THE PLAYROOM!!!!

The Playroom... is finished!!!! Thanks in big part to my summer employee Heather Shepherd (whom is now on her way to start her classes, glad, I'm sure to be finished with renovations!) We had fun... and we didn't - but it was SO worth it.


The only project we couldn't tackle was replacing the floors - which will have to wait a little while longer.... sigh for budgets.
I know these photos aren't the greatest - but really - it's going to be fun to see the munchkin's in my programs terrorize this room! My little cupcake has been asking when she can get back and play with all the new toys.

For more information on the programming Cornerstone Family and Youth and I run - please visit my office blog - www.cfyprograms.com

Now - for a vacation!!!

Baby Cupcake's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Little Man! I can't believe it has been a whole year... (I think I'm still just as tired as the day I brought you home.) Your Mommy, Daddy and big sister love you SO much. Cheers, little Munchy!

Vintage Baby Shower

A few evening's ago I "burnt the candle" by rushing home from work to throw this lovely "Vintage Baby Shower" in my front courtyard. Everyone had a great time and the place looked great. (I, of course, was too busy running around to get any really good pictures - but these are okay)
The whole thing cost me a whooping $7.50 cents. I purchased vintage curtains and table clothes from the thrift shop for .50 and tea cups and saucers for everyone for $7.00 (it really pays to thrift) Everything else I had on hand from my years of collecting mis-matched old things. Throw in a couple of friends with food - and voila! One baby shower extraordinaire!



PS: I got the idea from this post. (Loved it!)

Lemon Basil Chiffon Cupcakes

Recently, I have had some inquiries into my Lemon Basil Chiffon Cupcakes that I entered in a cupcake competition a few years ago - they were a stand out success and so yummy - yet highly sophisticated.
I am about to through an adorable little tea party - and the letters I've received about these cupcakes made me want to give them another go. Unfortunately, the original recipe was deleted and a paper copy never existed... (oops) but I have a pretty good memory, so here is the letter I have been sending back in response to my cuppies. Good luck and happy cupcaking!


**Thanks for taking an interest in my cupcakes - but unfortunately that particular recipe was accidentally deleted when my blog got moved back to blogger. I will try my best to explain from memory what I did.... Below is the base recipe that I used to create cupcakes. Using the 1/4 water included in the ingredients - I first boiled it with the basil leaves to bring the flavour into the water. Then removed the leaves and I let the water cool back to room temp before using it. The lemon was added from a fresh lemon. First about a 1/4 tsp of the rind and then a good squeeze into the batter at the same point you add the vanilla. The mousselline is from the book the Cake Bible but you can find recipes for it all over. It is also called italian buttercream. I simply substituted part of the butter for the cheese and added strawberry. I used flavouring because this is such a light icing. All in all I remember these cupcakes turning out amazing!!! Please let me know how they turn out. Chiffon Cupcakes (by Alton Brown, as found on FoodTV.com) Makes 24 Cupcakes 5 1/4 ounces cake flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I just used sea salt) 5 large eggs, separated 6 ounces sugar, divided 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place paper liners into 2 (12-cup) muffin tins and set aside. If you prefer, set 12 ovenproof coffee mugs on a half sheet pan and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted. Add the water, vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine. Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.
Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment, until it becomes foamy. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the remaining ounce of sugar. Increase speed to high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form, approximately 2 minutes. Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently. Transfer batter into prepared muffin tins or coffee mugs, evenly dividing the batter between the cups. Place both muffin tins on the middle rack of the oven or, if using mugs, place all of them on a half sheet pan and set on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the cupcakes reach an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

The Playroom Sneak Peek

Remember my post about my inspirations for a Playroom Project I was working on at my work? Well it's finally all starting to come together. Yesterday my assistant and I mock set up the reading corner for a sneak peek shot. It's not finished yet and still needs lots of polishing... but oh... I love it already!!!

4 Laughing Babies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE6PNps5N9I
I just posted this on my other Blog at CFYprograms.com - but I just have to post it here otherwise my mom won't read it... and she will get such a kick out of it.
Even the Baby Cupcakes started laughing at this one! Enjoy.

Photo Wall

We don't have a very big budget in our house this year for projects. For whatever reason it has been the rainiest summer anyone can remember - and that has put to a halt many of my husbands work days.
But the motto, "do what you can, with what you have." definitely applies to our household. A couple of months ago I had many of my favorite photos of the kids developed in different sizes. I knew I wouldn't be able to afford mountain or framing any of the photos - so I decided to use temporary glue dots and stick them straight to the wall.


I am very happy with the effect - and how changeable this display is. When I want knew photos up I just peel the Glue dots off the back and put the old photos in my album.


PS: I have to give ALL of the photo credit to Kevin Dyck of Organic Photography. I am lucky to have such great photos to choose from!