Mommy Brunch Menu

I've been living in my neighborhood for almost 4 years and have been wanting to invite neighborhood ladies over for a luncheon, but never did until now.  I decided to host a brunch and had 3 of my neighbors over who are all brand new mommies.

Although I've known them these past few years, I hardly "know" them. We usually just chit-chat when we see each other outside, which is rare in our rainy season.  It was really nice to actually hang out together.  I used the menu and recipes from the Women's Tea I went to a year ago.

• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Scones
• Mandarin Spinach Salad
• Mini Croissants (cocktail croissants) with Curry Chicken Salad
• Strawberries
• Cream Earl Grey Tea

I changed the buttermilk scones to use soft whole wheat and sucanat sugar, makes it a bit healthier. I have not tried making the scones with regular whole wheat.  It would probably turn out fine and a little more dense, which is what a scone is.  The soft white wheat made them a bit more flaky and less cakey.   I served Lemon Curd, Lingonberry Jam, and Devonshire Cream with the scones.

I've already posted the recipe for the Curry Chicken Salad.  Here are the recipes for the rest of the menu.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Scones:

3 c. soft white wheat flour
1/2 c. sucanat sugar
1 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 c. buttermilk
1 T. heavy cream for top
raw sugar for top (Turbinado)

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl or kitchen aid mixer.  Add butter pieces-mix until coarse meal.  Add buttermilk and mix until just combined.  Transfer to a floured board and divide into 2 parts.  Roll or pat each part in to 6" rounds.  Cut into 6 wedges.  Transfer to baking sheet and brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar.


Devonshire Cream:

6oz. softened cream cheese
4 T. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

In a small bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until fluffy.  Gradually beat in enough cream to achieve a spreading consistency.  Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

Mandarin Spinach Salad:

2 bunches spinach or 1 bag of baby spinach
Mandarin orange slices
gorgonzola crumbles
toasted pecans

Dressing:
1/3 c. sugar
2 T. sesame seeds
2 T. poppy seeds
1 1/2 t grated onion
1/4 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. paprika
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. white wine vinegar

Mix well and dress the salad just before serving.



Everything was really delicious.  One neighbor brought over mini-quiches, which was a great addition to the ensemble.  I wasn't sure where to get Cream Earl Grey Tea locally, so I ordered it online from Culinary Teas.  I love Earl Grey tea, but the Cream Earl Grey is softer, smoother, and less pungent than regular Earl Grey.  I really like it and it was worth ordering.





I also got this beautiful tea cup set from my mom, many Christmases ago and this is the first time I took them out of the box to use.

gift from a guest

Consider having your own brunch or luncheon and use this menu.  Your guests will enjoy it and everything is really easy to put together.

Book Signing-Marissa Meyer

A few weeks ago, I told you that DD and I read the Lunar Chronicle Series by Marissa Meyer.  DD has been following blogs of her favorite authors and that's how she learned about the Teen Author Showcase where we got to meet the author of Divergent, Veronica Roth.  It's also how she learned that Marissa Meyer was going to do a book signing at Costco.  Interestingly, Marissa was at the Teen Author Showcase, but we didn't know about her at the time, nor was she part of the showcase.  DD's friend is related to Marissa by marriage.  Something complicated like her friend's dad's brother's wife's sister.  I'm sure I got that all wrong.

Marissa Meyer.  I just love the covers of these novels.

Our friends (related to Meyer) met us at Costco.  It was great because that gave us more of a personal interest with the author.  We were first in line and the only ones in line, so our girls spent about an hour asking questions and having a conversation with Marissa.  All the girls are currently writing their own books, so they had a lot of questions.  Marissa was super friendly and chatted with the girls between signing books for others.

The sales person in me came out and I helped encourage people to buy the books.  My mom is a natural sales person and I'm not, but a little bit of her must have rubbed off on me because I was pushing sales.  Marissa had her first 2 books on the table: Cinder (1st) and Scarlet (2nd).  People would stop by the table and I would tell them they should read the books because they were so good.  Then they would decide to just get Cinder, and I would encourage them to get Scarlet also because they would want to read the 2nd book in the series and that I really enjoyed it.  Sometimes they would go ahead and pick up the second book, or they would come back after a few minutes to get it.

When it was time to leave, Marissa gave the girls each a hug and that made them feel even more special.  Cinder is on the New York Times Best-Seller list.  Her books are rated age 12 and up, so she keeps it pretty clean.  It's not a series specifically for teens, just rated so that most everyone can read the books. Personally, I like reading clean books. The third book comes out in February, and the third in 2015.

We really enjoyed ourselves at the book signing.  The girls were giddy on the way home.  Love to make them happy.

Mother's Day 2013

My day started off great.  My kids surprised me with breakfast in bed.  Waffles (from my new waffle maker gift) and bacon.  They also got me a petunia hanging basket and a novel: Daddy's Gone A Hunting by Mary Higgins Clark.  Can't wait to read it!

For lunch we went to Ezell's Chicken.  There are several locations in the Seattle area, this one is located in Woodinville.  They have awesome fried chicken.  Really crispy and tender.  You can choose to get spicy or regular. My husband is not a fried chicken guy, but he loves Ezell's.  We just ordered enough for a snack because we wanted to save our appetite for dinner and we were on our way to get ice-cream.  We ordered 1 pound of chicken strips (came with 2 dinner rolls), which fed DH and both kids.  I ordered the 2 piece dark meat: leg and thigh (with dinner roll).  We really enjoyed the chicken. I didn't pay much attention to the flavor, I just noticed how crunchy and tender it was and that they rival KFC.  Too bad Ezell's is not close by, or maybe it's a good thing. :)  In the past, DH had ordered the spicy chicken strips and those were flavorful.

Snoqualmie Ice Cream Cafe is located in Maltby, WA.  That is where they make all their wonderful ice-cream   They do tours for school groups, but there is a self-guided walking tour in their garden, which is quite small.  Unfortunately, they do not do tours inside the actual factory.  I think they might be working on getting a permit for that or they just don't allow it so the ice-cream doesn't get contaminated. The cafe serves coffee, espresso, and sandwiches.  They are growing their own lavender farm, so they had a couple of lavender flavored ice-creams, but I didn't get a chance to try those.  There is also a geocache in the garden, so look for that one too.  For Mother's Day, they were upgrading a one scoop of ice cream to a sundae for moms.

I don't have much of a review for this cafe because all I tried was a scoop of the Kahlua Almond Fudge, which was pretty good.  DH ordered a 2 scoop cone: Coconut and Cherry Amaretto Chip.  He liked the flavor combination.  They sell their ice-cream at retail stores too.

For dinner we went to Wild Fin.  They were gifting all moms with a little plant.  I received an African Marigold.

It looks sad, but hopefully it will grow nicely in the garden.  I saw other moms getting prettier plants, but I wasn't about to complain and ask for a different one. :)

My kids were so sweet.  They told me they loved me and were thankful for everything I do for them.  They are so totally worth it!!!

Hacked

Last week, my Groupon account was hacked.  Groupon is a website where you can get discounted certificates to local restaurants or businesses.  You can also purchase mail order items at discounted rates.  Someone had my email address and figured out my password.  Honestly, it wasn't a very complicated password.  I didn't think it was that important for this site. I didn't realize that the website was storing my payment information from the last purchase I made with them.

It happened on a day that I would have normally been home and seen the email come through right away that a purchase was made.  Unfortunately, I was at the home-school co-op and didn't see the email until later in the day.  Usually I would have disregarded the Groupon email, but the message line said "thank you for your purchase".  It was an HP notebook for almost $300.  I called my husband and asked if he had made this purchase and he said "no".  The next email I got after this one said "you requested to change your email address", which I did not.  I was locked out of my Groupon account to see what was going on, plus Groupon was closed for the day and I couldn't get anyone on the phone.  They do have a 24 hour email address so I sent them one right away.

I looked at my credit card statement online and was shocked to see that 3 more purchases were made from my Groupon account. Over a thousand dollars worth of goods were purchased.  I called my bank right away; closed the credit card and started a fraud report.  The next morning, I called Groupon and explained the situation.  They couldn't get into my account because the email had been changed.  Fortunately, I had received the purchase confirmation with the order number of the first purchase the crooks had made. They were able to pull up the account with that number and see the other purchases.  She immediately deleted my credit card info. and closed the account.

They were able to see where these items were being shipped, so hopefully they are able to catch these hackers.  If caught early enough, they might also have been able to stop shipment of these items and cancel the purchases all together without anyone losing out.  I'm sure they could have also recalled the shipment, even if it was en-route.

I'm thankful that I didn't disregard the email and that I was able to get the situation taken care of with both my bank and Groupon. I even went into other similar sites I have accounts with to change my password and double check that my credit card info was not stored.  I found that two other sites had my credit card info., Amazon and one other (can't remember).  I know a lot of people out there have Amazon accounts and you should go in and delete your credit card from their site and all others that could be storing it.  Save yourself the hassle of getting hacked.  It only takes a few extra seconds to enter your payment info. each time you order.  I notice now when I order something online, it'll ask if I want my payment info. stored. Click "NO".

Groupon has refunded me and has been very apologetic.

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First Timer Discounts

When I go somewhere new, sometimes I mention to the cashier or whomever I'm talking to that it's our first visit.  I don't expect anything from saying that, but I've been pleasantly surprised a few times by getting a freebie or discount.  Here are a few scenarios:

-DH and I went out to dinner at Tropea Ristorante a couple of times.  The first time we went there, we were telling our server how great the food was and that it was our first visit.  At the end of our meal, he showed up with a complimentary Tiramisu.  Our second visit there was on our anniversary date.  We mentioned we were celebrating our anniversary and our server showed up with a free dessert.

-On our way home from the homeschool co-op, I had to get gas.  I needed to turn left to exit the gas station, but I could only turn right.  I took the next left thinking I would make my way back to where I need to go just by looping around, except there was no where for me to turn, but to keep following the road.  Finally I got to a familiar street and on the corner was the Orowheat Bakery Outlet.  I've been meaning to visit this store for a long time and figured my getting "lost" was meant to be.  The cashier was super friendly and I told her that it was my first visit, just to make conversation.  They have a stamp card for every dollar you spend.  When it's filled up, you get a free item from their dollar section.  Because it was my first visit, she gave me an extra dollar stamp.  She asked if it was okay to give a free snack to my kids and I said yes.  She gave them each a snack bag of mini brownies.  Of course it was expired by two days, but they still tasted good.  No one got sick-bonus!  It is an outlet after all, always need to check expiration dates. Plus, you can freeze bread.

-When we go on vacation, we may sometimes mention to our customer service people that we are vacationing.  At Mai Lee Thai in Wenatchee, our server didn't charge us for the Thai Iced Tea and told us it was on the house.  Possibly because we told her we were there on vacation.  She was looking at our son when she told us it was free, he was drinking the tea.  Maybe she just thought he was a cutie and wanted to gift it to him.  That's actually happened before when he was smaller.

I'm sure I have more examples, but just can't think of any.  Of course you want to be honest and that it really is your first time visiting the establishment. :)  Do you have any examples of receiving freebies or discounts for being a first timer?

What do you see?

My cousin's daughter was in a couple of pictures on Facebook.  I was telling my husband about them because we have a 14 year old daughter and I am her first role model.  She is my mini-me; a replica of me in both looks and persona.  We like to say she is the upgraded version of me.

DH and I were talking about what we see when we look at me.  Men and women have different perceptions of what someone looks like.  He asked me what I see when I look in the mirror.  I said I see fine lines, my hair turning gray, dry skin.....  He said, "You don't see your cute little nose, your pretty brown eyes, and your cute gray hairs.....?"  Recently we were looking through some digital photographs on his laptop and we came upon a close up shot of me: no make-up, my hair pulled back, and I was squinching my face because the sun was in my eyes.  I said that it was a horrible picture of me and to scroll past it.  He said, "Honey, there are no bad pictures of you.  Every picture of you is beautiful." Is he wonderful or what???? We have been married almost 17 years and everyday he still tells me I'm beautiful and how much he loves me.  He is definitely a devoted husband and I am so blessed.

I may joke about myself from time to time, but it's all a laughing matter.  Everyone says my daughter looks just like me, so of course I don't want to say anything negative about my looks.  I want her to be happy she looks like me and to be proud of that.  My kids are always with me and they watch and hear everything I say or do.  I want to be the kind of woman that my son looks for in a wife and whom my daughter would want to "walk in my shoes."  I'm a devoted wife and mother and I hope they can see that.

The point is: love yourself.  Speak positively of yourself and show confidence.  I'm not saying be narcissistic and an egomaniac. :)   Your kids are watching you.  Be the person you want them to be.  

Birthday Quilt

We celebrated my friend's birthday a month ago.  At the time, I told her I was going to make her a quilt for her gift, but I wanted her to pick out the pattern from the book Sew One and You're Done by Evelyn Sloppy.  She chose the pattern Garden Magic.  The colors in her house are brown and light blue, so that was going to be the color scheme of this quilt.

I love that my sewing machine can stitch letters for my label.

This is the first quilt I made outside of my immediate family and I wanted it to be as perfect as I could get it.  I took my daughter with me to pick out the fabric.  Poor girl had to wait 2 hours on me while I tried to pick out 3 different colored fabrics.  Choosing colors and prints is very stressful for me.  I kept talking to myself while trying to figure out coordinating fabrics.  I'm glad I changed my mind on a couple of first choices, because I love the colors I ended up with in the finished quilt.  I'm crazy for paisley and was immediately attracted to this cream colored fabric.  Even though it has some greens in it, I think it still worked well with the brown and blue.

I tried to minimize mistakes as much as possible and fortunately only had to make a couple of corrections while piecing them together.  For piecing, all the points of the triangles and corners have to line up.  All the seams have to line up too.

I used the fusible batting, but I also placed a few pins around just to make sure all the fabrics stick together while quilting.  I chose the stippling stitch for this quilt, same as the one on my son's quilt.  I really, really tried not to mess up on the quilting part, but it was inevitable.  I wish I had known about the sewer's silicone spray first.  I saw it on a you-tube video, but not sure where to get it.  I checked Joann Fabrics website, but didn't see it.  Maybe the actual store has it.  You spray it on to your sewing machine's extension table and the fabric can easily slide around.  In my case, I didn't have the spray and I was having trouble moving the big heavy blanket around with ease.  Therefore, I have different length stitches on the quilt and I accidentally made some loops.  For stippling, the stitches are not to touch each other or loop around each other.  I wasn't about to undo those mistakes, so I just tried to not do them as much.

When I had finished, I started second guessing myself.  I had used a light thread to quilt the fabric and it is very noticeable on the dark brown fabric.  I thought I should have used a brown thread on the brown fabric, but my husband assured me that it gave the quilt character and that it looked really good.  Plus, it ties the dark fabric into the light fabric.  Now I'm happy I used light thread all throughout. I did the same on my son's quilt and it looked good too.

Any recipient of my quilts or anything I make will  have no choice but to love it; flaws and all.  I'm still a beginner, you know.  Now my friend will have something to remind her of me whether she wants to or not. :)  I think the quilt turned out great and I'm quite proud of myself.  I only hope that none of the stitches start to unravel anywhere.