Paper Pie

Stork & Me

A few months ago I received an order for a bunch of my organic cotton fabrics from Holly at the Etsy shop Stork & Me. She had mentioned that she was opening her shop soon and that it would feature organic cotton burp cloths, washcloths, onesies and other all natural baby items. Her shop is open now and her stuff is just adorable. I fell in love instantly (imagine that) and ordered up a bunch of her stuff for gifts and a little something for Baby Scott too. Each little item is very well made and soft and came packaged with a ribbon and a gift card. Holly ships super fast too! Since I have a project list about 3 miles long of baby crafts I would like to do, it was kind of nice to order something using my fabrics and have it arrive at my door step a few days later. The nesting urge is kicking in big and it is time to delegate!

Liz & Kalli Food #3

Liz * Thai Yellow Pumpkin & Seafood Curry
I recently bought Nigella Lawson's book Nigella Bites from Half.com for $1.48. It is an older book, but wow, what a deal, huh? I've always liked her show on Food Network but this is my first book of hers and it is every bit as captivating as the show. It's full of beautiful photography and written in Nigella's charming trademark style. I decided to try her Thai Yellow Pumpkin & Seafood Curry, mostly because it sounded really delicious and because I have never made a curry before. It looks like a lot of ingredients but it really was not complicated at all. Plus, it was so nice just to spend a few hours in the kitchen enjoying the process of making a well prepared dinner. I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and halibut instead of salmon, because frankly I really do not like salmon. I like most things, but salmon, ugh. This dish was super yummy with an excellent flavor profile, but really you can never go wrong when coconut milk is involved. The recipe calls for 1-2 tablespoons of thai red or yellow curry paste and I used 2 but next time I think I'll use 3. I love spice. I love that subtle warmness that comes on little by little when you are eating curry and you sort of start sweating and your eyes start watering but it is so addictive that you can't stop. I like that. 

Kalli * Smashed Potatoes with Garlic, Butter and Tarragon
I had some pretty little Yukon gold potatoes sitting around, so the other night I made smashed potatoes with garlic, butter and tarragon. Pretty simple and hearty, but lightened up a little by the green flavor of steamed broccoli.

Sounds good! I love potatoes so much. Nice photo, too!

A Beautiful Day

Yesterday, my wonderful sister-in-law, Kristy, and my dear friend, Audrey, threw me the most beautiful and lovely baby shower. It was indeed hosted with love. These two really know how to throw a party and how to make a girl feel special. Let me show you.



The amazing Audrey created adorable paper details and put together the incredible favors. I was so in love with the favors that I took one too from my own party. Is that bad etiquette? Oh and up there, that baby on the phone, that is me at 9 months.




Kristy has impeccable taste and her gorgeous home was the perfect setting, sunny and bright. I love all of her thoughtful and beautiful details. The color palette was inspired by the fabrics that I am using in the nursery which I also used to create the bunting shown below.

I mixed up Sandi Henderson Meadowsweet, Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley and Kate Spain Verna in pink, red, orange and yellow. I can't wait to hang this in the nursery, it will look so pretty on the aqua-colored walls.

Audrey found these amazing fabrics and everyone cut out an appliqué and ironed them to onesies of different sizes. Our little girl is going to be well-outfitted for at least the first year! It was such a fun idea and a very special keepsake. I took photos of everyone holding up the onesie that they made so that I will always remember where all of these little hugs and kisses came from. Check out Sarah's below, she even used the negative space, how clever is she?

And the food, did I mention the food? Kristy served up delicious brunchy fare including quiches, souffle, chicken salad croissants, fresh fruit skewers and a green salad. At every gathering, Kristy's mom, Linda, makes the best dessert that you've ever eaten. Yesterday she did not disappoint with Paula Deen's Gorilla Bread. It's like a brown sugar, walnut-y cream cheese-filled biscuit and it's enough to make you want to grab the whole pan and run to your car and escape before anyone else can have any. Really, it is. All manners go out the window when it comes to Gorilla Bread. But if there were ever a group of ladies that I would consider sharing the Gorilla Bread with, it would definitely be these guys.

Everyone was so generous and wonderful, and I am speechless really. People's kindness astounds and humbles me. Ryan and I have all of the essentials that we need for our little girl's arrival thanks to our amazing friends and family from all over the country. All of this love just keeps showing up at our doorstep everyday and I almost start sobbing every time. Our friends Sasha, Nicole and Lauren got us this Svan Bouncer in chocolate and orange. I just can not wait to put her in there! In the card our friend Sal, a master cartoonist, drew us a little picture. Leave it to Sal!
It is such a baby boom right now. At my shower there were 3 other pregnant ladies and we are all due between July and October. On the far right, Nicole is due July 21 and I am due July 22!

Our dresses were such a pretty and joyful palette to match the bright and sunshine-y day.


When Kristy was over for Memorial Day, I was showing her all of the darling little outfits that Little Girl has received already. I am so loving this little pink and red polka dot strawberry dress.That night she asked Ryan to get a photo of it and she brought it to the bakery with her when she ordered the Strawberry Shortcake. Can you believe how cute it is? I mean, really. I was so surprised and delighted! The cake was so light with whipped cream and strawberries, and it tasted like clouds and heaven and airy goodness.

Thank you really does not seem like an adequate thing to say to all of my truly dearest friends for making the day so special. I had a wonderful time! Also, a very special thank you to my mother-in-law, Ann, who couldn't make it because she lives in North Carolina, but we were thinking of her all day. And to Kristy and Audrey; I really, really, really love you guys!

Memorial Day Fun

On Monday we had family and friends over for a little fun and sun in the backyard. It turned out to be quite a memorable day! For starters, Ryan made these:

He really did! From scratch and they were every bit as delicious as they look. He uses Alton Brown's recipe and they always come out perfecto! I made this:

I've become quite famous for it too, though I can't take any credit. It has grapes, pears and pomegranate seeds! I was introduced to this deliciousness at a party of my friend Julia's. I didn't leave the bowl all night. I'm not kidding, I embarrassed myself. If you do one thing this summer/year, make this guacamole. It will improve your social standing in the community. Here is the recipe. Follow it exactly and you will be happy.

The kids had great fun in this wacky water worm thing. A barrel of laughs and non-stop entertainment!

Dry off and goof off!
Are you ready for the gratuitous cute kids-eating-cupcakes shots?

That pretty much says it all! Happy Friday!

Liz & Kalli Food #2

Liz * Kid-Simple Cupcakes
My dear sister-in-law, Kristy, had a birthday a few weeks ago and we never celebrated properly with cake. So when she was over this past weekend, I surprised her with these delicious and simple to make cupcakes. The recipe is from the Chronicle book, Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, which is a super cute book filled with nothing but cupcakes in a full range of flavors and complexity. I opted to start out easy with this recipe below as it appears in Cupcakes!:

Kid-Simple Cupcakes
Makes 12

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons whole milk
Colored sugar, nonpareils, sprinkles, candies, etc (optional)

Make the cupcakes:
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg and yolk and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes.

Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. Mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. The batter is ready to bake, or for additions such as nuts, fruit, or other flavorings if you choose.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Fill each paper liner with a scant 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

Carefully place the wire rack on top of the cupcakes in their pan. Protecting your hands with pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely.

Make the frosting:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together with 3 tablespoons milk, then add up to 1 tablespoon more of milk if needed to form a creamy, smooth, spreadable frosting. Use a small metal spatula to spread about 2 1/2 tablespoons of frosting over the top of each cupcake (or use a pastry bag and tip to pipe the frosting like I did.) Decorate as desired.

The cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Kalli * Lasagna Florentine
I knew I wanted to make some sort of lasagna, but didn't really have a great recipe for one, so I asked on Facebook and my friend Scott recommended this recipe for Lasagna Florentine. It turned out pretty good, except it seems to need either more alfredo sauce (at least a cup more) or if I made it again I'd probably just do red sauce because adding some marinara after the fact filled out the flavor. I also substituted zucchini for mushrooms and I think it could be better with more vegetables in the filling. 

Beautiful photos, Kalli! Again, you are making me so hungry. I need lunch. Immediately!