Tuesday, February 28

Chocolate Souffle

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Not only is it Tooth Fairy Day, but it's also Chocolate Souffle Day.

I cannot believe I've never had chocolate souffle!  I need to remedy this.

I pinned a few recipes from CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE ON PINTEREST.






There are also chocolate souffle cakes, bars, cookies, cupcakes!  Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!  I'm kind of teary-eyed.  

Chocolate souffle will be a Pinned It, Did It project in the near future.  I need to decide on a recipe and research some tips... sounds like souffles can be tricky.  Do you have a tried and true recipe or tips?  Share them with a comment below.

Stay tuned!  



Melissa

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Happy Tooth Fairy Day

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February 28th is Tooth Fairy Day.  My research shows that it's also sometimes celebrated on August 22nd.  It's hardly an official national event so you could probably celebrate both days.  Or never.


My older child is going to be 7 in less than 2 months.  He still hasn't lost any teeth... not even a slight wiggle happening in his mouth!  So, we haven't experienced the tooth fairy yet.

According to a Delta Dental poll, the going rate for each tooth is $1.  Slightly more for the first tooth.  My plan is $5 for the first tooth and $1 for each additional tooth.  Love this certificate for the first tooth.


What's a useless holiday without useless facts?  The average rate for a tooth in 2011 was $2.10.  The tooth fairy business wasn't exempt from the woes of the economy, as the average rate for 2010 was $2.52.

Poor kids.  You just can't get what you used to for a tooth.



Searching Pinterest for tooth fairy ideas makes me wonder, do all tooth fairy participants have a tricked out pillow for the event?  I suppose I could buy one from Etsy, but, no matter how beginner or simple the tutorial promises to be, I don't have the skills to actually make one.  Here are some charming pillows.

Super simple.


He is adorable.  (my favorite!)

 Monster pillow.


Tooth fairy.
 Step-by-step how to instructions.


Personalized with tooth chart.


Alternatives to the pillow.  Personalized plate for the bedside table.


Embroidered envelope.

Tooth fairy door.  Hangs on the wall.



Match box.


Parents, you can have a picture made of the magical visit.   Can I get one of these with Shemar Moore watching me sleep?  Just curious.


Finally, to celebrate the big day, two highly rated Tooth Fairy books to share with your child.  Read to your kids... it makes them smart and stuff.



Happy Tooth Fairy Day! I'll celebrate anything for a cupcake!



Melissa

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Monday, February 27

Fabulous Master Bedrooms

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Oh, Pinterest.  You never cease to amaze me.  I'm partial to the first look.  You know, when I win the lottery and can afford such extravagance.



Pinned on Dream House and I Love Turquoise.

Melissa

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Sunday, February 26

Five Favorite Finds

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1.  Recently, I was deep in the throes of making pizza dough only to find out I was out of flour.  I pulled a chair over to the stove to get a better look at the above-the-stove baking cabinet.  Surely I had another sack of flour, right?  Nope.  What I do have is a ton of other baking stuff, including a full canister of brown sugar.  And 3 unopened bags of brown sugar - brown sugar back up.  I love brown sugar.  If I made the food pyramid, brown sugar would have a spot right in the middle, shaped like a heart.  I cannot wait to make these fluffy brown sugar cookies drizzled in browned butter icing.  Pinned on Cookie Jar.


2.  Popsicle snuggies.  Brillaint.  Pinned on Clever and Fun Food for Kids.  



3.  Automatic dust pan via a central vacuum!  Are you kidding me?  I need this!  Me to child, "You just spilled a bowl of cherrios?  Aren't you cute?  Feed it to the VacPan."    Me to child, "You just tracked in dead grass, sand, and dirt from the backyard?  Isn't summertime magical?  Feed it to the VacPan."  Me to me, "It'd be hilarious to turn on the VacPan, put a few cat treats in front of it, and watch the cat's tail get sucked in."  Pinned on Clever.


4. Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollups - chicken, ham, cheese, and mustard rolled up and dipped in bread crumbs.  Pinned on Good Eats.


5.  Did you know the average panda eats for 12 hours a day?  I did not.  The very first thing I DID know after seeing this, I'm a giant panda.  Clearly.  I just didn't know it.  With this new knowledge, I'd say my figure looks pretty good.  Therefore, I can stop dieting.  Pinned on Furries, Funnies, Feel Goods.


I hope you take joy in my 5 favorite finds from this week.  Share your favorite find(s) with me with a comment below.

Melissa

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Thursday, February 23

Facebook vs. Pinterest

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Pinned on I Love Pinterest.  

Melissa



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Homemade Pizza

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Welcome to the very first installment of Pinned It, Did It.


That's right.  I actually made something I pinned to Pinterest.  Please. Hold your applause.

As I originally said, one of my goals here is to blog my attempts at pinned stuff greatness. I started small with homemade pizza.  At least I thought I started small... what. a. production.  I'm a bona fide comedy of errors.

I almost made this pizza on a whim last week but one glance at the recipe brought me back to reality.  That reality is, I don't cook and I certainly cannot cook on a whim.  Active dry yeast?  This called for a Skype conference with Lianne (owner of pizza pin).  She confirmed that I could purchase this product in a regular grocery store. I found it! I splurged on the 3 pack, seen here with the best measuring gadget ever.


The pizza was scheduled for Wednesday's dinner but I made a quick change Tuesday afternoon.  Since this is dough and not DiGiorno, it required some prep time.  Quick calculations.. with some help, I could just make it.  I rang my assistants, Caitlin and Captain Hook, and they were both up for the challenge.  


I quickly grabbed the essentials - ingredients, gadgets, camera, computer for recipe and Lianne on standby.



Good thing Lianne was there, I had a question about flour that called for another Skype chat.  How I plan on doing other "pinned it, did it" stuff without backup is beyond me.

Caitlin and I started measuring and feeding ingredients to Captain Hook, only to find out I only had 3 cups of flour.  As I was pondering the situation, Caitlin, the mouthy assistant, was yelling at me, "Mommy! We need one more scoop!"  Me, "Caitlin, get your jacket. We're going to the store for flour."  

no flour

Caitlin asks, "What if the store doesn't have any flour?!?"

I say, "We order delivery man pizza."

Caitlin asks, "What if we get home from the store and you forget what we were doing?"

Is she for real?  I know I'm scatter brained sometimes...  wait, what were we talking about? Flour!  The store had flour!  

flour

Crisis averted, but now I was really crunched for time.  We quickly threw the rest of the stuff into the bowl, mixed it, covered it, set it aside.  Quickly being the key word. Something must have gone wrong because the dough didn't rise.  Either I messed up doubling ingredients or my house was too cool for the "hour to rise" time frame.

So, Tuesday's dinner was cheeseburgers for the adults and waffles for the kids.

After dinner, I studied the recipe to avoid any more errors.  Pizza stone?  Parchment paper?  I had neither a pizza stone nor parchment paper.  Even if my dough had cooperated, I clearly wasn't prepared to be making pizza on Tuesday.

Skype conference with Lianne #3.  I didn't necessarily need parchment paper if I wasn't using a hot stone and if I use my beloved AirBake pan, I will need to adjust the oven temperature.

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my human assistant from preschool, headed home, and made dough #2.  Good thing I splurged on the 3 pack of active dry yeast.


Nice-looking pizza dough.  Caitlin says, "It turned into cookie dough!  Get the chocolate chips!"


Let me take this time to introduce you to Dillon, my food critic.  Toughest critic in the business.


After 3 hours, it's nice and fluffy, just like it should be. I gathered the pineapple, sauce, and cheese.  I pinned the sauce from Lianne's blog too.  So, really, this is a two for one pinned it, did it.


I rolled it out into something that kind of resembled a circle.  First time, remember?  I resisted the urge to throw it over my head, swinging it in a circle on my fist.  Not going to lie - I really wanted to do that.


I baked the naked pizza at 425 for 5 minutes.  Then, after the kids dressed it, I baked it for an additional 12 minutes.  My assistant and critic are unprofessionally impatient so I took it out sooner than I would have liked.  Next time, I'll probably put them outside and bake it a little longer in peace.




This is where I should plug in a picture of the beautifully baked pizza.  But, with all the threats of starvation happening, I forgot to take that picture.  Novice blogger.  I did check in with the critic though.


He liked it!  Amazing.  His professional opinion is, I should be on TV to teach how to make pizza.  But I'm not ready to work at Bruno's (local pizza place) because it took too long to make.

"Took too long" - I don't know if he's counting Tuesday's attempt also or if he was just being ridiculous because he was, how could I forget, starving!

So, there you have it, my first pinned it, did it.  Not much was left.  In the end, I'd say it was a success.



Now you may applaud.

Pinned on Pinned It, Did It.

Melissa

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Wednesday, February 22

It's Margarita Time

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Today is National Margarita Day. Did you know? There's nothing I hate more than finding out at the end of the day that I missed a really cool national holiday. Late in the evening on December 8th, I found out that December 8th is National Brownie Day. The day we as a nation celebrate chewy chocolate greatness.... and nobody told me!  After the devastation-induced paralysis wore off, I vowed to make it my job to know every made up holiday going forward. I put together some margarita recipes for you to enjoy. 


**CLICK ON GREEN FONT FOR RECIPES**
















Just remember, it's all fun and games until someone starts seeing pink elephants.   


Pinned on Happy Hour, Cupcakes, and Furries, Funnies, Feel Goods.

Melissa

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