What happens if K gets lost in the mountains?

As I've mentioned before, Fuji Rock is coming up. We have less than two weeks until we are playing in the mountains and listening to music all day long.

Although the festival is called "Fuji Rock," it is actually held in Niigata at the Naeba Ski Park. It's huge! There are thirteen stages scattered across the Ski Park. Some you have to hike through forests to get to some, others you take a 15 minute gondola ride.

K is at a point where he loves running. He and his friends could chase each other in circles and be entertained for hours. I'm a tad freaked out that he is going to go tearing off into the woods and I'll never find him again.

Although cell reception there is pretty crap, you can usually get through after a couple of tries. Hence, a name tag with our cell phone numbers could help in the case that I lose my child. Fingers crossed this little project will prove to be a huge waste of time.

I made the nametag similar to the little pouch I made for K's magnet cars.




It downpours every year at Fuji Rock, so I made the name tag out of vinyl fabric and with a Velcro closing. I also sewed on a little tab to hold a safety pin.




We are going with another family whose son is four months older than K. I made a name tag for him as well. Eeek!! They have matching name tags. I think it's adorable!!

If anyone else is afraid of losing their children this summer, let me know and I'll show you exactly what I did to make these.

We are going over to the friend's house this weekend to hash out plans for the trip. I'm getting so excited, but there's so much I want to get done. Wish me luck!!



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Nutella + Peanut Butter + Banana = Genius

On Monday, Y had to endure a bit of an invasive medical procedure. I felt bad for him, so I thought it'd be nice to make him a treat for when he got home. We had some over-ripe bananas on the counter and as you may recall, my husband digs banana bread.

As I have done in the past, I took my go-to recipe, ransacked the cupboards and doctored that bad boy up. (As a note, I left out the macadamia nuts and cinnamon from the original recipe.)

I have been known to slather peanut butter and nutella on a slice of bread and the top it with banana slices, so why not just bake those things into a bread?!? Genius!!! It was delicious.




As usual, I made two mini loaves. We didn't have much nutella left, so one of the loaves got chocolate chunks (and no peanut butter) instead. That poor loaf. It was good, but didn't hold a candle to the nutella and peanut butter one.

I wanted to add the peanut butter in at the beginning so it would get all the way mixed in. Because of this, I made two separate bowls instead of just splitting it at the end and adding a few things. It was surprisingly easy to split the recipe, so that was good news.




For the chocolate chunk one, I simply broke up a chocolate bar and stirred it in at the end.

For the other, I added about 50 grams of peanut butter to the butter/sugar mixing bit. Then once everything else was mixed in, I stirred in a few tablespoons of nutella. I wanted a bit more of a swirl effect, but I mixed too much (I ALWAYS do that!!), so it was more blended in most slices. I also put a few dollops on top and swirled them in with a knife, but my nutella wasn't quite soft enough, so it too, didn't swirl as I'd hoped - next time (there will most definitely be a next time)!!





I baked as instructed, but for slightly less time. The chocolate chunk one baked much more quickly than the peanut butter/nutella one, so keep an eye out for that.

I'm pretty sure this has been my favorite banana bread experiment yet. Y liked them as well!! And everything at the doctor ended with a thumbs up - yay!!

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The Hated Backpack

Things are so very hit or miss with K. I haven't quite worked out the formula for what he likes/hates. To be honest, I just don't get it.

I recently wrote a post about our upcoming trip to Fuji Rock and some pants I made for K for the occasion. He loved those pants from the first time he laid eyes on them. He still loves them. Total success!!

On Saturday night, I finished up a backpack also intended for Fuji Rock. He hates it. Total failure.




All excited, I showed it to him on Sunday morning and he literally ran away screaming. I have yet to actually get it on him. I'm so bummed!!

I'm bummed that I spent all the time making it. I'm bummed that I love it and he hates it. But most of all, I'm bummed because I know that if he would actually put it on, he would love it.

He has a number of bags, but they always fall off of his (nonexistent) shoulders, leaving him immobile and annoyed with a bag of toys around his legs. I have all the confidence in the world that this wouldn't happen with the backpack.

Boooo for stubborn kids!!!

It really is super cool. The inside is done in leftover linen from his pants, with bright orange bias tape to add a bit of character and the outside in some great Mexican woven fabric.




I cannot tell you how sick I think this bag is. I love the Mexican fabric on the outside and the orange on the inside. The one thing I wish could be different is the zipper. I really wanted a bright zipper as well, but the only colors they had were quite boring.




I got the pattern for the backpack from my best friend, who made an adorable one for her son. It looked a bit daunting, but I really thought it would be great for K. As she promised, it turned out to be quite simple. The few challenges were sewing through that many layers of twill tape and fabric, as well as getting the bias tape to cover all the edges inside, as some are quite thick.




Seriously, I love the backpack and I'm hoping that if I keep pushing it, he might start to use it. It will certainly be coming to Fuji Rock with us. Fingers crossed I don't have to hold it the whole time!!

On a different note, I don't have a serger, so most people recommend zigzagging the fabric edges to prevent fraying. I sometimes do this, sometimes don't. I totally learned my lesson with this fabric! It has really thick strands and was woven very loosely, and it totally started to come apart on me. Whoops!!




After realizing this, all my edges got zigzagged. We will see what happens with my next project.


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Applesauce Cookies

We've had a number of guests this week, so some cookies were definitely in order. Last week I made a bit of applesauce, but we still have leftovers, so it seemed a good idea to use it up.

I started with a shortbread recipe and substituted applesauce for some of the butter.




The result was a soft, apple-flavored cookie. It was nice, but not my favorite, although most of the kiddies seemed to like them.

I also put a few heart-shaped cookies in a bag and gave them to a friend.




They are super simple to make and really just take a few minutes to put together. You cut them after baking, so if you use cutters like I did, you'll end up with some scraps to snack on.

Applesauce Cookies

155g flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
70g butter
2 tablespoons butter

Combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and make a dough.

Refrigerate for an hour.

Roll out, poke with a fork, and pop them in the oven for 25 minutes at 160F.

Pull them out and cut immediately. Let them cool and break them apart.

Then give them to kids and let them eat them up. Hey they're kind of healthy!!

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Little Yellow Dress

About a month ago a friend of mine mailed me to see if I could make her friend's wedding dress. My initial reaction was a resounding, "NO!!!" - I've never even sewn a dress for myself, let alone a dress that had so much importance tied to it. The more I got thinking about it, however, the more the idea grew on me. I decided that before saying no, I should at least see what kind of dress the girl wants.

Turns out she was hoping for something quite simple. Here, in Japan, the kindergarteners often wear little smocks, with elastic necklines and cuffs, a bit of an A-line cut, and pockets - she wanted one of those. It didn't seem difficult, but I couldn't just make it without a pattern.

I searched for patterns, but couldn't find anything with an elastic neck. I finally found a pattern with the same cut that she wanted and elastic cuffs, but tiered sleeves. I bought that and decided to just wing it.

We decided it'd be best to make a practice dress just to make sure I could do it and also that it is, in fact, what she wanted.

The first draft turned out well, but way longer than she was hoping for.



I raise the hem quite a bit, but then the pockets were so close to the bottom that it looked off.




I ripped the pockets off and moved them up so the dress looked a bit more balanced. But, the fabric is really thick, almost canvas-like, so you could see the needle marks. I totally thought I'd destroyed the dress, when my friend suggested I put it in the wash. After that, you couldn't even tell they had been moved. Phew!!




She decided that she wanted some changes for her actual wedding dress. So last week, I worked on THE dress and on Sunday she stopped by to try it on. After just a few minor adjustments earlier this week my first wedding dress (and second adult-sized dress ever) is officially done!




For obvious reasons, I don't want to post any photos of the wedding dress until after her wedding next month. But, I will say, that I'm quite proud of it. I went in to this whole situation pretty uncertain of my sewing skills, but left it quite confident. I'm stoked I was able to make adjustments where she wanted and that it came out looking like that was the original plan. Wahooo!!

Thanks for trusting me with this, Casey!!

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Cheesecake Class

Two of the moms in my neighborhood almost always comment on my baked goods. For ages, one of the moms has been asking me to teach her how to bake something. I kept asking what she wants to learn, but the response was always, "anything my boys will like." That's a whole heap of pressure.

Finally when I made the first cheesecake, she mailed and said that's what she wants to learn! Another friend said she wants to learn too and voila! Anna's Baking School had it's first customers. (Just as a note, the very idea of me teaching people how to bake gives me the giggles.)

While they were over this morning, many more giggles were shared.




Booze was shared too!!




On Sunday night I baked one cheesecake, but left the top plain. When my students (ha ha!!) came over the first thing we did was bake a new cheesecake.







While that was baking, we busted out the original cake, cut up fruits and decorated the top. It was totally like on television when they pop something in the oven, go to a commercial break, and when they come back, the cake is already done, cooled, and ready to be decorated.

Once that cake was covered in fruits and glaze, we made a caramel sauce because I love caramel, it's so easy and delicious, and why not drizzle some on the cake that is baking once it's ready to eat.




I got the caramel to a perfect drizzling consistency this time around!! Wahoooo!!!




Both of these moms have older sons. One has two boys - one is fourth grade and one in first, I think - and the other has one in fifth grade. I've gotten texts from both of them that the cake got the stamp of approval from the boys. Success!




To be honest, I was a little worried as Japanese cheesecake is usually not as rich as this one. I was totally hoping it wouldn't be too much. It wasn't! In fact the brothers asked for more, but my friend turned them down. C'mon Maiko!!! Give the boys another slice ;)


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My Mom's the Bomb

My mom is the best.

When it was my dad's birthday I told you all about what a great man he is. When it was my mom's birthday, I told you all that she likes wine.

I wanted to write more about how amazing my mom is, but how do you explain the one person in the world that you most look up to? I really didn't know where to start, so I just ignored it. Ever since I hit "post" on my mom's birthday gift post, I've felt awful. I didn't paint the glowing picture of my mom that I think the whole world should see.

My mom is fun. She is loving and caring and compassionate (good luck fitting compassionate on a cookie).




She is adventurous. Just after marrying my dad, she moved to Mexico City without knowing any Spanish or anyone besides my dad.

She is intelligent. She is funny and warm and helpful.




She is strong. She gave birth to five babies (one of whom was 10 pounds at birth - I'm looking at you, Jandro) and raised us to become the individuals that we now are.

She is courageous and beautiful. She is a million different things I could never fit on a cookie. But to me, most importantly, she is loved.




I recently came across the quote about how as a parent it is your job to give your kids roots and wings. My mom did this a million times over.

Whenever I have a problem, she is always there to help. I know that if I need her, she will be there for me. More than that, though, she taught me how to take care of myself, to have confidence in myself and to trust myself.

My mom is proud of me and my accomplishments. She is my biggest cheerleader. She encouraged me to move halfway around the world so that I could explore new things. (I wonder if she sometimes kicks herself for encouraging me so much!) In the end though, I think she knows that this life is the life I was meant to have. She knows how happy I am here and my mom has always puts her children before herself. I know my mom is happy for me.

I love you, Mommy.




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