Party Business

  

"There are no safe paths in this world.  Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, 

and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go."

Here at the Meloche household, we love all things Hobbit.  In fact, we had a whole house full of Hobbits and other characters invented from the mind of Tolkien this past Sunday.  They descended upon our Hobbit hole to celebrate Ezra's 7th Birthday! A merry time was had by all, which makes all the effort and preparations heartily and acutely satisfying.

Before I begin, I should warn you though: there are a ridiculous amount of pictures in this post.  

In fact, you might do well to give your index finger a good, long stretch before you start scrolling through this post willy nilly.

Go ahead, I'll wait...I'm patient like that.  Ready?

Let us begin at the beginning...or shall I say, at the entrance:

Next, we have our resident cartographer generating Middle Earth:

Ahem, then I, added all the final touches: words and such...

Then there was the birthday banner with special Hobbit lettering.  

(Thank you Shower of Roses for the idea!)

Here we have your typical pound cake and, if you watch carefully, 

you can see it transforming itself...  

into Elven Lembas Bread! If I had known better I would have called it 'cram'.  

"If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise."

If I read The Hobbit before throwing a Hobbit-themed birthday party, I would have certainly called this 'cram'.  Anyway, I used these as prizes for a game we played...more on that in a minute.

Moving on, we have Gandalf the Grey's wizard hat that I made using this pattern.  The Churchwarden pipe is all Richard.  Yes, he smokes it.  

(One day, I would like to make a t-shirt that reads: "I Love my Non-Conformist Husband!" and wear it).

From left to right, we have Samwise Gamgee, Arwen and Frodo Baggins.

The cloaks I made using this pattern.  Material and leaf buttons are from Joanns. 

Aren't they cute?  Oh the kids are cute too.

I threw this picture in the mix because it is just so cute.  This was taken 2 years ago.  The kids were invited to a birthday party with a literary theme and the boys went as Frodo and Samwise. Isn't it uncanny how closely they resemble Hobbits? 

A little bit of man power:

And...a hobbit cake to call home:

The gravel is made out of crushed Cookie's N Cream Hershey's Bars. Genius, right?

Frodo in front of his cake.

Veritable Hobbit Fare: Fish Sticks, Root Veggie and Beef Stew, Po-Tay-Tohs, Mushrooms, Pickles, Cheese (our favorite Manchego and Baby-Bel) Homemade Candied Pecans, Mini Ciabatta Bread, fresh radishes ( I bought them for decoration but Richard insisted I serve them and they were a hit!) and hot tea.

" I cook better than I cook, if you know what I mean."

Welcome friends!

Look, a Hobbit baby!

Arwen with Galadriel and other Elven company. 

Frodo on a journey: 

Having quite the adventure!

Hobbit Love.

Kids had to recite/read their favorite word or quote from the Hobbit 

to win some Elven Lembas Bread:

Fun Stuff.

Waiting for cake.

Super. Cute.

Wizards.  They're notorious flirts. 

A Swiss Army Knife for his pocketsie.

Oh, in case you are asking yourself, "Where is Augustin?".  The short answer is: 

He was sleeping.  But I will leave you with these most recent shots. He wouldn't let us put the 9-month label on him, nor would he stay in one spot! Little turkey.

Best in Show

Mila participated in her very first horse show last week end: the Spring Schooling Show hosted by the Choctaw Round Up Club and she didn't even break a leg!
She did, however, fall off her horse at the very beginning of warm ups because Jitterbug (her horse) was not used to all the commotion and Mila was unable to stop her.  Something she should probably work on.  Ezra said it best when he looked up at me and said, "All she has to say is, 'Whoa!' Mamma... that's so easy!"
But did that fall stop or spook our girl's equitation infatuation? Nope.  She cried a tiny bit but wanted to climb back atop Jitterbug soon after and she went on to win three ribbons to boot! We are so proud of her!

Mila patiently waiting for her turn.

Mila and Jitterbug about to make their debut.

Fourth place in Trot Poles! (The fact that there were only 4 competitors in this event is beside the point.)

Third place in Barrels..

Sweet shot of Mila and the mare.

Weaving poles like a pro!

Movin' on up..to second place in Poles!

Way to go our little Equine Elf. One day, we may even own a horse... a very old and very tired one.

Busy Little Bee

I know, I know, it's been a while since I last posted an entry. I am so sorry for the delay,  the wait must have been down right agonizing...how ever did you cope? I feel so bad.  Go ahead...say it. Just say what we're both thinking: I'm a bad blogger. Bad bad blogger.

In truth, there really hasn't been much to report; other than the baby has started to crawl and clap his hands...not at the same time mind you:

Tell me that is not the cutest thing. Ever.

"We" are still doing the Forks Over Knives Experiment and I have made some real creative and tasty dishes.  Here are some of my favorites:
* Cabbage 'Unrolls' stuffed with sauteed onions, grated carrots, blended chickpeas and brown rice topped with homemdade tomato sauce...a veritable vegan victory! It is a modification on the Garbanzo Bean Loaf from the Forks Over Knives recipe book (I would use half the dry mustard and half the sauce)
* Eggplant Caviar served with stoneground crackers - heavenly!
* Walnut Sauce which can be used however you wish: over cooked kale, in wraps, as a dip...I used it over pasta: and threw some freshly chopped parsley on top.  I loved it AND the the kids ate it right up...BONUS!

*Red Bean and Quinoa Chili
*Mediterranean Chickpea Salad: (Wonderful! I modified the recipe slightly by soaking and cooking my own beans instead of using canned (remember my thing abour preservatives? They are even in most canned beans...Boo Hiss Hiss!) and by using cherry tomatoes and omitting the red pepper, cucumber and feta cheese.  I also made my own light dressing to avoid the dairy and because the natives were getting restless, I threw on some olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar.  Salt and Pepper to taste.  So, bascially I changed the entire recipe. It worked.

*Polenta Pizza with tomato sauce veggies and cashew 'cheeseballs'
*Stuffed Butternut Squash with Maple-glazed apples and brussel sprouts:

* Eggplant burgers with Honey-Glazed carrots and parsnips (a new family fav!):

All vegan meals aside, what has really taken a lot of my time was preparing for my friend's baby shower, which was yesterday.  My other friend and I joined creative forces to present to our friend with as many homemade gifts as we could...call me crazy, but it was fun!

I made homemade wipes and homemade baby wipe solution.  I also made a reversible travel change pad/play mat:

 Change Pad with waterproof fabric

Play Mat with a soft corduroy fabric

My friend and I made nursing pads too and they turned out so cute and feminine and although I don't have a picture of the ones we made, I do have the image from the website where we got the idea.  We changed it slightly by sewing only one circular zigzag stitch instead of two:

                                

And now... for my favorite part: DESSERT! I made the cookies for the party favors ( I prefer the Italian term for them: bonbonniere...it just sounds cuter and better than 'party favor':  "Bonbonniere" screams unique and something high-quality, while 'party favor' just says 'Throw me away. Right now.') 

Anywho, here are the cookies:

See? Unique and high-quality, right?

And the best part is, you see the cute little duckling on the side? Pure chocolate....Yes, it is.

The cake was sooo good I actually had a piece.  Replete with dairy and refined sugar etc. I ate it and  was not ashamed, I enjoyed every morsel. Yes, I cheated but it was a conscious decision and I don't feel bad about it.  ...Out, damned spot!  Out I say!