Summer...she's having a blast!

Summer is a time of year that we LOVE in this house. The rush, rush, race pace of the school year comes to a grinding halt and a little more fun comes into our lives. Maybe it's the evenings at the pool, maybe it's the lack of homework, maybe it's the later bedtimes, but whatever it is - I like it!

The weeone has been spending her summer days at a GREAT activities Day Camp here in Houston called Kids Fun Camp. This is her 3rd summer there and she loves it. They go nonstop all summer long. The highlights this week on the schedule??? Dance Dance Revolution, Swimming, Mechanical Bull-Riding (yes, it's true!), Cotton Candy, Inflatable Water Slides and Swimming. I sort of wish I could go to Kids Fun Camp instead of work!!! KFC is where we met my awesome, wonderful, loveable babysitter, Melissa. She's a counselor at the camp and was with the group the weeone was in the 1st year. They're not together anymore, but nothing can keep these two apart!

Here's Melissa with the weeone on a waterslide day at camp this year. These 2 are like 2 peas in a pod. When they're together, it's best I just leave the house!

What else is great about summer? All those "it's a school night" rules get thrown out the window! For example, last Sunday evening the weeone and her friend, Little Mama (who you can find out more about on 3 Monkeys Jumping) decided they wanted to have a sleepover. Now, you've got to understand that Little Mama is a year younger than the weeone and we tried this about a year ago and around 9:30, Staci, Little Mama's mom, had to come retrieve her. This year the girls were certain it would be a success.

So, since it's summer....OF COURSE you can have a sleepover on a school night....there's no school!!!! It was a hit. Those of you who are on facebook helped me get through by enjoying a virtual glass of wine with me and laughing along!

Seriously, some of my fondest memories are of sleepovers as a kid. Night spent laughing, dancing and performing to our favorite albums, talking about our favorite things, talking about scary things. Sleepovers are what being a little girl is all about!!!

They watched High School Musical 2- with popcorn and everything -

We had some "spa treatments" with unlimited nail polish colors!

They refused to both look at the camera at the same time so I could capture this moment forever!

And my favorite part of the night happened around 9:10pm....silent, sleeping beauties.

Had they stayed up giggling any later, my glass of wine would have certainly turned into a bottle... =)

She just needs to breathe.....

The weeone can't always breathe. She, like 8.9 million other children in the United States and 30.2 million children and adults, has asthma. She was diagnosed about 3 years ago when her pediatrician thought that her allergies bothered her often enough that I should take her to an allergist and have her screened for asthma. "Oh, heavens," I protested at the time, "she doesn't wheeze and rarely coughs and well, I talk about asthma ALL day long for work. I'd KNOW if she has asthma, and I'm certain that she doesn't!"

It's a good thing that I'm not the one responsible for diagnosing asthma in this country!

A trip to the allergist and a few lung flows later, I learned that I was wrong. My sweet, adorable, perfect little girl couldn't breathe the same way her friends could. I was stunned. I was amazed. But luckily, I was already educated about the disease. For example, I knew already that it wasn't a "harmless thing" that you grow out of. I knew that 3,000 people in the US die from asthma each year and a 1/3 of those have "mild asthma". I knew all of this because of my job, but I never expected work and home to collide in this manner.

You'll notice that not even asthma can keep her off a softball field!

The good news was and still is, that there are amazing treatment options these days for kids and adults alike with asthma. The weeone is followed carefully, takes maintenance medication every day to keep her lungs and airways open and going strong, and there's always a rescue canister of medication close by in case she every gets into a breathing emergency. She's in good shape.

I worry a little when she's not with me. If she's on a field trip or at camp or with someone who isn't me....what if? So, I've decided that I'm going to order her a medical alert bracelet. The good news about that? I found some CUTE ones!!! My next door neighbor's sister has a company that makes really great medical alert bracelets. Ones that you won't want to hide. Ones that are cool...even if you're 7. =) So, if you need a medical alert bracelet, check out Fiddledee-IDs. This is the one that the weeone wants -

I wanted to talk about this today really because there are a lot of misconceptions about this illness. If you have asthma, listen to your doctor, do what he/she tells you and take your medicine!!! If you have asthma you can do anything anyone else does - swim, play softball, and run faster than your mom....just ask the weeone.

For information on asthma or other pulmonary illnesses visit one of these websites-

The American Lung Association

National Jewish's Asthma Information Page

National Institure of Health's NHLBI Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma

Okay, now I PROMISE no more serious posts for a while...we'll be all back to cute kids stuff, frustrated mommy stuff and great food!

The latest cakes....

I have a side business as a cake decorator. Did you know that? I'm guessing since really only Staci and my Mom read this blog, that the two of you do know that (and yes, I know there are a few others of you out there!)! I thought I'd share a few of the latest cakes that I've done. I should mention that I haven't edited these photos yet to get rid of my breakfast room in the background, but you can still see the cakes. To see more photos of cakes I've done you can visit the Sugar High Cakes website although I have to admit I haven't updated that in about a month of Sundays. I guess it's time for some website updating soon!!!

For My Mother's Birthday

For the Middle McG Boy's Birthday

For a little one's 1st Birthday

For a 30something's Birthday who loves Twilight

For the weeone's softball team party

What do you think?

Inquiring minds want to know...do you like the new facelift of the blog?

Stuffed Hot and Yummy Goodness!

What's a cookout without a few good appetizers? Well, it's not nearly as good a cookout! Spicy is one of my all time favorite flavors. Is spicy a flavor? It is now! If it's a spicy food, I probably like. So it's only natural that would be a connoisseur of stuffed jalapenos. I've never been a fan of the ones only stuffed with cheeses, but cheese is a critical ingredient in the stuffing of peppers! I love when they're stuffed with some sort of meat or bread stuffing or something similar.

So early in the morning on the 4th of July, I had an idea - Stuffed Jalapenos, Poppers, whatever we call them these days!!! So, how to do it dairy-free so that I could enjoy them too? Dairy-free cream cheese. But I was crazy scared that tofu based cream cheese would be crazy gross, so mixing other flavors in was a must!

Here's what I had on hand -

So I sliced the jalapenos in half, scraped the seeds and ribs out using that handy dandy tool in the photo above. I think it's meant to destem strawberries and it's made by The Pampered Chef, but it's a great jalapeno pepper innard-cleaner!

I mixed the whole tub of fake cream cheese, 8 oz of lump crab meat, about 1 cup (although I didn't measure it) of plain unseasoned bread crumbs and about 2-3 tablespoons of Old Bay. I used this mixture to fill the pepper halves then baked them at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

And VOILA! They were great - fake cream cheese and all! I will make these again, that's for certain. Next time I may stuff the peppers whole from the tops and put them on the grill....wrapped in bacon, of course, because everything is better with bacon!

Berry Sorbet...with a little somethin' somethin'

I've never been a big ice cream fan *gasp*. It's true. As a kid the frozen treat I went to first at Baskin-Robbins was either rainbow sherbet or daiquiri ice (which BR has done away with in recent years - shame on you BR!!!). I don't know what it is about ice cream versus a sherbet or an ice -ooooh....that just made me remember the Italian Water Ice that I also loved as a kid...I wonder where a Houston gal can't a bit of that!- but the cream is not my preference.

I suppose the fact that ice cream's not a big draw for me has been useful during my transition to dairy-free life (the why on that is explained in this post). But I do love a sweet frozen treat during the summer. And this summer in particular I've been craving the cold things. It's been blazingly hot in Houston this June. The temps are soaring to ridiculous numbers that have 3 digits and we're all resorting to anything cold to try to stay comfortable. I've been wondering if those water bras freeze well? It's a thought.

I knew it would be hot on the 4th of July and since I was not in control of the menu I offered to make a sorbet for one the desserts. Problem there? I have only made sorbet like once, ever. And it was no raving success to write home about. It was average. It was okay. But it wasn't great. I wanted something yuuuuuummy and perfect if I was taking it to a cookout!!! So, where did I turn? My trusty friends over on the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards. Those folks are a wealth of great information and recipes (as well as all sorts of advice if you're having trouble with your mother-in-law or your nosey neighbor or what sort of digital slr camera you should buy or....okay let's just say Lots of Things!).

The CLBB crowd rallied with my cry for help with non-dairy frozen treats. I was amazed at the options. But I settled on a couple that I would try. The first of which is a Berry Sorbet( with a little somethin' somethin' )- thanks sneezles for the recipe! This was super easy to make. It came together quickly and froze really nicely. It was pretty in the dish (soooo important!) and it tasted really good. Overall, this was a success! I would have liked a little more of the somethin' somethin', so I might increase it the next time I make it and see if it freezes the same because it had a GREAT texture that I wouldn't want to ruin.

So if you're in the mood for something cold and something with a little zing and something to lift your mood, go find yourself some Berries and bottle of Grey Goose and make yourself a treat...and then invite me over!

****Warning****

It is not the Sorbet's fault that this is a poor photo....please don't hold it against the sorbet!

Berry Sorbet

(with a little somethin' somethin')

compliments of sneezles on the CLBB

5 cup raspberries or strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup
1/3 cup fresh lime juice divided
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Chambord (raspberry-flavored liqueur) or Kirsch

Place berries in a blender; process until smooth. Press blackberry puree through a sieve into a medium bowl; discard seeds. Add sugar, syrup, lime juice, 1/4 cup vodka, lemon juice and liqueur to black berry puree; stir well.

Pour berry mixture into the freezer can of an ice cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze until firm.

I'm a Yankee-Doodle-Dandy...

I love the 4th of July. There are three main reasons I love the 4th of July and I got to experience all of them again this year.

#1 - I adore deviled eggs - everything about them; the making, the eating and the eating. Did I say that twice? Well, yeah, I meant it. They're good. No doubt about it.

This year the weeone lent a hand in the deviled egg-making. She helped peel the eggs after they were cooked and she did some mixing while making the devilish parts. It was fun. We had a great time in the kitchen.

My secrets to great deviled eggs? No recipe. It's true. This is one thing that doesn't need a recipe - it's an eyeballin' thang. To the egg yolks I add: Mayonnaise, Dijon Mustard, Dill Relish, and Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning. I also sprinkle some of that Tony's on top when they're done. It adds a nice little kick that I love! Of course, the love of the weeone is sprinkled in as well to make your day all sunshine and lollipops-like. =)

#2 - I think my dad is a great grillmaster. He did a great job as always. This year it was burgers and dogs, accompanied by Tutu's great bbq'd beans, my mom's broccoli salad...yummy!

#3 - I love setting off fireworks. It's true. I suppose I'm a bit of a closet pyromaniac. I love the bright lights, the load noises, the element of surprise - all of it. As it turns out, the weeone has inherited this trait (to be fair, her father is like that too!) so we had WAY too much fun in the Fireworks Warehouse! I could have bought them out.

My pyrotechnic handiwork...

I hope you all had a very safe and very happy and very explosive 4th of July!!!!