Lego Firefighter Birthday Party - Sweet Treats

When it comes to birthdays, Indio knows two things: presents and cake. That's my cue to produce some magical cake that is molded to perfection and has 20 pounds of fondant covering it, right? Considering my last few baking attempts have literally fallen flat - how do you mess up box cake mix?!?! - I'm sitting this one out. This year I've decided bakeries are in business for a reason and my cakes are going to be purchased*. But blogger guilt won't let me call it a day with store bought goods, so I am making Lego toppers to add a special something-something to the cakes.

Not wanting to try candy melts and molds for the first time the night before the party, I've been testing my methods over the last few weeks. Here is what I think are the secrets to success when it comes to molding melted chocolate or candy melts. Did I mention they can be made in advance?

Materials.In my project, I used silicone molds in Lego block and Lego minifigure shapes and Wilton candy melts in different colors. Everything else you'll find in your kitchen.

Step 1. Melt the chocolate or candy melts. This varies and I'm not going to even try and cover all the options. Just be sure not to overdo the whole melting thing or it seizes (you'll know seizing when you see it - it goes from almost melted back to a hardened state.) Just forget about that batch and start over.
Music suggestion: Melt With You . Modern English

Step 2.  Spoon your chocolate/melts into your molds. No worries about too much or too little just yet, that comes after the next few steps.

Step 3. Start tapping your molds on the counter - I've found a few harder taps followed by a quick vibration works well. The chocolate/melts will start filling into the molds and air bubbles will float to the top (break them with a toothpick, fork or your finger). This step is important for getting a nice mold - getting the air bubbles out will give you a nice, smooth surface that fills the mold in completely.
Music suggestion: Cosmic Thing . B-52's

Step 4. Add more melted chocolates/melts as the level in the molds sinks. If the mold is overflowing, take a knife and level off the top.

Step 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the level stays the same and most of the air bubbles appear to be out. Tip: fill your molds to a level just below the top of the mold - the finished product will comes out cleaner without having edges later.
Step 6. Put the filled molds in the fridge and let set. For me 30 minutes is the magic number.

Step 7. Remove the set chocolate/melts from your mold. If you are feeling particularly particular (like me), don't touch the chocolate/melts for fear of fingerprints ruining your masterpiece. Seriously, I use tongs to move the chocolates/melts from here on out.

Step 8. Put the finished product in a sealed container and save until needed. Tips: Do not put chocolate/melts in the fridge as opening and closing the fridge will cause them to bloom (have spots of white on the surface); the chocolate/melts can be made weeks in advance and stored; place parchment paper or wax paper if storing in a container with multiple levels.

*Wow, re-reading that sentence makes me feel like my grandma Bubba.

Photojourna.list: First Day of School 2013

First Day of School: 2013. It was Indio's second year to go to preschool, so he was amped. He woke up excited to see his teachers, his school and his friends. Somewhere along the way in the morning a heated discussion about what was snack food vs. lunch food put him in a bad mood long after Daniel and I dropped our thoughts on the matter. But no worries, a first-day-of-school-breakfast with Dad got his spirits up and he had a great first day (I absolutely love this pic they took over milk and pancakes).

A Bad Bug That Says Bad Words

Last night Indio told us a story of his picture as he colored: He told us it was a bad bug. He was bad because said bad words ('stupid' and 'boobadies') and made bad choices. Somewhere in there he added The Man with the Yellow Hat and a mosquito.



This picture made me look up some other posts I swore I posted of Indio creating artistic masterpieces...only to find I had never posted them. So disappointing, but not surprising. Not one to let chronological order get me down, I post them now. Here is a good choice (self face painting) made October 9, 2012:
And a watercolor-turned-finger-painting session from September 2, 2012:



With stories now accompanying his artwork, I can't wait to see what we come up with over the next year.

Lego Firefighter Birthday Party

I'm in pretty deep with all this Lego stuff...more updates to come.

Pinterest Find: Lemon Shortbread Tartlets

A rare combination of perusing Pinterest AND having a bit of baking ambition culminated in me attempting to make these Lemon Shortbread Tartlets the other night. Behold the originally pinned picture:
How cute. How deliciously scrumptious. How very Spring. How could I go wrong? Really, I couldn't. I set to work following the very simple set of instructions. Granted I got a little distracted along the way, but look what I turned out: Nailed it. Meanwhile, Indio donned his chef whites and went to work on meringues using the egg whites left from the lemon curd recipe I was working on.

{Recipes:}

• Lemon Shortbread Tartlets
• Meringues

Photojourna.list: These Boots Are Made For Walking

For Christmas Indio got a pair of bona fied cowboy boots. Some days he insists on wearing them and negotiating any other footwear is an exercise in futility. We've found that pairing them with pajamas or without pants is the way to go.

Setting the Table

Indio busied himself the other night while I made dinner. After watching him zip around for a few minutes I realized he was setting the table. The outcome: one place setting had a cup with a crazy straw; one had a plastic plate and a plastic utensils; one place setting had a plastic plate, a fork, a spoon and 5 chopsticks. We had spaghetti.

It's All In the Cards

One of my favorite things to do at the holidays is to order and send out cards -- the old fashioned way, through the postal service. It is somewhat cathartic to send Season's Greetings to all the family and friends I've been bad at corresponding with via e-mail, phone or facebook and just let them know we're thinking about them. And I love to get Holiday cards in the mail (hint, hint.)

Most years I procrastinate and order the cards at the end of December and, while the theme may be decidedly 'Happy Holidays', it often gets sent out close to the New Year. This year is different: The cards are ordered and already in my sweaty little hands. Granted, seeing 20% off made me think I better act quickly* -- it expired at midnight! So after work the other day I did a mini photo session with Indio to try and capture the perfect card moment. He was happy because I set him loose on the playground, but I was that weird mother following my child around the playground going "Smile! Say 'cheeeeese!' Look at me, Indio"  with a big-momma camera. Several mock-ups later here are the contenders (I somewhat withheld the actual one for now):




But, the best part of all this is having Indio help sign the cards...and the fact that between each card he insisted on trying to put the pen behind his ear, more successful at getting pen on his face than the pen behind his ear.




The actual one:

*My wah, wah, wah, waaaah moment is the same company offered 25% off the day after I ordered and 30% off today, so that's what I get for acting quickly.

I Ain't No Halloweenie

What the...it's already October! Despite being planted in front of a computer everyday and attached to a phone every waking minute -- both of which tell me the date -- I can't believe October is 29% over and I have 0% done on Halloween costumes. Well, I can believe it and starting on a costume now would put me well in front of previous Halloween's start times -- Indio's first Halloween (caterpillar) I bought a costume bunting because sewing a costume didn't even enter my mind with a 2 month old. Indio's second Halloween (Fred Flinstone) I whipped together the night before by sewing the world's most haphazard orange sheath and then hot gluing embellishments to it. It turned out way better than I thought it would*.

Which brings us to Indio's third Halloween...this year. Indio is into dress up and right now he is very much into Toy Story, Winnie-the-Pooh and Fireman Sam. We've asked him if he wants to be Woody, his answer is yes, Buzz? Yes. Winnie-the-Pooh? Yes. Tigger? Yes. Momma? Yes...okay, he says yes to it all. I am making the executive decision for Toy Story - now I just need to make the costumes and convince him this is the best idea ever.

Some inspirational links:

Buzz Lightyear

Woody

Slinky Dog

Alien toys

Oh, and one more thing: Daniel and I have gotten into the costume spirit in the past. How is this for awesome? Incredibly, both suits came from one Goodwill.

*Last year I was Anya from Project Runway, so the last minute costume actually working out was all in the spirit of Project Runway. My Anya costume I put together in 2 hours.

Photojourna.list: Hot Dang, That's Tangy!

Indio loves helping prepare meals. Right now the big thing is him running in shouting, "Help, me! Help, me!" (toddler speak goes more like "Up, me!") when he knows cooking is going on. He doesn't care if its pushing the buttons on a blender or cracking eggs - he wants in on the action. While some tasks are faster and easier without his help, it is just too good an opportunity to have him hands-on in the kitchen...and when he gets older you better believe he's going to be cooking all the food. Gotta start them early.

Photojourna.list: Ranch Hand

If you don't have a pair of muddy boots (toddler speak: muthdee boos) I can tell you right now you should get some. While you're at it, go ahead and get a set of snug pajamas because that is the only way to really do your chores at the ranch.

Photojourna.list: Indio Turns 2

Indio's second birthday party was all about trains, cupcakes and irritating hats.

We had the party at the Creation Station in the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. Best decision ever. Check them out.