Edible Arrangements (Belated Mother's Day)

This past weekend we celebrated a belated Mother's Day. One of the projects that I have always wanted to do was make an Edible Arrangement. I've seen them in ads and they look really pretty. Therefore the night before, Dh and I bought all the supplies we needed. I felt bad because we did our last minute shopping at 10:30 pm and I stayed up till 1:30am putting int he finishing touches to the two pots. I made two arrangements since we only took my mom out to dinner and the other would be for my mother in law. Here are some pictures of the two vases Dh and I put together. It was a little difficult at first but once you get the hang of it. It's pretty easy.



Making your own saves you a lot of money as well as you can add in your own creativity.

Slow Roasted Garlic Bulb

Yum! If you're a garlic lover, I definitely recommend making this recipe. Dh and I love garlic. I don't like it as much as he does but we still enjoy it together. That's definitely a plus, since you don't want to be the only one with bad garlic breath. It's also good for you health. Garlic has many uses and it is sometimes labeled as the herbal "wonder drug." Some benefits includes preventing the common cold or flu and also acting as an antibiotic and fighting certain bacterias. On the same note, I decided to roast some garlic bulbs.

There are many uses. You can spread it on breads for added flavor as well as using it in pastas and any other dishes. I adapted this easy online recipe.

Time needed: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

Garlic Bulbs (3 or 4)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup of water
*salt to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove as much of the paper from 2 whole heads of garlic as you can without breaking apart the cloves.
Place garlic heads in 1/4 cup water in a small baking dish.
Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Cover with aluminum foil or baking dish cover.
Put into oven and baste with olive oil/water mixture after 30 minutes.
Bake until garlic is soft and easily pierced with a thin-bladed knife, about 1 hour total cooking time.

Slow Roasted Garlic Bulb

Yum, it turned out really easy. I had some crackers in our pantry and decided to spread a few cloves on each. I can still taste the garlic.Be sure to spend extra time brushing your teeth the next morning. Enjoy!

Birthdays Birthdays and More Birthdays

April is definitely a popular month for birthdays. This weekend I attended 2 birthday parties. Both were for Henry's niece. Little Jasmine turned 5 and baby Roxy turned 1 month. Both girls were definitely dressed for the party. Jasmine was wearing a cute little flower dress and baby Roxy a cherry printed outfit. It was a nice little party with activities like water balloon fights, hide and seek and to top it off, it ended with a pinata. It was really cute seeing the kids run around and having so much fun. I'll be sure to share a few pictures of this event.

Friday night, I decided to bake some cupcakes to bring to the party. I ended up baking 75 . Yes, 75 little strawberry cupcakes. Although this time, I didn't make it from scratch. It took longer than usual because these were mini muffins. Below are a few pictures my DH took from the night before. The cupcakes were left to cool on the rack.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Above: frosted cupcakes with sprinkles and cream cheese

Above: chocolate frosted cupcakes with sprinkles and fresh strawberries

Although we ended up with so much left over, Since there was so many different types of food. I definitely had a great time making them. I always enjoy baking and cooking in my free time.