TuTu & 'Stache Bash!

(Get ready for a picture bonanza...)

Last summer, when Jamie was born, she came in a trio of Hinckley cousins:

Jamie: June 24, 2011

Megan: July 9, 2011

Grant: September 24, 2011

So when Kendy and her kids came to visit right in the middle of all these first birthdays we decided to have a big joint birthday party for all three babies.

All the girls the night before making tutus for party favors, while all the boys went to a Ranger's game.

All our guests with their respective accessories:

Mustached boys

Tyler took his mustache-wearing very serious.

Tutu'd girls

Pretty Birthday Girl!

Each birthday baby had a cake: the girls got initial cakes with pink icing tutus, and Grant got his very own mustache cake :)

Some party decorations! (That didn't actually get printed out in time, but I thought they were so fun)

We played Pin The Mustache On The Grant and Pin The Tutu On The Jamie and Megan.

Birthday girls in their tutus watching the older kids playing party games

Tyler was SOO excited about playing the games

Oh well, Grant's armpit is just as good...

Birthday girls bored with the games and trying to break into the forbidden upstairs.

Water balloon toss outside!

Tyler was horrified that we were breaking the water balloons, and held onto this red one for twenty minutes, scowling at everyone who threw theirs.

Jamie did not join the water balloon toss, but she was so happy to be outside. She hadn't been feeling great that morning, and she was so happy to get to crawl around on the deck.

Cake time! The lineup...

And they're off!

I regret to report that Jamie is no stranger to cake. She knew just what to do with this slice. Megan watched her cousin in awe. Or disgust, I can't tell :)

The babies weren't shy about their cakes:

Grant developed an interesting technique. He dipped a pretzel stick into the icing over and over before diving in with his hands.

Jamie and Megan kept showing each other their fist fulls of cake and then looking under their plates for more.

The rest of the kids liked the cake too, although they were pretty adamant that the girls should only eat the girls' cakes, and the boys should only eat Grant's cake. Any deviation was quickly ridiculed.

A birthday-suit bath was mandatory after all that cake!

Thanks for coming everyone! We had a great time, and we are all are ready to sleep until their second birthdays next year.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We had a nice family dinner over at David and Marie's new house last Sunday to celebrate Grandma's birthday.

As per tradition, we brought a cake and let everyone else feed us dinner:

Grandma received lots of love and hugs and several presents from her grand-babies, including fake flowers, a butterfly catcher, and a hand colored picture frame :)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Feasting with the Prophets VII

Week #7: Heber J. Grant

Favorite Dessert: Figgy Pudding

This week was a really fun one. Here's some fun facts on Heber J. Grant:

1. The J. stands for Jeddy, which I first misread as Jedi and got pretty excited, and then I reread it correctly.

But...

Then I looked at this snappy picture of President Grant:

And then saw this uncanny resemblance:

Coincidence?

I think not.

From now on (in my book, at least), he is President Heber "Jedi" Grant,

So...we didn't actually learn much about Heber J. Grant (kind of let that part slide...), but Figgy Pudding was a big fat hit. Our visiting cousins from Virginia were so so excited about eating Figgy Pudding, and even Grandpa put on the Muppet's We Wish You A Merry Christmas in his office.

Amid "Won't go. Won't go!!" 's, we whipped up this winner from Paula Dean herself. Someday, we'll try the real Heber J. Grant recipe from the Lion House Cookbook, but you can never go wrong with a recipe from Queen Dean.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chopped dried pitted dates
• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 7 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 1/2-ounces dark chocolate, grated
• Butter, for coating ramekins
• Whipped cream, for garnish

Sauce:

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 14 tablespoons butter
• Fresh figs, quartered, for garnish
• Vanilla ice cream, optional
• Whipped heavy cream, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the dates, dried figs and water to a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then add to a blenderand puree.

Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat well. Fold in the flour, the pureed date mixture and the chocolate.

Put the mixture into 4 buttered, 1-cup individual ramekins, filling halfway or slightly under. Put in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Prepare the sauce by stirring the sugar, cream and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Simmeruntil the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until incorporated.

Remove the ramekins from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. May be served in the ramekin or unmolded onto a small serving plate. With paring knife cut a cross in the top of the puddings for the sauce.

Pour the sauce into the cross in the center of each pudding, then pour more sauce over the puddings and it allow to soak in slightly. Top with fresh figs and vanilla ice cream or heavily whipped cream. Serve warm.

Soooo delicious. This is the first one that I have been tempted to do again. McKay said this was the best dessert I've ever made, and since he loves everything I make, that is telling indeed.

Earth

We were coming out of a restaurant downtown last week, and we looked up to see the Dallas skyline right there in front of us! (Partially blocked by a parking structure, but still!) We told Tyler all about the different buildings, but all he had eyes for was the moon that was sitting so nicely right in between towers. Or, more exactly, "the Earth. Like in Wall-e."

A little more questioning revealed that in Tyler World, moons are crescents. Earths are circles. And that is that.