the glittered nest

Cool treat on hot summer days

 
First for a homemade yogurt treat and then a semi homemade that is quick and easy!

This first recipe is divine and came out of this month's Martha Stewart Food. 

Raspberry Frozen Yogurt

You will need :

10 ounces of fresh or frozen raspberries

1 cup sugar

2 cups yogurt(I used organic vanilla Brown cow yogurt and cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup)

Puree the raspberries in the blender with the sugar and push through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds.  Add the yogurt and then follow your ice cream maker's instructions.  I use the Kitchen Aid attatchment and it is so easy.  You attach it and let it run for 20 minutes and Walla!  You have a homemade treat.  Enjoy!

 

Don't these look delicious!  Cherry Vanilla milkshakes with a butter almond cookie.

All you need is your favorite icecream, a little milk, a blender and some whipped cream(from a can) and a cherry.  And the best part is you didn't spend 5 dollars a piece on them!  Put in a fun swirly straw like this red one from bakeitpretty.com and now you have a fancy but cheap dessert.  Enjoy and happy summer to you!

15 years together

 
 
My husband and I took our 15th anniversary trip to Palm Beach Florida and stayed at the beautiful Four Seasons.

He started off our trip with a little present for reading on the flight: Barefoot Contessa in Paris!

I recommend this book highly!  I read it like a novel cover to cover on the flight and loved it.

 
This was our view.  We spent mornings sitting  here sipping coffee talking about the last amazing 15 years together.

 

 
We spent a lot of our time sitting in these chairs staring out to the ocean.  I didn't even read a book because I didn't want to miss out on the view!

 
 
Looks like someone got a little too much sun! 

 
I could post 100 photos of this beach.  It was so beautiful.

 
 
 
Orchids were everywhere in the hotel and I took 100 pictures of them! 

How cool is this arrangement?  An orchid surrounded by moss and moss balls.

 
Is this a classic beach picture or what?

 
The first night we were there we saw a sea turtle the size of a table that seats 4.  It was very dark so we thought it was a large piece of wood or something on the beach and then it started moving towards us.  I don't have a picture b/c my husband thought it was silly of me to take my camera on the beach at night!  He said he would regret that decision for the rest of his life!  We found out that it is Sea Turtle Nesting Season, so they had roped off areas everywhere to protect them from people stepping on their eggs.  They also keep the lights off at all of the resorts at night b/c once they come onto shore to lay their eggs, their instinct is to look for the moon's reflection off of the water so they know where to go.  If lights are on the hotels then they end up swimming in the resort's pool!

 

For more information on Sea turtle nesting in Palm Beach: Palm Beach News

 
Goodbye Palm Beach!

Thank you to my hubbie who has been an amazing husband and father for the past 15 years.

 
 

Let it Rain!

 
Rain in Summer

How beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and heat,

In the broad and fiery street,

In the narrow lane,

How beautiful is the rain!

How it clatters along the roofs

Like the tramp of hoofs!

How it gushes and struggles out

From the throat of the overflowing spout!

Across the window-pane

It pours and pours;

And swift and wide,

With a muddy tide,

Like a river down the gutter roars

The rain, the welcome rain!

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1807-1882)

It's amazing how much we take simple things like rain for granted.

When you go months without it it not only affects our farmers and their crops but

our spirits!  Rain is so refreshing for the soul.

We are thankful for the 20 minutes we received today. 

glittered nest website

I have created a new website that I would love for you to check out!

This will be a place where you can go to get recipes, tutorials and some inspiration for your own parties!

It is a work in progress so check back to see more content.

glitterednest.com

 
 

MOPS retreat goodies

This weekend I am spending time with 11 beautiful women.

We will lay by the pool, eat delicious food, plan our upcoming MOPS(mothers of preschoolers) year

and indulge in some yummy sweets that I am bringing!

Let me share the treats with you:

 
Lavender Chocolate Ganache

 
We had french macarons, chocolate cherry cake lollies and sugar cookies!

 
Aren't these flip flops fun for summer?  You can find the cookie cutter at Michaels.

 
I used americolor food coloring: electric pink, black and electric green.

 
First pipe a border with stiff consistency royal icing. 

 
Flood the inside of the cookie with your runny icing. Let dry for 10 minutes. Once dry add your detail and package!

 
 
 
I hope you are having a wonderful summer!   

 

3rd day of art/patisserie camp

 
I couldn't help but post this adorable picture of little Lucy.  Aren't the missing front teeth priceless!  She had a hard time eating this treat...too funny.

On the last day of camp Tricia and I woke up feeling excited for the day's events but also sad because we knew this was the end of our first camp journey together. 

At the end of it all I found this was not just a trip for my girls to learn to bake and paint

but a new journey for me to get to know two amazing ladies: Tricia and Jill:

 
Jill traveled from  vacation in Rosemary beach with her daughter Lucy(above).

At the end of every day we had some amazing talks about life as a mother,

wife and most importantly a christian.  I learned so much from these beautiful women..

Thank you for everything girls!

Ok, so now for the pictures of ice cream cake lollies and beautiful art:

 
I think everyone's favorite treat of the camp were the ice cream cake lollies.

First place mm's in the bottom of a sugar cone

 
 

Second, take your cake ball and dip into melted candy coating

 
Once you have dipped, use a piece of styrofoam to stand your ice creams so they can dry.

Third, when the bottom layer of candy is dry take a scoop of your chocolate melted candy

and add to the top to look like a scoop of sundae sauce.

Fourth, add your sprinkles and a cherry sour or gumball for the cherry on top!

(For recipes and where to buy supplies go to my website: glitterednest.com

 
Does this look like a happy girl?(love the peacock feather in her hair)

Now for the girls' amazing art:

 
This barn picture was made by a 6 year old...how amazingly creative!

 
 
Abby's cupcakes look so yummy. I'm trying to get her to give it to me for my kitchen....not happening!

 

 
 
 
I love the colors Lilliana is using. Who wouldn't want this dress.

I loved watching Tricia take the girls through the painting process. They first draw their design with chalk, paint the background and then paint and embellish the dress. Someday I will be a part of her art class.

We ended the last day with our ice cream lollies in the garden, with hugs, almond sweet tea and I made lavender chocolate truffles for the moms when they picked up their campers. 

The girls also received these bags with pretty cupcake wrappers, sprinkles and recipe cards with Tricia's beautiful art.

 

 
That brings our incredible Birmingham fairyland camp to a close.  It was so hard leaving my new friends and all the wonderful girls I met.

I thank Tricia for allowing my family to stay with her and being such an amazing kindred spirit!

Please visit her blog to see more of this amazing camp: littleredhead.typepad.com

 
Off to the airport...but this won't be the last time you see us spreading the love of our passions and for God with others!

 

2nd day of art/patisserie camp

Beautiful morning in Birmingham.

 
We started our day with worship in the garden and Tricia read this verse to the girls:

 
God made us to be unique and beautiful women. 

 When you find you have a special talent share it with the world. 

Share what you love with a friend just to make their day or to lift their spirits.

The girls learned just by simply placing cookies in a little bag with a special note is a way of sharing  love with one another. 

Hospitality is a beautiful gesture. 

I think we are loosing sight of this art and we need to teach our girls to give to others and love one another unconditionally.

Look at what our girls created today:

 
I taught the girls how to ice a border using a pastry bag and how to flood the center to get a smooth finish.  Didn't they do an amazing job!

 
The girls had homemade eiffel tower cookies to decorate.  The recipe is from Martha Stewart.  My special addition to the icing to make it extra yummy is almond extract!

 

 
 
The set up for the girls is simple: enough pastry bags filled with different colored icings so they can all be busy at the same time, runnier icing for flooding and their cookies to decorate.

 

Look at how gorgeous these colors are.  It was so much fun to see how differently the two different aged camps decorated their cookies.  More detail in the older but more color combinations in the younger.  I loved walking around seeing the girls' faces light up when they masterd the flooding technique..it was like magic to see the border and the center of the cookie connect flawlessly.

I know they are going home to teach their mommas!

I have women ask me all the time to hold some baking classes so they can learn these techniques so sugar cookies are not just for kids!

 

Here's a little peak into Tricia's beautiful house.  Doesn't this just look like a porch waiting for sipping tea and swinging in a porch swing. 
 

 
Now for some bike painting time on the porch.

I was so amazed to see the girls' creations.  They were all so talented.

 
 
Tommorow's art lesson...beautiful dresses(this is one that Tricia painted of a Kate Spade dress)

 
We are creating fun ice cream cake lollies tomorrow!

 Back to the kitchen to prepare:

 

 

 

First Day of Art/Patisserie Camp

 
 
Arriving in Birmingham at Tricia's house was like entering Magical Fairy Land.  Walking up to the house she had this sign to welcome us.  She also placed little yummy soaps on our towels in our rooms.  I knew coming that my girls and I would have a wonderful time painting and baking, but I felt God's prescence was with us throughout.

Welcome to the Patisserie

 

 
When you walk into Tricia's house you immediately feel transported to a magical fairlyland.

She has bright colors, whimsical paintings, faux candy hanging from her chandeleir and a garden with a fish pond and lots of little passageways to get lost in.

For the first day of french fairyland for the girls we made:

cupcake liner flowers

Flower Tartlets

Cranberry Raspberry Spritzers in the Garden for Worship time.

 
The girls are awaiting their group assignments for the first exciting day!

 
Strawberries, kiwi, blueberries and raspberries, premade graham shells, lemon curd, fresh whipped cream and a raspberry glaze made up our little flower tartlets. (Recipes are available to upload on my new website: glitterednest.com

 
Tricia is showing the girls what they will be painting on their first day. A row of delicious cupcakes.

 
 
I love collecting cupcake liners so I snatched up every whimsical liner I could find for this fun camp. We originally made some to pin on our shirts but then my daughter came up with the cutest idea to glue them onto ribbon and wear them as little hats.

 
While one group of girls painted, the others decorated yummies with me. I loved this way of teaching the girls except I wanted to be a student in the art portion too!  We had many moms say they wanted to come to camp.  Maybe one day we will have an grown up version(something is already in the works!)

 
The girls loved making their tartlets look like little flower pastries and adding fresh whipped pink cream.  This was an easy but yummy lesson to start camp off with.

 
 
 
 
 
Here are the girls painting their sweet cupcake canvases.

Tricia had them using acrylics, paper, gel medium and palette knives for adding texture.

 
 Madi is working on her painting.  I'll show you the girls' completed art on the third day post.

Now for worship time in the garden along with our treats and special cranberry drink:

 
Everyone loved these pretty pink paper straws from bakeitpretty.com.

 

 
What a beautiful and creative day full of bright colors, smiles and laughter..not to mention lots of sugar! On the second day of camp we learn how to decorate eiffel tower sugar cookies.

The ribbon garland in the back is a fun way to add color to your room for any party.  Simply tie different shades of a color to a long piece of ribbon and just hang.

Second day of camp: bike paintings:

 

Art/Patisserie Camp

 
The girls and I are headed to art/patisserie camp in Birmingham Yipee!  I am launching a website soon that will have the menu of pastries I am baking with the girls and recipes to download. 

Some of the fun pastries we will be making are:

Flower tartlets, lavender chocolate truffles, ice cream cake lollies, french macarons, lavender lemonade and eiffel tower sugar cookies.

10th Birthday Party

Ten year old wishes for a birthday filled with friends and laughter.

I cannot believe my twin girls are 10 today.  We celebrated at the pool and had lots and lots of CANDY!

 

  
Purple and Pink lollies, sour fruit wedges, icecream cake lollies, bubblegum cake, ring pops, candy buttons, jelly bellys were the finale' of the party.
 
 
 
 
 

All of the cute candy tags were created by: Print Your Party on Etsy
Happy Beautiful Girls

 
 

This cake was so much fun to make:

You simply take your white cake batter and divide it up and use food coloring and bake seperately.

I use Betty Crocker's white cake and baked each portion on 350 for 15 minutes each.  The buttercream is homemade because there is nothing better on this planet than real buttercream icing.  Add sprinkles and gumballs for a candy buffet cake.

 
 
Happy kiddos! 

The boxes I used were from the container store.  All of the candy was purchased at Big Top Candy in Austin on South Congress.  Add a little ribbon and Wala!

I will be teaching the girls in Alabama next week at art camp how to make these cute ice cream cake lollies so stay tuned for a tutorial.