Jonathan's Cooking Adventures, Updated

Jonathan's been extraordinarily busy in the kitchen. He makes some sort of treat nearly every afternoon. (This has not proven to be helpful to my waistline!) He posts details of his adventures on Facebook, and I occasionally get feedback from my hungry friends (like, "Will you please tell Jonathan to quit Facebooking about all his cooking...or at least bring me some!")

Some of his recent recipes have included:

--Soft Pretzels (see photo above)
--Homemade Candy Corn
--Pumpkin Cream Sandwich Cookies
--Homemade Twinkies
--Tapioca Pudding
--Halloween Jello Jigglers
--Apple Slices (a version of apple pie with an iced crust)
--Fudge Brownies with Fudge Frosting
--Pumpkin-shaped Sugar Cookies
--Mini Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
--Many varieties of smoothies
--Lemon Meringue Pie
--Lemon Squares

Get the idea? So do I... Perhaps I should teach him to cook dinner next?!?

Jer's Latest Creations

Just thought I'd post a few of Jer's latest creations:



Aircraft Carrier. This was 2 stacked canning jar boxes with a flap on the upper "deck" which lowers as Jer's model fighter jet lands. It acts as an elevator to the lower, inner deck!



Hot Air Balloon. This was a mylar balloon from his cousin Haylie. He tied the ribbon to a yogurt-cup "basket". The basket had a cut-out door and a plastic "Mrs. Mattinson" (his principal, who actually rode in a hot air balloon at their school!) hanging out of it!

(sorry, no pinwheel picture)

Pinwheel Pencils. Jer found a pattern for a pinwheel in his "365 TV-Free Activities" book. He figured out he could pin the center to a crayon or a pencil eraser and it would spin! He was kind enough to make one for each of us in the family.


Golden Gate Bridge. He connected two apple boxes (hooray for Costco!), gift wrapping ribbon, and push pins to create this life-like model! He even made up a story to go with it.



Locking Box. This involved a shoe box, the box's lid, a plastic roll from some now-gone gift wrapping ribbon, a shishkabob stick, and the remainder of the now-gone gift wrapping ribbon. The mechanics of this are pretty cool--as you turn the reel, the lid lifts on the hinge! (If you turn it to close it, the lid actually locks shut!)

Sadness

Today, my favorite and most faithful pair of light blue flip-flops died. I feel like holding a memorial.

The Perfect Summer Day

Today after the normal housework, kids' jobs, and projects, I decided to take a little time off and go out with the kids. Jeremy had a gift certificate from JCW's, so he treated us all to one of their monster ice cream cones, and then we went to a great little park in AF to play. It was a beautiful day...sunny, but not too hot...so we could hang out for a while. We played on the swings and the playset, the kids rolled down the sledding hill and climbed a tree, and we even got in a game of frisbee! (My only regret is that I didn't have a camera with me!) Toward the end, the kids said, "Now THIS is what a summer day should be like!" Yup.

Recent Pix

Okay--a final entry tonight. I have just a few recent random family pictures I love that I thought I'd include (since I seem to be using this blog as a scrapbook/journal, now!) Here goes:

The Next Dennis Brain?

Jen has become interested in the French horn. One day several weeks ago, Jessie picked up a mouthpiece and, almost instantly, figured out how to produce sound. Jennifer followed suit, and she's practiced almost every day since on Mike's horn!

Jonathan's Latest Cooking Adventures

Jonathan, as you can tell, has been having a grand ol' time in the kitchen lately. Here, I'll share a few of his recent triumphs:

This is an amazing 2-layer chocolate cake with fudge frosting:



This is a version of a recipe I got from Jenny in college! It's a strawberry and cream cheese delicacy!


(Jennifer helped with this next one...) We had German Pancakes with molded confectioner's sugar!




Ah, yes, and a detail of Jeremy's birthday cake: