Weekend Picnic with Nana and Poppa!

On Saturday, Elijah was very excited to have his very first, for real picnic with a picnic basket and blanket in Williamson's Park!

 We had sandwhiches, veggies, fruit, and lovely weather.  It was lots of fun!

 We had a nice view of Ashton Memorial from our spot on the grass.

 Poppa did a good job trying to get Elijah to look at the camera....

 Elijah enjoyed a nice sunny Saturday, hanging out with Daddy too!

And Nana took care of him when he was all tuckered out....

We have had a great time with Mom and Dad, and will be sad to see them go tomorrow.  So thankful to have had this time, and glad that we got a couple of nice sunny days to enjoy our last weekend together for a little while. :-) Hope you are all having a nice weekend...and hey, no work tomorrow! 

Mom & Dad are here!

Well, it's been busy at The Wightman's the last couple of weeks!  Mom and Dad have been here from the U.S.A., and it has been great so far!  They are off on a little adventure for the next couple of nights, and we miss them already!  Here are a few highlights of the trip so far....

We went to Harrogate and had afternoon tea at Betty's...

 Then wandered aimlessly taking pictures and shopping in the town centre...

 

We stopped at Bolton Abbey on the way home...

Elijah has enjoyed a lot of "window time" with Poppa...

 ...and many games of "driving to America" with Nana!

I love having Mom and Dad here! I think Elijah is enjoying Nana and Poppa time too.....poor kid will be very upset when he realizes that he can't actually "drive to America"!

Happy Tuesday!

The Incomplete Guide to Living

I have been SO inspired recently.  I've been inspired to create. To decorate. To cook. To entertain. I've been inspired in those areas of life that allow me to express my personality and creativity.  I have posted a lot about this recent inspiration here on our family blog, but I was feeling like I was a little bit all over the place....

Sometimes, I want to post pictures of our growing family, give a little insight into what's been going on in our lives, or share some inane ramblings that represent the inner workings of my mind.  Those sort of posts will be taking place here. Sometimes, I want to post about household projects, recipes and other home-maker type things....From now on, those creative type posts will be found over on the new blog.

I've known for a while that I wanted a more focused place to express my creative side, and have a better avenue to share any fun projects or recipes with any of you who may or may not be reading.  I have been brainstorming (and brainstorming some more) trying to come up with a name that would represent what I want this blog to be about. What did I want to the focus to be here?

My initial idea was "A Growing Home" or something along those lines.  Thought about it a bit, and even went so far as to see if the name could be registered, but the blog address was already registered to some German guy.....who tells us all about home growing a certain "herb"...if you know what I mean...and it's not basil. Let's just say, I think Harold and Kumar would really enjoy his blog...if they spoke German. I will be sharing a bit about using herbs in cooking, but I think I should reiterate: they are not of the Harold and Kumar variety....

My creativity has also been flowing recently while planning a couple of parties around a theme. It is so fun to see the little spark of an idea turn into a really fun event.  It's amazing to see people being entertained and enjoying the atmosphere that you've created.

After even more reflecting, I finally had a brain wave: The Perfect Guide to Life.  Then, I thought, "Who the heck am I kidding?! I'm so far from perfect it's not even funny..." And I laughed to myself..... So, I guess technically it is funny. The best part about this whole little thought exchange was that I was reminded again that I have recently admitted to and accepted my imperfections.  I no longer feel a crippling need to do things "perfectly or not at all".  Sure, I like to do things well, but I know that my self worth is not found in perfection.  It's found in everything that makes me.....me.  It's found in my imperfections. I'm not perfect.  I am a work in progress. Our home is a work in progress. And I'm okay with that.  

And so, with a little title tweaking, the new blog was born: The Incomplete Guide to Living.  I hope you'll read, and I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me and Jim (some projects require a little more technical experience than I possess. No one around here wants to saw off a phalange, am I right? ;-), as we stumble our way through making this giant, old farm house into the best version of the warm, inviting home that we know it can be.

So....have I got your attention?  Will you follow me over at The Incomplete Guide to Living?

Big Boy P.J.'s-- A Little Sad...a LOT of Cute!

The other night was Elijah's first night in his "big boy" P.J.'s!  He still has some footed pajamas, but it seems like they are getting harder to find in his size (especially when they are on sale...which is when I tend to buy his clothes!)

So....here's my mischevous little boy in his shark jammie's! Can you practically hear the pitter patter of his little feet??

Happy Saturday!  :-)

Pizza ....wait for it.... Poppers

So, when I was in baby shower planning mode, I also decided that some home made party food would be fun to serve.  I showed you my Caprese pop recipe earlier this week, and today's post is about Pepperoni Pizza Poppers! I was inspired by the idea of Jalapeno poppers.  (They were a no-go,, because I was afraid some of the older British ladies might scoff at anything spicier than a potato).  First, I tried a deep fried pizza popper recipe, and it was tasty.  Pepperoni? Good.  Mozarella? Good.  Deep fried? Goooood. Unfortunately, I just didn't think it was presentable enough to serve to guests, so after eating 3 1 of those for quality control purposes, I moved on to a new approach.

I decided to make them like mini calzones....it was pretty simple once I got the hang of dealing with the dough......lightly floured surface?  Yeah right.....try lots and lots of flour everywhere to prevent the dough from turning into a sticky mess.

Here's what you'll need:

Since I'm no dough expert, so I opted for a "just add water" pizza dough mix, which was really easy.  I could have made the sauce from scratch....but I didn't have time (I knew I would be cleaning my kitchen for weeks to get rid of all the flour! ;-)

Ingredients: 
1 pizza base mix
1/2 jar pasta sauce (and 1/2 jar to serve)
1 pack mini mozarella
1/2 pack pepperoni
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
Medium Biscuit Cutters
Fresh Basil to serve
Makes 20

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 180°C  (375°F)
2. Prepare toppings.... I just cut up the pepperoni and mozarella like so.

 3. Prepare pizza dough according to package instructions (or from scratch if you have the time for that sort of thing...who can wait for a whole HOUR for dough to rise?!)
4. Knead the dough and roll out on a WELL floured surface.

 5. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into as many circles as you can.  Hints: My biscuit cutter was about 2" in diameter...next time I would use a larger one to keep the sauce from squidging out of the sides.  Also, you can combine the "scrap" pieces of dough into a ball and roll it out again to get more circles.
6. Put a piece of parchment paper onto a pizza stone or baking tray, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Place the pizza dough circles onto the paper.

 6. Spoon about 1 1/4 tsp sauce onto each circle and add toppings.

 7. Fold the dough over and pinch it together around the edge.
 8. Brush with mozarella and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.

 9. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, and serve with basil garnish and the remaining sauce for dipping.

Yum yum!

Cute, right? Do you have any fun recipes for serving pizza as a party food? 

Happy Weekend, Everybody!

...and happy early Birthday (and Christmas...and next birthday...and next Christmas) to me!

I've been playing with my new "toy"....  Any guesses what it might be?

What about now?? Here's a little peak of Elijah checking it out...

 

And tasting part of it....

.

 If you guessed that it's a Canon DSLR, then you win £50!**  Now, if you can guess what model it is, I'll be really impressed!  Though, I doubt anyone would guess from these photos. My photography skills are dusty, and I've never really worked with a DSLR. I took photography back in high school for a year or two in the "good old days" when hanging out in a darkroom was a requirement for admittance into the inner circle of photographic geniuses. I've got a pretty steep learning curve ahead as I explore what this bad boy can do!  I'm determined not to leave the dial set to "Auto" too often, and really work on mastering the more artistic capabilities of the camera. I hope you all think Elijah is as cute as I do, because you will probably be seeing a lot more of him around here.  As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, I take issue with sharing too many grainy iPhone photos....but crystal clear photos from my new camera? I think I'm okay with sharing those.

Do any of you have a DSLR? What are your go to settings? Any tips for a DSLR novice?!

**Joke's on you...even though we got a good deal on a used one on eBay, we've already spent the "prize  money" a few times over on the camera.

Caprese Pops

I recently posted about the shower we threw for my friend, Heather.  If you remember, the theme was "Ready to Pop".  My friend Jess came up with the theme, inspired by Popcorn.  Of course, I couldn't stop there once these creative wheels of mine got turning.  I'm no whizz in the baking department, but I have always loved the ideas of cake pops. However, I was in charge of savoury foods for the shower.  Then, I remembered that a while back at my Weight Watchers meeting (oh the irony), they were plugging their cake pop kit which also included some savoury "cake" pop recipes.  This got me thinking, how could I wrap up the cake pop cuteness in a savoury package.  Then it came to me.....


Pesto "cake".  On a stick. With mozarella. And?  You guessed it....basil!  Watch out world!  CAPRESE SALAD JUST GOT CRAZY!
Here's what you'll need:

I was making a double batch- that's why there are two eggs shown here!

For the pesto"cake":
50g self raising flower
20g margerine
salt
pepper
5 teaspoons green pesto
1 medium egg, beaten
1 tablespoon plain greek yoghurt
Cake pop mold (or mini muffin tin)
To serve:
1 package of fresh, mini mozarella cheese
1 pack of on the vine cherry tomatoes
1 small bunch of fresh basil
Remainder of green pesto
20 cake pop sticks
Makes 20 Caprese Pops!

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C (375°F)
2. Beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside
3. Sift the flour into a large bowl. 
   
4. Add the egg to the flour and mix. 
5. Add the remainder of the ingredients (salt, pepper, greek yoghurt, and pesto) and mix well
   
6. Spoon the mixture into the cake pop mold
   
7.  Replace the lid, and bake for 16 minutes
   
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from the mold.  
9. Cut the cake pops in half. (I'm no baking expert, so mine did not come out as perfect spheres.  I discarded the wobbly top bit, and just used the pretty rounded bit from the bottom of the mould.)
   
10. Wash the cherry tomatoes and set to one side to drain.
11. Cut the mini mozarellas in half the same way you did with the pesto cake
    
12. Assemble the Caprese Pops:  Tomato first (on the bottom), then mozarella, then the dome shaped pesto "cake" on top....and voila!  You now have Caprese POPS!
    
    

Serve with basil garnish, and extra pesto for dipping. (or you could also serve with oil/balsamic...mmm.. that would be tasty!).

Are you into the whole "cake pop" craze?! What are your favourite cake pop recipes?