Sharing Saturday 13-31

Thank you to all of you who shared with us last week and to everyone who comes to be inspired and check out all the amazing things shared each week! This week I'm spending some time with my parents, so I have not gotten to visit everyone's yet, but I will.

Flamingo Friday: Sylvie

For Flamingo Friday I thought I would share one of our favorite flamingo story books that we discovered at a library story time. Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler is a book about a young flamingo named Sylvie who wonders one day why flamingos are pink. When Sylvie's mother tells Sylvie the reason they are pink, Sylvie wonders if she will turn different colors if she eats different foods or different things. Sure enough she changes different colors and designs. Then her stomach doesn't feel well and she doesn't feel like Sylvie anymore. She wants to go back to being pink.

To go along with this book, we decided to make some pipe cleaner flamingos. I got this idea at Craft4Kids. We bought some extra large and puffy pipe cleaners which we used for their bodies and then used regular pipe cleaners for the neck, head, beak and feet. First we made some pink ones and Hazel got creative and put a red head on one.

To make them you need one large pink pipe cleaner and two small ones plus pieces of white and black pipe cleaners. To start fold the large one in half and then wrap one end of a small pink one around the fold to form the neck and head. Then fold the second small pink one around the large one to form the legs and feet.

To make the beak wrap the black piece around the middle of the white and then attach the white to a fold in the pink neck and then wrap the pink rest of the pink to form the head and hide the ends of the white. Next wrap the large pipe cleaner to hide both small attachments and form the body. Finally we curled the feet instead of worrying about toes. After making the pink ones, we decided to make some like Sylvie after she ate everything including a bathing suit (yuk!). 

So that is our flamingo fun this Friday!! I hope you enjoyed it!!

Craft It Up Around the World book review

Today I have the pleasure of review a wonderful book called Craft It Up

Around the World by Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong.  Craft it Up Around the World by Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong is published by CICO Books at £9.99 and is available from www.rylandpeters.com. This book was sent to me by CICO Books to review here, and I have to say I am so pleased to do so. The book contains 35 craft projects from different places throughout the world. The crafts are meant for children to do, and if they are older than Hazel, they will not need much help from an adult. The authors are currently based in Sydney, Australia, but between the two of them they have lived in many parts of the world and are trying to inspire children to look at the world around them and learn more about other places. I have to say it is the perfect book to go along with our multicultural adventures between our Fairy Tales in Different Cultures, Virtual Flat Stanley and Around the World in 12 Dishes.

One of the things I really like about this book is several of the crafts use recycled materials. The first craft I want to share is this wonderful map bunting. You could focus your circles to be spots you have lived, visited or want to visit, or you can do what we did and just take any place to be included. Hazel enjoyed helping me sew these circles together into the bunting. As we did this I thought it would be neat for a birthday party with a world travel theme. Really this book would be perfect for it. Now to convince Hazel of this idea.

To make this bunting I used one of Steve's outdated Atlas books. I had planned on going to AAA for a free world map, but didn't make it there, so I asked Steve to see what he had. I figured it was even better to use a book he didn't need or want anymore. I did not have a big enough circle punch, so I traced a glass and cut the circle myself. It really took no time at all to make a pretty long bunting. Now we are going to hang it on Hazel's tree in her room.

After that we made some of the crafts to go with the countries we have already "visited" this year. We made the Easy Peasy Felt Tulips for the Netherlands. Hazel is using them as the centerpiece on her play kitchen table. Great craft for springtime.

We made the Saving for a Snowy Day for Finland. He is made from a recycled smoothie container. We will be saving him for the winter. This is a great craft for the winter.

For Spain we made Click Clack Button Castanets. Hazel hasn't tried them since the glue was drying, but I did. She will love them, and she got to pick out the scrapbook paper we used. I made them a bit smaller than the instructions called for, but I thought this would help Hazel use them. This would be a great craft for any Spanish themed lesson or party.

For France I made the "Ooh La La" Pretty Parisian Embroidery. We will hang it in Hazel's room. She probably could have helped with some of the sewing, but I made it while she was in bed. She did however help me cut the fabric for the project. Again, wouldn't this be a perfect decoration for a world travel themed party.

The final craft idea I will share is for Egypt (this month's destination for Around the World in 12 Dishes) and it is Howard's Treasure Hunt Bottle. It is a recycled jar filled with some Egyptian objects and sand. I added on it a print out of the Egyptian flag and map. We used objects from Safari Ltd. Miniature Replica Toobs. Some we had and we picked up the Ancient Egypt one the other day at Michaels with our 40% off coupon.

We also included a bird amulet and a cat statue.

So Craft It Up Around the World is a great book full of ideas for kids who are exploring the world. The book includes a picture of the country's flag and shape of the country as well as some interesting facts about the countries. There are a variety of crafts calling on different skills, so they will appeal to both boys and girls of different ages. Again Craft it Up Around the World by Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong is published by CICO Books at £9.99 and is available from www.rylandpeters.com. You can look for more great crafts from this book as we explore the world through all of our fun adventures as well!!

Gluten Free Birthday Cake

This year I broke my one rule about birthday cake. Normally, I refuse to bake my own cake and we go to the fancy bakery to buy one. Since I am trying a very reduced gluten diet, I didn't want a normal cake sitting around for a few days, so I decided to try making a gluten-free one with Hazel. Hazel really wanted to make strawberry cake. I found this recipe on Gluten-Free Makeovers.

Since I had planned on making a yellow cake recipe I found that used all purpose gluten-free flour, that is what I had, so I used that. This is the first time I did gluten-free baking, but with a bit of research it was not a problem. Here is how I adjusted the recipe from Gluten-Free Makeovers.

1 12 ounce bag of frozen unsweetened organic whole strawberries
1 3/4 cups all purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum (needed whenever baking gluten-free)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons soy milk, at room temperature

Since I did not plan ahead, my frozen strawberries were not very defrosted. I put them in the food processor and let Hazel push the button until they ground up. I did not drain them or strain them.

Next we mixed the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda together in a bowl and set it aside.

Then we creamed the butter and sugar together in the mixer. Then we added the three eggs and vanilla and beat it some more. We then added the milk since I had not read the recipe again. Next we added the dry ingredients and mixed them in. Then we mixed in 3/4 of a cup of the strawberries. (Save the rest for the frosting). 

We spooned it into two 9-inch cake pans that had been sprayed with non-stick spray and had some of the all purpose gluten-free flour spread in them. Then we baked at 350 for 30 minutes. We kept them in the pans for 10 more minutes out of the oven and then cooled them on wire racks.

The next day we made the frosting. I tried to follow the recipe, but found the frosting was too watery, so here is how I would adjust it. This recipe was with the cake recipe at Gluten-Free Makeovers.

1 8 ounce package of light cream cheese
1 stick of butter softened
Leftover strawberries from above
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 to 5 cups of confectioners sugar

We creamed the cream cheese and butter together. Next we added the sugar one cup at a time until we got the consistency we wanted. Then we added the strawberries and vanilla and beat it. Again, I checked the consistency and added more sugar if necessary. You can add milk if it is too thick as well.

Hazel loved helping frost the cake and then she went to town decorating. I think I need to restock our sprinkle supply. I wrote the words for her.

At this point the plumber came to fix our leaking garbage disposal. He told Hazel to stop making it so well or might take it. (The best gift was finally getting this fixed since it had been almost a week of dealing with it and trying to find a plumber.)

After she finished it, we put it in the refrigerator. This was a mistake as it made the Skittles very hard and chewy. We will not be decorating with them again if we want to refrigerate the cake. Then my mother-in-law came and we went out to the Wenham Tea House and the Wenham Museum. 

We enjoyed the cake at dinner with Daddy! Hazel called my sister to get her to sing "Happy Birthday" with her since Steve doesn't like to sing. We lit the two candles. Hazel told me I didn't need too many candles--just two or three. Here is a view of the inside of the cake. We all loved it (except the extra hard and chewy Skittles).

It was a lovely birthday!

Low Sugar/Sweetner Blueberry Jam Experiments--2 New Recipes

Last year Hazel and I were on a jam making kick. We made strawberry jam with my mother and then went blueberry and peach picking and made jams from our fresh picked fruit. This year we experimented with a pectin free raspberry jam (made with frozen raspberries). We went blueberry picking this weekend and we tried two different kinds of blueberry jam recipes. We picked about three quarts of blueberries before Hazel got bored at Smolak Farms. (Then we went and found our friends who had given up earlier and looked at the animals some more, had lunch and went for a hayride.)

The first recipe we tried came on the back of a Bob's Red Mill chia seed package. This recipe is for Blueberry Chia Jam. Since the chia seeds work as a thickener, you do not need pectin. The benefits of this recipe being less sugar/sweetener and of course the health benefits of chia seeds themselves. Chia seeds are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, high in fiber, pretty high in calcium and very low in cholesterol and sodium. I actually add a tablespoon of chia seeds to my smoothie each morning.

I made this recipe on my own since Hazel did not want to help at the time I wanted to get it made. It called for three cups of fresh blueberries, 1/4 cup of agave nectar, 1/4 cup of chia seeds and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. The recipe made two jars. The recipe on the package said to keep the jam in the refrigerator and did not mention boiling it and sealing the jars. I however found a similar recipe on line which stated you could boil and seal them, so I did. Otherwise the jam would last only a week and I knew we would not eat it that quickly.  The recipe was very easy. You mixed the blueberries and the agave nectar in a pan until the blueberries softened and began to pop (about five minutes). Then you add the chia seeds and cook and stir until it thickens (about fifteen minutes). The directions said to let it cool and then add the vanilla. I added the vanilla before the chia seeds so I could do the boiling process right after it thickened. I made two jars. One which I will be giving to my mother to try.

The next jam we made using a new pectin that I got at a health food store. It is Pomona's Universal Pectin.

Following the recipe inside we needed four cups of mashed blueberries. Hazel helped with the mashing, but got tired of it quickly. With this pectin you have two packages inside. One is Pectin and the other is Calcium which you need to make into calcium water. For this recipe we used the four cups of mashed blueberries, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup honey and then two teaspoons of the pectin and 2 teaspoons of the calcium water. You mix the calcium water with the fruit and lemon juice. You mix the pectin with the honey. You boil the fruit mixture and then add the pectin mixture to it and boil it for another couple of minutes. Then you put it into the jars and seal them with a boil bath for ten minutes. This recipe made six and a half jars. Hazel and I tried both and liked both recipes. Now we may go back to the farm to go peach picking and possibly raspberry picking and make some more jam.