Neighborhood Posse

Carson is lucky to have so many friends and even luckier that a few live in our neighborhood. These girls live across the street and will come over about once a week just to play with Carson and to chat with me {which makes me feel good that they don't think if me as old.}

Hailey and Kelsey getting their Caitlin fix.


My mom gave him my brother's barely used Jeep for Christmas and since then all he wants to do is ride it and I rarely let him because it requires me to constantly bend over so that he doesn't a) crash into anything or more often than not b) get run over by a car (mainly because he ignores me while I yell, "STOP!" and the top of my lungs and because when he drives he is enjoying the scenery instead of watching where he is going.)

The other day he was the most popular kid on the block when he brought the Jeep out of seclusion. At one point he was driving 5 kids around until he backed up into the curb and sent the kid standing on the bumper to the ground...you see not the best driver.


Aren't boys the best!

Superhero Cake

Carson's birthday is quickly approaching and since we are "Calling all Superhero's" it seems only appropriate that we have a superhero cake. For his party I have been letting him make choices; for example he chose green card stock for the invites and green plates...I however vetoed his selection of pink napkins when we where at the store but now I am thinking I should not care if he wanted pink napkins...but in my defense I didn't want anyone thinking that I am going pink crazy since having a girl so they stayed at Party City.

Back to cakes.

My favorite is this:


Carson's favorite is this:


Wish me luck as I attempt to create the ultimate superhero cake. I have to admit that his looks like it would be easier to make. Stay tuned to the final product.

Does anyone know how far in advance you can make a birthday cake?

A is for Artichoke

Last week I asked Andrew for our dinner ideas and he was full of good ones. We had things that aren't normally on my radar including artichokes. Now don't get me wrong I enjoy artichokes but had never made them. After purchasing them and stabbing myself with their thorns I decided not to wing their preparation and looked up a "how-to" in my cookbook bible:

So here it goes, artichoke preparation:

• Wash artichokes under cold water, making sure to rinse between each leaf.
• Pull or cut off lower petals.
• Using a stainless steel knife, cut off the stem, close to the base of the artichoke. (Tip: The stems are edible and can be left on, if desired and eaten with the petals).
• Slice off the top quarter of the artichoke, creating a flat top.
• Using kitchen shears snip off the sharp tips of each petal.
• Please cleaned artichokes, standing upright in a large soup pot.
• Fill with water to cover chokes and and the juice of one lemon.

• Cover and simmer at least 30 minutes, until petals release easily from the artichoke.
• Drain artichokes upside down for a couple of minutes.
• Serve warm with melted butter or mayonnaise

Now plain chokes were not what I was going for so I decided to grill them...hoping that would add extra flavor instead of reverting to mayo or butter.

To grill:


After boiling artichokes; preheat grill to medium. Slice each artichoke in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the tough choke and re-season artichoke. Place each artichoke half flat side down on the grill and cook for 1 ½ minutes, until lightly charred.

Two sauce options: balsamic and citrus aoili

Balsamic

1/4 C. balsamic vinegar
1/4 C. water and 1/4 C. soy sauce
1 T minced ginger
1/4 C. olive oil

Citrus aoili

2 lemons, juiced
1 orange, juiced
3 large egg yolks
½ Tbsp. whole-grain mustard
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 c. blended oil, as needed
7 chives, chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Artichoke fun-facts...besides being fun to eat, artichokes are good for you, too! One medium-sized artichoke is a good source of iodine, vitamin C, calcium, iron, protein folate, potassium and vitamins A,B1. Plus artichokes are low in sodium and have only 40 calories...minus the condiments : )

Do you have a favorite way to prepare artichokes?