EAB Designs

Sweet Sixteen!

 

I'll never forget the day we drove our daughter home from the hospital after she was born.  My husband and I were in the front seat, and our two year old daughter was in the back seat looking after her new little sister.  It was the same day as our wedding anniversary.  The morning was overcast with a slight sprinkling of rain.  As we drove home we noticed all of the dogwoods were in peak bloom.  The blossoms seemed to be glowing everywhere you looked.  Each year as the dogwoods peak just in time for her birthday, I tell her that it's her special gift.  We have a few dogwoods on our property and this year they are especially beautiful.

Party Favors

I've been busy in the kitchen making party favor treats for a birthday party we're hosting Saturday evening.  These peanut butter balls are so easy to make and everyone loves them!  The recipe is from Gale Gand's, Just a Bite. 

 

I like to place each one in a little paper candy cup and package them up in cellophane bags.

I've also baked trays of these chocolate chip cookies.  I've never come across a chocolate chip recipe I like more than this one.  I think the addition of ground up oatmeal in the recipe is what makes them so delicious. 

 

After placing the cookies in cellophane bags, I stapled the top and affixed a strip of tissue paper garland with double stick tape.

 

I made tissue paper pom-poms to hang as decorations in beautiful aqua, blue and mint colors.  You can see a peek of them in the photos.  They are a surprise for the birthday girl so I'll post some photos after the party.  Not sure where the recipe for the cookies originated from, so I'm posting it here:

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

Cream together:  1 cup room temperature butter with 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar.

Add:  2 room temperature eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla

In a separate bowl:  Combine 2 cups all purpose flour, and 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal which has been previously ground in a blender into a powder.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda.

Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture and then add 12 oz chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts.  Place golf-ball sized cookies 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  (I place them on parchment paper.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 11 minutes.  This is the most important part of the process.  After 11 minutes it will appear as though the cookies are not done.  However, remove them from the oven and leave them on the hot cookie sheet for five minutes before placing them on a cooling rack.  This leaves the cookies so moist on the inside and a bit crisp on the outside.

Let me know if you try them.

An Unexpected Surprise

Yesterday I received an unexpected package from a dear cousin of mine.  He sent me a little toy trunk that belonged to our great grandfather who was born in 1860.  My great grandfather's daughter, our grandmother, gave this little trunk to my cousin almost twenty years ago.  I am so touched that he decided to pass it on to me.  Inside the trunk, my cousin included a little note with details about my great grandfather's birth and how the box was passed down to him.  I will treasure both the little trunk and the note.

 

18th Century Inspiration

My daughter has taken an interest in fashion design and has been renting movies, such as Sophia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette, featuring 18th century French costumes.  Inspired as well, I created a few journals with this era in mind and have placed them in my shop.

Playing for the Crown

                           

If you enjoy playing board/card games with your friends, this winner's crown would be a fun addition to your evening.  First, I sketched the crown onto heavy water color paper, cut it out and covered it with decorative paper featuring old mathematical equations (looks like some of my past attempts at score-keeping).  Images of vintage playing cards were centered over a medallion created from sheet music.  Paper roses, vintage wallpaper rosettes and glass glitter adorn the tips of the crown.  To give it an antique feel, I rubbed chalk ink, in a deep brown, along the edges.  Lastly, I attached eyelets and strung ribbon through both sides of the crown so it could be tied into its shape, or laid flat for easy storage in between game nights.

 

Happy Easter!

 

A small bouquet of ranunculus, my absolute favorite flower, brightens our Easter table.  Wishing you all a blessed Easter from our home to yours! 

Weekend Outing to DC

We're lucky to live in a small town with a hometown feel, but only 30 minutes west of Washington, DC.  On Saturday we took the metro into the city to view the cherry blossoms along the path at the tidal basin.  The trees, a 1912 gift from Tokyo, burst into spectacular pink flowers each spring.

After walking along the path, we headed over to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The museum recently reopened after being closed for renovations.  First must see was Julia Child's kitchen.  The kitchen is actually enclosed with plexiglass, but I was able to get a few good pictures with no flash.  She had an extensive collection of pans and small kitchen gadgets, many of which she kept in open cupboards or hanging on the walls.

The First Ladies' inaugural gowns are also on display in the museum, but unfortunately the line was much too long.  (Will definitely return to see that exhibit and much more.)  But, we were starving and headed over to a favorite restaurant of ours, Rosa Mexicano.  If you live in the area, or near one of the other locations (NY/GA) you should treat yourself to their fabulous modern Mexican food.  We love the guacamole they mix fresh at your table-side.  Lots of fun!