Food Fun Family

Spring Entertaining Live Chat

Lolli — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:58:04 +0000

Chris from Celebrations at Home and I are so excited to be hosting a LIVE CHAT on Tuesday April 19th at 11:00am EST on the BlogFrog CoffeeTalk Community, where we are community leaders. We’ll be talking all about Easter and Spring Entertaining and can’t wait to share and gather ideas!

I’m in the middle of preparing to host Easter dinner with my East Coast family (I’d love to share some favorite holiday recipes…) and Chris has some amazing Easter party ideas. I mean, who wouldn’t want to attend a party as pretty this??

We hope to see many of you at our Live Chat on Tuesday! Get your ideas (and questions) ready — We’re gonna party!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Breakfast Cupcakes

Lolli — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:54:30 +0000

Please excuse the cell phone picture of these cupcakes. I baked these solely for the intent to eat them (which I happily did) but after I posted the picture of Instagram, I had more requests for the recipe than I was expecting…

So, for those of you waiting, and those of you who are hearing about these bad boys for the first time, here it is…

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Breakfast Cupcakes

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

Ingredients

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
**STREUSEL TOPPING**
⅓ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts or dry oats

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar til fluffy (3-5 minutes). Add the eggs and beat. Blend in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the sour cream. Beat until smooth.
Fill cupcake tin (liners work best) about ⅔ full. Sprinkle streusel topping over the cupcakes (be generous!).
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool.

This recipe was adapted by me from the a recipe found in Crazy About Cupcakes.

Spring Clean Your House

Lolli — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:15:30 +0000

The cold weather may not be completely gone for the season, but there has been enough Spring-like sunshine, warm rain, and blossoming trees and flowers to serve as a sign that Spring is officially here. Like many others, I feel an urge to clean my house in the Spring. After months of having the windows closed tight and a desire to hibernate indoors, I want to open things up, clear things out, and get rid of the clutter that seems to always find its way back to my house.

Fitting 7 people and all their stuff into a 3 bedroom townhouse is not easy, so organization is a MUST. Lots of things are better in bulk, but MESS is not one of them. I still have so much to learn about organizing and cleaning (just ask my husband) but there are a few things I’ve learned from my 16 years of managing my own home.

Messes happen. Don’t be discouraged when the house is a mess after a day of work and play. Kids play with toys, dishes will always need to be washed, and everyone dirties clothes.
Clean consistently. Rather than spending huge chunks of time cleaning, I have found that I prefer cleaning as I go, little by little. Of course, there will always be tasks that require a larger time commitment, but the clean-as-you-go method works well for managing clutter.
Everything needs a “place.” One thing I cannot stress enough is that fact that it is impossible to clean if everything that you own does not have a place to “live.” Whether it’s a spot in a closet, a section on the shelf, or a box in the basement, everything needs a place to go.
Donate regularly. I always have a bag or two of clothes, shoes, and other odds and ends to donate. I separate those things I’d like to pass down to a friend or my sister’s kids, and the rest is taken to the Salvation Army.

On Tuesday, March 22 from 11:00am to noon EST, I’m leading a LIVE CHAT in the Coffee Talk Community about Spring Cleaning your Home, where we will be sharing additional tips to find and maintain order at home. I hope you will join me and share your favorite house cleaning and organizational tips! If you can’t make it to the live chat, leave your favorite tip in the comment section here.

Happy Spring Cleaning!

Cleaning brushes image by Flickr.com user “tanakawho” [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Note: I am a Community Leader for the Coffee Talk community on Blog Frog and receive compensation for my time on the forums.

Mug Shots

Lolli — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:22:59 +0000

I was reading Mom Spark the other day and came across a fun post: Coffee Mugs that Tell a Story. After reading Amy’s post, I walked to my kitchen, found my 6 favorite mugs, set them out on the kitchen table, and started taking pictures with my new iPhone.

My kids apparently thought I had lost it.

AJ immediately grabbed his favorite mug (the bear mug, which is the ONLY one he will use) and drank a cup of milk.

Isn’t it interesting how mugs tell a story? Each of these mugs holds a very specific memory for me, and I can’t bear to get rid of them, despite the fact that I drink coffee.

My grandparents gave me the Bear Mug during a visit to their house when I was young. It wasn’t particularly special to me when I was little, but when I left home for college that was one of the kitchen items I packed up to take to school. Somehow it has not only survived the last couple of decades but it has become my youngest son’s favorite cup. I am amazed that he hasn’t dropped it yet.

Another long surviving mug is this one that I got as a party favor during my high school Senior Party. The Senior Safari mug has followed me through college and motherhood. Can you find Charlie Brown?

I didn’t need any new mugs, but I couldn’t resist packing the Sprout Mug in my luggage when I headed back home after BlogHer last year. The shape got me. The funny thing is, I have no idea what Sprout is. I know PBS Kids well from the days when my kids were little, but it’s been years since we’ve had TV…

My kids and I visited Utah during the Summer of 2006 and we took this picture of the grandchildren in order of age and stuck it on a mug (this was the last time that they saw their Utah cousins!). There were 7 grandkids that day. Now there are 11 1/2.

This mug, with a silly picture of Necco and CandyMan, makes me smile every time I see it. This is so them.

The Big Green Mug is my all-time favorite mug. I got it one Christmas as part of a gift basket. CandyMan actually tried to throw it out once because he figured that it was not worth anything. Hardly! This mug is the perfect size and shape for root beer floats. Yum!

Where and when did you get your favorite mugs?

Speaking of mugs and coffee, join us today (Thursday March 10) at 11:00 am EST for a HUGE live chat in the Coffee Talk community (for which I am a community leader). We’re kicking off a month-long Spring Cleaning event. See details below:

Hope to see you there!

Giveaway Link-up

Lolli — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:53:47 +0000

It’s winner time! My Progresso Giveaway ended on Thursday, and I’ve got a winner. Amanda Branum was the lucky commenter. Congratulations, Amanda!

I don’t have any new giveaways going on right now, but I bet plenty of YOU do. Link them up below! And if you’re here to enter a contest? I wish you lots of luck!

Happy Sunday.

And Happy three-day weekend! Any fun plans for President’s Day?

Before you go, come weigh in on my CoffeeTalk Community discussion about your go-to comfort food. I’d love to get your feedback.

The Easy Winners picture was one I found on Wikipedia Commons. It made me smile.

Now….to enter a link for this link-up, please enter:

URL (exact link to your contest, not your home page)

NAME (title of your giveaway and end date + your blog name if possible)

EMAIL (not visible)

Valentine’s Day: The Reality

Lolli — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:32:52 +0000

I whined (a little) yesterday about having to spend Valentine’s Eve sleeping on the couch. CandyMan was snoring, and I couldn’t sleep. So you can imagine my surprise (and giggles) when I found the other side of the bed empty when I woke up this morning. I found CandyMan asleep on the family room couch, exactly where I had spent the night before. I snored him out of bed on Valentine’s night. How’s that for payback?

Disclaimer: I was never a snorer. I don’t know when or how I became one, but I blame it on lack of sleep. Or maybe my body is subconsciously getting back at my husband for all of those sleepless nights his snoring has caused me. I don’t know. At least it’s not keeping me up at night.

The reality is – as much as I would love to say that Valentine’s Day was fabulously romantic – it was, in fact, just another day. It started out with two dentist appointments. Two cavities filled, two stubborn baby teeth pulled. Two kids with numb cheeks. One child home sick from school. Three Valentine’s parties to attend. One kindergarten disco ball. And three too many walks back and forth between home and school.

But in the middle of the chaos of the day, it hit me that I am surrounded by love. Who needs a fancy card or an expensive box of chocolates to validate that? My kids love me, the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue (for the first time in months!), and despite not sharing my bed with my husband for two nights, I do love the guy. We even escaped for a night at the movies after dinner. On a Monday.

Disclaimer: I would totally take the card and the expensive box of chocolates. Or the cheap chocolates. I’m pretty easy to please when chocolate is concerned. Although I do admit I can taste the difference…

I might need to take matters into my own hands (isn’t that always better, anyway?) with Genesis Today’s Get It On contest. All you have to do is take a picture of yourself enjoying their Cranberry Goji juice (which, by the way, not only tastes great but gives you natural energy and helps put you in the mood…) and upload the picture to their contest page. I uploaded this picture:

The prize? $2000 cash and a Cranberry Goji gift basket. And with the $1.50 off coupon they’ve got on their Facebook page. Ok, on second thought, don’t enter. It will give me a better chance to win the $2000.

Disclaimer: I am a SuperFood ambassador with Genesis Today, and received a Cranberry Goji package this week. When I opened the box and found cranberry goji fruit chews, Twizzler grabbed for one. I said, “You can have one, honey, but they’re not candy. Their fruit chews. Like vitamins.” His response was, “Oh, darn, I was hoping it was beef bouillon. Can I have a beef bouillon?” Strange, strange child.

PS–Just this morning, I started a fun discussion in the Coffee Talk community where everyone can share their Valentine’s Day stories–both the blunders and the successes. Won’t you join in?

And now I must get some milk and eggs. Just another day….

Valentine’s Day, Mom Style

Lolli — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:10:03 +0000

I spent last night on the couch.

What a way to spend Valentine’s Day Eve.

No, we weren’t fighting. I just couldn’t sleep over the snoring.

This morning, I’m heading to a double dentist appointment for kids #2 and #3. Twizzler has his first two cavities that need to be filled. I admit I didn’t think about Valentine’s Day and the candy-filled parties that the kids were going to be attending when I scheduled the appointments for Monday the 14th.

What a way to spend Valentine’s Day.

One thing that I am looking forward to is the Live Chat in the Coffee Talk community at 11:00 EST today. As one of the community leaders, I will be there for sure, and I hope to see some of you there as well. The prizes we’re giving away might very well be the best part of Valentine’s Day, mom-style.

Honey, if you’re reading this, I want chocolate, please. I expect extra for that night on the couch.

I Heart My Boy

Lolli — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:51:19 +0000

As much as mother could love a child, I love this little boy. I adore him.

I smother him with kisses every day, and he reciprocates. Often more than I might prefer. I can count on finding him asleep in my bed when I wake up in the mornings a few times a week. Yesterday, he asked me frankly why he couldn’t take “Mommy baths” anymore. I told him he was too old to take baths with me. His answer? “No, Mommy, I’m not too old. You’re too old.”

He drives me crazy with his demands, and his habit of baby talk makes me cringe. But his talents for remembering details and his successes at school make me glow with pride. I love that he still likes to snuggle with me, hold my hand, and tell me he loves me. All the time.

I will readily admit that he is a classic last child. Spoiled, pampered, and adored by everyone.

I am going to miss him this week while I’m in San Francisco with Adobe. I can’t wait to tell you all about my trip, show off pictures from my photowalk through the City, and share all of the knowledge that I gain from sitting at Lightroom guru’s feet for a weekend.

This week’s theme at I Heart Faces is…HEARTS! AJ was the perfect subject for this hearty theme. Check out the other entries on I Heart Faces!

PS – I just started a discussion in the CoffeeTalk BlogFrog community about whether or not you (and I) treat the youngest child any differently from the rest. I’d love it if you chimed in!

Introducing the Coffee Talk Community

Lolli — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:55:09 +0000

I feel compelled to start out by disclosing that I am not a coffee drinker. I never have been and I don’t plan on adding it into my morning routine. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love the community that coffee often inspires. And I love anything that brings women together for easy-going, laid-back girl talk.

BlogFrog has partnered with International Delight to bring you the CoffeeTalk Community, your place to share, sip and inspire. I was asked to be a community leader, meaning that I will be hanging out in the Coffee Talk Community every day, leading and participating in discussions, and even throwing a few live chat parties during the next month. Our first live chat starts today at 11am EST TODAY (Jan 12th). I will be there, and I hope you can make some time to stop by, too! If you can’t make it today – No worries! We’ll have live chats hosted by an amazing line-up of bloggers Monday through Friday for the next month.

There are already some great discussions going on…..and it’s only the first day! Look at some of these topics:

We’ll be chatting about everything from coffee to parenting to tips to find “me” time every day. Be sure to enter the Grand Prize discussion for a chance to win a Cuisinart 12-Cup Coffeemaker with all the accessories. There will be many more prizes announced later, as well.

If caffeine’s not your thing, the excitement of BlogFrog’s new website design will get you going. Next week, BlogFrog unveils a fresh website that makes it even easier to create, find and join your favorite communities.

Hope to see you there!