Yearly Archives: 2009

Simply Joy Sunday: 3 Things I’m Thankful For

February 1, 2009Facebook, friendship, sportsKirsetin

I’m feeling thankful today, so I thought I’d join Heather’s Simply Joy Sunday. Obviously, I’m thankful for my family and all things related—good health, good choices (mostlyJ!), and good relationships. So what are some of the other things in life that bring me joy? Here are today’s top three:

I’m thankful for friends. For someone who’s lived up and down both coasts, and in a couple of states in the middle, friends rank high on the list of things that bring me joy. Holly (Wisconsin), Kathy (Washington), Missy (California), Debbie (Massachusetts), and Samantha (Pennsylvania) could all be long lost strangers by now. Instead, they continue to fill my life with joy year after year. They rock. Not to mention the friends closer to home, whose names I don’t dare put on the Internet—you know who you are. You rock, too.

I’m thankful for Facebook (see number 1) Yes, you read that right! Although Facebook can be a huge time drain, it has allowed me to reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in FOREVER. Kara—from high school!—just friended me last night. Jen—who I haven’t seen since 1989—was one of the first people to find me. How cool is that? I loved these girls and life just took us in different directions. At least now I can peek in on them and see how they’re doing. It always makes me smile.

I’m thankful we have plenty of snacks for the Super Bowl. At first glance, this seems to have nothing to do with friends, right? Think again. I’m thankful both that we have the resources to be cooking up chili, and cornbread, and hot wings today, but also that we’re sharing them with our friends & our kids’ friends. Go Steelers!

That’s my Simply Joy Sunday folks. Hope you’re finding joy in life’s little things, too.

Inexpensive Family Fun

January 29, 2009family fun, finances, Midwest Parents, vacationKirsetin

One of the things I quickly realized after relocating to the Midwest, is that down-to-earth, fiscally responsible Midwesterners have an affinity for the state of Florida.

photo credit: Jenah Crump

But in this difficult financial year, even Midwesterners are re-thinking their annual pilgrimage south. Are you looking for inexpensive family fun closer to home? To find out how my family enjoys the winter months without breaking the bank, check out my article over at Midwest Parents today.

How to Make a Kid’s Pirate Ship Cake

January 28, 2009birthday cakes, birthdays, foodKirsetin

Apparently, baking a cake is some kind of parenting novelty these days. I guess getting a big, tasty cake from Costco does have certain advantages! But I thank all of you who sent me kind e-mails complementing my very amateur cake decorating efforts. If you’re going to throw a kids’ pirate birthday party, you definitely need a cake.

So, how do you make a kids’ pirate ship cake?

Here’s what you need:

Cake
Icing
Very thin dowels rods or straws
Pepperidge Farms pirouette cookies
Malted milk balls
Rolos individually wrapped with gold wrapper
Root beer barrels (candy) or Lego-type barrels
Pirate guy
Long wooden skewers
Construction paper
Mini-flags (either Playmobile-type or made w/ toothpicks and paper)

Getting started:

Start with the cake part, of course! Bake 2 round pans, from scratch or Betty Crocker, whichever you prefer. Oh, you thought Betty Crocker was scratch? Close enough—that works. Just bake 2 round cakes and let them cool. I think I used 9-inch pans.

The ship:

Cut each cake in half. Slice a sliver off of the rounded bottom of each piece to make a more sturdy ship bottom. With the rounded sides all facing the same direction, stack them together with a thin layer of icing between each piece. Now stand the cake halves on their rounded ends, all 4 pieces together. You can hold them together with icing (and who doesn’t like more icing?), but unless your icing is extremely glue-like, you’re going to need a little more help. I’d either use a couple of very thin dowel rods (you can get them at Michaels) or a couple of straws to hold them together.

The masts:

Use chocolate icing, either homemade or from a can—you know who you are!—to thoroughly cover the cake halves. Drag a toothpick or knife around the edges to make lines in the side of the ship. Whew, that’s hard work. Take a break now, and put your cake in the fridge for an hour or so to let the icing set.

When you’re rested up, get busy on the sails. Just cut some out of construction paper and slide them onto the skewers. Voila, you’ve got masts! I made two and placed them side by side.

The rest:

Decorating the deck is really personal preference. I put the pirouette cookies around the edges for a railing. Then, I used malted milk balls for the cannon balls and Rolos in their gold wrappers for stacked gold. We had some Playmobil pirate guys and flags, so I finished it off with those. You could make the flags with paper and toothpicks though, similar to the masts.

The candles:

Be careful not to torch the place with the masts! I stuck the candles into extra (unwrapped) Rolos and put them on the side of the cake. But I still stood nearby, just in case.

Ahoy, Matey. Have fun!

Please note: I got this Pirate Cake idea from Family Fun Magazine, which has lots of great party ideas. As you can clearly see, however, the above photo is from my son’s birthday party. This cake was cute, but not nearly as picture perfect as the one in the magazine!