Happy Birthday Lauren

This sweet girl (yes, I said sweet) is growing into such a kind-hearted, energetic as always, fun tween. She's finally 10. That means she got to have her ears pierced. She was so excited, right up until the very last moment when she suddenly decided she wasn't ready yet. I was able to convince her that she was, indeed, ready and would really regret it if she didn't go through with it. In the end she was glad she did. This is a girl of many eclectic styles and tastes in . . .well, everything. She is certainly destined for something that requires imagination and a free spirit. She has the ambition and energy to make things happen.

She wanted a "peace" cake. She wanted to get her ears pierced. She wanted a cool sled. She wanted to get her American Girl doll's ears pierced and get new stuff for it. She wanted to spend the day at Chuck E. Cheese. I talked her into America's Incredible Pizza. She was very happy with that choice. In fact, she took her best friend and we spent about 6 hours there. Who knew you could eat and play games for that long? She was thrilled and kept saying that it was the "best day of her life." Yay for best days! She also really wanted a motor scooter. She's been wanting this for about a year now. It just doesn't seem to ever happen. Maybe someday. Other than that though she was able to get everything she wanted. Happy Birthday, Beautiful Lauren!

cookie press

I found a brand new Pampered Chef cookie press at the thrift store the other day and just had to get it. I've been curious about this for many years. It turned out so fun. There are tons of recipes out there for the cookie press. This is just a simple butter spritz that I colored pink for Valentine's Day. Not all of my kids like them (This is meaningless. They don't like anything.), but Richard liked them pretty well. I think they are tasty, but mostly just fun to make.

Spinach Cubes

So, what do you do with that giant tub of spinach that you bought from Costco and know there's no way you will ever go through the entire thing before it goes bad? I decided to make spinach cubes. This was my own idea that I thought was pretty ingenious. I can't be the ONLY one who's ever thought of it, but this did come from my own brain.

First I cooked it, then blended it, then poured into ice cube trays.

Now they are ready to throw into the blender with my smoothies. They don't blend as quickly as ice. I noticed it takes a bit more blender time to really get them smooth. But it works. Fabulous.

Well, just when I thought I was on to something my friend told me that she just throws spinach into the freezer fresh. I had no idea that would work. So I guess I'll try that next time. Anyway, it was a good idea for a minute. Have any of you ever frozen fresh spinach before? Does this really work? I want to know.