Two Really Cool Blogs

I love to read other peoples blogs especially when I can find something that I have in common with the blog writer. The first one is: According to Kelly and is a must read if you are a mommy, wife, crafter extraordinaire. She has great postings and a really cool SWAP once a year that I just participated in. Please check out her blog if you get a chance as well as her etsy shop with her awesome jewelry.

The other blog I would love for you to check out if you haven't already is:
No Time For Flash Cards. This site has some amazing projects for kids. This site is so fantastic. I really wish that I could have found it earlier in the summer!

What Have I Been Busy Doing?

I know, no blog for weeks, but I do have a good excuse. I was creating a new blog. What? Another blog, you say? Yes, but this one is different then Pink Petunia Designs. This blog is called: Cowgirls and Cupcakes. It is written by yours truly and my BFF Kim. We have been in the plannings for this blog now for awhile and were able to finally launch it about a week ago. The premise for Cowgirls and Cupcakes is: Recipe sharing as well as tips and tricks for people that have food allergies or feeding a special needs child. We came up with the idea after getting frustrated with our same old meal routines. Our families get bored of eating the same old stuff night after night so we decided to do something about it. Kim and I have both been a part of recipe swaps online with our friends and family and we thought we would take it to the next level and post it on a site for everyone to share. Right now, Kim and I are both posting our own "tried and true" recipes but very soon (like this week) we will be opening it up to the public to send us your best recipes old or new and maybe a little history behind them or even a picture and a link to your site or blog if you have one. So please, please, check out the new site and I will try to be better about posting to little Pinky here.

Thank You Heather!

This is a little late due to a big family vacation, but wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my wonderful SWAP partner for the "My Favorite Things SWAP" - Mrs. Heather Larson. The first time I read Heather's two blogs I knew that I was going to have the coolest partner - EVER! Her package arrived and I couldn't wait to bust right into it. Check out all of the cool color coordinated goods that she hooked me up with. Her theme was how to survive a summer pregnant. Although I am not prego, she is expecting her first little one in September and also lives in Arizona. I can't imagine dealing with 110 degree heat while having a swingbelly. I used to complain in the middle of June when it reached 95 and I had gained 70lbs (gulp) of a swingbelly. I can't imagine 110!!!!! Heather had it going on with all of her cool things to survive a pregnant summer. I am a handbag junkie so the cute little seahorse handbag was immediately put to use as well as those hot yellow sunglasses! I love all of the fun things in the package and have already used every single thing that was in there. Thank you Heather! One of my favorites was a mood magnet that she included. The hub checks it every day to see what my mood is and if he needs to proceed with caution. LOL. Thank you so much Heather for the fun package and I hope that you like what I sent! Check out Heather's digi blog. I wished that she lived closer so that she could teach me all about digital scrapbooking! It fascinates me!

Favorite Things Swap

Because you know that I love to get things in the mail ..... I had to do it..... I joined "My Favorite Things SWAP" over at According to Kelly. If you haven't checked out this blog yet, please do so. Kelly has great posts and well worth a look see. For this SWAP we will have to send our SWAP partner three (or more) of our favorite things. I have a few ideas already stirring around in my brain and have already purchased one small piece of a favorite collectible glass at the thrift store. I wont' reveal any more than that because I want it to stay a surprise for my partner. I will post pictures after the SWAP is complete at the end of June. Can't wait to open my mailbox!

My Cute Yard Bird

Have you seen my cute yard bird. I just wanted to share a picture of him! I think he has such personality. He is made out of all recycled parts and stands tall and proud while protecting our garden from its unwanted predators. I think you need one of these birds too! The price was fantastic! If you would like to order one of these fabulous guys for your yard and live in the Sacramento or surrounding areas, or don't mind driving to pick it up, please contact: sactowatt@aol.com.

Please type "Garden Bird" in the subject line! Sorry the cute kiddos are not included, but it does give you a good idea of how tall they stand. I am really thinking about getting another one so he has a buddy. Who needs gargoyles when you have yard birds?

A couple of things...

I have missed so much blogging and the only excuse I have for it is the Peanut catching a really bad virus that turned into croup. Lovely stuff. The humidifier, 7-up and SpongeBob have been running pretty much 24 hours a day around here. Now, I have the creeping crud too. What a bummer! Anyway, I will have to play a bit of catch-up now, so there will be quite a bit of info in this post.

First and foremost, I have to catch up by posting about the Jazz Festival. It was weeks ago now, but wanted to post about how much of a good time we had. We have family friends Matt and Sherri Colby-Bottel that play in the Blue Street Jazz Band at the Festival. I have seen Matt and Sherri perform on many occasions but have always wanted to see them play at the Jazz Festival. We didn't purchase tickets because we were unsure how long we would actually be able to stay at the festival with two small kids. We checked out the schedule the night before and knew they were playing at the Downtown Plaza Piazza, so we went to check it out. They have the Sacramento Brew Pub and Grill convenient placed across the way from the stage so we decided to break for a little lunch and see if we could snag a patio seat to watch the show. We were able to score a table outside and had a nice lunch. The band showed up and played. Sherri wasn't singing until the next venue, so we definitely wanted to stick around till the next show. All of the band members were fantastic, and as you can see by the pic above, there was a whole lot of dancing going on. The band is situated all over the United States. Matt and Sherri currently reside in Louisiana where Sherri is finishing up her doctorate program and Matt works out of their home as a computer program designer. Their music is described as "New Orleans jazz with a mix of swing, Mardi Gras, folk song, marches, waltzes, Latin music, and hymns." Truly an eclectic mix. I would highly recommend checking out their website for a look see and a listen too. I just noticed that they also have a myspace with one of my new favorite songs, "Creole Song," which is truly amazing to listen to. We made our way over to the Pizza Pavilion for their next show. We didn't buy tickets, but there were places on the street that you could see into the show. To our surprise, Sherri worked her magic and got us in to see their show. It was great, and the kids enjoyed dancing it up. I always enjoy watching people perform when you know they love what they do. Matt has been playing the banjo for as long as I can remember. His mom and my mom have been best friends since kindergarten so I have known him for many years. Sherri does all the vocals and has been singing with the band since she was thirteen. Here is a pic that the hub took after the show. The band will be celebrating their 25th year together this year! Congratulations to the band and a big Thanks to Matt and Sherri for a great time at the Jazz Festival!

That same weekend we took our first trip ever to our local farmers market. It was fun. A little more pricey than what I had expected, but it was still cool seeing all the fresh produce and flowers. I did have to break down and buy some fresh flowers for my kitchen. I couldn't resist. They also had a man there that had bottled his own olive oil. He was Italian of course, and greeted my daughter with a "Ciao Bella," he was probably in his sixties but I was in love. The accent gets me every time. If I went to Italy or Ireland I may never return. Ha Ha. Sorry cute husband of mine, you know that I am just kidding! So I am definitely going to return to buy some olive oil from him when I run out of the 50 gallons that I just recently purchased from Costco.

We were on a mission when we went to the Farmer's Market, we were on a strawberry mission! We planned to go home and bust out some yummy strawberry jam that afternoon. The prices were pretty high for strawberries, so we jumped in the car and ran down the street to the local strawberry stand where we scored a flat for only $18.00. A true bargain especially when they were just picked that morning. The car smelled like a giant strawberry shake by the time we got home. My husband has made jam on one other occasion and I, myself, have never made jam. My Grandma makes jelly and jam by the droves every year. She is truly and incredible woman, one that I will have to dedicate a whole post to. Like I said before, I have never made jam so the hub took over the jam making process with the girls and I shot the pics. Here are couple of the yummy ones:

The jam came out great. We ended up having eight large jars. My contribution was the pictures and the artsy labels. We have already given away seven of the eight jars so we will be bustin out some more pretty soon here.

Another thing that I have been meaning to blog about was a great new blog and website that is from the creative minds of a few of my Craft Mafia sisters. Its called Pimp Stitch. If you love embroidery as much as I do, you will definitely want to check out this site. They are offering a free pattern a week until their opening of their site late this month. So head on over and check out the creative brains of Amy Cluck of Peptogirl, Missy Balance of Mohair Circus, Tamie Snow of Roxycraft and Lauren Brandy of Goody Goody. Please go and "Pimp Your Stitch!"

And speaking of Mrs. Missy Balance. I received a fun package in the mail the other day that had such cool things inside. I had ordered one of her spool doll cell phone charms off of her etsy shop. It is so cute and looks quite good with her dark bobbed hair and my pink razor. She also included some super cute tags that say "Hey Cupcake" made with one of her Amuse stamps that she designed. This girl is multi-talented! I love the cupcake tags and am now going to have to purchase this cute stamp because we are having a cupcake party for the girls birthday and this stamp is just what I need. So thanks Missy!

Pink of Petunia's Peeps

Here is Pink of Petunia's Peeps. She's a fighter, a survivor, a hero. She helps fight breast cancer by wearing pink. Stacey of Bouton Blue, one of the winners of my pay-it-forward contest and long time friend, is now the proud owner of Miss Pink. Stacey graciously walked about a bazillion miles last year in the breast cancer walk. I so appreciated her dedication and willingness to support many of the women and men who have come face to face with breast cancer. Thank you Stacey, I hope you enjoy your peep!

Cooking Mayhem

A little while back I had finally succumbed to the fact that my bread maker was going to continue gathering dust in the cupboard and I really wasn't going to be making tons of bread for my family. I decided to ask my sister-in-law if she would like to have it. She said, "sure." So the bread maker went to her house. She baked us up some fabulous french bread a while back in my old bread maker and then I kinda got the urge to have a bread maker again so I could make my own yummy bread. I also thought it was a great alternative for the Scout. I am always looking for breads that have no milk or egg products, and this way I could totally control the contents. I was telling my Aunt Sharon of my longing to again be the owner of a bread maker and she said that she had one that she would give me because she never uses it anymore. Score! I was pumped this afternoon to bust out a loaf of french bread. I made a pot of soup and a key lime pie for dessert. We will be headed to the Jazz Jubilee tomorrow and thought this would be the perfect thing for when we got home late and I didn't feel like cooking. I followed the recipe that my sister-in-law had given me. It was easy. I followed the directions on the bread maker. O.k., no problem, good. I hit the button to start, and the bread maker took off kneading the dough. Excellent, I am three hours away from my hot french bread. And then I heard a loud knocking sound and suddenly the thing shut off. Hmmm. Maybe its starting to rise. No, the book says it has to knead the dough for 18 minutes and its only been 7. Uh oh, I smell the motor burning. Uh oh, its not working. Drat!!!!! So I call up my Uncle Tom and Aunt Sharon and shared my dilemma with them. Not like they would have been able to fix it when they are all the way in Napa, but I needed a consult. They said they didn't know what it could be, but that it was probably something that could be fixed. Now my Uncle Tom has been a fabulous baker most all of his adult life. He started working at Napa City Bakery when he was 14 sweeping the floors and eventually moved to Buttercream Bakery where he decorated beautiful cakes for everyone, and I mean everyone in Napa. His cake decorating was well known wherever he went. He told me "Punkin," this is what he has called me since I was born, "just throw it in your Kitchen-Aid and put the bread hook on and let it knead it for awhile. Then just let it raise where its warm and throw it in the oven." O.k. I will try it. I really had my doubts, not in his abilities, because I know his would turn out good, but I was worried about my ability to follow his directions properly. So I kneaded it with the bread hook in the Kitchen-Aid and then let it raise for about 45 minutes and then I threw it into the oven at 350 for about an hour. This was a total guess on my part. I just sat by and watched it. In the meantime I went to work on my key lime pie and the recipe called for me to whip the mixture until it formed soft peaks. I have made my own whip cream on several occasions and know it takes a while for it to form the soft peaks, but I whipped this thing with my mixer for over 20 minutes and then got frustrated and threw it in my Kitchen-Aid for another 10 and no soft peaks. It got a little bit foamy, but there was no peaks. My brother popped by at this time and I was so frustrated with cooking I was about to cry. The kitchen was a mess and the poor guy was trying to tell me about his day and all I could think about was my stupid bread maker not working and the dumb key lime pie not making those foamy peaks. Sorry bro, next time I promise to be a better listener, I was a little to preoccupied with my many mishaps. To make a long story short, the key lime pie came out o.k. minus the peaks and the bread came out of the oven and was "done to a T" as my Uncle Tom likes to say. Thanks Uncle Tom, you really helped me out with your great tutelage! The girls dug into the bread like it was the last thing on Earth to eat and I thought it was pretty great too!

Another Yummy Recipe

I am always looking for good alternatives for foods that I love, but now have to avoid due to food allergies. I found out a little over a year ago that I am allergic to soy. A lot of people with heavy duty peanut allergies (such as myself) are allergic to soy. I was lucky, because I got away with 30 years of being able to eat it without incident. I have found through researching labels, that it is in literally everything processed or store bought. So goes my quest for finding soy-free, but still yummy products. With that said, I was deeply saddened by the fact that I could not have my favorite ranch dressing anymore. You see, ranch dressing in the bottle is full of mayonaisse, which is made with vegetable oil, which is soybean oil, which is what I have to try to avoid. I can eat it, but then I begin paying for it with losing my voice and trouble breathing and heaviness in my throat. As much as I love it, its just not worth the feeling.



I happened to turn on Rachel Ray today, which is the Peanuts favorite show, (the girl loves to cook) and she was making homemade ranch. I was sure it was going to be loaded with mayonaisse, but then to my delight it didn't contain any soy products at all. Hallelujah! It is made with lots of buttermilk, which I thought was always heavier than cream, but found out it is made from skim milk and has way less calories than cream. Could that news get any better? So here is the recipe to make your own. I am hoping it turns out as good as it sounds.

Ranch-O-Rama

1cup buttermilk


1/4 cup sour cream (you can use light)


1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar


1 clove garlic, grated


2 tablespoons (about a palmful ) fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped


2 tablespoons (about a palmful) fresh dill, chopped


1 tablespoon (a small palmful) fresh chives, chopped


Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Yields 6 servings


In a medium-size bowl, mix together the buttermilk, sour cream, white wine vinegar, garlic, hot sauce, parsley, dill and chives. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix in any of your favorite ingredients to make it special

A Gift In The Mail

I love getting mail. I wish everyone would just stop emailing and go back to writing letters, it would make me so happy. I have always had an affinity for stationery and pens, stamps and sealing wax; so you can imagine my delight when I opened up the mail the other day and found the best present waiting for me. It was personalized stationery made for me by the very talented Melissa Haworth of Haworth Handmade. She is also a fellow Craft Mafia sister of mine. I didn't realize till I opened them, that there were many different designs that she had included. How awesome is that! I was a winner of her pay-it-forward contest on her blog and this was my prize! It is so fabulous, I can't wait to write a note and send it on. Thank you Melissa for my nice present and for spelling my name correctly!! I love them!