Finally...Present time!

After what must have felt like forever to Wiley, it was time to open his presents!

2 year-old Ivan did a great job watching Wiley open his presents, but notice Wiley is in the corner with his back to anyone who might want to come and help him unwrap his presents

Wiley didn't waste any time getting his presents open

Daddy crawled over to help

Have you tried to take a toy out of a package lately?

It takes a knife, a screwdriver, strong fingers to untwist 25 metal twisties and about 30 minutes!

Daddy giving Ivan some loves and kisses

Wiley is having a lot of fun and had time to smile for the camera

Daddy needed more tools

Wiley emerged from his corner with a big smile

Ivan ready to catch Natalie in the butterfly net

The birthday fairy brought a new bike

His feet reach the pedals

Yay, he can ride it!

The brakes work!

He's a happy birthday boy! And yes, he got a new helmet to go with the bike! Safety first!

Dear Gramma Barb and Grandpa Mike, I hope it feels like you were at the party! You were missed very much! We love you!

Wiley's Birthday Party

Wiley almost wiggled out of his skin as he waited for the real party to get started! In a 4 year-olds life, who needs dinner when there is birthday cake and presents waiting. Well actually, who needs anything at all when there are presents waiting to be opened. We decided to have cake before presents, so I started bringing out the treats.

Chocolate pudding shots and Clementine cupcakes

Brownie pops

Raspberry and Blueberry cupcakes

A little whipped cream frosting on his elbow

No problem, he ate it!

Going in for more!

 Watching the candles being lit

It's almost time...

...for the happy birthday song

Yummy strawberry

Loving his song

Candles are out

The cake is calling his name - Wiley, touch me!

What's taking so long?

Rearranging the cake while we sing a third time - for a video

Time for a brownie pop...

...and a cupcake and a piece of cake

After a lick and a raspberry he is finished with his treats

Hugging gramma and thanking me for the party and the treats I made - so sweet!

For the cake and cupcakes I used my favorite recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, "More from Magnolia." I know that vanilla sounds rather dull to some people, but I have made this recipe several times and everyone that tries it, loves it! It turns out perfect every time. I made one recipe, filled my silicone cupcake cups and put the remaining batter into two 8-inch cake pans. 


To dress up the cake, I made Microwave Lemon Curd and spread it between the cake layers and on top of the cake before I frosted with whipped cream frosting. I was amazed at how good the curd turned out. I will admit, my expectations were low, using a microwave, but I will definitely make this again. There is no reason to stand over the stove stirring for 30 minutes again!

For the brownies and brownie pops, I used a recipe from Dessert First that I found on foodnetwork.com. The recipe for the brownies is near the bottom of the page. I split the pan of brownies, cutting half into brownies and I used the rest for the brownie pops. I coated the pops with melted white chocolate and added sprinkles.

More pictures of Wiley's party for Gramma Barb and Grandpa Mike tomorrow! It wasn't the same without you!

Wiley's Birthday Dinner

Happy Wiley arriving for his party at gramma and papa's house

Where has all the time gone! It doesn't seem possible, but Wiley turned 4! Wiley had quite a hard time waiting for his birthday day to actually come. The week before, he woke up every morning super early, waking up his mom and dad to find out if this day was finally the day! Well that day finally came and we had a great time celebrating Wiley!

A few days before the big day, I asked Wiley what he wanted to eat at his birthday party and his response was, "Macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, broccoli, squash and zucchini". "And popcorn, gramma, lots of popcorn!" That was too easy! My next question was what kind of birthday cake did he want, and his response was, "Gramma, I'm allergic to cake, (news to me), but I do like cupcakes." What kind of cupcakes would you like Wiley? "I would like vanilla cupcakes with lots of frosting with raspberries, blueberries, oranges and strawberries." Wow, that was so easy! It didn't take me more than 2 minutes to write out my birthday party plan.

I won't bore you with all the details of the day and a half I worked preparing for the birthday. Let's just say it didn't magically come together, but I had a great time preparing everything, wanting it to be very special for the birthday boy.

Shoeless Ivan making his way up the stairs

Lots of balloons everywhere

4 dozen to be exact

Time with Uncle

Checking everything out with mommy

Popcorn was the first thing he spotted in the kitchen

Mommy and cousins

Great auntie and Elias

Great auntie Lori and mommy

Part of our dinner

Salad

My plate

Too bad Wiley didn't eat more than two bites and four licks that night. He had the "I can't believe it's finally my birthday and all these people are here for me and I'm not hungry, I just want to open my presents" jitters in his tummy!

The baked chicken tenders were a huge hit! Even the grownups enjoyed them. I plan to make a batch up and freeze them to have on hand when the boys stay for dinner. I am happy to share the following recipes.

These pictures are especially for you, Gramma Barb and Grandpa Mike! We all missed you very much!

Tomorrow I will have pictures of the party and presents.

Enjoy!

Rhubarb Rugelach

One of my hummingbirds that love fuchsia nectar

Today as I am writing this post, it is the first day of Summer 2011!! Yay! I'm so happy it is officially SUMMER! We have a beautiful day here with clear blue skies and a high of 84 expected! Double Yay!! The air conditioning might even turn on today instead of the furnace. I hope that you have a fantastic summer. I will try to post when I have time but I plan to spend as much time outdoors and be as busy as possible this summer, so who knows how often it will actually happen. I have so many things I want to do and places to go before fall arrives. I hope that you enjoy every single day of your summer. 

It has been a long time since I have consistently posted recipes, and this morning I found out just how long it has been. I have had over a dozen titled posts that have been sitting here for over a month. I opened the oldest one called "Mango Madness," that I titled in the middle of May. I couldn't remember what it was about and opened it to see what was in there that would jog my memory. Well, it was empty. Not a word, a picture or a recipe! I am really curious now and am hoping I come across something that jogs my memory. It must have been good if I took the time to title a blog. It sounds good and I want to know what that was!  

I found the recipe for rhubarb rugelach in the Portland magazine, Farmer's Market edition. It was the first time I made rugelach and I was a little disappointed. Actually, quite disappointed! The filling had an amazing texture and was full of flavor. You simmer the rhubarb with whole star anise and vanilla bean. Yummy, it smelled so good while it was simmering. My disappointment was with the dough. It was on the tough side and I was expecting a tender crust. I should have realized it would be though because it was very hard to roll out. I wondered if it should have been almost room temperature first. Hindsight is always 20/20. They looked beautiful and everyone that had some said it was really good but I think they were just being nice. I plan on making this recipe again but not until after I read through another rugelach recipe and get some tips on the best way to handle the crust.

I wish I had taken a picture. I usually take my pictures before I serve and because I didn't purposely serve these, alas, no pictures! They really did look great!

 Enjoy!

This Gramma Had a Birthday

I had a very special birthday week this year. I had the best time celebrating with my extended family for the first time in many years.



Saturday Lunch with my dear hubby at The Stone Cliff Inn 

The view from our table

Above the Clackamas River

My leftover salad

Saturday Dinner: a Cena with my sister Lori and her family

One of our appetizers, Roman Artichoke appetizer - very hard to get.
When available, it is for a very short time.

Duck ala "something special" (we don't remember)

Garganelli

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina

Pappardelle

My dish was Agnolotti, with huge pieces of the most amazing lobster. Too bad, my picture was too washed out to post. Amazing food! Can't wait to go back!


Sunday: The Benson Hotel - London Grill Brunch

Crepe, Signature potato souffle, eggs Benedict and fruit

They even sang to me!

The mirror in the background is the largest hanging mirror in the Portland area - in case of earthquake, runnnnnn...fast!

My handsome men

Sunday Afternoon: Heirloom Rose Garden, Saint Paul, Oregon with mom and dad.

 

 

 
Monday Lunch: Typhoon in West Linn with my parents and sibs, missing Deb who is in SoCal.

Sister, sister, brother, sister's hand (sorry Cher)

Mom, dad and brother

Ginger chicken and mushrooms with brown rice

Wednesday Evening: Nona Emilia's at home with our family

 

I had a a lot of help with my candles (lit matches)

Family

Thanks to Uncle Matt for taking the wet job

Someone needs to water the tree branches!

Alan

One of my favorite gifts was from Wiley

He wrapped it himself

and he filled it with these special prizes

 

He worked well over an hour on this and I love it! 

Thank you to everyone for a very special birthday! 

I love you all!