Lady Bug, Lady Bug!

Lady bugs!  

My youngest daughter loves lady bugs, so for her birthday she picked out a lady bug theme and I made a big tray full of these charming little cupcakes to bring to her class.  They were such a hit with the kids and really so easy.  The antennae are flower stamens from floral making and are not edible so I left those off of the ones I sent to the children.  I posted this pic to my Flickr account and of all my confection creations these, for some reason,  have the most hits I could ever have imagined.  They had close to 14,000 hits! 

I thought it would be nice to add some other little lady bug things we made.  Here are cute little tags for packaging and a fun little tote bag my daughter helped design and sew with me.  Except for the iron ons, she made it all herself!  

Campin' Out...back yard style!

Campin' Out!

My oldest daughter was turning 15 and the birthday celebration was right around the corner.  She really just wanted to hang out with her teen friends this year and stay up late sharing stories and listening to music.  Together we came up with this great idea to put a tent in the back yard and have all the girls pile in for some over night fun.

The first thing I like to do when styling a party, is collect all the things I already have to get inspiration and try to come up with a plan.  I got all the kids to search the house and bring to the table anything that reminded them of camping!  We found fishy table cloths, metal lanterns, an old picnic basket and my youngest daughter contributed her little seedling of a pine tree she has been nurturing.

An old family iron pot with a bird's nest bowl holder and twig theme spoon were a creative
way to display chips and dip

Hamburgs and hot dogs were served up hot from the grill with the fixins on the side

What could be better than s'mores for the fire and how about this

 funny little fish cake covered in fondant?

Healthy Orange Ginger Scones

*Healthy Orange Ginger Scones

I was out and about a few weeks ago buying some coffee in a favorite chain coffee shop and bakery and they had  gorgeous ooyey gooey orange scones on display.... continuing on my quest to really keep eating healthier these days, I asked the girl behind the counter for the nutritional breakdown of the scones.  Her cute reply was that if they had that on display, no one would ever buy them!   We did indeed look up the stats, and really it was no surprise the calories and fat superseded most nutritional recommendations for calories and fat for an entire day!  

I was on a quest to satisfy my urge for something to take it's place, so I researched a few sources and gathered some ingredients and came up with this alternative.  Really I love them!  NOW,  they aren't for the picky junk food junkie, they are healthy and full of fiber, but really the orange flavor is delightful and the little pieces of ginger pop in your mouth!  If you want to keep them for more than a day, I would add  a tablespoon or touch of of a healthy oil like coconut or canola oil to the liquid, but they didn't last in my house very long!

Try my recipe and let me know what you think!

I use as many organic products available

• Healthy Orange Ginger  Scones
• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (I used gluten free, but wheat or reg will work)
• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1/4 c. Polaner All fruit  Orange Jelly
• 1 tbs. baking powder
• 1/2 c. skim milk ( I used almond milk)
• 3 tbs. cooking oil
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/8 t orange extract
• 1/4 c. chopped candied ginger 

Directions

 In a large bowl, combine flour, oats,  and baking powder and ginger. In another bowl, stir together milk, oil and egg white, extracts and jelly. Add liquid mixture to dry mixture and stir until just moistened. 

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 times. Roll dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into twelve pieces and transfer to baking sheet


*(I added a tiny glaze of confectioners sugar, orange extract and almond milk to the cooled scones, but only a few tablespoons on all of them)

Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack and  serve. Makes 12 servings.