create (with kids)

One of my goals these days is to try out new art materials with the little girl. This
is her trying out charcoal. Her "smock" is a cardigan I shrunk, put on backwards and buttoned up the back. And the table covering is a white plastic bag, we're pretty high-tech around here :) She loved the black charcoal, the thick black stumps fit easily in her hand & they showed up to well on the colored construction paper.

Oh! And for "sealing" since the charcoal is so smear-able, I trimmed the sheets just a bit and they fit into plastic sleeve protectors, one facing out each way. This also made for a reversible art display, two artworks in one! You can also just spray it with hairspray until you have- or want to invest in- true art fixative.

And this is her- in her very artistic pajamas- coloring on watercolor paper. My idea was to do a watercolor wash on top of it, but we ended up painting watered down tempera instead. It turned out okay- it's all about the process, right?- but I'm going to try again with the watercolor and then post those. Oh, and check out her very professional easel- our refrigerator.

And last, do you ever cook something that turns out just like the picture in the recipe? This never happens to me. My food is good, but rarely beautiful. This was an exception though...

(Mine)

(Ina Garten)

Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread- Very easy & highly recommended.
Here's the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/jalapeno-cheddar-cornbread-recipe/index.html