Because every twirly- dress sort of a four-year-old girl needs a very pink dress to do those twirls in, I dipped into my fabric stash and my pattern stash and came up with this Modkid Frida Dress.  It seems pretty much like a four-year-old’s ideal fabric and a simple pretty dress to show off those peacocks to their advantage.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, fun, and very talented twirling niece S!!!  We hope this is your best year yet!

It can be frustrating waiting for the berries to show up at the Greenmarket.  When they do, we pretty much swoon and buy cases to enjoy.

For Mother’s Day, the mini-chefs needed something that they could throw together and with which to impress their mamas.  Since we couldn’t wait to use fresh berries, we settled on using frozen berries.  Using frozen berries is a better choice than using the ones they ship in from far, far away not just because they picked at the height of their lusciousness and taste way better, but also because we want to buy closer to home.  In the city, where we cannot put a freezer in a garage or basement, we have to do what we gotta do.  Frozen in the middle of Winter or Spring is a great option.

Ok, you would think that all of the mini-chefs would be so excited to make these and taste these, and they were, but two of the students, my daughter included, cannot stand berries.  They came up with their own version of a Berriless Shortcake with just the shortcakes and the vanilla cream.  The rest of us thought they were a little cra cra, but hey!  They seemed delighted with their cakes, and that is really what counts in the end, isn’t it?

This might seem daunting since it takes a lot of steps to make, but it definitely is not.  Daddies, you can do this!  You can.  In fact, with lots of food processor supervision, a two-year-old could swing this one.  It is fun to count the pulses on the food processor together.  If you don’t have a fancy old food processor lying around, you can almost as easily make the shortcakes in a big bowl using two knives.  In some ways, this is the more fun method since you can really work some love into the cakes with a little elbow grease.

Mamas, you know we have your back around here!  You might want to print this out and casually leave it somewhere your people will see it.

Strawberry-Blueberry Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream

• 1 c. cold organic whole milk
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1 stick of butter (1/2 c.), cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 c. unbleached flour
• 1/4 c. sugar, plus more to sprinkle over the tops
• large pinch of salt
• 1 t. baking powder
• 2 c. heavy cream, cold
• 1 egg, cold and lightly beaten
• 1 T. vanilla
• 1-2 T. confectioner’s sugar
• 4 c. whole strawberries, hulled and cut in half  and/or some blueberries (frozen are fine for both)

For the Shortcake:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In the food processor combine the flour, 1/4 c. sugar, salt, and baking powder and pulse a few times to mix it all together.  Sprinkle the chunks of butter all over the top of the flour mixture.  Using little, one second pulses, pulse 17-20 times or until the mixture begins to look like coarse meal (butter chunks are now size of large peas or M & M’s).  If you would like, instead to do this by hand, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the butter pieces over the top and, using two knives, or a pastry cutter, cut through the mixture till you have the coarse meal.
3. Whisk the milk and the egg together in a liquid measuring cup with a fork.  In the food processor, pour the milk mixture slowly through the feed tube while running the motor.  When it begins to come together (this happens quickly), turn the machine off immediately and turn the mixture out onto a floured board.  Doing this by hand, you will pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture slowly and in a couple of batches, stirring with a wooden spoon to bring it together.  It will look like a mess if you don’t use the processor.  Don’t worry.  It’s perfect!
4. Make sure you coat your hand with some flour.  Knead a few times and shape into an 8 x 8-inch square.
5. Using your favorite biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out the shortcakes.  Do not wiggle waggle the cut shortcake like you do to cut out cookies.  Press down once only, come back up to free the shortcake from the cutter, and place the shortbreads onto a baking sheet  about an inch apart.
6. Sprinkle the tops with some extra sugar.  (You could also brush with more cream or some egg white if you like)
7. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and gorgeous.  Set aside to cool.

To Make the Vanilla Whipped Cream:

1. In a large, cold bowl, whip the cream till it gets slightly firmer, less soupy.
2. Add the vanilla and the sugar, and whip for another minute or two.  It should be completely together but not over whipped.  Otherwise, you will be making vanilla butter (which kind of sounds amazing, but not for this).

This Moment is from Monday afternoon.  That Moment is from September of 2007.  It is entirely possible these two besties might have yet another moment like this five years from now as well.

Are you getting ready for Cinco de Mayo?  Check out Charlotte’s Chalupas (Part One and Part Two), these Rice and Beans, these Tamales with Greens and Queso Blanco, these Tamales with Cumin Tomato Sauce, and these Chicken Burritos with Black Beans and Mango Salsa.  They are all healthful and yummy options for a tomorrow’s fiesta.

Happy Friday, Yummies!  Hope it’s a beautiful one!

Happy May Day!  And, guess what is coming up in just 4 days?  Cinco de Mayo!

We made these yummy burritos in class to celebrate.  It seems like a lot of steps, but these are really very easy to throw together.  You could, of course, use a rotisserie chicken, squeezing the lime over it, instead of starting from scratch if the ingredient list seems overwhelming.

Set up a bar so that everyone in your family assembles his or his own burrito filled with his or her most favorite things.  The burritos can very easily be made vegetarian making extra black beans.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, Yummies!  Now, go make some burritos.

Chicken Burittos with Beans and Mango Sals

For the Pulled Chicken:

• Two split chicken breasts, skin-on and bone-in
• one onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• two limes, juiced

1.  Place the chicken breasts in a large, heavy-bottomed dutch oven and cover with water.  Add salt, onion, and garlic.  Bring the water to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook till the chicken is completely cooked through.  
2. Remove the chicken to a bowl, remove the skin and shred the meat with two forks.  Squeeze the limes over the shredded meat.  Set aside.

For the Black Beans:

• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 t. cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 c. cooked black beans
• 1 c. corn (frozen is fine)
• 1 c. carrots, shredded
• optional: 1-2 serrano peppers, finely chopped

1. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over low heat.  Add the onions and cumin and saute for 10 minutes, till soft and translucent.  
2.  Add the garlic (and the serrano peppers if using) and cook, stirring, for another minute.
3.  Stir in the beans, the corn, and the carrots.  Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring and mashing the beans and veggies with the back of a wooden spoon.

For the Mango Salsa;

• 2 cups cubed mango (frozen is fine)
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 T. olive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 jalepeno pepper, minced (optional)

In a medium bowl, stir together all of the ingredients gently with a wooden spoon.

To Assemble the Tacos:

• 24 corn tortillas
• Pulled Chicken
• Black Beans
• 2 c. Greek yogurt
• 2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• avocado, tomato, etc.

Grab a tortilla, spread a heaping tablespoon of the black beans in the middle, top with a heaping tablespoon of pulled chicken, some mango salsa, a dollop of Greek yogurt, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.  Fold top and bottom 1/2-inch of the tortilla toward the center.  Starting on either the left or right side of the tortilla, start rolling the burrito up.  Enjoy!

A few weeks ago Mira made a request.  She wanted a dress that was really cool.  Her words, not mine.

Her look isn’t rock star in general since she doesn’t really gravitate toward those things, so I focused on mod instead while trying to keep her looking like the little girl she is.  The Sunki Tunic by Figgy Patterns is shaped in such a way that I could use two fabrics in black and white.

She tried on her new outfit with black leggings and hot pink clogs and, of course, Hello Kitty mood earrings.  Really cool.  Her words, not mine.

One!  Already.

Happy Birthday to you, Little Love!

When Gigi turned about 7 months and grew out of her co-sleeper, she needed a crib set for herself.  Her little crib, inherited from her sister and her brother, was bare.  All of the sheets and comforters that we used to have had been given away.  Her was a blank canvas just waiting for something special, so for Christmas she received a present from Mama.

Back when Genevieve was born, one of Sean’s clients had sent her a fuzzy, chocolate brown colored  Little Giraffe blankie.  She loves to snuggle up in that blanket when she sleeps.  Riley Blake’s Daisy Cottage fabrics hit just the right note of girly yet neutral, just the thing to coordinate with her comfy blanket.

The duvet instructions are here and are by Brett Bara (I know Brett from the East Village, and she’s a total delight!).  The bumper is from Amy Butler’s book, Little Stitches for Little Ones.  I cranked out the duvet in one quiet afternoon.  Easy peasy.

The bumper was (deep breath) quite a project.  Let’s just say that, if you would like to make your own crib bumper, you might want to get started as soon as you find out that you are pregnant.  Actually, you might want to get started BEFORE you ever get pregnant.

Many many stitches, including many many hand stitches, later, it was made, cute as pie.  The twin kitties love to play hide and seek in the pockets.  And Genevieve?  She still does not sleep a whole lot, but when she does, she has her own little snuggle bug world.

(Not Pictured: The very proud Mama and Daddio who were jumping up and down with joy!)

Happiest Weekend to you!

Back when Sean’s cousin S. had her first baby and we knew it was going to be a girl, I asked her what her favorite colors were.  S. told me that she really loved purples and greens, so I went fabric shopping for her little girl-to-be and picked out a bright spring green floral.

Then when her first daughter actually arrived, it was clear that this was not quite the right fabric choice for her.  She just wasn’t a bright green sort of a girl.  She looked so much like a blue girl to me.  I abandoned the green fabric to the sewing closet and choice something else for little Eve.

Now, Eve has a sister and S. her second beautiful daughter, Sue.  When we saw the first pictures of Cousin Sue, that green floral fabric came right to mind.  It suits her.  We only had to wait three years until she arrived on the scene to claim it.

Oliver + S’s Birthday Party Dress remains my most favorite children’s sewing pattern (you can take a look at the couple of BP Dresses that I made here and here), and that is saying a lot because there are so many second favorites.  The construction of the dress is very interesting.  The three-scissor rating on this pattern felt intimidating at first, but it, at least to me, did not feel much more difficult than most of Oliver + S’s two scissors.  There are many steps, but each of the steps is fairly simple.  If you are considering sewing one of these dresses and feeling worried about whether you have the skill set, give it a try.

Sometimes when I am sewing, I will ask the family to vote on certain details like trim fabrics or buttons.  In this case, we held a vote for the button that best fit the button tab in the front.  There were about 8 different buttons up for consideration, but this bright pink flower won the majority of the votes.

Genevieve was kind enough to model Sue’s dress so that we could see how it looks on a little body.  We cannot wait to see Baby Sue, herself, in it!  Sue, welcome to the world, Little One!  We have been waiting for you a long time.