa tracker, he set out milk and cookies and was in bed by 8:30. It took him no time to go to sleep, he woke only once and I had to head him off at the pass to make sure he didn't see Santa's elves at work.



The quiet moment after the elves are done



Christmas morning was absolutely magical. Austin was so excited that the air was electric with Christmas spirit. We woke Austin up around 7:30 and he was so excited to find out if Santa ate the cookies that he left for him. He raced down the stairs and saw the train table and was beyond excited. Hand covering his mouth, he kept saying "I can't believe it!" He tore into his gifts and helped Amelia open hers. At first, she was much more interested in eating the wrapping paper but once a gift was open she'd get so excited!



Amelia's first gift from Santa. Rattle and Shake Pooh...she loves him!



This paper is delicious!!!



humm what could this be?

 

"Don't tell what it is!!!"

And then there was the gift of the year. I kept telling G that he wasn't getting anything that he had asked for but that he was going to be a very happy man on Christmas morning. I took Amelia from him and told Austin to climb into Daddy's lap to open a gift....I think the expressions on their faces say it all...Mommy is bi-winning!



Amelia's first Christmas was wonderful. There was a blanket of fresh snow and a relaxed morning shared with family back home thanks to Skype. I can't wait until next year to do it all again. Austin is so into Christmas, so much so that we're still singing Rudolph on January 4 and next time Amelia will be older and will be able to compete with Austin for some of that gift opening action!

A special message from Austin

O Christmas tree!

I love me a good Christmas tree. I love it when the snow is falling and the hunt is on for the perfect tree. This year the hunt was a little less picturesque. It was raining and the second tree we looked at was deemed  good enough for our holiday center piece. The teenagers manning the lot were short a few bricks for a load which made things interesting. Austin helped bring the tree to the car and my Dad and Gordon secured it to the roof. Amelia's first Christmas tree was en route to our house!!

Sunday morning we had the perfect opportunity to put the tree in place. Austin was gone to the movies with my cousin so Gordon was free to move the tree into the living room without any "help". Once the tree was in place, Gordon removed the wrapping and we had ourselves a little Christmas Vacation moment! The tree was a lot fuller than we had thought!


We let the tree settle for a few days before we decorated it. Austin was a huge help and the tree has several branches that have multiple ornaments on them and a few bare spots but it is his work of art so I resisted and didn't change anything!



The final product (the picture is crooked not the tree!)



I love the smell the tree gives the house. As Austin says "It smells like Christmas!" 

A visit from Poppy

My Dad was in town for work a couple of weeks ago and did we ever enjoy his visit! It's hard being away from my family, especially during the holidays so it was a very welcome and unexpected surprise to have him drop in for the night.



Poppy let him blow the horn!

We decided to go get our Christmas tree even though it was raining. My dad is the master of picking out a tree. I remember going to three or four different tree lots when I was little in pursuit of the perfect tree. Dad would size up the trees and if they didn't meet his standards we were out of there and onto the next tree lot.
Luckily, we found a tree at the first stop that met everyone's standards!



Helping to put the tree on the car

 After a great dinner of Chinese food and some more playing, it was time for Oz to hit the hay. He was thrilled to have Poppy read him stories and tuck him in bed.

Poppy was up early Sunday morning but stopped in again on his way back to NL. We had managed to get the tree up and snagged a few more shots.

Dad's visit made me a little less homesick and I'm so glad he got to spend time with the littles. Now to get ready for the Holidays.



Elf yourself

Its wayyyyy past my bedtime and I found myself doing this:

6 Months

It's been 6 months since our little lady came on the scene. I can not get over how fast time is going. She's really the most pleasant baby and has started to babble all the time. Competing with her brother to be heard! She has rolled over and loves playing with her toes and the toy that makes the crinkle sound. She is changing every day and it's hard to try to soak it all in!



Annette- talk to my mother about these head accessories please!!!



December?

I can hardly believe how quickly this year has flown by! When did it become December? (yes I know yesterday....) My little girl will be 6 months old tomorrow and Austin continues to grow like a weed. His speech is becoming so clear. The other day Spiderman's "leb" was Spiderman's web. It makes me a little sad. I love his mispronunciations. They are beyond cute (and some days that is his saving grace)!

I'm excited to start getting the house ready for the holidays. I've become a little addicted to Pinterest and have so many ideas that I am not too sure where to start. I guess I'll get at it and see what happens. I'm sure Austin will help make it rustic. lol. One thing I do have done is the holiday cards. Andrea was so awesome to come take some pictures of the kids and the photocards have been ordered. She did such an amazing job and it was hard to pick which pictures to use. Here are a few that didn't make the cards but easily could have!



Love this shot!

So many more holiday pictures to come!

Fruit Tree

I love Pinterest! (Let me know if you want an invite) It is an awesome site that you can lose yourself in for hours looking for new ideas, pinning your own ideas, and looking for new spins on traditional things. I've gotten some great photo ideas, entertaining and decorating ideas and, of course, holiday ideas! We had a holiday kickoff weekend (more on that to come) and Kelly hosted brunch. I wanted to do something a little different than a regular fruit tray and found a clever idea one night while on a "pinning spree". A holiday fruit tree. It was so easy! A little time consuming if you pick a big cone as the base but well worth it.

Holiday Fruit Tree

1 container of strawberries

1lb green grapes

4 kiwi sliced

1 mango

1 pineapple (skim removed, and sliced, keep one slice with the core intact)

1 Styrofoam cone

Chocolate (optional)

Melt chocolate and dip half the strawberries. Keep the leaves on the tops of the berries. I put a toothpick in each berry and then set them on a block to set so that the were upright.

Wrap the cone with wax or parchment paper. Don't use tissue paper because the moisture from the fruit will wet the tissue and just make a mess.

Begin the fill in the tree by inserting a toothpick into each piece of fruit and then inserting that into the cone. I started with the big pieces and then used the grapes to fill in the holes. I also cut the mango with a small gingerbread cookie cutter to create some visual interest. Use a star cookie cutter on the piece of pineapple with the core intact to create a top for your tree.

Next time I make this I will dip a few grapes in white chocolate and cover them with coloured sugar to look like lights on the tree. This was a huge crowd pleaser!

I think I'll make another one Christmas Eve to have for Christmas morning. Austin had a great time helping me and the bonus was that he ate fruit and had fun doing it!

Friends

You know who you are...

Baby Steeves

So I have this cousin who I am pretty close too. I'm blessed that Laura has become such a good friend over the past 10 years. We spent a lot of time together growing up and there was this crazy rumor that I pushed her out of a shopping cart when we were little..I want to clarify that we were BOTH looking at the birds and the cart tipped. I didn't push her!

It wasn't until we both found ourselves in Halifax going to school that we became more than cousins. Laura is a treasured friend and is also Amelia's Godmother. Pretty soon Laura and Dan are going to have their own little bundle of joy (as in the next few days). Back in August we had a baby shower for Laura. It took place on the same day as my Pop's funeral (it had been planned for awhile and we would have been very upset had they cancelled it). It was a true circle of life moment. Death and new life all in one day.

Here are a few shots that I took. Laura looked fabulous and a good time was had by all.

Mackenzie and cousin Amelia

Mama to be and Ricki - BFFs since WAY back in the day

Who has time to carve fruit like this?....I wonder if I could make Santa's sleigh...

Getting some much needed baby loot

Laura and Dan are going to be amazing parents. They are so wonderful to our kids and we're honoured that they agreed to be Amelia's Godparents. Baby Steeves is in for one wild and crazy adventure. And for that matter so are Laura and Dan.

Love you both and cannot wait to meet your little.

5 months

Amelia turned 5 months old a couple of weeks ago...can you believe it? Where is the time going? She is just cute as a button and has such a bright and happy smile. She laughs all the time and is always happy...except for the whole teething thing which is making her a tad cranky. We love our little peanut!