Minted.

Some of the art I ordered from minted arrived today. I'm so excited to get these framed and up in our bedroom. If you haven't already I highly recommend checking out the site.

By shopping Minted, you support a community of thousands of artists.  Artists from all over the world enter their competitive design challenges. Every limited edition art print has been voted on by artists, designers and shoppers.

Right now they have a promotion going on; 20% off Art with promo code GIFT20 and free 2-day shipping (on order over $75) with promo code GIFTFS2

Stay tuned for these framed and hung!

Harper's 3rd Birthday

My daughter Harper turned 3 in November. 

She loves all arts and crafts so we decided to do an "Art Studio" theme. I was a little nervous that the arts and crafts wouldn't hold the attention of 30 three year olds but it ended up working out perfectly.  Everyone not only had a blast but got to take home their own painted canvas. 

I purchased individual canvas's for each kid at Michael's to decorate with washable paint, glitter pens and foam letter stickers. So the parent's wouldn't totally kill me for their kids making a mess I got each kid their own smock to wear while painting.

I wrapped a smock around each canvas and a little custom tag that read "Paint, Glitter & Stickers too, Create your own canvas to bring home with you".

In addition to the canvas painting I set up a table with play doh and play doh accessories. This happened to be a huge hit!

I also got a bunch of boxes of noodles and died them the colors of the rainbow. Each kid made a "noodle necklace" to take home with them as well.

To tie in with the "Painting" theme I hired Maria Rocco to do face painting. She did an amazing job. Each kid left looking like a princess or super hero.

 For dessert we had a paint palette birthday cake, paintbrush pretzels, mini rainbow cupcakes and paint dipped strawberries. All of them home made.

As a give out I ordered a water color paint set for each kid and wrapped it with a paint palette lollipop and custom tag that said "Thank you for making my birthday a masterpiece".

The party was a huge hit! Harper had a blast and we now have enough paint supplies to get us through a very long winter ahead!

Invitation

Swanky Press

Custom signage
Invitation Celebration

&
Larkspur Studios

Canvas's

Michael's

Smocks

amazon

Face Painting

Maria Rocco

Water color paint palette

shindigz

Rainbow Table Cloths 

shindigz

Paper goods

shindigz

All desserts were home made 

Friday I'm in Love

I'm always keeping an eye out for cute & unique clothing for Harper. I came across mamacase prints on etsy.com.
Kacie is based out of Austin, TX, where all of her items are designed and printed in her home studio.

All her materials - shirts, screens and ink are made in the USA.

It was hard choosing which Tee to order as they are all so adorable. 

Ultimately I choose the "Friday I'm in Love" tee. I mean really, does it get any cuter?

It's super soft and comfy - I will definitely be ordering more! 

I think "oh grow up" may need to be my next purchase.

Tees are $22 and onsies are $20.

Mention ShabouShari in your notes section at check out!

mamacase prints etsy shop

Easy weeknight dinner, Pasta alla Norma

Weeknight dinners are hard. With everything that needs to get done during the day sometimes making dinner is the last thing you have time for, or feel like doing. 

The below pasta dish you can whip up quickly. You probably have most of the ingredients in your cabinet already. And the eggplant is a great way to get your serving of veggies in. 

Pasta alla Norma

What you'll need:

- 2 firm eggplants, peeled and cubed

- Extra virgin olive oil as needed

- 1 tablespoon dried oregano (or 1 teaspoon fresh)

- Pinch of red pepper flakes (this is optional)

- 4 garlic cloves, minced

- Handful of fresh basil, finely chopped

- (2) 14-ounce cans good quality chopped tomatoes (I like San Marzano)

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 1 pound pasta

- 6 ounces salted ricotta salata (you can substitute with feta)

Directions:

Remove skin from eggplants and cut into cubes.

In a nonstick pan heat oil. Fry the eggplant cubes in batches, adding extra oil if needed. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt & pepper and the oregano. Keep turning the eggplant cubes until browned on all sides. 

Turn the heat down to medium and add the minced garlic and half of the basil. Add in the pinch of red pepper flakes (if you want a little spice). Toss everything well and add the 2 cans of tomatoes. Simmer about 15-20 minutes. 

While the sauce simmers cook the pasta in salted boiling water. When it is al dente drain it, reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Toss the pasta straight in pan with the sauce and add in the reserved cooking water.

Toss & cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Take off heat and add in the rest of the basil and a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve immediately. 

Easiest Blueberry Galette

I am not usually a baker. I can easily spend hours in the kitchen whipping up a braised short rib or home made pasta but something about dessert scares me. Maybe it's all the precision and measuring that goes into. (Math is not my forte). However the below galette recipe is so simple it's basically foolproof. 

It takes all of 5 minutes to prepare, 25 minutes in the oven and guaranteed delicious. Top with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and I promise rave reviews.

If you are looking for a dessert to bring to a Memorial Day party this weekend this is sure to be a hit!

You could use a mix of blueberries and raspberries for that red, white and blue spirit.

recipe below.

What you'll need:

3 cups berries of your choice (I used a mixture of blueberries and blackberries)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for dusting crust

1 (9 inch) frozen pie dough (thawed) 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, in small cubes

1 egg, beaten

Directions

Pre heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl stir together the berries, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest and sugar. 

Unfold the pie crust on a greased baking sheet. 

Spoon the berry mixture onto the center of the dough, leaving about an inch or so at the edges. 

Fold the edges of the dough over the berry mixture, pleating the dough where necessary. You can just use your fingers to pinch together. 

Brush the pie crust with beaten the egg & sprinkle with the teaspoon of sugar. Place the cubes of butter on top of the berries. 

Bake about 25 minutes, until berries are bubbling and crust is golden. Let cool and top with vanilla ice cream. Serve warm.

Strawberry Stew

Now that we are in full Spring I have been buying a ton of fresh fruit at the market. Harper loves strawberries, blueberries, raspberries... you name it! And since she accompanies me to the store we end up with all of it in our cart. I love that she loves fruit but hate how quickly it goes bad. 

So as my Costco size bin of strawberries were starting to see their end I decided to make them into a strawberry stew. This is an old recipe my grandma always made for me growing up. It's a great way to salvage fruit about to go bad. I used strawberries but this would be delicious with any kind of berry.

How to:

Wash and put the strawberries (stem removed) in a pot with a little water (about 1/4 cup) and about 2 tablespoons sugar. 

Boil them for about 5 minutes or so, until they get soft and the water turns to a syrupy consistency.

Let them cool completely. They can keep in the fridge for about a week.

They taste amazing alone but are also great as a topping for yogurt. If your feeling really crazy make a strawberry short cake with angel food cake, the strawberry stew and some whip cream! 

Finally! Happy Spring!