Local Tornado Relief Bake Sale

 My sister, Jessica Woody with Eco-Friendly Freckles, and I (Andrea Scott with Storybook Artifact) held a local bake sale this last weekend to help raise funds for two families who lost their homes due to an EF2 tornado that recently struck my neighborhood.  It was amazing to see who all came out to support us: such a caring community of people.  We also collected other donations: children's clothing and supplies.  My children even helped us out too; with my son dressed as our little mascot in firefighter costume, and my daughter sampling the cookies.

FOX23 News Coverage of Bake Sale:
Bake sale held for Broken Arrow tornado relief

TulsaWorld Article on Supported Families:
Residents clean up following tornados, severe storms 

  From the home baked treats contributed by caring locals to the generous donations made from those within our community, it has been such a miraculous thing to see so many people who care.  We may not all personally know these families, but their stories do touch us in a way that hits home. ... A goal was really never made, but we did break $1000! To be exact: $1092, which gives $546 to each of the two families whom we were raising funds for. ... Thank you all for the support and we'd like to specially thank: FOX23 News, Tulsa's Channel 8, BA Homeschoolers, members of Destiny Church, Gavco Plastics, Red's Pizzeria, Oneta Wine & Spirits, and Broken Arrow Firefighters.

This blog article was contributed by the Etsy Natural Healers Guild Team Captain Andrea Scott of Storybook Artifact

Growing Girls Gobble Garden Greens

  This tongue-twister is true!  My daughter is seen above using her sign language to say that she would like some more tasty home-concocted green smoothie, which not only enhances her brain power, but also her charming green mustache. ;o)~ ... Pick some kale or your preferred garden greens and blend with your favorite ingredients.

Ingredient Ideas:

plain or frozen yogurt, frozen berries, orange juice, banana, raw farm-fresh egg (whisked seperately with a teaspoon of preferred liquor to sterilize), tablespoon fulls of seeds and grains such as: flax, chia, pumpkin, dried goji berries, purple corn, millet, wheat germ, spirulina, sweeten to taste with pure maple syrup or honey, spice it up with some cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg ... throw in some carrots, a splash of olive, hemp, or avocado oil, a pinch of himalayan pink salt, ... a whole food multi-vitamin (in tablet form) will blend up well too.  ...  Last but not least, THE KALE!  Cram in as much as you can pick, and share with the family!  ... Can you tell that we have a Vitamix? ;-)

  My son in the garden helping me pick some swiss chard.  The garden greens are so wonderful; we have rainbow swiss chards, red and green leaf lettuce, mustard greens, arugula, (spinach didn't do well this year), radish, beet, endive, broccoli, and my favorite, kale!  We planted the seeds in early spring, and here they are in early summer!  So many benefits for a growing family: growing greens is simply the best!

Hot Air Balloon or Jack and the Beanstalk Cake

UPDATE APRIL 2015:  The latest hot air balloon cake creation using this method is seen in this picture above, which was made for my daughter's second birthday: a bit of a commemoration for the hot air balloon cake that I made for her older brother's second birthday.  The inspiration for this cake was to do a spin-off from the original Wizard of Oz movie.  I had the bright idea that Glinda (the good witch) ought to transform the wizard's getaway hot air balloon into one of her bubbles.  I managed to do this with all natural food colorings: cream cheese frosting tinted with turmeric for yellow brick road, bordered with chopped pistachios, basket made of gingerbread with icing glaze for adhesive, tornado made of ice-cream cone covered in chunky peanut butter and chocolate, and the top balloon portion covered in cream cheese frosting tinted with strong hibiscus tea.  It was also a carrot cake.

Cake design found in vintage 1960's cookbook titled Wilton's Wonderland of Cake Decorating by McKinley and Norman Wilton, this is the ultimate child's birthday cake that requires both mother's baking as much as father's handy work.  A delight to see and quite easy to work with, this do it yourself cake stand is versatile in what it can be; let your imagination go free!

The hot air balloon cake uses ribbon (wrapped over and strung through cocktail picks to be pressed into cake) to take one's eye off of the cake stand's center supporting rod, and really gives the illusion that this portion of the cake is floating!

The cake seen above was decorated with circus themed porcelain figurines, in which were inspired by my son's world's fair themed birthday party last year.  Would be a perfect cake for any carnival or festival themed party!

Balloon's basket is made of a ramekin sized miniature cake with plain toasted wheat (Chex) cereal placed in icing.  All cake pieces here were homemade carrot cakes.  I love how carrot cake is dense and therefore great in keeping its height, and not sinking or falling like other cakes or soufflés are known to do.  Carrot cake is also my most preferred cake for Barbie doll cakes too: when striving to reach doll's waist.

Icing is a mixture of whipped softened butter and powdered sugar to taste.  For carrot cake, cream cheese frosting goes best; two sticks of butter per package of cream cheese.  A dash of turmeric spice for natural yellow coloring.

With the Jack and the Beanstalk cake, COTTON CANDY DISSOLVES OR DEFLATES QUICKLY! ... As regrettably seen in this picture; large marshmallows stuck in with toothpicks would be a more dependable approach for the cloud.

Hand cut paper dolls were made by printing images on card stock and being sure to leave bottom portions blank to help in providing enough area for pressing paper pieces into cake for support.  Curving the paper adds dimension.

Beanstalk was achieved by winding 9-10 green pipe cleaners around center supporting rod.  Winding end parts of each pipe cleaner around pencil gives off curly vines for Jack to climb on.

This cake was prepared by following a light fluffy white cake recipe that required three layers with lemon zest curd filling, and topped with chopped pistachios.  Yummy Fun!

From the vintage Wilton cookbook, the actual instruction for making this cake is seen above here with the cake being given the name Around the World in Eighty Days.

My husband, however, built it like this (seen above).  Running a screw rod up through half of a styrofoam sphere attached to a circular cut wood piece with spray adhesive glue, and bolted with washer at top.

Wooden skewer sticks were pressed into styrofoam ball piece to support cotton candy in the Jack and the Beanstalk cake; however, since this part failed (cotton candy dissolved quickly after being placed onto cake) pressing in toothpicks instead with large marshmallows attached may be a safer alternative.

Also something important to note, styrofoam flakes if ran under hot water (to say, rinse off icing).  To help keep this part of the cake stand like new, wrap it in aluminum foil before placing cake on stand and decorating with icing to prevent it from disintegrating.

Cake for top stand needs to be baked in an oven safe tall-ish bowl that doesn't have to exactly match the diameter of the stand, but certainly needs to be close; once icing is applied, it helps to even everything out to make a perfect sphere shape.

Best wishes on this DIY hot air balloon or Jack and the Beanstalk birthday cake stand and cake!  I won't make any promises, but if interested in having this cake stand made for you, contact me via Etsy convo through my Etsy store Storybook Artifact, and I'll ask my husband if he is willing to take on this construction project once again ... but like I mentioned, "no promises"; he is one busy dad.

How to Keep Santa Overnight

Make your jolly ol' guest feel more than welcome by setting out homemade cookies, chocolates, and tea from my shop's Treats and Sweets section.

See the latest addition to this yummy shop section, Sugar Plums à la Chocolaté; a naturally rich and decadent dried fruit is simply dipped in dark chocolate and is transformed into this lovely little treat.

Or try the classic Christmas cookie on Santa this year; there are several different cookies to choose from.

Also featured in this section is the tea fabricated by none other than Shakespeare himself; a lovely light floral peppermint tea mentioned in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale: Shakespeare Tea Blend.



This blog post was written by Andrea of Storybook Artifact.

The Perfectly Balanced Breakfast Cookie

I love these cookies!  Just made a batch and they are already almost gone!  They are great for on the go, hearty enough for brunch, and my son loves them too!!!  I've made them before when I was working at the compounding pharmacy; these ladies are always sharing treats and recipes (or shall I say formulas "wink").

Why I think it is the "perfectly balanced breakfast cookie" is because of how it is high in protein, fat, and fiber, which all slow the absorption of sugar/glucose into the bloodstream.  Accounting for the glycemic index of foods hasn't quite caught on in American as it has in Europe.  It is a great way to manage diabetes!  I personally would prefer this route over sugar substitutes.  Not saying that this cookie follows the glycemic index recommendations for a diabetic; however, it is a healthy (more balanced) cookie compared to the average sweet treat, which is great for all of us. :-)

Peanut Butter Oat Bran Cookies

1/2 c butter, melted
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c HODGSON MILL UNBLEACHED WHITE FLOUR
1 1/2 c HODGSON MILL OAT BRAN CEREAL
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix melted butter with sugars. Add egg (or whites); mix well. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add remaining dry ingredients; mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Criss-cross on each cookie with the tines of a fork. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 36 cookies. Each cookie: 86 calories: 1.33 g. dietary fiber, 12 g. carbohydrates; 2 g. protein; 4 g. fat; 6 mg. cholesterol; 67 mg. sodium.

Trick or Treat? "Dead Man Gingers"

A grim dead mans' tale comes alive in these classic gingerbread men cookies spiced with ground ginger, nutmeg, and cloves these cookies are made to-die-for delicious. ;-) This funky, fun, and freaky treat is sure to be a hit at your next halloween party.

Serving Suggestion I: Arrange broken cookie pieces on serving platter and pour molasses/sorghum* over broken areas. (shown in first picture)

Serving Suggestion II: Dip broken cookie pieces in desired sauce; shown in pictures with homemade strawberry preserve sauce*. Then arrange on platter as desired.

*_Dipping/Serving Sauce NOT Included

These cookies may deliver whole or broken; regardless, serving presentation is to appear "dead".

This order includes 10 cookies.

"All cookies are prepared by scratch with ingredients that are all-natural, organic, or (when possible) local farm fresh."

Ingredients:

unbleached flour, molasses, organic palm oil, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), sea salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, powdered sugar, butter, organic milk, bourbon vanilla, and turmeric for coloring
...

Hooty Birthday

  I was browsing through one of my older subscriptions of Parenting Magazine the other day, and came across this adorable cake decorating scheme: a hoot owl.  I decided to make this for my husband Robert's birthday this last weekend, and it was a hit.  For the cake recipe, I made a simple Texas Sheet-cake.  On the decorating, I made a simple delicious icing with just powdered sugar and butter; I added cocoa for the chocolate part, and turmeric for the yellow beak, feet, and writing.  I also used Newman O's for the owl's eyes. ;-)

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

from COOKS.COM

---

1 c. oil
1 c. water
4 tbsp. sweetened cocoa
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
Dash of salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour cream or buttermilk

^"I used my Milk Maiden Kefir"
1 tbsp. baking soda

Bring oil, water, and cocoa to a boil. Note: If using unsweetened cocoa, add 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar.

Remove from heat; add dry ingredients. Beat eggs in a dish; add sour cream and baking soda. Mix well. Add to chocolate mixture and beat well. Bake in a greased jelly roll pan at 375 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes. Cookie sheet can be used.

"Happy Birthday!" to my Sweetheart, and much loved Bobby's "Daddy". "xoxo"

<3

Picnics and Packed Lunches

My husband, Robert, and I took our baby boy Bobby (now 6 months) for a stroll down riverside in Tulsa today.  The weather was so lovely (in the 70's), and boy did we get a workout!  My only regret was that we forgot to grab our camera, but we do hope to do this again soon or next time the weather permits it; watch us have another snow in March this year ."haha"  The above picture was taken on riverside by his Aunt Jessy last year in September; when Bobby was only two months old. 

Anyway, all this nice weather today has inspired me to right a post about packing lunches.  Make it fancy or make it quick and easy?  Healthy and thoughtful too, right?  The pantry staples that I try to keep on hand for packing a picnic to packing Robert's lunches that he takes to work are generally simple, nutritious, and most certainly tasty treats.  I find that brands that are labeled "organic" or "all-natural" help me to achieve this.  For a picnic, I love to go fancy!  Pack a bottle of some sparkling cider and some simple wine glasses, a block of cheese, and crackers ... and you're set!

Here is a picture of me taken at a picnic that Robert and I had at a rest area heading towards Hot Springs, AR in celebration of our anniversary a couple of years ago; see the bottle of sparkling cider. ;-)