Wordless Wendseday ~ We Wish You

A Very Merry Christmas!!!!

We are heading out to Florida for Christmas and will be back sometime next week {this trip was impromptu and really no set plans ~ don't you just love it !}

Wishing everyone a blessed and warm holiday with family and friends.

Merry Christmas

Little Mochi and Family

Recipes and Patterns

Love this time of year with all the lovely cookies baking in the house.  I feel like a Keebler elf with the non stop churning out of cookies.  Hubby was kind enough to inform me that he would like his favorite cookies so the girls and I will be firing up the oven again today ;)  Now the trick is to actually save some for our little gift boxes!

These little lovelies are some short bread cookies with chocolate chips... found out that regular sized chips will make for large cookies and hard for the little ones to cut out ~ think we decided to dip the cookies in chocolate next time ;)

This year I have been making my own embroidery patterns and such, here  is one I whipped up for my Mom.  

What do you think? 

I am still trying to get this done as quickly as I can before we travel down to visit her and I pray that I spelled tea correctly {fingers crossed she does not correct me after she opens her gift}

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

My day in B/W

A Sunday stroll with the family and my trusty camera will yield some interesting images.  Thank heaven that it is a digital camera or else we would be SO broke with dev fees :)

Pumpkin taking Mufasa for a walk... usually it is the other way round ;)

 My little Man

 Apple of his eye ;)

 "Mommy!  Can I take a picture of you?!?!?"

 Not sure what is going on here beside my girls being MY Girls :)

Going to miss the day when they do not need to hold my hand.

Happy Monday ;)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Sunday Citar ~ Tea

If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.  

~Japanese Proverb

Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings!  

~Author Unknown

tea leaves
tea loves
loves tea
lives tea
leaves tea?
never.
~Uniek Swain 

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Wordless Wendseday ~ *Sigh*

They years are like those leave, they fly by way too fast.  Squirt turns 8 today and is becoming a wonderful little lady any Mother could be proud of.

Happy WW ;)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Christmas Matcha Shortbread Cookies

I have found a very simple and delicious Matcha Shortbread recipe at Taste Spotting this morning and I just had to make them.  My Mom was kind enough to give me some of her favorite Matcha tea during her last visit and I knew that they would make a lovely cookie.  I do not have the powder but a loose type of tea and it made for a very lovely speckled effect.  

I think I will be making these cookies from here on out. It has the Scottish shortbread paired with the Japanese tea ~ bit of each of the girls heritage mixed into one.  Proof is in the Pudding... Pumpkin just had to have her taste test and as you can see she inhaled her cookie!

Please hop over to Kirbie Cravings to get the recipe and whip up a batch for your friends and family.  I know that I am going to make another batch to freeze for my Mom and to send to the Girls teachers~ oh and of course for Pumpkin and her sisters :)

Happy Baking ;)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Fa la la laaaaaa

We have just finished our Christmas Music play list to help us while we finish up cookies and muffins this week.  Thought I would share a few songs that have us smiling this morning ;)

 

I love the traditional version but this one really has Pumpkin singing and twirling this am ;) 

 

This song brings back crazy moments from when I worked in retail.  This was one of our favorite songs on the stores play list.

This is a beautiful song that Pumpkin just heard and really likes. 

What is your favorite Christmas song?

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

It's Begining to look a lot like Christmas

Was Santa's Little Helper last night.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful time making gifts and memories with their kiddo's this Christmas Holiday, I know that we are.

Coming soon our truffle adventure ;)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

This week...

Things that baffled me...

  What the Heck!?!?!
 Yup!  Bathing suits right next to puffy vests all in a store decked out with Christmas decorations.  

Witnessed sweet memorable moments...

dancing with Daddy, something no little girl forgets

Surprised my favorite girls..

checked them out of school early to catch a movie ~ Tangled

The Girls LOVED it and Hubby even enjoyed the movie :)

Yard work did not seem like work...

  I think Hubby looks forward to making huge piles of leaves just so they can go crazy ;)

What was your favorite moment from this week?

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Whatchya readin?! ~ The Haunted

The Haunted by Jessica Verday

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



synopsis from Goodreads


 An impossible truth. An impossible love. After a summer spent reclaiming her sanity and trying to forget the boy she fell in love with—the boy who must not exist, cannot exist, because she knows that he is dead—Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow, ready to leave the ghosts of her past behind. She throws herself into her schoolwork, her perfume-making, and her friendship with Ben, her cute and funny lab partner, who just might be her ticket to getting over Caspian once and for all.
But Abbey can never get over Caspian, and Caspian has no choice but to return to her side, for Caspian is a Shade, and Abbey is his destiny. They are tied not only to each other, but also to the town of Sleepy Hollow, and to the famous legend that binds their fates—a legend whose dark truths they are only beginning to guess....

I was pleasantly surprised with this sequel.  Took me a bit to get caught up with the story since it was awhile that I read the prequel, Hallow.  Jessica Verday defiantly kept the magic going with this book and I was stunned with the ending. What the heck?!? Now that was a cliff hanger!  I am looking forward to the third installment just to see how the story ends.


Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Stitch Happens!

My little Pumpkin is learning this lesson early:)

 I am a bad Mommy for laughing so hard she became so embarrassed she started to cry :(

But what are you going to do when she comes running into the kitchen screaming "Oh No!  I stitched my dress!!!!!" 

The rest of the girls sewing lesson or I should say free for all with needle and thread went well, we are working on a running stitch and on our way to becoming experts  {fingers crossed}

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Wordless Wendseday ~ Dirty Hands

 "Mommy!  Getting DIRTY is SO much FUN!"

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Maybe This Time

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



synopsis by Goodreads
The New York Times bestselling author of Bet Me, Tell Me Lies and Welcome to Temptation delivers her long-awaited novelAndie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.
When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting. 

I loved this book!  My favorite part.... it was a stand alone book with no sequel to wait for.  The story reeled me in and I cried,laughed and even stayed up too late to find out what happens next.   Never read anything from Jennifer Crusie and I am looking forward to reading some of her other works. This would be a great read while traveling to visit family this Christmas.

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Itadaki masu ~ Amelia Bedelia's Sheet Cake

During our weekly Library visit the girls picked out tons of books and one of them had a tasty surprise!  Amelia Bedelia is one of Squirt's favorite series and this latest one is a hit with all the girls.  Especially since it has a cake recipe in the back. 

 Strange that we have this book, last year we lucked up and checked out a book close to Pumpkin's birthday that had a cupcake recipe in it and that is what we did for her birthday treat.  So she was excited to be able to have a new book with a new recipe to try on her day :) 

 This is a GREAT recipe.... sift / pour all ingredients into your baking pan mix and bake!  So Easy and fun for the little ones...  how do you like my brand new mixer?!? ;)

 

My cake decorating skills are a bit lacking but the girls loved the cake!

Pumpkin loved the book and I am sure your little ones will have lots of giggles while reading the silly adventure of Amelia Bedelia.  Give the cake a go to I know that we will be making this more in the future on those days when you just need a piece of cake ;)

Amelia Bedelia’s Sheet Cake

 from Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off

3 cups flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup cocoa

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups water

Step 1

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa directly into an ungreased 9x13 pan. 

Add oil, vinegar, and vanilla.  Pour water over all ingredients. 

Mix with a fork until smooth

Step 2

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes

Step 3

Cool the cake and ice it in the pan with your favorite frosting

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Project Smile ~ November

What makes me smile?

My Pumpkin is turning Five today!

 ;)

She is now a Big Kid and I am so happy to see this face every morning with her questions right along side her sisters questions.  I marvel at their curiosity and grateful for the reminder that I too must not lose that part of childhood.  

Squirt disappearing into books then letting me come visit through her synopsis of the story, in which she provides different character voices, dance, and pure drama.

Seeing our Girls developing a wonderfully strong sister bond that will be a force to recon with as the years go on. I know that I will never have to worry about any of them, they have each others back!

Keep the smiling ripple effect going... Join A Beautiful Mess and share what is making you smile ;)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

 

Itadaki-masu~ Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

My new favorite food find on the net is  Tastespotting.com .  I have been leaving little pools of drool by the keyboard most days I visit.  So, to make my visits productive and not just get my fill of foodie photography I  will be taking one recipe or two each week and giving it a go.  This week's cooking adventure will be the Cranberry Chocolate Chip cookies I made over the Thanksgiving break.

 These little guys bake up so pretty and contain two of my favorite things... chocolate and cranberries.  The recipe is very simple and I made only a few adjustments from the original, not that daring of a baker yet ;)   My only mishap was when we started chopping the berries, I had berries bouncing and rolling all over the kitchen.  I swear there needs to be warning sirens when I put my apron on.  I will be getting some more berries to freeze so we can have this nummy treat all year.  Even Hubby, non cranberry lover, was pleasantly surprised and I kept catching him sneaking a cookie or two ;p 

Itadaki-masu !

Adapted from Korean American Mommy

Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1-1/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 c all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs flax seed

1 c old fashion oats

1-1/2 c chocolate chips

1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugars.  Add egg then vanilla with mixer or by hand.

2. Sift together flour,salt,baking soda, cinnamon, and flax seeds {not sure about you guys but most of my seeds were left in the sifter thingy so not exactly sure how much made it into the bowl} and add to butter mixture.  Add the oatmeal blend well.  Stir in chocolate chips and cranberries and blend well.

3.  Using scoop drop 2 inches apart and bake for 16 minutes.

4.  Cool and then enjoy with milk or tea {chocolate and tea make lovely partners ;)}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Princess~

My little Pumpkin is our self proclaimed Princess.  As everyone knows ALL princess must wear dress, or how will you know a princess from everyone else?!  This means Pumpkin wears only skirts and dresses and with the weather getting cooler, long pants are needed.  Leave it to our industrious little one to have a work around on the chilly days ...

 two different days with her favorite dress ;) 

What can I say?  She is following the winter weather dress requirements and is looking pretty darn cute too ;)
I am just leery of what is awaiting us in the Teen years.

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xoxo

Sunday Creative ~ Indulge

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This week's prompt:

Indulge

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Indulge: 1. To yield to, satisfy, or gratify. 2. To yield to the wishes or whims of; be lenient or permissive with. 3. To allow oneself to follow one's will.

Hot chocolate with a HUGE dollop of Whipped Cream is just one of the little indulgence that the girls and I have after a chilly walk home from school :) 

 Wish you could hear the mmmm's, giggles and yum's that you see here.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

One thing I am Thankful for...

Daughters that have the "I can do it!" attitude ;)

My little Pumpkin helping out with the groceries today. I am pleased to report that our pineapples  reached the icebox unharmed and whole :)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi 

Sunday Citar

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Wordless Wendseday ~ Lost Art

{looking up words in an actual dictionary}

Happy WW!

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Cranberry Bread ala Mochi and Pumpkin ~ Updated

Not only are there tons of pumpkin treats to make and eat but lets not forget my favorite... the Cranberry!

 

I had this bread at a recent party and the hostess was kind enough to pass it along which she got from another hostess.  Thinking about calling it Hostess bread, what do ya think?!?!  This is super easy that Pumpkin helped out today so some of the photos maybe a bit fuzzy.  There was flying flour, smashed eggs, and bouncing cranberries but we had fun and she can not wait to share this treat with her sisters with a big dollop of whipped cream to boot ;)

So here is our Cranberry Bread {Hostess Bread} Adventure ~

Beat together 3 eggs and 2 cups of sugar for about 5 minutes { until slightly thick and lighter in color}

Add 3/4 cup of softened butter and 1 tsp of orange extract {original called for Almond}.  Beat for 2 minutes.

Stir in 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp of salt till just combined

Fold in 2 cups of fresh cranberries

After waiting for 45-50 minutes out of the 350 oven comes your nummy bread ;)

Now I will have to see if I can keep Pumpkin away from the bread till her sisters come home from school ;)  We hope you enjoy !

Cranberry Bread {Hostess Bread}

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter, softened

1 tsp orange extract { almond in origninal}

1 tsp. salt

2 c. flour

2 1/2 c. fresh cranberry {Pumpkin decided 2 was enough}

2/3 chopped pecans {omitted due to allergies to tree nuts}

sugar to sprinkle on top

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar until slightly thickened and lighter color { about 5 minutes}.  Add butter and extract, beat 2 minutes.  Stir in flour and salt until just combined.  Fold in cranberries and pecans.  Spread in greased 13x 9 { had to cook a bit longer } pan.  Sprinkle with sugar on top.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Monday's Music

A new song that I am in love with right now :)

Sit back, close your eyes and relax for a few minutes, we all deserve a few minutes of quiet beauty.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Copybooks

I {heart} copy books!  We have found poems and pearls of wisdom for the girls to practice penmanship and a tool for memorization.  Of course there is the generic stuff such as our address their full names and the like but we are on our second poem and they are having so much fun.  I had a very happy afternoon listening to music with the girls all around me at the table with their new poem.  {sorry no photos... I was enjoying their company too much to break the spell by finding the camera} Now I am going to find a way to work in more Japanese lessons we will see how that goes ;)   Pumpkin requested a peom about trees or leaves since they are falling and so pretty right now.  Here is what I decided on:

Little Elf

A little elf

Sat in a tree

Painting leaves

To throw at me.

Leaves of yellow

And leaves of red

Come tumbling down

About my head. 

The girls loved this poem and Squirt has it memorized after one run through with her worksheet, think she might need longer poems;)

Our make shift copybooks have used just the alphabet and numbers, proverbs, and poem pages. {coming soon Japanese}  To make worksheets  with practice lines for your little ones to visit Hand writting worksheets and watch their little faces light up when they can recite a lovely poem. 

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

xo

Wordless Wendseday ~ All a Glow

 

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo