Great White Birthday

We had Trevor's birthday party last night. He chose Grandma's Hamburgers, applesauce jello and broccoli with cheese for his birthday meal. The dinner table gets so quiet when everyone enjoys everything that is served! After dinner Trevor unwrapped the rest of his birthday gifts with plenty of encouragement from little brother. Everything was a hit, and we've got lots of fun stuff to keep us busy in the coming weeks! Some good friends came over to share the cake and ice cream and try-out the new toys. Oh, yeah, did you notice the cake? It was a big hit, too! Trevor gave me carte blanche this year, as long as the inside was red, and there was absolutely no fondant. (I'm not kidding about the fondant- he mentioned it by name) So I did a little brainstorming and came up with a shark theme. Shark books have been very popular picks from the library recently. Besides, what better to put with blood-red cake? True to my word, there was not a bit of fondant on the cake. The numeral 6 and shark figures were made from modeling chocolate- very cool! Once I got the hang of it, it was easier to handle than fondant, and 100% tastier! Unfortunately, one of the sharks got a bite out of the number 6 before I could stop him. I guess that's an occupational hazard of working with sharks.

Happy Fall

We had our own little fall festival last saturday. . . complete with hot apple cider and caramel apples. I think the last time I had a caramel apple was before I got braces in the fourth grade. Ooooh, they were good! Between yummy snacks we squeezed in some crafts and fun games. (The Gnip-Gnop was smokin!) We wish dad had been with us, but we made sure to save him a caramel apple. Under the circumstances, we thought that was extremely generous!

Wise Warrior

That's what we call him. He's very proud of his name, and will tell you exactly what Trevor Kellen means. It's so hard to believe that it's been 6 years since he came into our lives! I often think of him being so big, becuase I remember how tiny he used to be. Six years seems like such a long time, that sometimes I forget how little he still is. I see how responsible he is and how mature in so many ways. But in other ways I will always see him as my fearless toddler, outgoing preschooler and clowning youngster. I don't suppose it gets much easier as he gets older! I'm his mommy, and I always will be. He bring so much joy into our home! We praise and thank the Lord for blessing us with such a wonderful gift! Happy Birthday, Trevor!

Pumpkin Scones

The first in my parade of autumn baking, these hit the spot on sunday morning. They are just the right texture- not too cakey- and the Ginger-Molasses glaze drizzled on top was the perfect touch. It was our free day, so I made it with the butter. In the future, I plan on trying it with margarine or maybe canola oil. I'll have plenty of chances to experiment because they were a hugely popular with the breakfast crowd!

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 sp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp allspice

6 Tbs unsalted butter

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 435 degrees. Sift dry ingredients into small bowl. Combine pumpkin, milk, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using pastry blender until it is coarse crumbs. Pour all at once into pumpkin mixture, stirring until everything is just combined. The dough will be crumbly- this is as it should be. Turn onto a piece of wax paper, knead it until it sticks together. Don't over-knead. Pat the dough into a 1" thick circle. Cut into 8 pie pieces. Place on baking sheets, and bake for 15 minutes or until they begin to turn golden brown. Cool slightly on baking racks, and drizzle with glaze while still warm. Serve warm.

Ginger-Molasses Glaze

1 Tbs milk

1 Tbs molasses

1/4 tps ginger

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Adjust the ratio of milk to sugar to suit your tastes. I prefer it to be rather thin so I can drizzle it.