Bisquits with my baby

Happy Saturday morning everyone! Owen and I decided to make buttermilk bisquits this morning. He loves to cook with me and Saturday morning is always a good time to bake.

We used a recipe from Southern Living. So easy with just three ingredients....self rising flour (4 cups), shortening (1 cup) and buttermilk (1 3/4 cup). I've never actually used shortening before! California raised I guess. But it was quick and easy to make these little bisquits. Owen's favorite part? Cutting them out. He was quite good at it!

And here they are all lined up. We actually only baked three this morning, and the rest are headed into the freezer to be baked for Easter morning tomorrow.

My official taste tester. He approved.

And they got even better with a little blueberry jam and cup of coffee in my favorite mug.

And here's a little bit of real life...

There was flour EVERYWHERE! But we sure had fun, and thankfully Daddy helped with the clean up!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Beef Stew for a Rainy Day

It has been raining around here. A LOT. Yesterday, it rained so hard that a massive puddle formed in our backyard. And the wind was so strong I felt a bit like Dorothy. So we hunkered down for the day and I decided to make something warm and cozy for dinner. Nothing's better then a slow cooker for that type of meal. I decided to go with Emeril's beef stew recipe on Food Network. I was not about to run out to the store, so the stew lacked the frozen peas it requires. And making Emeril's Essence was one more step then I had time for, so the beef was simple browned with salt and pepper. But despite these changes, YUM! It turned out quite good if I do say so myself.

I served it over some whole wheat noodles tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. Noodles are kid friendly and that's why I chose them...but I think it would be great served plain with a big chunk of crusty bread too. A simple side salad finished of the meal.

So if you are in need of a new recipe to try this weekend, I say give it a try! Easy to throw everything in the slow cooker, and the house smells good all day. Oh, and the recipe says it takes 8 hours in the slow cooker? Well, I did about 6 and it was great.

Happy Weekend!

Sweet Paul

A little weekend reading took me to the digital magazine, Sweet Paul. The latest issue was completely devoted to kids and full of recipes, DIY projects and adorable photos. Here are few of the highlights...

My favorite thing has to be this polka dot milkshake. A strawberry milkshake with marshmallows creates the look. How perfect would this be for a pink and white polka dot party?

And these monster hand tattoos would make fantastic party favors or party activities...I can see building a whole party around them!

There were also some great recipes. Loving these Ricotta and Parmesan Frittatas.

DIY crafts too...a pom pom wreath. Another great party decoration, just imagine the colors this could be made in!

And last but certainly not least, look what they've done with cardboard boxes! How cute are these?? And my thought is, wouldn't it be fun to assemble one before your party, and then let the kids decorate it? The painting could be a fun (messy though of course)...but you could always just cut out a bunch of big shapes, like the star and flower, and let the kids stick them on. Crayons work great on cardboard too. And then your little one has an amazing playhouse afterwards.

Read the entire magazine here. You'll be entertained and inspired, I promise! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.