fawn&forest

Another great recipe idea by Jennifer Carden (author of The Toddler Cafe). 

Welcome to Freaky Friday! I am the lucky owner of a set of recipe cards from 1973, a lot of recipe cards, and most of them are a bit freaky!  I thought I'd share some of my thoughts and possible ways to update these recipes. Some cards  are just too far gone and can't be fixed but hopefully, at least I can get you laughing.  Now don't be afraid because some of these recipe cards have a good foundation for creative recipe ideas.  We have come a long way baby...

As you can see this card is marked as "children's favorites," hmmm maybe not. It may have been a good snack after recorder practice in 1972 but let's talk about how we can make it better.


1973 version:

Dressing: heavy cream, mayonnaise, honey.
Ingredients: banana, apple, walnuts, canned pineapple, lettuce cups and buttered toast.

2008 Update suggestions:

Dressing: Honey, plain yogurt, lemon juice.
Ingredients: banana, apple, grapes and wheat germ or flax for sprinkling.
Serve in silicone cupcake cups or foil cupcake papers.

 

Be sure to visit Jen's blog and check out her book! Thanks Jen! 

Take a look at DucDuc, new to Fawn&Forest. DucDuc takes the words "astonishing" + "custom made" to a whole new level. And there is a freaking ton of pieces. Astonishing! DucDuc is on the classic - go - modern baby + family furniture take-over. Rulership.

Let me tell you: DucDuc has seven (count them... 7!) furniture collections, in additions to their rockers and "the cube". And in each of those collections is yes, an astonishing amount of furniture pieces.... and also a shocking amount of options to create the ultimate custom made nursery, kids room, play room, dining room......

And breath easy. And clean. All DucDuc pieces are made in Connecticut of hardwoods that are sustainably harvested from regional forests so as to minimize the carbon footprint as well as utilizing finishes that are non-toxic and Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAPs) free. As a special bonus, all products do not contain MDF or particle board.

The Campaign Collection, shown in the image above is one of my favorites. And I am totally loving the Collins rocker! I have this thought that I want to get rid of the sofas in the family room and have an assortment of rockers instead. Is that strange of me?

Not quite sure about this one kids: the Trixie Tracker, a parenting app for the iPhone. Crazy obsessive compulsive techno parenting at its finest. I mean i guess its better than having to write all those details down on paper?

The Trixie Tracker allows you to keep track of just about everything your baby does: eat, sleep, poop + pee as well as medicine doses and even your own milk inventory. Dude, and I thought I was wacked emailing myself at 2am from my iPhone random notes + to-do lists! 

And why do I have my iPhone in bed? Because I have a cool flashlight app, just in case.  

Deals! The Astronomer's Stool by Q Collection Junior, which is available in 2 sizes and 4 colors is now 25% off. And feel good: it's hand made  in the USA from locally-sourced solid aspen and non-toxic, low VOCs, water-based finish.

Be sure to check out the rest of the sale section: currently on sale is furniture by 10 Grain and Offi  as well as some clothing by Baby Star.  

The inside scoop: I bought a walnut wood rattle by Earnest Efforts when visiting Montana a couple years back. This simple wood rattle was the seed of inspiration to launch fawn&forest. Who knew? Heather and Rick are a joy to work with and hands down send the happiest emails of the day. They'll use words like "lettuce" instead of "let us" and assure me the latest shipment is being sent "on the fastest pony heading north". Each rattle is obviously made with much love + laughter and of reclaimed woods like chinkapin and madrone. A bit of nature to blast the plastic fantastic. Thank you Rick + Heather!! 

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Ricky always wanted to explore, travel west and play.  He has certainly done all of these things and continues to as well... He came out west by way of the thumb with stories that would have sent a shiver down H.S.Thompson's spine.  Heather led a more suburban childhood, but found great joy in exploring outside by herself and following in the matriarchal footsteps with sewing and art.  When her parents were building their house in the 1970's she picked up scrap wood and nails and tried to make a book.  She went to the Univ of Oregon to be a journalist and ended up an artist.

How do your life experiences influence what you create in your workshop?
Having grown up building conventional cabinetry and wood working, Rick can't help but reject a straight line for the appeal of nature's own designs.  Heather jokes that she always wanted to marry a woodworker to acquire a woodshop.  All of our life experiences led us to each other and we find ourselves so fortunate that we can share our days together playing and bringing our imaginations to reality.  We believe that all things are possible with enough effort and laughter.

What does the rest of '08 hold for you? 
First on our agenda is to finish the remodel of our 100+ year old turkey coop we lovingly call home.  We are looking forward to the fall art festivals and acquiring enough stores carrying our rattles and shakers that we can continue on with our dream of living simply and enjoying the smallest of miracles that make our life together such a joy.  We are here for amusement only.  We realized our goals are not traditional, but we are so grateful for the opportunity to sustain our lifestyle through the people we meet in our business.  Our customers are not just business transactions, but our friends.  Our visit to earth is so grand that our song is simply "take care, be good and kind, and don't forget to laugh".  Imagine love and peace for everyone.

Ahh, yes. The Tiny Tank by KLT works. We had scorching 100+ degree weather last week in Portland. Owen stayed cool (and cool!) in his KLT owl Tiny Tank in green. How stylin' is he?

The Tiny Tank is available in 2 colors (orange + green) in a variety of sizes. Even though Mr. O is only 7 weeks old, he sufficiently fits in the 3-6m size. Pure chunky goodness at it's finest.

And see those eyebrows? Man, the kid gives the looks! Reminds us of CNN's Anderson Cooper.... AC 360 "keeping them honest" look. Agree?! 

We're rounding out this month's selection of Forest Finds as August draws to an end. I have 2 more Q+A's to bring you, today with Kim Screen, the Good Stock genius. Although Kim primarily works in the preservation of family history, creating heirloom quality books, I just had to have a slice of her amazing work. Check out Kim's fill-in family trees, at once!

When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?
A teacher, like my kindergarten-teaching mom.

You are essentially in the business of preserving family history. What is the most challenging part of this process?
Getting started on a book design is always the hardest. When I'm really stuck, you'll find me cleaning + organizing around the house or office instead (my preferred procrastination!) But once I've got a good grasp on the story and a solid start on the design, I'm unstoppable. I get totally engrossed in the book and the story I'm telling. 

What does the rest of '08 hold for you?
I'm exhibiting at my first trade show - a genealogy one in Philadelphia - and am slightly nervous. Ok, very nervous. I'm launching into weddings with a "wedding week" where I'll feature a wedding book a day on my blog to give brides ideas and inspiration. And if i can get enough examples I'll also do a "Christmas week" too. On a personal note, my husband and I hope to buy a house! Oh, and i just found out today that a baby announcement I did for my friend Joel McHale (The Soup) will be in People Magazine in September - fun!

i'm not kidding, Kim really is a creative genius. Check out her site, you'll want a book of your very own, guaranteed. Thanks Kim!

We like to have fun here at Fawn&Forest. And we like to give away free stuff. As in a free Binth Baby Book when you drop $1000 or more on that modern crib, sweet stroller or a wardrobe of clothes for your new kiddo. 

Total deal! Just enter binth into the discounts field at checkout to activate. Offer is good while supplies last or until September 30th.  

Eliot and I made pita bread yesterday. Not so sure it was the brightest idea to use the oven on a 100 degree day? It was great fun to get sticky in bread dough and work on our counting skills (3 cups of flour, 8 balls of dough...) despite the heat. Eliot was crazy thrilled to man the Kitchen Aid as it kneeded the dough for 10 minutes. Ten of the most exciting minutes. 

We followed the pita bread recipe from The Fresh Loaf. Simple recipe. The best part? The recipe actaully worked. The Pitas puffed up "just like pillows!! wow!" in the oven and tasted yums as well. The only part of the recipe I changed was that I used white whole wheat flour instead of the regular stuff. 

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it (see the note on yeast above). Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup).

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. I use canola spray oil, but you can also just pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.

Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn't necessary (in the batch pictured here I removed them at 3 minutes).

 

Simple recipe from the Fresh Loaf. Very kid friendly. Long instructions. However, go to the Fresh Loaf for play by play photos. 

Anka is the ultimate in stylish, wood fold up + away baby turn toddler highchair. Part of the new Anka collection made by the folks who make Svan of Sweden.

Conveinetly enough, the Anka highchair has a handful of selling points: totally adjustable seat depth, tray and foot rest. It folds flat for those in the spacesaving mode and is made of sustainable hardwood. And so you sweet babe doesn't get any cooties the removable plastic tray is Phthalate and bisphenol-A free. Yay!

I really like how the Anka can be pulled up to the family table for dinnertime + drawing.  

Bebe au Lait (get it?) gets a big thumbs up. While I am a fan of print + pattern, I am a plane organic cotton + organic linen fabric (in the loveliest muted yet cheery colors) type of gal. And we're talking nursing covers! Did I ever think I would get excited about an organic linen nursing cover? Heck!

But oh how thrilled I was to see the latest shipment from Bebe au Lait as I had ordered myself the organic linen nursing cover in Peacock. Dreamy! The organic version has the same great features as the other Bebe au Laits: rigid neckline, generous sizing and adjustable neck strap.

And as my friend Sara demonstrated this past weekend, the Bebe au Lait also doubles as a cape if one is needed in a pinch. 

This is fun. Go to the Wordle website, type in some text (or copy + paste as I did from the fawn and forest homepage) and create a neat-o word collage-y type cloud! Words that are most prominent in the text show up the largest and the whole cloud is customizable -- font, layout and style.

A fun project: make a Wordle (or several) inspired by your kid's.... name, interests, favorites..... print out + frame in one of those cheap mats + frames from Ikea and you're set. Instant artwork like you know what's up. 

Via Coochicoos. 

In a recent re-order of Organic Teething BonBons by Dress Me up, Tressa included her Organic Blanket + Burp Cloth set as a gift for our new little Owen. Tressa is super sweet + thoughtful, so I knew she wasn't trying to totally scam me (ha!). However, once in hand, Iimmediately thought : we gotta carry this. No question, the blanket + burp set rocks.

I was surprised at the weight of the creamy organic fabric, much heavier than you would expect. A pleasant surprise + crazy soft. Tressa's detailed free hand stitching is incredibly simple + totally stunning. The gal knows how to sew a straight line + fancy leafy bits too! Available in 2 colorways: Lima Bean (lovely greens + browny-olives) and Robin's best (pictured above).

And as the recipient of the Dress Me Up Organic Blanket + Burp set, it makes for a lovely gift.  Thanks Tressa!

Meet your (kids) bed's new best friend: Hali. The Hali nightstand by Argington compliments the Argington Ayres twin bed quite wonderfully with it's spacious cubby + roomy pull out drawer. You know where else the Hali would be nice? As a side table next to a rocking chair in the nursery. 

Argington has also recently introduced the Rhodes kid-size chair. For some reason it reminds me of chairs from grade school, except cooler (duh) and with a more organic shape. And while Rhodes would be nice by itself, it conveniently fits with the Giza play table.

Free, well not quite. But you can download your very own Hermes Kelly bag...the paper version! It would certainly be fun for your little girl, and admit it, you too.  

The Hermes Kelly is available for download in 7 beautifully illustrated versions, my favorite is the one above. Though, there is also a blank version, which would be a lot of fun to decorate with an excess amount of glitter glue, right?

Thank you to Summer (yes! not often do I run across another Summer!) of Design is Mine blog, who has also started another blog called Design Freebies... which is where I found the link for the paper Hermes Kelly. 

Total textile joy: Plover Organic's line of crib quilts! Organic + whimsical + totally unique. Today's Q+A is with the very intriuging Marisa Kula Mercer, one of the very talented ladies of Plover Organic. Plover has taken a very refreshing stance on textiles, transcending trends + time... creating heirloom quality quilts + bedding with a fantastic feel-good + do-good option: organic cotton. 

When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be everything at one point or another! Singer, writer, dancer, bank-teller. They all had their allure.

Watermelon Granita: another amazing recipe from Jennifer Carden (author of The Toddler Cafe). The perfect Friday night treat! Thanks Jen!

You were in the store and the watermelon looked tasty and it was on sale. You wrestled it in to the car taking care not to let it roll around the trunk. You cut it into triangles and the juice ran down the kids faces, it was delicious but now you have half an aging melon taking up most of your refrigerator.

What to do now? I know tossing it seems like a waste so why don't you make it into a sweet, refreshing snow coneish dessert. You don't need a fancy ice cream maker, just a fork and container and a bit of time.

Make this to taste, depending on the sweetness of your watermelon, it does not have to be overly sweet, really it should just taste like fresh fruit.

I really like to use simple syrup, sugar and water melted together but you can make this with regular sugar, substitute in 1/2 cup granulated for the simple sugar. If you have an oversized fork, use it to rake the mixture. But don't leave the fork in the freezer and then lick it when it is frozen, my mistake...ouch.

Watermelon Granita
4 cups seedless watermelon chunks
1 C. simple syrup (recipe below)
Juice of 1 lemon

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Puree until smooth. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch plastic or glass container and freeze for 1 hour. Rake mixture with fork and freeze for another hour. Check it a few times to make sure it is not turning in to a solid block. Rake and freeze for one more hour. Rake and serve in cups. It should stay granular indefinitely.

 

Simple Syrup
1 C. sugar
1 C. water

Bring the water to a boil.
Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water.
Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat.
Allow to cool completely.
 

Recipe, text + images from Jennifer Carden. Be sure to check out Jen's book + blog!