Sarah Hearts

I hope you had a great Labor Day! I spent the day working at the “fruit stand” then grilled out with our good friends, Jared and Eileen, in the evening. Since I working all day yesterday, today is my holiday and I will spend it cooking, cleaning, designing, and running errands.

Today’s color palette is inspired by delicious produce that’s in its seasons peak. I love peaches with raspberries, it’s such a perfect combination! This color palette is a perfect way to add color to a room with a neutral wall color. And because it uses rich warm colors, it’s perfect for fall and spring.

Color palette by my. Photo by Cannelle et Vanille.

This weeks posts are going to have a similar theme– back to school. Many people are going to hitting the books by the end of the month so I wanted to share some of my favorite school supplies. I was always the kid who couldn’t wait for back to school shopping. The new school year meant the possibility of a new a lunch box, book bag, folders, pencils boxes and more. Today’s post highlights one of my favorite supplies, lunch boxes. I love to pack my lunch because I can eat healthier and safe a few bucks.

Lunch boxes aren’t just for students, the few featured above are handy for anyone who dines away from home. Do you bring your lunch to work or school? If so, what’s your favorite lunch box food? A particular sandwich or wrap?

1. Alexander Girard Lunch Purse (I love the small “love” charm)
2. Thermos Raya Flower Print Lunch Duffle
3. Lunchskins reusable snack and sandwich bags (I have these, they are great! They are even dishwasher safe)
4. Klip-It Lunch Cube (a simplified bento box that keeps everything separate)
5. 16oz. Glass bowl with Lid (5% of the purchase goes to the Food Bank of New York City)
6. Zojirushi Mini Bento Stainless Lunch Jar Set (It even includes a cute little chop stick contianer)
7. Owl Lunch Bag by Skip Hop (They have many more animals on their site, perfect for kids or the kid in us)

I made toothpicks with our silhouettes and ages on them for our birthday party. I thought they would be a fun way to incorportate the party colors and theme while being functional. We only served appetizers and finger foods so they ended up being very practical.

They were very easy to make and only require a few supplies. Now I want to make them every time I serve an appetizer! I also think they would be really cute as cupcake “flags.” You can download the Word or Pages template I made and make your own. Here’s a little tutorial on how to make them.

1. You will need the following supplies:
- Toothpick topper template for Word
- 8.5″ x 11″ sheet(s) of colored cardstock (each page makes 8 toothpick toppers. Simply multiply this times the number of toothpicks you want)
- a 1.5″ circle paper punch (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for a while back, you can get a similar one at Michaels or JoAnns)
- PVA glue (other glues will work, but PVA is the best for bonding paper because it doesn’t wrinkle and is super strong, you can purchase it at your local art supply store or here)
- Paint brush to apply glue
- 4″ skewers (if you making cupcake toppers, I would recommend using toothpicks)

2. Customize the template then print the file on cardstock. Once the desired amount of “toppers” are printed, cut the “toppers” into 4 rows of 4. This is going to allow you to punch them out. The use the circle paper punch to punch out each topper. Sorry I forgot to snap a photo of this step. I found it easiest to turn the paper punch upside-down so you can use the printed lines of the circle to help you align the paper punch.

After you punched out all the circles, use the paint brush to apply PVA glue to the back side of one of the paper toppers. I made the toppers have our silhouette on one side and our respective ages on the other side.

3. Place one toothpick or skewer in the center of the glued topper. You may want to pick it up and check that it will be displayed correctly (for example, if you typed a number or date, you don’t want it to appear upside-down).

4. Take another paper topper and firmly press it onto the glued topper. I found it helpful to pick it up and use my fingers to help align the edges of the two circles. Repeat steps 2-4 and until you’ve made all the toothpicks you want! Super easy and so cute!

How would you use these? As cupcake toppers or toothpicks for small bites?

I have been on a blogging hiatus this past week. And if you were just asking yourself, “Yeah, where have you been, Sarah?” here all the details. Well, most of them.

Kevin and I spent the 4th of July holiday visiting my family in Miami. I will share our 4th of July picnic menu with you later this week. We had a great time visiting family and friends.

Last Wednesday was my 25th birthday! Yes, I turned a quarter of a century old. Nothing much has changed and it doesn’t feel different. I am proud to say that I can now rent a car with paying all those extra fees for being under 25. So that’s a plus.

Then on Saturday it was Kevin’s 26th Birthday! You may remember that we were planning a little birthday shindig (the mint and yellow party board may jog your memory).  I made paper straws with custom little flags on them. If you would like to make some for your party or wedding, you can find the tutorial here. I also made little toothpicks with our silhouettes and ages on them. They were so easy to make! I will post a tutorial and a printable template later this week if you would like to make them.

About an hour before the party I whipped up a bunch of paper garland. This was also easy, inexpensive, and so cute! I still haven’t taken the decorations down because they are just so charming.

I spent almost the entire day Saturday cooking small bites and sweets for the party. Here’s what I made:

Black bean and pineapple salsa with tortilla chips
Almond stuffed dates wrapped in bacon
Herbed garlic pinwheel pastries
Antipasto skewers with pesto dip
Carrots, snap peas, and cucumbers with feta dip
Turkey burger sliders with all the fixings

Red velvet cake (My favorite cake and I used my favorite recipe via Bakerella)
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (I used a Martha Stewart recipe. Loved the cake, didn’t love the frosting. Do you have a creamy chocolate frosting recipe?)
Chocolate brownies

Everyone brought drinks but I did make a delicious peach sangria with prosecco and peach brandy

We put my camera on a tripod and made a little photo booth. It was so  much fun! Next time I will encourage more people to use it. Perhaps by making some props. We moved one of our tv’s to the den and placed it in front of the “photo booth” so people could use it was a view finder. I am going to do a little more research and see if we can have it preview the images as well. Anyone have an expreience with this?

I made the photo booth background quickly using this awesome tutorial via Sugar and Charm.

Thanks to all our friends who attended. It was a great birthday for both Kevin and I.

Update:: I made a video tutorial for this DIY. Check it out below!

Last night I download the July issue of Martha Stewart Living on my iPad. I didn’t get too far into the issue as I skimmed it’s pages until I fell asleep. They had a link to summer crafts and I was surprised to see several new cute tutorials. So today I decided to try one out and add my own twist. The results are above. All you need is paper plates and some cute tape and you have a great way to serve food for your fourth of July picnic or bar-b-que!

The following directions are based on the craft from Martha Stewart. The tutorial on her site said to hold the basket together with a rubber band. I think that would be cute, but I love love love washi tape so I decided to use that. You can use either method, if you find another way to hold the basket together, please let me know.

I can’t wait to serve appetizers and desserts in these! Or you can line them with wax paper and serve potato or pasta salad in them.

1. You will need the following supplies: white paper plates (1 plate per basket), scissors, paper edger scissors (I used my pinking shears), a ruler, pencil, washi tape or rubber bands, and 4 paper clips.

2. Using the paper edger scissors or pinking shears, trim about 1/4″ off of the circumference of the plate.

3. Flip the plate over so the front side is facing down. Use the pencil and ruler to make a 9-section grid. Try your best to make the center square in the center of the plate. If you want you can measure it.

4. Use the regular scissors to cut a slit along every other vertical line. Stop cutting where the vertical line intersects with the center square.

5. Fold one side at a time up to form the “basket”. Use one paper clip to hold each side together as you assemble the basket.

6. Use washi tape and wrap it around the basket and then remove the paper clips. If you are using rubber bands, simple wrap the rubber bands around the basket. And you’re done! Now fill them up with summer treats!

Last week one of my manager’s at the “fruit stand” gave me a kitchen torch! I had been wanting one for awhile and she said she had 3, so she kindly gave me one. So that weekend, while I was at Home Depot picking up a few things for the house, I purchased a can of butane. The first thing I wanted to try with my newly acquired torch was choclate creme brulee. I used this recipe as was impressed with the consistency and texture.

After chatting with Jaclyn, she recommended I coat the custard several thin layers of sugar, burning the sugar between each layer. This resulted in a thick “crust” and made the classic crunch noise when I hit it with a spoon. Delish.

Hey, it’s May!

Spring is right around the corner! Here in Florida, we’ve been getting our fare share of April showers, although they arrived a few days early. Hopefully that means that beautiful sunny days and lovely flowers will arrive that much sooner!

When I think of springtime, inevitably I think of Easter. Growing up in North Dakota, I was the only Jewish chid in my entire elementary school. Crazy, huh? When it came to major holidays, I always felt a little left out. My parents were awfully supportive, and they invented a few ‘faux’ holidays to help me feel not so out of the loop. One of those ‘faux’ holidays was Bunny Day.

Bunny Day was a celebration of a certain spring bunny with a penchant for giving children baskets of treats and hiding plastic eggs full of candy on the lawn. Sounds eerily similar to another springtime celebration, no? That’s what my parents were going for; they wanted me to have the fun of the holiday with the other kids, and I always appreciated that. It felt nice to not be left out of holiday parties and celebrations in school.

One of the things we always had on Bunny Day was carrot cake, naturally. My parents always said that carrot cake was a favorite of bunnies, and the best way to celebrate bunnies on their big day was to eat their favorite kind of cake!

I’ve been baking carrot cakes, not always for Bunny Day for a while now. My favorite version keeps it very simple, and very focused on the star ingredient. I’ve tried lots of different versions that include nuts, coconut, pineapple…they’re delicious in their own right, but nothing can beat the classic, simple carrot cake.

Rather than mask the subtle sweetness of the cake with a too-sweet cream cheese frosting, I used a Swiss buttercream, which is lighter on the sugar and a creamy, light texture. I added mascarpone cheese, a grown-up, slightly more sophisticated take on the classic cream cheese frosting. Finally, I candied some carrot strips, baked them in the oven to dehydrate them, and crumbled them on the sides of the cake. They’re surprisingly sweet and flavorful, and add a great textural note to this dessert.

Whether you celebrate Easter, or Bunny Day, or just want to make something delicious, this carrot cake is the perfect springtime treat!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
www.foodpluswords.com

Click the delicious images above for the recipe!

Looking for an appetizer to serve this Easter weekend? Here’s an easy and delicious recipe for Feta Truffles. It only requires 6 ingredients and you can serve it with various veggies. They are called truffles because you make a creamy filling out of cream cheese and feta, form them into small balls and roll them in freshly chopped herbs.

I served them with cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced cucumbers, kalamata olives and garlic sesame flat bread crisps. Delish.

My mom got me those cute bunny picks for Easter. Aren’t the cute? I think I want to use them every time I make finger foods, even if it is well past Easter. Enjoy!

Hey, it’s April!

Spring is right around the corner! Here in Florida, we’ve been getting our fare share of April showers, although they arrived a few days early. Hopefully that means that beautiful sunny days and lovely flowers will arrive that much sooner!

When I think of springtime, inevitably I think of Easter. Growing up in North Dakota, I was the only Jewish chid in my entire elementary school. Crazy, huh? When it came to major holidays, I always felt a little left out. My parents were awfully supportive, and they invented a few ‘faux’ holidays to help me feel not so out of the loop. One of those ‘faux’ holidays was Bunny Day.

Bunny Day was a celebration of a certain spring bunny with a penchant for giving children baskets of treats and hiding plastic eggs full of candy on the lawn. Sounds eerily similar to another springtime celebration, no? That’s what my parents were going for; they wanted me to have the fun of the holiday with the other kids, and I always appreciated that. It felt nice to not be left out of holiday parties and celebrations in school.

One of the things we always had on Bunny Day was carrot cake, naturally. My parents always said that carrot cake was a favorite of bunnies, and the best way to celebrate bunnies on their big day was to eat their favorite kind of cake!

I’ve been baking carrot cakes, not always for Bunny Day for a while now. My favorite version keeps it very simple, and very focused on the star ingredient. I’ve tried lots of different versions that include nuts, coconut, pineapple…they’re delicious in their own right, but nothing can beat the classic, simple carrot cake.

Rather than mask the subtle sweetness of the cake with a too-sweet cream cheese frosting, I used a Swiss buttercream, which is lighter on the sugar and a creamy, light texture. I added mascarpone cheese, a grown-up, slightly more sophisticated take on the classic cream cheese frosting. Finally, I candied some carrot strips, baked them in the oven to dehydrate them, and crumbled them on the sides of the cake. They’re surprisingly sweet and flavorful, and add a great textural note to this dessert.

Whether you celebrate Easter, or Bunny Day, or just want to make something delicious, this carrot cake is the perfect springtime treat!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
www.foodpluswords.com

{Stop by Jaclyn’s blog for the delicious recipe}

Happy March!

The third month of the year is mostly associated with Irish merrymaking. Whether you’re Irish or not, chances are you love enjoying some of the delicious foods and beverages that St. Patrick’s Day is famous for!

There are plenty of sweet treats that remind me of St. Patrick’s Day: chocolate cake infused with sweetness of Bailey’s, a bright green minty milkshake, or a stouty, rich Guiness, poured simply into a glass and topped with a scoop of dark chocolate ice cream.

For me, the combination of chocolate and Irish cream liqueur can’t be topped. I wanted to create a dessert that was perfect for everyone’s favorite Irish holiday, but was also super-simple to assemble. With all of the festivities, who wants to fuss in the kitchen for hours?

The icebox cake is a classic dessert, harkening back to the 1950’s. The cake is basically alternating layers of thin, crisp chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream. The cake, once assembled, sits in the fridge overnight, which allows the whipped cream to soften the cookies slightly, making the cake sliceable.

While the classic icebox cake is stunning in its own right, I wanted to update it slightly, so I replaced the whipped cream with chocolate mousse, infused with homemade Irish cream liqueur. I also made individual mini-cakes, which is super-fun! Who doesn’t want their own tiny cake to enjoy?

The mousse can be made in about a half an hour, and it can sit in the fridge covered tightly for up to three days before using, although if you’re anything like me you won’t be able to help sneaking spoonfuls of it every once in a while! The actual assembly of the miniature cakes takes just a few moments, and, once assembled, they can sit in the fridge for up to two days before serving. Minimal effort, maximum delicious results!

As far as the chocolate wafer cookies go, I was able to find them easily in my grocery store, but they’re widely available online if you have trouble finding them!

I hope you’ll try this recipe for St. Patrick’s Day; these mini icebox cakes are as delicious and sweet as they are adorable!

See you next month!

Sweetly,

Jaclyn
www.foodpluswords.com