Celebrations are longer than just one day

So I had a big day last Friday, but was too busy cleaning/shopping/menu planning to have a chance to share here. The Lady Third Grade celebrated a wonderful weekend … more on that in a minute.

I took a shot in the dark late last week and was able to locate the chairperson of my districts wellness committee and he not only returned my calls but understood the dog barking, the kindergarten scooter traffic at the front door and my irrational fear of public speaking. He is very supportive of the idea of instituting Ready Set Relax here and is going to help me speak in a few weeks at the monthly committee meeting. He said from there we’ll go the May school board meeting and he has lots of ideas of local agencies to approach once we have the board on board (heeheehee). I was pretty high the rest of the afternoon, which provided great energy for the chores that had to be done!

When we celebrated Capt. Kindergarten a few weeks ago I shared how proud I was that he had planned an entire meal. Well, traditions being what they are, The Lady Third Grade knows the drill. She planned her entire celebration, from actual birthday food to all of the food for her day with her grandparents ... including the traditional Daddy-crafted birthday cake. (You might recognize Fawkes the Phoenix …. Prof. Dumbledore’s magical creature who rescues Harry Potter in the second story.) All I had to do was the shopping and the cooking ... and she even helped with some of that! We had a lovely spring celebration and all of the new toys have been test driven. We have a very happy girl with plenty of leftovers for her lunchbox this week. Here are her menus … some of the recipes I’ve posted before--just click for the links … or click comments to fill me in on your birthday traditions.

French Toast Bundt
12 Rhodes Texas Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
2 eggs
1/3 cup liquid hazelnut coffee creamer
¼ cup Log Cabin Syrup
3 Tbsps. butter, melted
2 Tbsps. sugar
½ Tbsp. cinnamon
½ Tbsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ginger

Drizzle with syrup and powdered sugar when served

Cut rolls in fourths. Mix other ingredients in a bowl. Dip rolls in mixture and place in bundt pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Pour remainning mixture over rolls. Re-cover with wrap and let rise at room temperature until rolls reach the top of the pan.
Remove wrap and bake at 350 F for 35 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter. Drizzle with syrup and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Slice and serve with additional syrup as desired.

Snack Bar: veggies and dip, assorted cheeses and crackers, grapes, Cheetoes, pizza rolls

Dinner: Beef Stroganoff, steamed green beans, fresh loaves of bread, white cake, choice of cookies-n-cream or neopolitan ice cream.

Dinner: NY Strip Steaks, fresh steamed asparagus, “favorite carrots for the people who don’t like asparagus,” and biscuits. Leftover cake and ice cream did nicely for dessert.