Cheesy flowers....

Good morning...Day 4 of Miss A's Big Kinder Adventure and she has decided she wants to ride the bus home!!! AAAGGHHHHH...sorry...I'm ok. I may have to try to swing by and watch her come off the bus because I don't know if I can handle it! One of her favorite things to do is to use one of the MANY flower cutters I have to cut cheese! hahaha...Cut Cheese! Sorry...juvenile. So today Miss A did a very elegant display of cheese flowers atop some seasoned green beans. Chopped turkey breast fillet, tomatoes, grapes, and a Babybel cheese because one she loves them and two it helped keep all the pieces in her lunchbox nice and snug! Just so you know...this food was leftovers from last night!!! It's ok moms to do leftovers occasionally. Especially if they liked it the first time! ha! She also packed her little thermos with rice. Yummmm....Go Alexa go. Now tomorrow they are having Pizza sticks in the lunchroom so she is going to try the cafeteria!! So no bento tomorrow...she did say she wanted to make her baby brother Maxim a rocket ship lunch! ha!

The Kissing Hand.....

Not going to lie we have been out of the habit of posting bentos so forgot to post Alexa's bento from yesterday! So two pictures today. 

On the first day of school I must admit I was super sad, as most parents are apparently, because Alexa came home with a poem called The Kissing Hand:

It's my first day of school

And the "Kissing Hand" is what we read.

It's about a raccoon

Who did just as his parents said.

Like the raccoon's first day of school

I was scared and a little shy.

But because of what you said

I was brave and I got by.

All through the year

I'll make more things for you.

So as I change and as I learn

You can see my growth, too!

Now the tears are flowing again!! haha! Here are Miss A's bentos for Tuesday and Wednesday her 2nd and 3rd day of Kindergarten....*sniff *sniff...

Day 3 of Miss A's Kinder Bentos - Turkey sandwich with a cheese raccoon, chips, raspberries and the last of the cookies Nanny Margie gave to Alexa!! The eyes, nose, and ears of raccoon are organic fruit strip pieces. 

Day 2 Miss A's Kinder Bentos - mac and cheese, cookie, organic chicken strips,  mandarin oranges, black olives, with fun bento food picks!!

Miss A and I featured in online newsletter.....

Crazy I know....but Miss A and I were asked this summer to write an article about Bento's and how to make them. It is a feature about helping kids eat healthier. We had a lot of fun and feel super special that were asked! I think it was also the jumping pad to get Alexa back on track and ready for the school year and making her own bentos 100%! I guess I will have to start making my own... Ha!

Click below to be directed to the link for the newsletter:
http://www.essentialformulas.com/newsmanager/news_article.cgi?news_id=89&alt_main_prefix=alt-main-&no_date=1

She's baaaaack!!!!

Well it has been an eventful 24 hours in the Zielinski household. Miss A has been the star of the day. First day of Kindergarten is such a big day! Our first born little princess was so ready to walk right in and get her day started. When she got home she said there were so many great things she could not just name one thing!
Well over the weekend Miss A decided she was ready to make her own lunches on her own terms. So Miss A is baaaaaack! No weekly themes, no crazy details, and no MOM!!! Ouch! Ha! She dragged out her step stool, went to the pantry and pulled one little cutter....a bear. That's all. Simplistic beauty...

Four little bear sandwiches, cut up pears, edamame, and pirate booty!!!

A Wacky Day!!!

A wacky cake that turned into a wacky day!

Some special friends of ours were celebrating their daughter's 6th birthday who is also a very good friend of Miss A's. So when her mom told me she was having a Madagascar circus themed party I knew it had to be spectacular and definitely wacky!!!
I love to make topsy turvy cakes but they are very time consuming and when you cut the layers there is always the chance that you cut too much or not straight enough and it just doesn't look right. They now have pans that are already shaped at an angle, but you have to buy more pans and in all sizes....that of course requires funds and space to store. I have seen some trends in wacky topsy turvy cake stands that basically tilt the cake for you! No cutting necessary! I looked up some stands on-line and found some to purchase anywhere from $99 to $500 for kits. Then I saw some DIY videos and pictures. All it took was a design I had in mind and showing my husband Henry the stands and he was so ready to try to make one! CHALLENGE ON!

Well the stand was complete and when it was time to stack the cakes I'm not going to lie, we had a few re-do's in regard to cutting the holes in the board but we got it!!!

Of course it wasn't just the wacky style cake that made this day wacky. As I was finishing up the top layer, which I had to access on my tip toes, my pregnant belly got in the way so I had to push the bar stool out of the way further. When I did it hit the corner post and came back on my foot! Let's just say my foot looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame! My fabulous neighbor Michelle took me to the ER so Henry and the kiddos could deliver the cake!! The show must go on!!! 

Thank goodness my foot was just super bruised. I would post a pic of my foot, but it may be inappropriate. 

Bottom layer:

The bottom layer had Melman and Gloria!  

Marty and Gia sat on the second layer which was a harlequin pattern. When Henry delivered it since I was in the ER I was not able to help secure the cake in transit and the middle layer swung around and did get a little smashed. :(

The top layer had Alex the Lion of course!! And the fabulous circus tent. This was the layer that got me!

The birthday girl and her cake! 

Shower of Good Wishes and Good Cake!

I had the absolute pleasure to create a bridal shower cake today. I didn't know the bride but I had the opportunity to get to know her best friend in the planning of the cake. She is absolutely fabulous and has great taste. Just so grateful she trusted me with this special cake. The bottom layer was red velvet cake with white chocolate filing and the top layer was chocolate with a strawberry filling. Of course the outside was buttercream. Pink fondant pearls around the base of both cakes. The bridal dress was made of a corset style bodice with edible sparkle dust, a pink bouquet of flowers with pearl centers, and the skirted part of the dress was ruffled rose petals that were cut out and shaped individually and dusted with a hint of shimmer dust. Miss Alexa said someday when she gets married she wants a cake just like this! haha...I hope I have at least 20 years or so!!! Ha ha!

An "Engaging" Cake

I live in Collin County in Texas north of Dallas and in this area there are more kids between the ages of 0-5 then 6-18...which means we have a lot of baby stores, kid friendly restaurants, and you can't walk in the mall without getting run over by a few hundred strollers! Which explains why most of the cake requests I receive are usually a kid theme of some sort and pretty busy in regard to all the detail. It is a nice break to get a request for a more formal affair. I am starting to play with cake fillings so this cake of course had the usual buttercream frosting for all the outside of the cake. The bottom tier had buttercream in the middle, middle tier had a vanilla white chocolate, and the top tier had a strawberry preserve. I used a ribbon to wrap around the base and a type of coated raffia for that chic country look. Of course the chic can in place with the fondant magnolias with pearl dusted petals and gold shimmer centers. This what one of my favorite cakes to make for sure!!!