Perhaps more aptly titled – how *I* made a rocket ship cake for Sam’s 5th birthday.

1. Come up with a design that is doable and agreeable to all parties.

Sam requested a rocket ship cake, so I sat down at the computer to see what I could come up with.  I didn’t want to buy a special Wilton pan, as I’ve done in the past, so I was looking for something I could do based off of a 9″x13″ pan.  There a ton of great cakes out there — but finally I found one that was the best example of what I was hoping to do.

I printed the cake I found and sketched out the specifics.  Sam wanted a circle hatch, so I had to incorporate that.

2. Bake the cake.

Note to self – when it matters, use shortening instead of spray oil to grease the pan!  I was so irked when I flipped my cake and half it was still sticking to the pan.  I was going to pitch it and try again, but then decided that frosting hides a multitude of sins and I could make it work.

3. Make the frosting.

The tricky part is getting the right consistency.  I made two batches of Wilton’s Buttercream icing and divided and tinted.  My first batch was not quite creamy enough – when I piped it, it kept breaking apart.  However, cornstarch is the great repairer of frosting errors.   I kept a little bit in a small bowl and would dab my fingers in it then gently mold the frosting back into the shape I was going for.

4.  Cut the cake as needed and apply a thin layer of frosting as a crumb coating.

I cut triangles off the top to create the domed top of the rocket, then flipped the triangular pieces and placed them next to the bottom to create the wings/rockets.  To make my crumb coat frosting, I took some of the buttercream and diluted it even more with water to make it runny.  I still struggled with getting all the edges covered well.

5. Outline the design with frosting before filling in the details.

Since I was freehanding everything, I used a toothpick to trace my design before drawing the lines.  I used a wider round tip (Ateco #11) for the blue lines — I wish I had something a little smaller.  I switched to my Wilton #3 for the rest of the lines.  #3 seems to be the recommended outline tip that Wilton uses in most of it’s cake designs (the ones I’ve used, anyway).

For the circle, I wanted to use the cool edible markers that I have, but I found the frosting was too soft.  So I cut a circle out of wax paper and markered my astronaut on that.  This worked well enough and he was excited to see “himself” in the rocket ship.

For all the filling in, I used the Wilton #16 star tip and did the “star technique“.  Labor intense, but effective.  For the border around the base, I used a larger star tip and did a sort of wave thing.  My hand was getting tired and time was running short, so it’s a bit sloppy.

For the jet fire, I used the biggest open star tip I had (mine’s an Ateco #6) and attempted the “shell technique“.  Mine looks atrocious, but the overall effect is achieved and looks pretty neat (from a distance).

6. Light the candles, serve and celebrate!

While I’m no Buddy Valastro and my cakes certainly aren’t going to win any awards, I do love seeing my kids eyes light up when they see that special cake made just for them.  Baking and decorating my kids’ birthday cakes definitely works for me.

For other Ideas for Rocket Ship Cakes, check out these links:

• Coolest-Birthday-Cakes.com
• MarthaStewart.com
• Parenting.com
• Family Fun
• Google Images
• CakeWorks.com
• BettyCrocker.com
• Wilton.com

For other Works For Me Wednesday tips, head over to We Are That Family!

I think the key to not only surviving summer, but enjoying it is to have a plan.  Before summer arrives, I think of all these fun things I want to do with the kids during the summer, but if I don’t sit down and plan them out, they will never happen.  Even worse, on a day when I have nothing planned, the kids will whine, “Whatarewegonnadotodaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay?”  and I’ll have no ideas.

So, I’ve compiled a list of things I hope to do this summer.  This is an abridged version of the fuller list I put together for my MOPS group.  These are just my personal picks for “must do” this summer.  A lot of great places aren’t on my list simply because we’ve done them before and I want to hit some other spots.  As we visit these places, I will check them off () and link up to the related blog post.

Explore Local Parks, Playgrounds, and Green Spaces

• Check out Arlington Playgrounds — I’ve compiled a big list on my blog
• Find good places to bike ride (refer to list above)
• Look beyond Arlington, specifically:
  • Burke Lake, Burke — reviewed 6/6/10
  • Huntley Meadows, Alexandria — reviewed 6/10/10
  • Lake Accotink, Springfield
  • Potomac Overlook, Arlington
  • Teddy Roosevelt Island, GWP
  • Wheaton Regional Park, Wheaton, MD
  • Great Falls Grange Park, Great Falls, VA – reviewed 7/16/10
• Gardens:
  • Green Springs Gardens, Alexandria — reviewed 5/26/10
  • National Arboretum, DC
  • River Farm, Alexandria

Check Out DC

• Ride the Metro downtown and visit:
  • Natural History and/or
  • American History and/or
  • Air & Space and /or
  • an art museum ?
  • National Building Museum — reviewed 7/6/10

See Some Animals

• The Zoo (S. wants to go, I’m dreading it in the summer heat)
• National Aquarium, Baltimore or DC
• Frying Pan Park, Herndon or Oxon Hill Farm, Oxon Hill, MD

Check out some Planes and/or Trains

• Picnic Dinner at Gravelly Point
• National Museum of Air & Space (DC) or Udvar-Hazy (Dulles)
• See the Flying Circus — an old fashioned air show; reviewed 7/15/10

Rainy Day / Indoor Fun

• Cook with the kids:
  • Bake cookies (or other dessert)
  • Let the kids have a turn planning a meal and help cook it. (the older 2)
  • Make Your Own Pizza Party
• Catch a Movie
• Go Bowling — Kids Bowl Free
• Visit a Nature Center (Potomac Overlook, Long Branch or Hidden Oaks)
• Get Arty — Explore More Program at the Greater Reston Arts Center ($)
• Read — get rewarded via Borders, Barnes & Nobles, Arlington Co., Fairfax Co, Falls Church.
• Visit the Library — storytimes programs at Arlington, Falls Church, etc.

See a Performance

• Go to Fairfax Corner -  water fountains + Tiny Tots  Summer Series on Wednesday & Saturday
• Go to Wolf Trap’s Theatre-in-the-Woods:  Robbie Shaefer 7/6 – 7/10,  Steve Songs 7/13 – 7/17

Get Wet

• Swim! — we have passes to Upton Hill and will do swim lessons
• Local spraygrounds – Hayes Park — reviewed 7/10/10
• Fairfax Corner water fountain

Visit an Amusement Park (or two)

• Dutch Wonderland — reviewed 6/29/10
• Kings Dominion

Have Fun without Mom!

• Vacation Bible School
• Summer Camp

Take a Trip

• Visit the Grands
• Camp — we love Buggs Island,  Burke Lake, and Big Meadow are other good options
  
• Go to the Beach — we love the Outer Banks, but this year we’re going to check out Rehobeth, DE

Family Fun

• Have a picnic lunch with Daddy at work
• Go out on Grandad’s Boat
• Plan and execute a some sort of service project (I’d love to hear your ideas!)
• Give kids a chance to pick the activity for the day
• Have a picnic in the back yard in a box

Having a plan for summer fun works for me.   What’s on your summer to do list?

I was invited to speak at my local MOPS group this week on the subject of fun things to do with preschoolers throughout the summer.  In this case, preschoolers means children kindergarten aged and younger.   As a mom of three such children (ages 6, 4 and 2) and I took on the task with relish, knowing that my findings would help me get prepared for the summer months.

As I mentioned in my talk, I’m the kind of stay-at-home mom who does not like to stay home.   I like to get out of the house and find new places to explore with the kids.   Whenever I’m looking for ideas, my go-to resource is a fabulous website called Our Kids (http://www.our-kids.com).  The site has a comprehensive listing of every kind of activity you can imagine, including seasonal activities and special events.   The website is free, but you can also pay to subscribe to the weekly newsletter which is well organized and gives  the scoop on fun things that are happening each day as well as on-going events.

As I set about to prepare my talk, I specifically looked for ideas that would be budget-friendly and geared to the younger crowd.   The focus of my search area was primarily Northern Virginia, although I did mention some venues in DC and Maryland that I think are worth the extra miles.

The fruit of my labor is a five page document organized by category and full of ideas to keep you and your little ones busy this summer.   I have uploaded it here and am sharing it with you.   Hopefully this will save you from the  “Whatarewegonnadotoday” blues and help you have fun exploring the DC area with your little ones!

Download the Summer Guide to DC Fun with Little Ones (.pdf)

Find more tips at Works For Me Wednesday, hosted by We Are That Family.

Date Night is important, but unfortunately, there’s no money in the budget right now for babysitters.  So we had to get creative and improvise.

The way we currently achieve “Date Night” is by designating one night of the week as Date Night.  It’s currently Tuesdays.  We told our kids (ages 6, 4 and 2) that “Tuesday is Date Night, and that means you guys go to bed early.”   Tuesday night, bedtime is at 7:30 for the kids.  They are allowed to stay awake talking quietly and listening to CDs/stories, but they are not allowed to disturb us (barring an emergency).

Surprisingly, our kids accepted this without too much hassle.  Our daughter (the oldest), was even excited at first when we explained why it was important.  She was happy for us.   Now, she views the early bedtime as a drag, but she still accepts it.  She told us last night she wished Monday was Date Night, so that it would be over in the week faster.  I had to smile at her logic.

So… what do we do with our fancy date night?  I know some people cook a separate meal just for Date Night, but I haven’t gotten that evolved in my culinary or organizational skills.

Right now, Date Night consists of watching LOST together, but when that finally winds down, we will find other ways to enjoy our time together.

Date Night, at home, for free, works for us.   What are your tips for a cheap date night?

Find more Works For Me Wednesday tips at We Are That Family.

Wendy, my kindergartner, is a lunch bringer.   Her Dad packs her lunches most mornings, something I am eternally thankful for.  But she began to complain that she wanted a chance to buy her lunch at school occasionally, so we worked out a deal.

If she did a good job eating her lunch Mon – Thurs, we decided she could buy lunch on Fridays, typically pizza.  This has worked  pretty well for us – she makes more of a conscious effort to finish to eat everything in her lunch each day  (Mike is good about putting all kinds of healthy stuff in there), and she gets the reward of buying on Fridays.   Our school system participates in My School Bucks, so I was able to look online and review her spending.  Then I realized she was not only buying the pizza lunch for $2.50, but also purchasing ice cream for an additional $.90.

I wasn’t too thrilled about this, realizing she had carte blanche to buy a bunch of stuff that I’d rather her not have, so we worked out a deal.

If Wendy wants to buy a treat at school, the money for that is not to come out of our prepaid account, but out of her own “Spend Bank“.   This dovetails nicely with the money unit she’s been working with her class.  Friday mornings, she opens up her bank and counts out the amount of dimes and/or nickels that she needs.

I feel much happier about this because she’s learning that treats come at a cost and she’s the one sacrificing her own “fun money” to enjoy them.  At some point, she may feel like her money is too valuable and she’ll save it for other stuff.  At least, that’s the hope.  Or her “spend” bank will run dry and she’ll have to figure out another plan.

What’s your approach to lunch at school?

One of the ways we’ve trimmed our budget is to cut back on our Starbucks habit and make coffee at home each morning.   I do love my “skim” vanilla mocha (with whip) every now and then, but now reserve it for special treats.

I find if I make a pot of coffee in the morning, I am less tempted to splurge on Starbucks when I’m out and about.  So, just how much is that home brewed coffee saving me?

I used to buy the house brand at Safeway, which ran around $8.99/lb.  But then I found something I liked at Trader Joe’s for even less.   It’s simply called “Joe” and it’s medium roast.  It costs $3.88 for 14oz, which works out to $4.43/lb  (or $0.28/oz)  Already, that is a huge savings.  But what is my cost per cup?

I usually drink one “cup” in the morning, which for me is actually two 6oz cups, serving-size wise.   The two scoops I put in my pot equal ~ .4 oz, so the coffee alone costs me…  $0.11 a cup.  The water is “free” (not going to attempt to calculate the cost), but, we do need to add in the cost of  my “add-ons.”

I buy a gallon of milk from Wegmans or Costco for $2.44/gallon or $.02/floz (128oz per gallon).

I usually put in ~ 2oz of milk, so that works out to: $.04 per cup.

For flavoring, I buy Torani syrup from World Market when it’s on sale for $6.15 / 25.4fl oz.  That works out to $.24/floz.  I usually put in ~1 oz so that makes my flavoring worth $.24 per cup.

So, to review, the grand total for my one cup (technically 12oz) of coffee is:

$.11 — coffee
$.04 — milk
$.24 — flavoring*

Grand total = $0.39 per 12oz cup!

Compare that to Starbucks, where a tall (12oz) coffee in my area goes for ~$1.70.  That’s a 436% more than my home brew.  Ouch.

Extrapolate the math out.  Assume 5 cups of coffee a week:

Home: $ .39 * 5 = $1.95/week * 4 = $ 7.80/mo * 14 = $109.20/year
SBUX: $1.70 * 5 = $8.50/week * 4 = $34.00/mo * 14 = $476.00/year

That’s a savings of $366 a year.    What would you do if someone handed you an extra $366?  Spend it at Starbucks?

*I should mention, my “add-on” costs would be much cheaper if I bought the flavored creamer at the grocery store.  You can get it for .10/floz or better which could save me at least $.14c a cup, nearly cutting my cost in half.  However, I decided that those creamers are full of all kinds of icky ingredients that I didn’t need in my diet and it was worth it to pay more for “real” ingredients.

Doing the math to see how much I’m saving definitely works for me.  Find more Works For Me Wednesday tips at We Are That Family.

We have one of those fridge farm magnetic sets.  When the kid puts the two pieces of the animal into the set and it sings a little song.   Or if they just push a button it plays a little ditty.  Cute, but annoying.  Especially when the toddler likes to press the button over and over and over.   Even worse, he insists on setting the volume on high, which is ridiculously loud.

We had friends over to dinner recently and my fellow mom shared a great tip that I will share with you.  To decrease the noise output for this (and other) toys – simply put a piece of plastic packing tape over the speaker output.

I did this (when my munchkin wasn’t looking) and it totally takes down the volume to a bearable level.  Even better, my kiddo hasn’t even figured out what happened.

So now, I no longer flip out when he sets it to the loudest volume (why do kids ALWAYS do that?) and he is none the wiser.

This tip definitely works for me.  Find other tips at We Are That Family.

This recipe is my favorite way to use up old bananas.  I found it on All Recipes, and made a few modifications to make it healthier and tastier (IMO).

Mocha Chip Banana Muffins

Source:  adapted from this recipe

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened
1/2 cup natural, unsweetened applesauce
1 cup white sugar
1 large egg
3 ripe bananas
1 Tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in
1 Tbsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (I use *white* wheat)
1/4 cup old-fashioned Quaker oats, coarsely ground up
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp whole ground flaxseed meal

3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine wet ingredients in mixer and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Combine dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients.  Blend until flour is mixed.
4. Add chocolate chips and stir by hand to mix.
5. Line cupcake/muffin tin or mini-muffin pans with liners, spray lightly with cooking spray and spoon mixture in.
6. Bake ~25 minutes for cupcakes or ~15 minutes for mini-muffins.
7. Cool 5 minutes before devouring.

Yield:  15 to 18 cupcake sized muffins or 66 to 72 mini-muffins

Notes:

I prefer to make the mini-muffins.  They are just the right size to pop in your mouth and oh so delicious.  I discovered my Oxo cookie scoop is just the right size for scooping into the mini-muffin tins.  It makes getting them scooped a breeze.   I also think the mini-muffins tins are easier for clean-up.  Because they are smaller, I just stick in my dishwarsher and they don’t take up much room.

I put 1/4  c. oats in my mini-food processor and pulse for a few seconds. They don’t have to be completely pulverized, just broke up a bit.  If you don’t have a processor, you could use a blender or even a mini-chopper.

Using applesauce in lieu of extra butter or oil makes them healthier and nice and moist.

The original recipe called for using instant coffee, but the mocha flavor wasn’t coming through.   Using espresso powder gives the mocha a stronger taste, but it is still pretty faint – my kids don’t notice or complain.  You could increase the amount of espresso or skip it, depending on your preference.

This post is linked up to the Works For Me Wednesday blog carnival,  hosted by We Are That Family.

Lately, it seems, whenever and whatever I make for dinner gets panned by my kids.   It can be disheartening to work on a meal only to have it snubbed by the 6 and under crowd.   So, when last night’s dinner got rave reviews, I thought it was blog-worthy.

This is a recipe from Mike’s mom.  It doesn’t look like anything special (no fancy ingredients), but it sure was tasty. A bonus for me was I had nearly everything already in my pantry.

Grandma’s Autumn Soup

1lb ground beef
1 cup onion, chopped
4 cups water
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 cups potatoes, pared and cubed
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, mashed or minced
1/8 tsp basil
1 tsp brown bouquet sauce
1 large can whole tomatoes (28oz) put in the processor or blender.

In a large sauce pan, cook and stir meat until brown. Drain off fat. Cook and stir onion with meat until onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and cover, simmering til vegetables are tender and for as long after as you want.

Makes 3-4 quarts.

Here’s my substitutions:

I don’t have and have never heard of bouquet sauce – I just used Worcestershire sauce instead. Instead of pureeing whole tomatoes, I use diced or pre-pureed. For the seasonings, I just add whatever feels right – I probably put 3 garlic cloves in. I let it simmer for at least a half hour.

Making a dinner the kids don’t turn their noses up works for me!

Checkout more Works For Me Wednesday Tips at We Are That Family.

*** Reminder:  I’m giving away a beautiful necklace, courtesy of Tracey Jolley Designs – check it out!! ***

We love Christmas music — maybe not in the malls in September, but in our home.  It’s nice to have on while bustling about with all the holiday preparations.  I thought I would share some of our favorite Christmas music and find out what you like.   Listed below, in no particular order, is our top ten(ish) Christmas “albums”  (cds?  downloads?  what is a collection of music called these days…)

1. Russ Taff, “A Christmas Song” – wow, I just realized this is no longer in circulation.  He has a fantastic voice.
2. Harry Connick “When My Heart Finds Christmas” – another oldie but goodie.  I see he has another album out – we may to have to check it out.
3. Third Day, “Christmas Offerings“
4. Sarah Groves, “O Holy Night” – she has such a beautiful, mellow voice – I love all her stuff.
5. John Denver and the Muppets, “A Christmas Together” – “Run Run Reindeer!”  you can’t go wrong with the Muppets
6. Jim Brickman, “The Gift” – a mostly instrumental/piano cd
7. Amy Grant, “Home for Christmas” – another oldie, but goodie
8. Josh Groban, “Noel“
9. Tchaikovsky, “The Nutcracker Suite“
10. Relient K, “Let it Snow Baby, Let it Reindeer” – eclectic, different, but if you love RK, you will love this!
11. Jars of Clay, “Christmas Songs“

What are you favorites?