Best Summertime Desserts #2

Fruity Jigglers

Pour 1/2 cup of your favorite fruit nectar into a small bowl.
Add a packet of unflavored gelatin.
Bring an additional cup of the juice to boiling in a small pan.
Mix the hot juice in with your fruity gelatin mixture and whisk together.
Pour into an oiled baking pan or tray and refrigerate a couple hours.
You know it's done when it sets up and is all jiggly.
Wash your kids hands, give them some cookie cutters and then let them go to town.

Just getting to my last trimester and Baby #4 has been causing quite a bit of mischief lately. I have been finding myself in the kitchen more often than usual- baking bread for the family or testing out new recipes to work off some excess stress.

After recently discovering 101cookbooks.com I now have new fodder for my culinary obsession. Old Fashioned Tapioca speckled with vanilla bean, Zucchini Bread with poppy seeds, crystallized ginger and curry powder or cardamom-spiked Blackberry Limeade..yummm!



It doesn't help that Chris bought 6 lbs of the most delicious organic blueberries for dirt cheap at Whole Foods the other day, which gives me the perfect excuse to make chocolate ganache.. or that Gourmet Magazine just published a mouthwatering cheesecake recipe with minted blackberries.

So you may be seeing more pictures of food than children on this blog for a little while- or just more pictures of children eating food- because heaven knows, if I can bake it they surely will eat it!

Best Summertime Desserts #1

Have you ever noticed that only red sprinkles melt on your skin?



Frozen Banana Pops

Stab banana halves with a popsicle stick
Freeze on parchment paper for 15 minutes
Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips together with a little oil and dip banana pops in.
Cover with rainbow sprinkles, chopped nuts, oameal or whatever else catches your fancy
Freeze at least more 30 minutes- or up to a couple days.
Serve cold, of course.

This is Bird.
He likes to chew my favorite shoes and dig holes in the garden.

Things to do with a bagel

sneak up on it


threaten it


enjoy it

For a while now I have been toying with the ideas of functionality vs. commercialism, and of how we can live the simplest lifestyle possible in an urban environment. I feel like so much of what I am programmed to want for my family is wasteful and unnecessary. Not just the big house, nice cars and proper furniture- but even pet ownership and a grassy green lawn.

So this month I am asking myself:
How simply can we live in the city? How do we properly balance function and beauty? And how do I make healthful choices for my family while still finding time for myself?