Holidays, Food, & Nostalgia

I recently wrote an article for The Des Moines Register about how food, holidays, and nostalgia go hand in hand. It was a fun piece to write and I was able to tell some great stories from other people around Central Iowa.

In the piece I talk about my Gramma Verna and the treats she used to make at her beauty shop. I still make many of the candies she made to this day but one stands out above the rest. They are her crunchy cereal bars.

Here is my Gramma fixing a customer's hair.

This picture is special for a couple reasons. One - it's probably the only picture I have of Gramma in her beauty shop. Two - the woman who is getting her hair done used to babysit my sister and me from time to time. Her name was Oleta and she collected owls. Every time we went to her house she let us wander through every room counting all of her owls. She also made the best pistachio fluff.

Back to the bars... They are simple to make and decadent. When I made them to take photos I only kept a few at home and sent the rest to work with my husband. I did not want to be tempted with the whole pan.

Crunchy Cereal Bars

Verna Sterling

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 cups corn flakes

Put the cereal in a large mixing bowl. In a saucepan, cook sugar, corn syrup and butter until butter melts and comes to a full boil. Remove from heat, add peanut butter and mix well. Pour over cereal and mix well. Spread in a 9x13 pan and let cool completely before cutting.

To read the whole article and see the recipes others shared, click here.

Avocado & Tomato Toast

This may seem indulgent but it's really a fast, healthy breakfast. 

And yes, there is a bite out of it. I didn't even realize how delicious it was going to be until after I tasted it. 

Although I eat avocado toast quite a bit, it usually consists of the avocado, bread and a fried egg. Occasionally I will add asparagus or wilted spinach if I have them leftover from dinner the night before. 

This toast however, tops any of those variations. It's got whole grain toast, avocado, tomato, a hard boiled egg and cilantro. Make this while you can still get fresh tomatoes! 

Here's the full recipe.

Avocado & Tomato Toast

1 serving

1 slice of whole grain bread

1/2 avocado

2 slices tomato

1 hard boiled egg

1-2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Salt & pepper

Toast your bread. Scoop out the avocado, top with a pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Mash with a fork until it is a thick paste. Use an egg slicer to slice your egg (I sliced it twice to make smaller pieces). 

Once the toast is done top it with the avocado paste, tomato slices, egg and cilantro. Top with another pinch of salt and pepper. 

Linda A.'s Spinach Souffle

This is a great way to use up leftover rice and can be customized to include whatever vegetables your family likes to eat!

I got this recipe from my Grandma Vi after she made it for lunch for the kids and me one day. She got the recipe from her niece Linda. 

The first time I tried to make it I wasn't very happy with it. I used too much rice - Grandma's was so much better! So I tried again and cut down the amount of rice and added fresh spinach. This is a good, light lunch and I like to serve it with a fruit salad or lettuce salad. 

Here's what you need:

Linda A.'s Spinach Souffle

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
4 eggs
1/2 Tbsp milk
2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese
(other options - add sliced mushrooms, leeks, parmesan cheese, red or green peppers)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a small saucepan saute the onion and garlic in 3 Tbsp olive oil until onions are soft. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Add the onion and garlic mixture, rice, spinach, cheese, and some salt and pepper.

Pour into a greased pie pan and bake for 25 minutes or until the eggs are set.

Birthday Party Venues in Des Moines

Although I have (so far) opted to throw birthday parties at home for the kids, sometimes going somewhere else and letting other people deal with the set up/clean up is a better option. If you're looking for ideas beyond the bowling alley or rolling rink, here is an article I wrote that you can check out.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/life/2015/10/14/seven-unique-places-consider-kids-birthday-party/73088866/

Construction Party!

Last weekend we hosted a construction party for my three year old son. It was so much fun to plan and he was very excited about it for at least the week leading up to the party. All he asked for was balloons.

This was the first party where I did not enlist my Aunt Molly's help - I'm either getting craftier or maybe it's the fact that this party was actually pretty easy to throw and didn't take too much work. By the way, if you're into paper crafting at all you should definitely check out Molly's blog. You can find it here. She is super creative and I love all the details she adds to her projects, whether it is the embellishments on cards and scrapbook pages or her mantel decorations for holidays.

Ok, back to the construction party. I started with Pinterest. I saved some ideas, went back through them a few days later to figure out what I wanted to do and got to work.

Sorry for the poor quality photos, they were all taken on my phone right before the party got started.

Here are the decorations. I bought a construction themed Happy Birthday banner for less than $5. The balloons turned out great and were actually really easy. I blew up 12 balloons in each color: black, orange and yellow. Using a needle and embroidery thread (and my sisters help), we strung the balloons in a line and moved them around until they looked good. Both decorations easily tied on to the curtain rod. I had planned to use caution tape to make streamers to hang down but decided this was enough.

For food we kept it simple. I used construction toys we already owned as the serving dish for the party mix. I used a traditional seasoning mix and used bugles (construction cones), pretzels (bolts), cheerios (nuts) and crispix (signs). I also set out a fruit tray of watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew (representing a stop light).

 In this next picture you can see the small construction toys we had set around the table and the hats (also used as party favors).

 I really like how the cups came out. I bought some orange cups and white electrical tape and turned regular cups into traffic barricades.

 Another picture of the party mix.

 Instead of a cake I made brownies and left one large section to use as a "cake." I used m&m's to create a stoplight that is also replicated on the individual brownies I served.

 We also had a game. The caution tape that I didn't use for streamers worked out great for wrapping up boxes. We stacked them up in a doorway then make a "wrecking ball." My husband made the wrecking ball with a clamp, rope and small basketball wrapped in duct tape. The boys (6 & 8) at the party loved it. We also used this the next day (the actual birthday) to hide our son's bike. He had to knock down the boxes to get to his present.

Not pictured - I had mini traffic cones and rings to play ring toss outside but they ended up being used to make obstacle courses (even better!). I also had a construction hat, tool belt ($.76 at Home Depot - what a steal!), and cello bag with Reese's Pieces and a miniature construction toy to give out as favors.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our construction party, we had a good time making it all happen!

50 Ways To Embrace Your Inner Child

The Des Moines Register asked me to find and write about 50 ways to embrace your inner child in Iowa. Thanks to a fun brainstorming session with the Bill Riley Talent Search staff (my other job, although as rewarding as it is, I have a hard time calling it a job!) it was a piece of cake to make a list of 50 items.

Here's the final list I came up with .

50 ways adults can experience Iowa as a child

10 Places Kids Eat Free in Des Moines

Eating out is expensive and sometimes, with kids, it is not always the best experience. Here is an article I wrote for the Des Moines Register with ten restaurants where kids eat free (which makes them kid-friendly, obviously). So, check it out then try them out and save some money while you're dining out!

10 Places Kids Eat Free