the perfect job

most of you know that i have a side job (on the side of my full-time job of being "mom") -- i create & sell note cards and invitations. http://www.cards-by-katie.com/

here are the reasons i love my job:
1. i can work in my pajamas
2. it's not a 9-5 job, i can work on it here and there, when babes are sleeping
3. while i toil away on my cards at the dining room table i often have one or more of my children working alongside of me on their own creations and projects (or just hanging out in their bouncie seat -- see above)
4. i adore snail mail and want to re-popularize the notion of sending people letters in the mail!
5. this little bit of extra money i make from this job go to support my scrapbooking addiction, as well as provide fun for the family (going to the movie theater, weekend trips, baseball games, dinners out & more!)

so see, card making is a pretty cool job!

happy birthday max!

what more could a boy ask for?

we took the kids to the reds game last night and to max's amazement many of the characters from his all-time favorite movies were in attendance last night! a perfect treat for an almost five year old celebrating his birthday a few days early at the game! and then, to top it all off...cotton candy on the bus ride home! what more could a boy ask for?


ps...cotton candy is only $1 when bought outside the stadium, after the game...but it does make for hyper children at bed time!

how in the world did this happen!?!?

this moment

Inspired by Soule Mama:
"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."

my mother's window

i mentioned my mother's kitchen window a few posts back...thought i would share the beauty

leave it to the professionals

this is what happens when i try to get a cute picture of all four children together...max is kooky, ella is fussing with her hair, henry looks nervous & sam refuses to look at the camera. but i love them so!

in my kitchen

in my kitchen at any given moment you might find:

~ a baby helping with the dishes (or at least providing cuddles to his mama whilest she washes the dishes)

~ general silliness with grapes, and the gobbling of grapes as well

~ an art project of one kind or another in process (sometimes a complex & messy affair, sometimes a simple drawing)

~ an independent young man (who was just recently a toddler) taking the recyclables out for his mama

~ bread cooling on the stovetop

~ a bowl full of fruit for snacking or for rotting (if mama has intentions of baking banana bread)

**inspiration for this post came from one of my favorite blogging mamas: http://www.soulemama.com/

for mama

a few things that make mama smile: putting my feet up, reading a good book, good tunes on the radio (sorry, couldn't capture that in the photo), a cookie from the bonbonerie & new nick & nora pajamas

Spaghetti & Meatballs

a few weeks back i asked friends to share their favorite spaghetti & meatballs recipes (i was curious, and wanting to try something new). so now i have several new recipes to try out, and new recipes always make me happy. here is my own recipe (that i found in a betty crocker pasta cookbook, but have tinkered with over the years). this recipe is written for making mass amounts of sauce and meatballs...because i love cooking in bulk and utilizing the deep freeze! These recipes make more meatballs than you need for the sauce, so eyeball it...put as many meatballs as you want in your sauce, but the rest will freeze well on their own without the sauce.
Spaghetti & Meatballs

Meatballs
3 lbs. Ground Beef
1 cup diced Onion
1 ½ cup Bread Crumbs
1 cup Milk
4 Tbs. Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbs. Fresh Parsley, chopped
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Oregano
½ tsp. Pepper
2 Eggs

Mix all ingredients, shape into balls and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, or until meat is done.

Sauce
3 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 ½ cups diced Onion
3 Cloves Garlic, pressed
28 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes
28 oz. can Tomato Sauce
3 cans Tomato Paste (6 oz)
½ cup chopped Fresh Parsley
¾ cup Water
3 tsp. Sugar
3 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Basil
1 ½ tsp. Pepper

In a large pot heat oil and cook onion & garlic until onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients and heat to boiling. Then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add meatballs to sauce; cover & simmer 15 minutes.

Make a RECYCLE Sign For your Kitchen

One of Ella's projects this week was to create a sign to hang above our garbage can to remind visitors that we recycle. I think this poster should definately catch their eye! We used scraps of mama's paper and she drew pictures of items that can be recycled (beer bottles included). Then we hung it over our garbage can for all to see!  It was an easy afternoon craft for her to work on.

Sweet Smelling Sunshine Craft for Kids

This is an art activity I used to do with my preschool students when I was teaching, I always liked to use yellow/orange/reddish colors to create a sunshine, but any colors you choose would work. Even very young children can do this art project – it’s simple, just paint & shake! The glue makes the pale gelatin powder brighten up – the kids thought it was magic! Here are the instructions for making a sweet smelling sunshine!

SWEET SMELLING SUNSHINE CRAFT

1. Collect your materials: glue, paint brushes, heavy paper, shakers (I bought toothpick shakers at the Dollar Tree) & gelatin**.
2. Let the children paint designs on the paper with the glue
3. Gently shake the gelatin powder over the glue (use toothpick shakers)
4. Shake excess gelatin off of the paper (into the sink or trash) and allow artwork to dry for several hours (depending on how much glue is used).

**I think that Jello® brand gelatin is the best to use. one time I bought the generic brand and the colors just didn’t “pop”.

slow down

henry fell asleep while nursing today, and every time i tried to move to get up he fussed (which is unusual for him). so i laid back down, and remembered this poem from my aunt rita's house. i blinked back the tears & snuggled back in. and guess what, the laundry was still there after our catnap.

baguette + pesto + garlic = yum!

here is another one of my favorite appetizer recipes. i found it on allrecipes.com, and it is always a hit at parties.

Basil Pesto Rounds

Ingredients
1 (1 pound) loaf French baguette
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup basil pesto
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Directions
1.Preheat oven on broiler setting. Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place under broiler for 5 to 8 minutes, or until lightly toasted on one side. Watch carefully to ensure they don't burn. Remove from oven, and flip bread slices so that the toasted side is on the bottom.
2.Set the oven temperature for 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, pesto, garlic, Parmesan and salt. Spread evenly over untoasted sides of bread slices. 3.Bake in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Set the oven to broil, and place the rounds under the broiler just until they begin to bubble and turn golden. Let cool slightly before serving.

A Calendar For Kids

Patience is a virtue, but not one that I or my children are well-aquainted with. We are a pretty busy family, and the thought of a long summer filled with a chorus of "mom, when are we going to...." made me cringe. So I made a family calendar. I used graphics and text, so that my reading children and my non-readers would know what was going on each day. Already this calendar has provided me with some much needed sanity, and it is a great tool for teaching months, days, weeks, and yes...patience. So if your children are desperate to know what their schedule is like all summer long I highly recommend taking a half hour and putting one of these together!  There are many templates in Microsoft for a Calendar, and then you just find your own images or add your own text!

kitchen window

This is my favorite window. This is my window into the world. From this window, because I am short, if I angle my glance just right I can see only trees, which makes me feel like I am in the country. I stand at this window in the evenings, washing dishes and preparing dinner, all the while stealing peeks out the window at the road below…watching for Michael to arrive home from work. From this window I can watch my children frolick in the backyard. From this window I can watch storms roll through the neighborhood. I stand at this window and daydream, and wonder, and think about tomorrow. This is my favorite window.

I keep some of my very special treasures upon this window sill: ~a gorgeous handmade tile given to me by a parent of one of my students ~ s&p shakers that I painted myself before we were married to match our bybee pottery plates ~rocks & a shell bestowed upon me by an exploring 2 year old (who is now nearly 7) ~plump purple glass grapes that hung in the home of a beloved family friend decades ago ~a blue glass vase given to me by my father with lilies of the valley inside for my birthday several years ago (this piece reminds me of my mother’s beautiful kitchen window, but that’s a story for another day) ~marigolds from my max for mother’s day ~a tiny hand-painted birdhouse from a very special little girl I cared for when I was in college ~a precious little sugar jar, which has withstood some falls over the years and a few odds & ends that have landed there on their own and I have allowed to stay (makers mark, a cork from a bourbon bottle, and cayenne pepper…they all make me think of my husband)

Do you have a favorite window?

ladies & gentlemen...we have a winner!

three cheers for barb r. ~ the winner of peter reinhart's 'artisan breads every day'!

email me at: katie@cards-by-katie.com and let me know what your mailing address is so the book can be shipped to you. happy baking!

**this contest winner was chosen using random.org to choose a random number

flutterbies

cookbook giveaway!

calling all bread bakers, bread lovers, and cookbook collectors…i have the perfect giveaway for you! we are going to give one lucky reader a copy of peter reinhart’s bread-baking cookbook: artisan breads every day. perhaps you have heard me mention our family’s love for this cookbook, i can’t stop talking about it, and about the bread that michael has been baking since we purchased the book.
entering to win this cookbook is simple! you can do one of the following things, or do all three to have three chances to win!

1. leave a comment below telling me the title of your favorite cookbook.

2. spread the word about this contest via email, facebook, or twitter, and then leave me a comment below telling me how you spread the word!

3. email your favorite baking recipe to me at: katie@cards-by-katie.com (i’m always on the prowl for new recipes and will shamelessly use this giveaway to collect more!) after you email me the recipe be sure to leave a comment below telling me that you did so!

so for every comment you leave (no more than three) you will have a chance to win this cookbook! just be sure to leave contact information in your comment.
submissions are due by noon on tuesday, june 15, 2010. winner will be selected using a random number generator. winners will have 48 hours to respond. the cookbook will be mailed to the winner from ten speed press (i also have the author’s address, he has offered to mail the winner an autographed paste-in bookplate to go in the cookbook!).

my bread baking husband

i am a lucky girl. i know this. my husband cooks. i know that many women out there envy the fact that my husband cooks, bakes, cleans and is an active participant in the raising of our children. and he fixes things! i'll say it again...i am a lucky girl!

for the past year or so michael has been on a quest to learn how to bake bread. he has tried different recipes over this time, from several different cookbooks. it wasn't until i brought home peter reinhart's artisan breads everyday from the library that he found the perfect inspiration for baking bread (soon after we bought the book -- it's a keeper!).

michael has tried several loaves from this book, our favorites being the french loaf and the ciabatta. when he baked the ciabatta last week we had sandwiches for dinner every single night. it was that delicious! and since we purchased this book we have not bought bread from the bakery. michael loves this bread baking book because of the helpful tips, the way the author thoroughly explains each recipe in detail, giving how-to directions instead of just throwing the recipe at the reader and letting them figure out the nuances on their own. this cookbook has become our bread bible. i cannot wait for him to experiment with more bread baking!

my tasty italian sandwich on ciabatta!

ottie's quilt

a few months back i was asked by sam to make a quilt for his beloved otter. how can i deny him? so despite the fact that i have not yet made sam his own quilt, i went to work on the quilt for ottie (and of course started a quilt for max's sidekick alaska at the same time). this weekend while catching up on some much needed r&r i sat on a big front porch overlooking the licking river and finished up a quilt for an otter. it's a very simple pattern...just four-inch squares sewn together, and then i tied the quilt at the corners of the squares and used store-bought binding (i need to learn how to make my own binding, i've heard it is simple!). this project should have been a weekend project, not a three month project, but that is how things go around here...slow and steady.