March Book Club

Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high! Take a look. It's in a book. A reading rainbow, (echo: a reading rainbow) a reading rainbow!

Remember that little ditty all you children of the nineties? Whether you do or not, you'll recognize Levar Burton from our previous posts, and that can only mean one thing... Time for the Badger Book Club! Yes we're starting two weeks into March, but I think the book for this month will be both educational and entertaining (meaning it will be a really quick read). The book for this month is, drum-roll please, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

That's right... The Autobiography of Davy Crockett, the "King" himself (if that doesn't make sense go watch the Disney film from the 1950's, it'll make you want to run our and buy a coonskin cap). This book is remarkably funny and lighthearted, kind of a change from our previous two months where the books have dealt with more serious topics. So pick up a copy today, buckle-up and enjoy the ride.

P.S. As we were scanning the internet for pictures of Levar we came across this little gem that we decided to share with you all in honor of last month's classic To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Good Eats

Well, the time has finally come: it's time to introduce solids.

As you can see, this is a serious business.

I have to say this is one of the most exciting parts of Baby-ness to me. I LOVE getting my kids excited about food, and introducing their tiny palates to all sorts of joyous variety.

Love.

Reese was positively thrilled to be able to help. So cute!

We're only just into cereals and already Sam is a huge fan of all things on a spoon.

But lately I've been whipping up some Baby Love.

Ready for a commercial spot? Here we go!

This is an awesome cookbook by Norah O'Donnell & Chef Geoff Tracy with great photography and fun, fresh ideas for recipes that are easy & fast and so much healthier-

not to mention world's cheaper and better-tasting than the store-bought stuff!

Lots of nutrition info and fun toddler meals are included as well.

It's a great book, and totally worth checking out. :)

Here's a little video of the first bites!

Too Much Money

Reese is definitely the singer in our house; she doesn't stop, really, and puts on quite the variety show. Up until recently she's been set to the Disney/Musical station, but add our love of Pandora into the mix, and she's now got so much more to work with.

This is all cute and good until we hear her singing this tonight,

"Take me home tonight,

I don't wanna let you go til' you see the light!"

Oh dear. Hmm. . . Maybe we should monitor the classic rock more closely.

Be Prepared. . . for a tight fit!

Our F.H.E. this week was something that we've had on the to-do list for a while.

We decided to re-pack our 72hr kits.

This is something that hasn't been done since Reese was probably about 6 months old, and seeing as how Ry was the highlight of our stake's Preparedness Fair last October, we thought we should probably get ourselves kicked in gear.

First of all, I wanted to show how we have organized our toiletries. It's a great idea I got from a friend of mine in our first student ward.

1. Hit the travel-size section of the local store and get a miniature of everything you need on a daily basis- plus a few extras.

We filled ours are filled with:

Nail Clippers

Mouthwash

Toothbrush & Toothpaste

Floss

Gum

Shampoo/Conditioner

Lotion

Chap stick

Deodorant

Small Comb

Washcloth

Tampons (not for Ryan of course!)

Hand Sanitizer

Q-tips

2. Take a hand towel, fold up the bottom half lengthwise, and lay out all of your items underneath the 'pocket'.

3. Pin or mark where you'll need to sew to create individual pockets,

4. Remove the toiletries and sew a straight line up from the fold.

5. With a length of ribbon, about 20"-24", bring the ends together and sew the fold to one end of your roll.

6. Tuck all your items back into the towel, in their own cute little pockets

7. Fold the top down over the openings to keep everything inside, then

8. Roll tightly from one end until you have a fat little toiletry roll

9. Tie securely with ribbon

and pack it into your bag

Ta-Da!

After working for a while, we got a little distracted.

"Hmm. . . this backpack is just about Sam's size. I wonder if. . . "

Yep. He does. :)

Snug as a bug in a rug.

Reese sporting her own little load- she gets to carry she and Sam's clothing, and apparently, she couldn't be more thrilled!

Hooray for Preparedness!

What great ways do you organize your 72-hr kits?

My Pastry Class

I think I mentioned a while back that I've been teaching two community education classes for the last few months. Well, I've finally finished up with them, and despite some stress, I would totally do it again! Maybe just one class at a time in the future, though. :) Fabulous people, great times in the kitchen, and of course all sorts of exciting bits of pastry know-how.

I only remembered to bring my camara to capture it for my last class, and I wanted to show you all a little of what we did.

Throughout the eight weeks we learned how to make:

Tarts

Mousse

Choux paste (cream puffs & eclairs)

Baklava

Brioche

Chocolate truffles

Puff pastry

and in our last class we made Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes, learned about dessert sauces and caramel, and how to make spun sugar.

I think we had a pretty good time.

Here's Dorothy holding the finished product- a spun sugar nest.

Then we got down to the sauces: Caramel, Chocolate-Caramel, and Cardamom-Pomegranate

I was so proud of their presentation-

It's 80%!

Like I said before, I had a blast. A true learning experience for me, but it was so much fun, and I'm SO glad I did it!