Wordless Wednesday- An Angel With Bedhead

Gluten Free Eclairs and a Sweet Girl

I love this girl!

We picked up some marshmallows from Whole Foods the other day in hopes of roasting some this weekend in our chimenea. I gave her two as a treat for being a good girl that day and this is what she did. A nibble here and a nibble there.  I'm glad she savors her treats. We try to make treats special.  That is why we rarely buy them for the house. Instead we bake from scratch occasionally and make getting ice cream special by going out to a local ice cream parlor or a frozen yogurt bar. It makes it fun and hopefully shows her that sweets should be "treats" and not a food group. 

My husband's birthday was recently so Amelia and I made gluten free eclairs instead of a cake. I used a recipe from here except I made the filling using the vanilla pudding recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  I did add an extra egg white to the pate a choux. It seems that I could take my original recipe for pate a choux and replace wheat flour with a gluten free flour mix. 

The gluten free pate a choux cooks up pretty well.  Once it is baked it does feel a little different to the touch compared to wheat eclairs but it doesn't affect the taste or texture in my opinion.

They hold up really well too. I'm glad the gluten free pate a choux works because I love making cream puffs with chicken salad in them for parties.  Another successful gluten free recipe to add to my recipe box. ;-)

Dreaming of Autumn

I have been so giddy about Autumn lately! I know summer isn't over yet but I adore the Fall season.  The smells and colors are so vivid and hold so many memories for me. I stopped in to The Yankee Candle store to check out their new fall scents.  Talk about intoxicating! There candle scents are so strong and accurate! It amazes me every time I step foot into their store. They make a lot of people happy.

The smell of the "Macintosh Apple" candle transports me straight to an apple barn in the mountains of Virginia. Seriously I can relive my childhood just by smelling the Yankee Candle selections. Their spicy fall scents are so cozy. The "Fall Leaves" scent smells so much like the pile of fall leaves we would jump into as children! I love the "Harvest" scent. It's like everything Fall wrapped up in one candle. I prefer the tarts because I don't have to worry about an open flame. Mrs Paranoid here.

(These pictures are from last year so they aren't that great. I'm working on taking better pictures with our new camera.)

When I was visiting family in Virgina I went to a Micheal's craft store and they had the biggest display of Halloween and Fall decorations in the middle of June! The great thing about Micheal's are the sales! They put seasonal things on sale quickly so that I can buy the decorations I want at 40%n off and still enjoy them for the season is over.  Yay for Micheal's!

A harvest cornucopia I made last year. Looks better is person I promise. :-/

Autumn Fun That I'm Excited About

Fall decorations  

Fall leaves 

Orange and black flowers

Dehydrating oranges and apples

Drinking mulled apple cider

Visiting an apple orchard 

Pumpkin patch

Craft Shows

Renaissance Faire

Cooking with winter squash 

Soups, soups and more soups

Pumpkin spice and lots of it!

Sweaters

Boots

Scarves

Wool Cloche hats

Crochet hats and slippers 

The crochet ripple afghan I'm working on!

Black pansies called Halloween II 

Baskets full of yarns. Trying to use these up so I can buy some real wool and cotton yarns! Husband's orders.

I love wrought iron details. Especially with the warmth of fall colors. Wrought iron reminds me of primitive New England.  Ohhh and that's a dream of mine.  To tour New England in the Fall!!!! I am giddy just thinking about it. Saltbox houses, swirling red and orange leaves on the ground, New England clam chowder, visiting Stars Hallow....wait that's not real.

My house plant looks sad. It looks way better now!

I love these primitive flickering black candles that are dipped in real wax! Found these at a Boutique in Amelia, Va. They have the prettiest collection of primitive inspired furniture, wrought iron pieces and decor.

I can't believe how much Amelia has changed since last fall! She looks like a baby here.

She dressed as a little baker for Halloween last year. It was a last minute costume for sure. This year I plan on making a nice costume.  I'm thinking Little Red Riding Hood or she can go as Snow White since she bought the gorgeous Snow White costume from the Disney store with her birthday money.

Me and Miss Amelia last Halloween before I went red. :-)

Amelia's 3rd Birthday Party

I can't believe my baby is 3 years old! They tell you that they grow up so fast. They were right.

I started planning for Amelia's 3rd birthday party for so many months! I came up with a woodland fairytale theme and ran with it. I blogged about my inspirations for her birthday party here.

I always tend to go a little crazy with handmade decorations.  I may get frustrated while making them but it usually all works out in the end.  Sometimes down to the last minute.

I started buying up flowers from Micheal's back in early spring when they went on sale.  I bought lots of maidenhair fern bunches and separated them then attached them end to end with florist wire to make a simple garland. I bought burlap from the fabric store to use as a rustic overlay on the table.

Lots of yummy food!

Iced coffee and peach iced tea! I used The Pioneer Woman's iced coffee recipe. It was a big hit.

I took inspiration from the Renaissance Faire to make this garland. I dyed muslin fabric different colors then ripped them into strips. I tied the muslin strips onto garden twine.  

 I sprinkled a trail of "pixie dust" onto my plants to lead to the special fairy messages.

Fairy house....naturally.

At the end of the pixie dust trail were pieces of blank paper. Fairies leave secret messages didn't you know? In order to see the secret messages you have to paint the paper with colors from the rainbow of course.

 And like magic the secret fairy messages appear!

 Cool Huh? So fun and so simple. Draw images on watercolor paper with the end of a white candle. Wherever there is wax the watercolor paint will be repelled.

I molded toad stools with fondant and let them dry a day or two. I dipped my finger in water and rubbed the toad stool top until it got a little sticky which didn't take long.  I then sprinkled tiny white sprinkles on top to resemble the spots on real toad stools. I used a leaf tip to pipe "grass" onto the gluten free cupcakes.

My mother-in-law and niece Olivia,

My husband Joaquin and his comical mustache.

Little Miss Olivia.

Favors! Burlap bags filled with cosmo seeds and pixie dust! I made pixie dust bottle necklaces for the little ones. You have to keep your pixie dust close by don't ya know.

I made all of the girls different fairy crowns. They looked so cute in them. I made gnome hats for the boys too.

The kids got to dig for buried treasure! Jewels, gold coins and a few small toys.  They spent a lot of time in the sand box. There was sand everywhere! 

The after math. THE END