Travis, this has been bugging me for ages!

If you are old enough you may remember the first 501 commercial circa 1981 you will know the line "Travis, you're a year too late!". This along with the apple commercial based on Orwell's book 1984 really rocked my world.  These commercials were ground breaking and iconic. They only referenced the product and left thousands of us wondering what the hell the images meant. Like many of my generation my parents had immigrated to California from the midwest in the 1950's and/or 1960's so the movie Giant was a story my Dad identified with.  By the time I was a tween I had seen the movie a time or two on network TV so the image was a familiar one to me when I first saw the groundbreaking spot-

The example I found on youtube is a bit different than I remember, but for those of you who need their memory exercised here you go! http://youtu.be/g_tWVoHY8pM

Funny how things happen. My husband and I were talking about it this past weekend and I was telling him the story of sitting in my moms car at a light in Anaheim. There was a giant billboard and my sister became possessed by something (possibly just the fact that she was 11) rolled down her car window and practically leaned her entire body out of the window as she yelled "Travis, you're a year too late!" at the top of her lungs in the crowded intersection. There was a white junker next to us full of early 80's punk rock teens and had they not burst out laughing my 13 year old self may have melted into the bucket seat. It really was very spontaneous and funny. None of us knew what the phrase meant, but we all knew it.
While doing a bit of research on this commercial I found this article it gives some really good insight from the creative director of the commercial and finally answers the question "What the heck does that mean?" check it out! http://www.onehellofaneye.com/2010/07/22/

Salad topping= YUM! (updated)

Not too long ago my husband made a cabbage salad with a ramen topping that was really good. Honestly, I'd be happy to have it at least once a week. At least.

A  few days ago I needed to bring a salad to a potluck and wanted to bring something yummy but only had mixed greens and some random veggies. I did have ramen however. So I gave the hub a call and he briefly told me what he used in his topping (instructions included lots of "eyeball it") and slivered almonds which we were also out of. So I cut up all the veggies and went to work making my version of the topping to dress it up a bit. I loved it, my oldest daughter lived it and I h ad to swat her away from it like a fly. I was so pleased hat everyone at he potluck seemed to like it. Today I made it again so here are the steps and the "eyeball recipe"

1) ingredients-1tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, two tablespoons brown sugar, saracha chili sauce (a few squirts or to taste), one pack ramen. My husband uses slivered almonds in his but when I am moved to make it we always seem to be out. Naturally it's your call. 

2) in a saucepan melt butter, add sesame seed oil, seeds, nuts, sugar, and saracha. 

3) while package of ramen is still closed smash the hell out of it, make sure you remove the flavor pack when you open the package.

4) dump into saucepan and stir until ramen is covered

5) spread mix on cookie sheet and put in oven at 350 to brown and crisp

6) watch like a hawk because it will burn!

7) stir now and then 

8) when it's brown remove and cool

9) break up and sprinkle on salad, or eat from a bowl like I love to do!

10) YUM! Enjoy your sweet and spicy topping!

Birthday Stuff!

Recently my oldest daughter, L, turned six. We don't have a big party with a bunch of kids every year, but we always have a family party with her cousins, grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. These are my favorite. We have a nice big magnolia tree in the front yard so it's a good place to have a kids party in the spring. To dress it up for the occasion I hung paper lanterns and other round paper things which L helped me pick out at a few discount stores and a party center. I think it came out really festive!

In my purse and shoe days (I call them that because they were the days before kids when I could spend money on purses and shoes) I trolled the vintage stores, thrift stores, antique malls and estate sales buying old table clothes. Now I use them, miss-matched as they are, for dinners and other family events. For the b-day party I used pulled out six or so for the tables rather than those disposable cloths I think they give even a 6th birthday party a more permanent feeling, and are more environmentally friendly! On that note, although we did use disposable cups and flat-wear we also employed our cafeteria plates which my husband and I picked up some 8 years ago for less than $1 each at Big Lots. All the soda cans (I got the smaller 7oz type) and the few water bottles we provided were all recycled. I was really happy with the lack of trash at the end of the day.  

Here is the yard the same evening with the afternoon sun beginning to set behind the tree. Although my children have asked to have the decorations left up they are already bleaching out from the sun and several have dissolved thanks to a few days of heavy spring rain. Oh well, it was lovely while it lasted! 

I <3 Legos

So for my daughter's 6th birthday she received several sets if Legos. The other night I stayed up until nearly midnight, MIDNIGHT playing with my kids Legos. My husband went to bed at 9:45 and I stayed up for over two hours! So here is the result. It's not beautiful but it sure was fun! Here's to staying up too late playing with kids toys. 

One Quick and Easy, One Not So Much

So far this week I have covered the extremes of lunch making. One of these lunches took about 7 minutes and one may have devoured closer to an hour. Good thing I get up early!

The Winnie the Pooh lunch was done to honor the fact that we finished reading the book. I love the illustrations so attempted to recreate one on the 5yo's sandwich. This was achieved by painting with a small round watercolor brush and food color. Recently I saw one brilliant mom using stamps in food coloring to imprint food. Not a bad idea and I'm sure a heck of a lot quicker! I really wanted to include some bees in this lunch and so used some roasted and lightly salted pumpkin seeds I had in the pantry and gave them stripes with black food coloring.

The second lunch was made using a Kings Hawaiian Roll leftover from Easter. It's a peanut butter and honey sandwich and to keep the honey from oozing out and making a mess I mixed the honey with the peanut butter before applying. A trick I picked up from a local restaurant. The 5yo has recently had a stomach bug so her appetite is a bit smaller than normal, which is why the tiny sandwich was a good fit.

St Patrick's Day Fun

Last year I decided to take St. Patrick's day to the next level with my kids. So I went to the local craft store and picked up two wooden bowls, some paint, glitter and other fun things. At home I had the kids paint them like Leprechaun pot's-o-gold. Then on the night before St. Patrick's day we put them out for the leprechaun.

Here they are before the Leprechaun came to visit. 

Similar to the Easter Bunny, we waited until they went to sleep and filled them with golden wrapped candy, coins and other goodies.

Candy wrapped in gold, real money and clover confetti thrown all over the area. 

Back in February I found a pair of these tiny green mugs that reminded me of mugs I we had when I was a kid. They look like tiny beer mugs. I included them in the pots of gold with a real dollar inside. The girls just loved the tiny Leprechaun cups!







Using the side of my hand I also made tiny footprints on the bathroom mirrors and then called the kids in to see. They couldn't believe it and were so funny as they reacted to the footprints. I love the idea of establishing these little traditions with my girls and enjoy watching the look on their faces and the many questions they have.

This Sunday is Easter. My posts are a holiday behind! Argh!

Lunch O' The Irish!

Ok, so like many people here in the US, I am part Irish among other things. My father is 100% Irish American and so growing up in our house all things Irish were a big deal. Also, while I cant do everything I want for my kids or give them everything they want, I do love doing fun little things with them. The lunches, in particular the painted sandwiches, are one of those things. This year St. Patrick's day is on a weekend so I started to do St. Patrick's day lunches on Wednesday.

This little leprechaun forgot his hat but brought along some gold coins, apples, yogurt covered raisins, yogurt bark with pomegranates and a tiny box with a surprise inside. Day 3 lunch. 

Pot O Gold sandwich, bean sprouts with lemon, popcorn, yogurt covered raisins and a lucky little treat.  Day 2

Day 1 Clover sandwich with grapes and two small green tart hearts in the clover box.