Vol. 5, No. 163-170, December 28, 2020

You probably noticed, this year, I have been really bad at posting work. The truth is, I wasn't enjoying writing the blogs, so I would put off posting. Therefore I decided that next year, I am only going to post to Instagram and let it do the automatic post to Facebook. That way, I only have to post once. If you want to know about my project, you will have to ask.

Before I "give up", I am going to post all of the projects that I have missed.

5163 - Squash Soup.

I was helping to make squash soup and got to run the immersion blender. When it is held at just the right height, it creates a fun woven star design.

5164 -  Quilted.

In mid-November, my mom, sister and I finally finished the baby quilt that we had started nearly 2 years ago. It was a gift for my niece. It turned out pretty well considering it was out first actual quilt.

5165 - Mixed Media Self-Portrait 12/12/09.

In college, I took a drawing class; one of the assignments was to create a self-portrait. It is labeled as mixed media, although I am not sure what I used; I am guessing chalk, colored pencil, and paint.  After the class, I filed away the project in a tube. As I was going through art supplies recently, I came across the drawing. I unrolled it thinking I would look at it quick and then put it back in storage. Unfortunately, I noticed mold spots on the paper. I decided the best course of action was to photograph it and then dispose of the artwork. 

5166 - Giving Thanks.

Thanksgiving looked a little different this year. Rather than gathering with my dad's family like we normally would, it was only my immediate family in attendance. We still had a full dinner including homemade bread and pies. We arranged this picture showing our "bounty", to share with my dad's siblings as they were all sharing pictures of their own feasts.

5167 - COVID Cardinal.

At school, we are trying to keep our curriculum the same as much as possible, while still following COVID guidelines set out by the state. Sometimes this means changing how we do certain projects and we have found that some of these changes are good and we intend to keep them. One such happy change was the addition of a cardinal to Kindergarten Paper Mache Ornaments. In the past students have been able to choose between a reindeer, a snowman, or a penguin. All three ornaments were cute, but the penguin required two colors of paint and either two brushes or water to wash the brush. I didn't want to deal with the extra setup, so I changed the project. Our school's mascot is a cardinal, so I knew that would be a great winter bird option. I love how they turned out and will be keeping cardinals next year.

5168 - Snow Globe.

The ornament project that I did with my Transitional Kindergarten class last year required a lot of prep work and it wasn't really COVID guideline friendly. Therefore, I wrote a new lesson plan, deciding on paper snow globes. Using Epsom salt "frozen" paint, we iced the background. Next we added finger print characters and decorated with markers. The plan didn't go quite how I had intended, but most of them stilled turned out cute.

5169 - Cake Construction.

It's hard to believe, but ten days ago, one of my favorite littles turned 3! I did lots of research to find the perfect cake. He is in to trucks of all kinds, so I decided to make a construction themed cake. I made a Double Chocolate Banana Cake (he loves bananas) topped with chocolate ganache and crushed Oreos. A bit of powdered peanut butter helped to create the three in the middle. The cake was finished off with some Milk Dud rocks and little toy trucks.

5170 - Quarantine.

Due to close contact, I got to spend some time in quarantine. While it may sound like a paid vacation, it's really not that fun; especially for a teacher. I still had lesson plans to prepare. I decided to use a lesson I had initially done during distance learning last spring; Guided Drawing Cardinals. As the school mascot, I figured a cardinal was something that students could benefit from knowing how to draw. I made two examples showing different backgrounds that could be added.

Vol. 5, No. 145, October 10, 2020

5145 - Creative Sprint Day 10.

After a fun family day of shopping and dinner, took my after dinner mint and broke it apart. I arranged the pieces to create a pine tree.

Vol. 5, No. 135, September 22, 2020

5135 - Birthday Barbie.

Today is Littlest Miller's 8th birthday. I was excited to celebrate with her, then plans changed. Welcome to quarantine...her, not me. I decided to try and brighten her day with a fun cake. She has been really into Barbies, so I thought she might like a dancing Barbie cake. Even though it was a hot day and the frosting started melting as I applied it, I am happy with the final product.  It was sad when I had to drop off the cake without staying to visit and celebrate.

Vol. 5, No. 132, August 24, 2020

5132 - S'more Birthdays.

Today we celebrated Oldest Miller's birthday. It was a fun day; we went to the splash pad, had a picnic lunch, pizza dinner, a sunset date at the lake and of course cake. 

The cake was made by Oldest Miller and me. She chose a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. She wanted it to be like the "garbage" cake that I made last year, so we stuffed the layers with M&Ms and sprinkles. The cake box suggested a S'mores cake. Oldest Miller really liked that idea and I happened to have supplies on hand. We stuck Graham crackers on the side, poured melted frosting over the top amd then decorated with Hershey's Kisses, mini marshmallows, Graham cracker crumbs and of course sprinkles. We all joked that it was too pretty to eat, but we ate it anyways.

Vol. 5, No. 128, July 23, 2020

5128 - One More.

Today I celebrate the fourth birthday of the week as L is turning 1! With the assistance of CC and Littlest Miller, I made a Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake with a pink Lemon Glaze. It smelt heavenly; I can't wait to try it!

Vol. 5, No. 127, July 19, 2020

5127 - Another Year Older.

I spent my 32nd birthday relaxing with my family. We started off with Dad cooking eggs and bacon for breakfast.  Then we played some games, including virtual Kodenames with the sibs who couldn't join us in person. Everyone worked together to make dinner of salmon and quinoa. Margo and I collaborated to make Mint Julep Cupcakes for dessert. We rounded out the evening with a sunset walk amd stargazing to find the NEOWISE comet.

Vol. 5, No. 125, July 15, 2020

5125 - Stuck In The Mud.

I took a little hiatus from posting, but while doing so, I kept thinking I should be doing something creative. I just didn't know what, so I didn't do anything. Tomorrow is H's birthday. He likes to play in the dirt, so I thought worms in the dirt cupcakes would be very fitting. CC came over to help me bake. I love how they turned out! Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting dipped in crushed oreos, sprinkled with maggots aka white sprinkles, and garnished with a gummy worm. You may be wondering why I am posting them prior to the birthday. My reasoning is that today is National Gummy Worm Day.

Vol. 5, No. 117, June 27, 2020

5117 - Fish Food.

Margo pulled out fish for dinner, but didn't have any plans on how to prepare it. So I pulled out the recipes. I found one that was suppose to be made with shrimp and  just made substitutions and additions. The final plate was roasted scallion and garlic scape rice topped with slightly warmed lemon and basil marinated zucchini, carrots, and garlic scapes, fried tilapia, and drizzled with lemon butter. The only complaint anyone had was that it had too much lemon; I disagree.

Vol. 5, No. 109, June 19, 2020

5109 - Fresh Baked.

In planning for vacation next week, I made some quick breads for breakfast. With H's help, I baked banana bread, chocolate chip zucchini bread, and rhubarb cinnamon strudel bread.  

Vol. 5, No. 102, June 2, 2020

5102 - Perfection.

I convinced my family that we should have a campfire dinner tonight. When we were finished, it was time for s'mores. Not to toot my own horn, but I am a pretty good marshmallow toaster. Tonight the fire was perfect I was able to roast 4 golden brown mallows. With some peanut butter and dark chocolate my s'more tasted as good as the mallows looked. 

Vol. 5, No. 100, June 10, 2020

5100 - Choo Choo Collaboration.

It seems that I have become the birthday cake master for the Miller's. That's fine, I like baking and decorating. The next birthday is tomorrow. I decided to try a pull-apart cupcake cake. Oldest Miller and I had a slumber party last night, so this morning she got to help me bake. She did all of the measuring and mixing herself while I prepared the cupcake pans.  We worked together to fill the pans. After the cake was cooled, I got to work frosting. I decided to use sprinkles rather than dye the frosting. The engineer made from cookies with a frosting face, was a great afterthought.

Vol. 5, No. 099, June 9, 2020

5099 - Accidental Omelet. 

This morning I decided to get up and make scrambled eggs and whipped coffee. I prepped all of my supplies, and started mixing the coffee; I turned the mixer on too high and sprayed the stick coffee mixture all over the kitchen and myself. My frying pan was already hot, so I decided I would put my eggs in the pan and clean up part of the mess while the eggs started to cook. I intended to go back and scramble them, but by time I returned to the pan, my eggs were a perfectly cooked disk ready to be flipped. So that's what I did, thus accidentally creating a delicious chive and cheese omelet. 

Vol. 5, No. 071, April 5, 2020

5071 - More Flour Please.

Today I helped Momma Miller celebrate her birthday by making a flourless chocolate cake. She had wanted a Tripple-layer Brownie Cake, but that is a large time commitment, so I chose something equally as good, but a lot easier to make. Before I started baking, I was getting supplies ready. After making scones the other day, I new the flour was low, so I asked that it be added to the grocery list. Margo looked at me and asked "Why? It's a flourless cake." Whoops!

The cake turned out beautifully, topped with chocolate ganache and Reese's.

Vol. 5, No. 070, April 4, 2020

5070 - Fridge Clean Out.

The other night, I made sweet potatoes for dinner. I had been craving some Sweet Potato Pie since Pi day in March, so I cooked extra potatoes and stuck them in the fridge. Yesterday, during my Prep Time Culinary session, I made Sweet Potato Hand Pies. I stuck the pies in the freezer so that I can have a little pick me up during these long days at home.

Vol. 5, No. 069, April 3, 2020

5069 - Beneficial Baking.

As a teacher, working from home and learning lots of new technology has been a struggle, but there are some benefits to this arrangement. One benefit is that during my "prep time" I can do other things. Yesterday I went on a walk with my sister and the day before I watched a couple episodes of a TV show with my brother. Today, I decided to bake. Culinary project number one was Candy Cane Scones. I had been planning on making these since Christmas when I crushed up the candy canes. Today I made time to actually do it.

To top the scones, I made some Candy Cane Cream.

Vol. 5, No. 068, March 30, 2020

5068 - Finding Joy.

In this time of uncertainty, many things have been canceled. One thing that we can't cancel is Birthdays. There are so many kids that were so excited to celebrate their Birthday at school and are now celebrating from home. One of these kids is Middle Miller. His birthday has always. Fallen over spring break, this year was different. But he's celebrating at home anyways. To make the celebrate a little bit better, I offered to make him a cake. Middle  Miller wanted a Reese's Ice Cream Cake. Since all of the DQ's within a 20 mile radius are closed, I offered to make one. Chocolate ganache and Reese's peanut butter cups smooshed between ice cream sandwiches and smothered in more chocolate ganache. Thanks Margo for making the ganache.

Vol. 5, No. 055, March 1, 2020

5055 - Surrounding Smells.

When I arrived for Miller Time on Saturday, Miller4Ever was finishing up breakfast and asked for a banana. The smell of that banana inspired me to bake some more banana bread when I got home. I used heart shaped pans this time. I filled the pans a little full, so they aren’t quite as heart-shaped as I was hoping.

Vol. 5, No. 047, February 23, 2020

5047 - Go Bananas.

Today we celebrate National Banana Bread Day. Since I had a fridge full (almost literally) of over ripe bananas, I decided today would be a good day to make some banana bread. I broke a couple rules. First I raised the oven temperature. Second, to get a heart into my art, I cut the loaf of bread in half, used a cookie cutter to make the heart, and then put the loaf back together. I ate the portion of the bread that was covered in chocolate.

Vol. 5, No. 044, February 20, 2020

5044 - Decadent Delight.

I made dinner tonight, Margo made dessert. She made homemade chocolate pudding. I served it up, with layers of raspberries and whipped cream.

Vol. 5, No. 042, February 17, 2020

5042 - Lost Inhibitions.

I lost my inhibition to make art yesterday, so I back tracked a bit. Today I was in charge of supper and I made fish tacos. As I set the pan of fish in the table Margo asked if the heart shape of the fish was intentional. It wasn't, but I rolled with it, making a beautiful taco.