More Uno Party

Ah, Uno. (Continued from the first Uno post.) What a great theme and such a fun game. Check out this awesome Uno deck. We made party hats and then ate... there were corn dogs, beer battered fish, aunt Darlene's awesome broccoli salad, mini caramel apples, cotton candy, all manner of melon, Red Vines, Skittles from the candy dispenser that used to be John's grandpa's, orange chocolate cupcakes, and sparkling lemonade. Yes, crazy too much sugar.

What?  Time for gifts?

My babies are Converse babies.  I'm pretty sure they're the only shoes Corbin could walk in now.  Well, Chucks and mud boots.

The thoroughly overwhelmed birthday boy.  Notice his hat?  Not one, but two 4s.  And nothing else.

I LOVE that my mother in law knits sweaters for the kids.  Corbin is cool like Mr. Rogers. And that's saying a lot, I love Mr. Rogers.  Corbin's favorite gift by far from the party?  The green fold-out T-Rex card that came with Aunt Darlene's gift.  He's been carrying it everywhere and the night of the party he slept with it under his pillow.  There was almost an incident when he brought it into the bathroom and Petra splashed it after he bath.  That was a close one.

Petra found her own presents and dug through them, stopping only to read books and play with this pop-up card from Auntie Karen.  She got this beautiful dress from my sister.

She stood for the longest she ever has and she seemed very pleased with herself... but she still wouldn't walk to mama Tasha.

Sweet happy birthday girl.

Well, crazy straws really are the best.

Those who were willing to expose their age showed it with Uno cards. That's my daddy.

I scanned my Uno cards and made little prints that I taped to toothpicks for cupcake toppers.  I've got files of scanned Uno cards if anyone wants them.

Corbin had a green 4 on his cupcake, but Pete needed help blowing out her Uno.  Petra's trick candle was the only one that kept re-lighting.  Corbin got a kick out of that.

SMUSH...cupcake time.  She did NOT like the super sweet frosting, and Corbin only ate his frosting, so Petra ate both cake parts.  First sweets?  Yeah, right.

Snuggles with grandma Tricia, it's tiring being the center of attention.  And what are John and his dad doing?

Still going strong, much later.  Nice baby.

I really love balloons.  Such simple decorations... so cheap and beautiful.  It was a great party, fun was had by all.  But even my new party-sized table doesn't hold parties the size we have, apparently.  That's why we have zillions of other chairs.  Sometimes it looks very strange having all the chairs when our house isn't mid-party.  Another year passed... it hardly feels like it.  But things are well at the Kelley home.  Very well indeed.

Canning like MAD

A little while ago, a friend showed up at my door and asked if I was interested in taking on a large and time consuming project.... like NOW. Well, sure... what kind of a project might that be? This friend was in the midst of a move and had harvested her garden but had no kitchen in which to preserve and enjoy the fruits of her labor. So, in to my house were brought the many bags of tomatoes and peppers and onions. The tomatoes needed to be used immediately, they were super ripe and ready and could not wait to be used, so bright and early the next morning, there was canning in my kitchen. I've never canned anything in my life. I had no idea what I was getting into. I borrowed all of my mother in law's canning supplies and set out to work with the help of my lovely mother, without whom we would never have finished, and my friend whose vegetables we were canning. I didn't realize that canning was something that needed to be organized, thought out, and done in um... smaller batches. We made two dozen jars of stewed tomatoes and some cilantro-lime salsa that turned out to be more of a cooking sauce/marinade because of the accidental extreme amount of lime that I used. Whoops. But it's perfect for making some Cuban food with some black beans. Mmm.

This canning stuff is a massive amount of work and I now have an enlightened sense of admiration and appreciation for those who do it regularly. Also, my kitchen might be the worst kitchen for the canning process. Noted. Never again in my kitchen.

In the aftermath of the canning ordeal, I got a flat of organic strawberries and a mass of honey in my order from the lovely Azure Standard (my new favorite way to grocery shop... love it. Bulk organic foods that are extremely cost effective and delivered right to my town? Yes, please!) and made some jam. Some freezer jam. It turned out beautifully, so yummy. No more canning for me. :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Heaven

This is the best peanut butter chocolate chip recipe... ever. It turns out perfectly every time. Mmmmm. We go through a lot of milk when these are in the house. So... they're almost good for us, right? I say, if you're going to eat a cookie (or a half a dozen, we don't judge) it may as well be AMAZING.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C)
2) Cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla.
3) Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl, and add to wet mixture gradually. Stir in chocolate chips.
4) Roll into balls about 1 Tablespoon or use your trusty cookie scoop and place on to ungreased cookie sheets or parchment lined cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly with a fork because they don't flatten much during baking.
5) Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on how soft you like your cookies. :) Enjoy!

I Have a Little Herb Garden

I have a little herb garden. It brings me great joy. I have a hard time growing anything more because of my severe lack of space and well, I'll just say it... black thumb. Herbs are great because I'm continually cooking and love being able to simply pluck the tasty little leaves at my heart's joyful necessity. I'm feeling a tomato basil salad coming on... Today's featured herbs in order pictured: sweet Basil, Oregano, Mint, spicy Basil, and Provincial Lavender.