Archive | August, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

8 Aug

The other day when it was 38 degrees outside my children came to me with a specific request.  They all wanted pumpkin spice cake.  Desperately.  I told them that such a cake filled with cinnamon,  nutmeg and pumpkin AND involving putting on the oven for almost an hour was something for a cold winter’s day in front of the fire with a pot of hot tea.  They looked at me with confusion in their eyes and asked again for pumpkin spice cake.  And because it was too hot to rationalize with 3 surprisingly insistent kids I just caved and started to bake.

While the cakes baked the house smelled of autumn but was hot enough that I laid on the cold  tiles until they were done. But the ecstatic and grateful kids were well worth it all.  Kind of.

 

This recipe calls for cream cheese in the batter which helps makes it really moist and dense.  Instead of adding cinnamon and cloves you could also just add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.  I usually make this recipe in a loaf pan but considering the heat and the fact I wanted the oven on for as little time as possible I made them in mini muffin tins. Here’s the recipe if you would like to give them a try.  Whether in summer, fall or winter (go for the latter two!).

Continue for recipe: Continue reading

Flow and Scout

5 Aug

A few weeks ago I discovered a new favorite magazine called Flow.  It’s a Dutch magazine full of beautiful handmade creations, stunning photography, artistic souls and so so much more.  The magazine is in Dutch but you don’t even have to understand it to be able to love it.

Magazine

They’ve put a unique touch on everything from the writing styles to the fonts to the fact they use different sorts of paper throughout the magazine.  They keep you up-to-date on everything new and innovative in the whole lifestyle/creative scene.

While browsing through a recent copy of the magazine I found a small article about Scout which is a content marketing agency located in Portland, Oregon.  Scout offers these absolutely amazing monthly 3-d calendars for free.  You just have to visit their site and sign up for the calendar of the month club to receive it by e-mail.

Here is August’s calendar.  How sweet is this?

I, for obvious reasons, really fell in love with this one.

And this one too.

Check out the Scout blog here and the Flow site here.

Lam Musee d’Art Moderne

3 Aug

The other day we woke up in Belgium to a rainy cloudy sky.  We hadn’t really made plans for the day so we decided to drive to Lille, France to visit the Lam Modern Art Museum.  After wrestling the kids out of their pajamas and into normal clothing (they wanted to stay home and read comics all day) we made it out the door.

Luckily the French border is mere minutes from where we were staying and we made it to the museum in less than half an hour. The kids were slowly getting over their dismay at being forced out of the house and by the time we saw the museum they were actually excited to visit it.  They kept asking whether the “beetle-guy” (Jan Fabre) would be exhibiting seeing as it was a modern art museum.  Unfortunately for them he wasn’t.

The Lam Musee d’Art Modern is a great museum to take kids.  It has some really lovely permanent collections as well as temporary ones.  The museum isn’t too big which means the kids can visit all the collections without getting  too tired or  “bored”.

The museum offers modern art collections as well as contemporary art collections.  The kids loved all the cubist pieces and the way they evolved over time.  I always find it amazing what kids notice in art and they way they communicate what they see.  When they were looking at the Modigliani paintings they were commenting to each other on the ladies he painted and their long necks and noses, their blank eyes and sloped shoulders.  They also really enjoyed the room with art brut.  They loved reading the stories of the untrained artists and their life stories.

The museum offers (for a small fee) ipods for kids, teens and adults with guided tours of the museum.  Our girls took the French version of the teen tour (after 4 years of French as a second language!).

After our successful trip to the museum the kids were motivated and excited to walk into town with a box of charcoal and some paper to do some sketching at the local convent.

They all found a little spot with a view and sketched away for the rest of the afternoon.

After the drawings were finished we headed to the local waffle shop (of course).  All in all it was a perfect ending to our Belgian summer vacation.

“Traveling With Kids” Column on Classic Play! (Cultural Preparation)

2 Aug

The newest installment of my Traveling With Kids column is on Classic Play! today.  This time I talk about the importance of culturally preparing your children before visiting a new country and culture.  These are simple things that can make a big difference for everyone involved and make your trip that much more enjoyable.  Pop on over and let me know what you think!

You can check out my other posts in this series here and here.