Custom "Dream Nursery" for Madison!

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You won't find this on the pages of "Pottery Barn Kids" or "Zulilly"! This is a custom nursery!

It’s your baby’s bedroom, but in the beginning, it will be you who’s staring at the walls through tired eyes while you rock, feed, change and play with baby. Here are some secrets to assembling the nursery of your baby’s -- and your -- dreams.

Cinnamon Pin Wheels!

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Have I got a treat for you today! I don’t know if I was craving cinnamon rolls or what, but, I decided, I am going to make a cookie that tastes like a cinnamon roll!  Brace yourself friends, you will NOT be able to stop eating these, they are that good!

Funfetti Sandwich Cookies

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Can you believe July is here! What are your plans for the 4th? These cookies would be the perfect treat to bring along if your going to a BBQ or hanging out to watch a firework show. They are festive and the perfect size for a little something sweet. This is another kid-friendly recipe, so get them into the kitchen this week and have some fun whipping these up!

Red, White & Blue Funfetti Cookies
-adapted from two peas & their pod

A Pillow Trick! Jacob's pillow!

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Laura, my step daughter, wanted a very special pillow for Jacob's nursery. She looked every where, and just couldn't find, " Just the right one"! I got wind of this, and asked if I could help. She loved the idea of having me make a custom pillow for little Jacob. She is designing Jacob's nursery around sports, so, I came up with a few ideas, she and I shopped for fabric together and I was off!

How to carve a watermelon baby carriage!

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Tink's Baby Madison shower- Part III

If you are hosting a baby shower sometime in the future, you may be thinking about cute centerpiece ideas for the main table of your party or for the food buffet. From flowers, balloons, apothecary candy to diaper cakes, there are so many options for celebrating the upcoming birth of a tiny baby. For those of you planning on serving fruit at the party, you should consider making a adorable watermelon baby carriage. This fun centerpiece is really easy to make and guaranteed to make your guests smile.

 

Jungle Animal Onesie Sugar Cookies

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As promised -here is part two of Tink's jungle animal themed baby shower. This post is to share with you all the jungle animal onesie cookies I made as favors. 

You can get the complete tutorial on how to make the sugar cut-out cookies, including the royal icing recipe here: http://www.sewwhatscookingwithjoan.com/2013/03/onesie-sugar-cookies-gender-reveal-party.html

I bought the fondant jungle animal toppers from a gal on Etsy. One of these days I would love to teach myself how to work with fondant, but because there were so many other details to attend to, I made it easy on myself. Plus, I could not resist buying from these talented women on Etsy who make all sorts of adorable toppers! 

Tink's Jungle Themed Baby Shower!

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What a weekend! JJ, Laura and I have been preparing for this shower for weeks and it was finally upon us! All the hard work paid off and we put together an incredible shower for Tink. There are so many great pictures to share with you guys I am going to break it up into two posts. I want to show you guys the sugar cookie cutouts I made specifically for this event -they are so stinkin cute!! I will blog about those Friday.

Our hope is that you get some inspiration from this shower to use in an event you may have around the corner. Some of our inspiration came from a few pinterest ideas, which is so helpful when beginning to plan. 

We strung jungle themed onesie's to string and attached to the fireplace mantel. Under this we placed all the gifts. We found the foam jungle animals on Etsy. Those finished the banner perfectly!

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

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This salad also doubles as a dip, paired with some tortilla chips and in this case, I used blue organic tortilla chips. It's refreshing and filling and a perfect dish to share at your Cinco De Mayo party you may be attending or hosting this weekend. It's a great meal or side dish in the hot summer months. I will be making this often!

Southwestern Black Bean Salad
-courtesy of SkinnyTaste.com 

Cashew mango salad!

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Right now Whole Foods and my local Safeway is featuring Ataulfo mangoes, also known as champagne or yellow mangoes, in their stores. Mango is my very favorite fruit, in fact I eat one or more every day!!  The health benefits are many including preventing the deadly cancer, clears the skin, lowers cholesterol, alkalizes the body, improves sex, helps diabetes, improves digestion, boosts the immune system and one cup of sliced mangoes supplies 25 percent of the needed daily value of vitamin A, which promotes good eyesight and prevents night blindness and dry eyes. WOW!! Hard to believe these little innocent looking fruits can do all these wonderful things for us!!

Gender Reveal Party!

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                                       Weddle it be?

What is this new explosion of gender reveal parties? They are CRAZY! I remember when we didn't know the sex until the baby came out the chute!! Well, okay I'm dating myself now, but, this is some serious fun!! And don't you ever think I am not going to be in on "Some Serious Fun"!! It is usually given by the expectant parents and instead of the party goers surprising the mommy-to-be with a shower, the baby's parents surprise their guests when they reveal the gender of their sweet child. I mentioned the idea to my daughter in passing, when we first knew she was expecting. A few weeks later, she said let's do it!! I was ecstatic! When the idea of "Gender Reveal" started  it was with a few photos of a small group, cutting a cake etc. Now they have developed into some serious all out events!!! Some do “Cravings” as the theme of the snacks, which is totally hilarious, as all pregnant women would agree. At the end of the party they opened a box of balloons with PINK OR BLUE balloons in it. And some do it really over the top with fireworks! There are themed parties with pink and blue shamrocks around St. Patrick's day or pink and blue costumes around Halloween. 

Onesie Sugar Cookies (Gender Reveal Party)

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My sister-in-law and her husband are expecting their first baby this summer and they wanted to reveal the gender with a party! I wanted to make these cookies for them as "favors" for guests to take with them and enjoy. I did a tutorial on rolled sugar cookies over the holidays with these Christmas Cookies

I used a variation of a basic rolled sugar cookie recipe from Glory over at Glorious Treats. She also has a great royal icing recipe that I like. 

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Coconut Macaroon Nests

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I can't believe Spring forward is this weekend...what!? Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the longer daylight but I just think the year is flying by and it's only March!

I am such a "bakaholic" and have been obsessed with all the cute Easter goodies and DIY crafty projects that are on the Internet. These caught my eye 1) because I love coconut and 2) because who wouldn't...they are so stinkin cute! I bought a bag of those Cadbury mini eggs just for this project in mind. I had some sweetened coconut in the pantry so it was a no brainer.

1 year Blogaversary! Yahoo!

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One year ago March 7, I made the decision to dive into the blog world. With the help of a couple of family members I chose a name, and sitting on the veranda of our Ocho Rios cottage I created the web site. Trust that the "Sew whats cooking with Joan" website has changed dramatically, since that day. But, my goal to learn about the building of a website and implementing it, stimulating my brain and getting whats in that brain out to you has been successful. Believe it or not, my memory has improved and I am thoroughly enjoying writing the blog. Photography was never of interest to me, however, once I started taking the pictures of food, I became interested in improving the photography of that food. Wee Bear bought me a new camera and I played with settings, and also took some classes from a producer while on board a cruise ship.

Valentine Poppers!! Embroidered Tee's for the Grandchildren!

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There's no reason to buy those cheesy pre-packaged valentine cards when making homemade Valentine's Day gifts is as easy as this! These Valentine Candy Poppers are the simplest Valentines Day craft for kids to make for their friends or for you to make for your kids or Grandchildren. Best of all, they're a great project for using up all of those cardboard paper towel rolls, or gift wrap rolls you've been saving up! I saw this on a morning show here in Scottsdale, and knew you would love it!! 

Chinese Spare Ribs -Courtesy of Lin!

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JJ, Wee Bear, TT and I went on our annual ski trip, this time to Whistler for a nice 10 days. During our time there we visited a couple times with a close friend of JJ and Wee Bears. They met him many years ago here in Washington (lives in the same neighborhood) and he spends the winter in Whistler as he loves to ski. Gerry and his wife, Lin invited us all for dinner a couple nights and on one of those nights, Lin treated us to a delicious meal of Chinese Ribs! 

JJ and I were lucky to be able to watch her make this dish in her kitchen and she was so kind to tell us what ingredients she used for the making. I did not get the exact measurements so I scoured many recipes and found a recipe that has the same ingredients but with a different cooking method. These ribs smell amazing during the cooking process and they taste even better! They are fall off the bone delicious. The spices and sauces used make these lick your fingers good! She served these along side some simple steamed broccoli and cauliflower using a bit of the broth she cooked the ribs in. Also, she treated us to her homemade fried rice, which we will feature in a future blog post!

Chinese Ribs
Linn Williams and food.com

Wonkey Weaving Gourd Basket!

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Recently I attended a class to further my education on Gourd Art. It was taught by two very patient, talented and passionate Gourd Art teachers.......

Bearfoot Bistro review! The Experience!

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We were told no visit to Whistler is complete without an evening at the Bearfoot Bistro. We arrived to Whistler for the annual family vacation minus a few family skiers/boarders who needed to cancel for various reasons. Three hours later we found ourselves seated and enjoying a spectacular meal created by award-winning Executive Chef Melissa Craig. 

Top Healthy companys 2012!

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	2012 is here! Time to engage in our New Years resolutions!

Do you work for a "Healthy Company"? Are you looking for a "Healthy company" to work for in 2013? I researched for you and found the top "Healthy companys" of 2012!

Healthy employees are typically happy ones—not to mention they can save their company a bundle on medical costs. Research from Harvard University also shows that workplace fitness helps chip away at absenteeism, increases productivity, and reduces turnover. Given all that, it’s no surprise that corporations are redoubling their efforts to keep their workforce fit. With sparkling on-site fitness facilities, reward programs for physical activity, and group exercise outings.

This is an excellent system for travel! I take it on every trip!!

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

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As a final hora to Christmas sweets I made these cupcakes to share for Christmas dinner dessert. One of my favorite bloggers (www.glorioustreats.com) made these for her husband to take into the office. I wanted to make them a bit more chocolatey so I added some bittersweet chocolate chips to the batter. I had also received a bar of the Ghirardelli peppermint bark so I chopped that up and used as garnish on top of these little cakes.

Beef Wellington for New Years Eve!

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Nothing says 'special occasion' quite like a traditional Beef Wellington. Its preparation, however time consuming, is not difficult and many steps may be prepared ahead of time. This impressive and delicious meal can be mastered and presented with grace by any caliber chef.

I served with JJ's "Blue cheese and rosemary scalloped potatoes" April 27, 2012 blog.