i heart faces: Thankful

The ladies at i ♥ faces are gearing up for the first i ♥ faces workshop this weekend!  So to give them a change to get ready, they are taking a week of from judging and encouraging us to share what we are thankful for instead.  What a great idea!  I admit that I didn't have time to take pictures of everything I'm thankful for, but know that there are many more things in addition to what you see below!

+I'm thankful that the weather was so cool today so Lincoln and I could go outside and make this nature box, even though he was hot with fever+

+I'm thankful that these awesome ducks followed me all the way from my car to the farmer's market on Saturday (at least 100 yards).  I felt like the pied piper--so much fun!  And, those are just a few of them--there were almost 20!+

+I'm thankful that our Meyer lemon tree is now in season!  Lemon shrimp, lemon bread, lemon cookies...endless possibilities!+

+I'm thankful these 2 get along+

+I'm thankful someone thought of the idea to put ears on children's jackets.  Cuteness overload.+

+I'm thankful that it cooled off enough for Lincoln and I to get outside and walk!+

+I'm thankful for the sweet side of my dog, Wembley.+

+I'm thankful for remembering to take a picture of me!+

+And most of all, I'm thankful for these 2 guys.  So very, very thankful!+

Check out more thankful pictures at i ♥ faces!

A Perfect Fall Day

The weather today was PERFECT!  Lincoln and I hit up the park this afternoon.  He amazed me with his slide skillz--I had no idea he knew how to go down by himself, but when I set him up there once, he just scooted to the end and went down!  So smart!  Other fun things at the park--raking rocks, scooping rocks, and of course, eating rocks.  I fished out at least 8 tasty pebbles from his mouth, and am pretty sure 1 went down...we'll see in a few days, I guess....

Lincoln, Lucas, and David somehow managing to not break the plasma car....

Fall flowers (or weeds....whichever...)

Look!  5 red leaves!  Is that you, fall??

Going down on his tummy....wheeeeee!

Green Smoothie...definitely green

Since Lincoln isn't a huge fan of eating, I try to cram as many nutrients as I can into one food that he seems to like: smoothies. Today was my first foray into the land of green smoothies. This particular smoothie is a combo of applesauce, frozen mango, raspberries, milled flax seeds, and kale. Lincoln ate every last drop. Ok, not every drop. He may have gotten a little bit on his face....

Tutorial Tuesday: Lemon Poppyseed Bread

We are lucky enough to have a Meyer lemon tree in our backyard, so each fall and winter we have a full harvest of lemons at the ready.  The challenge comes in thinking of enough recipes to use them all up before they go bad!  With our first lemon of the season ready to go, I broke out my favorite lemon poppyseed bread recipe today.  

The camera wasn't working during the actual baking process.  I thought it was broken, but it turned out to just be the batteries.  We use rechargeable batteries, and apparently they are only holding charge for a few hours at a time now.  So even though I had just put them in the camera the night before, they were already dead this morning when I put them in the camera.  Boo.  So, unfortunately I only of a picture of the finished product for you...you'll manage, though.  I trust you.

Lemon Poppyseed Bread

based on the recipe from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum

Ingredients

Cake:

3 Tbsp. milk

3 large eggs

1.5 tsp. vanilla (I used 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. lemon extract)

1.5 cups sifted cake flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

13 Tbsp. unsalted butter at room temp.

1 Tbsp. loosely packed grated lemon zest (1 medium lemon)

3 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Syrup:

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (1 medium lemon)

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, until combined.

2.  In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and vanilla.

3.  Add 1/2 the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on low until all ingredients are moistened.  Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute to aerate batter.

4.  Scrape down sides and add remaining egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. 

5.  Scrape batter into an 8" x 4" loaf pan (4 cup pan) and smooth surface with a spatula.

6.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7.  Shortly before the cake is done, prepare the syrup.  In  a small pan over medium heat, stir the sugar and lemon juice until dissolved.

8.  As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke the cake all over with a wooden skewer or wire tester.  Brush half the syrup over the cake.  Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased cooling rack.  Poke holes in the bottom and sides of cake and brush cake with remaining syrup.  Reinvert to cool.

9.  Mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice and ice cake once cooled.

Enjoy!  It is sooooo good!

Happy Halloween!

Although our plans for Lincoln to be a "log" for Halloween fell through (get it? Lincoln log? ahahahaha), he made an absolutely adorable giraffe. We spent the morning at a Halloween Festival at the YMCA where Lincoln got to play with some animals (this is beginning to be a weekend tradition...we have visited animals for 3 weeks in a row now. I wonder what he will think when all he sees next weekend is Wembley? I'd be disappointed, too) and check out all the other fabulous costumes.

Look!  A goat!

More goats!

Apparently, I only uploaded pictures with goats.  There were also ducks, chickens, and pot belly pigs.  In case you were wondering.

Weeee, I am having such a great time at the Halloween Festival!

We then came home to carve our pumpkin into a super scary...cat. Ok, not so scary, but definitely EASY, and when you wait until the day of Halloween to start carving, easy is the way to go. Lincoln was a big helper and fascinated by our pumpkin!

Lincoln learned to go down the stairs by himself.  He liked to demonstrate this over and over and over..... : )

Let me help.  I get it with my giant spoon here.

Lucas doing all the hard work while I just take pictures....

Wembley making sure the cat doesn't try and walk by his window.  He is very possessive.

SPOON!

Holding the pumpkin steady for mama.

That evening, we got him all dressed up and headed over for our one stop trick or treat at our good friend's house, Kari and Dan. We staged a few shots of Lincoln trick or treating, and then headed home to wait for trick or treaters. 2 hours and 4 trick or treaters later, we called it a night (well, Lincoln called it a night...we stayed up watching all the TV shows we missed during the week). Happy Halloween!

My friend Kari and her son Tommy (pumpkin), me and Lincoln (giraffe).

David (Spiderman) and Hanna (Batgirl) helping us stage a Halloween shot.

And just for fun....Lucas didn't dress up this year, despite my insistence, so I am posting these of his awesome costume from last year for your enjoyment.  If you can't tell, he was one of those blow-up dancing guys that you see outside car dealerships and gas stations.

Pretty authentic looking, eh?

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Tutorial Tuesday: Random Hints

While I was cleaning this past week, I came across these pages that look like they were once part of a cookbook. They are full of helpful hints, from cooking to cleaning. Thought I'd share some with you all for my tutorial this week.  Since I don't know what book these are actually from, I can't credit them, unfortunately....

Cleaning

• To make a simple polish for copper bottom cookware, mix equal parts flour and salt with vinegar to create a paste.  Store extra in the refrigerator. 
• A little instant coffee will work wonders on your wood furniture.  Just make a thick paste from instant coffee and a little water, and rub it into the nicks and scrapes on your dark wood furniture.  You'll be amazed at how new and beautiful those pieces look.
• For a clogged shower head, boil it for 15 minutes in a mixture of 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 quart water.
• Add raw rice to the salt shaker to keep salt free flowing.
• Ice cubes will help sharpen garbage disposal blades.

Cooking

• A few drops of lemon juice added to simmering rice will keep the grains separated.
• Clove, garlic, and pepper flavors get stronger when they are frozen, while sage, onion, and salt get milder.
• A little vinegar or lemon juice added to potatoes before draining will make them extra white when mashed.
• Egg whites need to be at room temperature for greater volume when whipped.  Good tip for making meringue.
• When baking bread, a small dish of water in the oven will help keep the crust from getting too hard or brown.
• To make self-rising flour, mix 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons baking powder and store in a tightly covered container.
• To easily flour a surface for dough, store flour in a salt shaker.
• To avoid tears when cutting onions, try cutting under cold running water or briefly placing them in the freezer before cutting. [note:  my friend Erika also recommended coating the cutting board with vinegar....]

I hope some of those were helpful!  And, now that I have recorded the best tips, I can recycle the rest and clear out some more paper from the house--win, win!

i heart faces: Halloween Dress-up!

The theme this week at i ♥ faces is Halloween Dress-up! We were so excited to take Lincoln to the zoo this past Saturday for the first time for an event with the Milk Bank of Austin.  It happened to coincide with the Zoo Boo, so of course we brought along Lincoln's Halloween costume!  He had a GREAT time, and even tried to imitate some of the animal noises Lucas made.  So.very.cute.  Lincoln is going as a giraffe this year, so we HAD to take some pictures with the giraffes while we were there!  Can you see the giraffe peeking around Lincoln's back???

Awww.  He is just so adorable.  I can hardly stand it : )

Don't forget to check out all the other costume fun over at i ♥ faces!