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

Cinderella in Training

Little Pumpkin has found a new love.... cleaning the windows, tables, basically anything with her sisters homemade cleaner. It is starting to smell like an orange groove in here ;P 

We have recently started using these so the Girls can help around the house and I love these homemade cleaners for a few reasons.....
1. I do not have to worry about harmful ingredients and fumes {well maybe if there is TOO much sprayed during cleaning ;)}. 
2. It is safe for ALL my girls to use.  One of the girls has a tree nut allergy and we found out the hard way that some commercial natural cleaners contian coconut oil.

This is my little Pumpkin this am doing her best Cinderella impersonation....

  Here are a few recipes Squirt brought home from her visit to our city's environmental learning center.

Window and Mirror Cleaner

 3 tbs vinegar

2 cups water

3-5 drops essential oil

spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

pour 1/4 cup baking soda into basin

drizzle with 1 cup vinegar and let set for 5-10 minutes

scrub with brush and flush

Creamy Soft Scrubber 

{great for the bath tub}

pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl

add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting 

scoop mixture onto a sponge and wash surface and rinse

Counters

pour a bit of baking soda on a damp sponge

wipe counters and sinks then rinse

Don't forget to whistle while you work ;)  Cleaning is always more fun when everyone is wiggling and giggling to their favorite song.

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Monday's Music

A great new artist that I found from a movie and another blogger hope you enjoy the two songs so far that the Girls and I have added to our play list ;)

Pumpkin loves this song and it has been getting a lot of play time since we watched 
How to Train Your Dragon ~ Now they love to see this video "ITS BEAUTIFUL!"

Go sing, too loud
Make your voice break- Sing it out
Go scream, do shout
Make an earthquake...

You wish fire would die and turn colder
You wish young eyes could see you grow older
We should always know that we can do anything

Go drum, too proud
Make your hands ache - Play it out
Go march through crowds
Make your day break...

You wish silence released noisy drummers
You wish white noise surrendered to summers
We should always know that we can do everything

Go do, you'll know how to
Just let yourself, fall into landslide

Go do, you'll know how to
Just let yourself, give into flood tide

Go do!

Tie strings to clouds
Make your own lake - Let it flow
Throw seeds to sprout
Make your own break - Let them grow

Let them grow (Endless summers)
Let them grow (Endless summers)

(Go do endless summers)

You wish surprise would never stop wonders
You wish sunrise would never fall under

You wish surprise would never stop wonders
You wish sunrise would never fall under
We should always know that we can do anything

Go do!

{I know I am ;)}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Sunday Citar

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesday

{one} do you still use a checkbook?yes. i only use it to pay bills though. i use a debit card or cash for all purchases.

{two} what size shoe do you wear?7.5 all depends on the shoe

{three} scary movies or happy endings?Happy Endings!!! I am not able to watch scary movies ~ big chicken

{four} do you prefer spontaneity or stability?stability

{five} what is the most embarrassing cd that you own?I have a couple of zydeco cd's

{six} do you watch reality tv?not really ~ I try not to watch these shows

{seven} what is your favorite home-made meal?I love my Mom's Okinawan Soba ;)

{eight} do you have any allergies?after 10+ years in the Dallas metroplex I am developing a small allergy problem

{nine} if you could open your own restaurant/store, what would it be?

for some strange reason I have always wanted to have a flower shoppe

{ten} would you ever go skydiving (or have you been)?why would you jump out of a perfectly flyable plane?!?!?!

 

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo

Wordless Wendseday ~ Halloween Candy is EviL

{how can three Little pumpkins hold SO much candy?!?!?}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xoxo