Thursday, January 17, 2013

{p,h,f,r} January 17th

{pretty}
Shortcake has pretty princess hair. She's been growing it out for about two years. It's quite a change from the short, stacked bobs she had as a little girl. I love the little wave it has in it.

{happy}
I made another gluten free cake and this one didn't collapse! That made me happy. I used a Namaste Gluten Free Vanilla Mix. The texture was good, but the flavor wasn't that great. That didn't make me happy. Oh well. Lately I've been trying some recipes from The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free. I'll let you know how it goes.

{funny}
Cupcake's bed is pushed up against our bed but it sits a few inches below our mattress. This is how I found her the other day at the end of her nap. Funny girl.

{real}
This calendar is so gross I can't give it away! Seriously. 
After writing to the company to tell them that we wouldn't be buying one this year because my kids are not fans of gross stuff and that I hoped that next year's edition would be something more palatable, they wrote to me an offered to send me a free one to review in it's entirety. If we still decided that it wasn't for us, we could give it away. Well, I've offered it to multiple people, including our homeschool group and nobody wants it. I think once someone says, "This is too gross for my kids... you want it?" people aren't so inclined to jump up and say "me, me, me". Surprise, surprise. But now I don't know what to do with it. Maybe I should donate it to the library or the school down the road? What do you think?
IMG_8896-3
~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

8 comments:

  1. Oh my, that calendar doesn't sound good at all. Look at the part where it says "Featuring Super-Gross Scratch & Stink Smells!" LOL! That alone would deter me from opening it at all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Recycle it and feel no guilt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Sleen -- recycle it. I wouldn't give it to the library or the school because we don't need that type of stuff floating around anywhere!!! Love the hair -- it is so princess like!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd feed it through our paper shredder and put it in the chicken coop. Maybe you know a friendly homesteader?

    "the texture was good, but the flavor wasn't that great" about your gluten free cake reminded me of this video, One More Grain (stolen from Les Mis): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9QbC41oQRo
    There's a bleep word at the end, so watch it without your kids around first. Whenever I talk about substitutes in this family, my husband always brings up the pathetic story from his childhood when he asked his maternal grandmother for a cup of hot chocolate and she gave him a cup of carocoa. He was very disappointed, but bravely drank it. Then there was our early-marriage vegetarian phase when we ate TVP in place of meat. The straw that broke the camel's back was a recipe called "Where's the Meat? Loaf" The lesson - if we can't have the real thing, we go without.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a doll baby Cupcake is! And Shortcake really does have princess hair, so pretty.

    Ok, I have made many, many GF cakes. Some boxed, many from scratch. By far, this Red Velvet Cake is my absolute favorite. I've made it with and without the dye as well as natural dye. All good. But this cake is so good some of my pickiest critics rave about it, and it is my go-to party cake for the regular crowd who never have to take care with what they eat. I've also had comments, one from my mom who says she finally ate a piece of cake that didn't make her sick (mom since diagnosed celiac as well) and my husband's grandmother who liked it even though she typically does not like cake. I really cannot say how good this cake is. And please, use the frosting with it. Mmmm!

    http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/sweet-sundays-red-velvet-cake-with-velvet-frosting

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cupcake is adorable, as usual! And Shortcake's hair is gorgeous!

    I've never tried the Namaste Vanilla, just the Chocolate and the Spice (which I usually modify with applesauce, or something). I'll be curious to hear which Gluten Free recipes you like from the new cookbook.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The best gluten free mixes we've ever had were from "The Cravings Place". I used to order them from a gluten free supplier - excellent cake, pancake, muffin, cookie, brownie mixes. They really were yummy and even my non gluten free people would enjoy them. They had the right bite to them and weren't gritty or prone to falling.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Some things just belong in the bin :)

    This is a simple, wonderful cake with no flour: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-14478

    Bridget's hair is finally growing out to a place where we can see its glory. Pixie was cute (after the surgery), but she does have lovely hair!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and yourself!