creative jewish mom

Delicious And Simple Pumpkin Soup!

Here's an absolutely healthy and delicious soup recipe that you'll find yourself going back to time and time again. Even my pickiest eater ate three bowls of this soup the other night! The main thing is keep it simple, stick to my recipe and it will be perfect every time. This is an elegant soup to serve at a special occasion as a first or second course, and yet it's so simple to make that it can also be a part of your everyday meal planning.

Ingredients:

• Roughly 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) pumpkin or any orange squash (Dlat is the best choice in Israel)
• Two green apples, or really any apple, but preferably not a red skinned one
• One large white onion
• Olive oil for browning the onion

Instructions:

1. Slice onion and saute in olive oil
2. Peel apples and pumpkin and cut into large chunks and add to pot
3. Add water such that the level is slightly below that of the pumpkin chunks
4. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for roughly 40 minutes or until pumpkin is very soft
5. Blend soup and add salt and pepper to taste, add extra water if soup is too thick
6. Sit back and wait for the compliments

I hope you enjoy this oh-so-simple recipe, I know I can't wait to make it again!

Vegetable Platters For Kids: It's All In The Presentation!

If you love vegetables, then eventually your kids will too (most of them anyway!) Of course there are a few tricks that you might want to try if you're on a campaign for not only healthy eating, but a love for healthy eating! (And if you don't love vegetables, well then just pretend that you do, for your kid's sake!)

• Treat vegetables like they are something special (they are!) and serve them in an eye-catching way. Who wouldn't want to get their hands on this platter? My kids were jumping up and down! (Okay I realize that they are not normal in their love for vegetables, but maybe it means I'm doing the right thing? How many kids do you know that will devour sliced radish? The other white vegetable is kohlrabi, wonderfully crisp and delicious.)
• Serve fresh vegetables at every meal so they become a natural part of everyday eating.
• Enlist your husband's help and convince him to ooh and aah over the vegetables and take the majority for himself, all the while smacking his lips with no desire to share. (Believe me, this one works really well, you should see the types of vegetables my kids eat because my husband loves them, like raw artichoke! Who ever heard of that!)
• Don't ever force a kid to eat his vegetables, in fact don't mention anything, just go about your business and make sure you are eating your vegetables!
• Consider growing some of your own vegetables
• Take kids to the farmer's market (or even a well stocked grocery store) and talk about all the amazing kinds of vegetables that exist, their colors, shapes, etc.
• Don't give up, ever! Just keep on serving those vegetables and follow this blog for more helpful hints down the road.

And in case you noticed, don't bandanas make the cutest little table cloths? For some more bandana ideas check out my post from last summer here.  Wishing you much success in all your endeavors, especially the vegetable ones!

Fragrant and Lovely Pomanders: The Perfect Winter Centerpiece (For Tu B'Shevat)

These gorgeous pomanders are an amazing winter project! They'll fill your home with the most delicious aroma of orange-scented cloves and you can make them without a huge investment of time. Sit down with the kids, or a friend, and make some together, that's what I did! Even my 4.5 year old had great success with this project, with Mom only filling in a few holes at the end.

As far as displaying your works of art, well traditionally pomanders were hung, which you can certainly choose to do, or why not display them individually atop candlesticks and placed in footed goblets. Or how about making a whole bunch and filling a cupcake stand for a special occasion. Wow!

You'll Need:

• oranges(or any citrus fruit except tangerines and mandarine oranges, their skin is too thin)
• whole cloves (make sure you have enough, at least 2 grocery store spice containers full, you don't want to run out mid project!)
• star anise for a beautiful accent (optional, probably only available in a specialty  spice shop)
• ribbon— either gorgeous metallic for an elegant look, or colorful for a more festive look
• tape — either electric tape or masking tape, in a few widths, or cut tape to desired width

How To:

Step 1:  Place tape on orange to define areas, as shown

Step 2:  Place cloves one next to another, using the tape as a guide. One row of cloves defining every area is really enough, though you can choose to add more if you like, or fill in entire areas. Just remember, it's wiser to spend time making a nice simple collection of pomanders than to invest lots of time in one (in my humble opinion).

Step 3: Remove the tape and place ribbon in its place. Tie with a bow or a knot, whichever suites your style. I used wired ribbon so I was able to shape the ends nicely.

Note: Free form designs such as the spiral make a nice complement to the geometric ribbon covered versions, though I don't really have any great tips for that. I did it by eye as the permanent marker I tried to use didn't adhere to the orange peel. Any ideas?

I hope you'll enjoy this wonderful project and do take pictures of your creations to share in the flickr group I'm setting up. all the best, it's finally pouring buckets here, a huge blessing as we are in desperate need of water for our water supply

Tissue Paper Blossoms On Real Branches: Stunning!

Tissue paper blossoms glued to real branches look like the real thing, only you can enjoy them for years! I've had these for over a year and a half, and they've been transported several times to various functions and they're still looking fine. I found these branches on the side of the road, a by-product of winter pruning that suited my crafting needs exactly!

As you may or may not have noticed I have made it a practice to only post original work here so as to avoid linking to other sites, in this case however I really wanted to share this lovely project with you, so I'll give credit where credit is due, this project was published a few years (or more) ago by the amazing Martha, as in Stewart. I used to say that I'd like to be the Jewish Martha Stewart, but after everything she's been through I think I'll just be happy being myself! Funny enough though, a few friends of mine started called me Martha when I started this blog, with no prompting from me. I met a friend in an elevator at a wedding and she screamed out "it's Martha!". Fortunately nobody had any idea what she was talking about, because I was pretty darn embarrassed, as funny as it was! Okay enough about me, on to Martha!

Instructions:

So I just did a search and it turns out I saw the project in a magazine from 2005. Here's the written instructions (with a few changes) courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings:

You'll Need:

• Tissue paper, the colors of your choice, either traditional pink or yellow, red, white etc.
• Flower crafting stamens
• Floral tape, preferably brown, but green will be okay, that's all I had available to me
• Real branches
• A hot glue gun

1. For each blossom, precut a 1-inch-long piece of brown floral tape and a strip of tissue paper 1 1/2 inches tall and 4 1/2 inches long .
2. Accordion-fold paper (you can make up to five folded panels; for some blossoms, fold just two or three). With a pencil, draw the petal shape on the folded paper. They should have wide, flat bottoms the width of the panel, and rounded tops. (Picture a peanut with a flat bottom.)
3. Unfold.
4. Fold two to five stamens in half, and twist to secure.
5. Wrap paper around stamens, pinching at base as you go.
6. Wrap base with floral tape.
7. Trim stem, and gently spread and shape petals.
8. Hot-glue blossom to branch in clusters, with smaller blooms at top. For buds, cover a tiny ball of cotton with crepe paper, and tape to stamens.

In case that was a bit too hard to understand, here's a more recent and easier (though not as realistic looking) version: http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/paper-cherry-blossom-display

Needless to say these are great for DIY wedding arrangements. Just make sure they won't poke anybody in the eye! Probably best used on a dessert table rather than as arrangements on dining tables.  This would also be a great project to do as a crafting get together— everyone goes home with a nice bunch of blooms to add cheer to their homes and remember a nice time spent creating together. Enjoy!

Super Cute Crocheted Flower Garland: A Breath of Spring!

Isn't this just the cutest? This is my ode to the almond blossoms that will bloom in another two weeks or so in my part of the world, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat. I just love fruit trees in bloom, and these crocheted flowers are so different and yet so similar to the real thing. What do I mean? Just looking at them makes me happy! It's just one of those things. Some of you may look at these flowers and think "what's the big deal?" while others may swoon and run to fetch a crochet hook and some yarn. Just make sure you've got some fishing line on hand, so that your flowers will seem to float when you hang them!

And this would be just adorable in a baby's room, in fact it would be adorable just about anywhere except in my dining room where it is currently hanging (it actually looks cute there too, just not exactly suited to the decor!) Do remind me to make a version that goes with earthy greens and golds and Moroccan style would you? I would love to do it!

In any case, if you don't know how to crochet I highly suggest that you learn, because you can make the small flowers in about 4 minutes each, and the large flowers in about 6 minutes each. I sat crocheting at a meeting the other night and left with a sandwich bag full of tiny blooms! A great take along project to make use of those unused minutes here and there.

You'll Need:

• crochet hook size 5mm (size h) or whatever hook size is suited to your yarn choice
• worsted weight yarn of any content, I used what was on hand, cheap acrylic
• gage obviously isn't important here, so use chunky yarn and make larger flowers, or use finer yarn and make smaller flowers, whatever suits you!

Instructions:

Here is a close up photo of the two flowers I made, and you can see their relative sizes. Though of course there are many many patterns like this out in the world, I chose these for their simplicity and how nicely they work together. You can even make layered flowers by attaching the small flower to the middle of the big flower—a fun addition to a hat or piece of clothing.

Six Petaled Cherry Blossom:

• Rnd 1: 5 ch, join with a sl st.
• Rnd 2: 12 sc in round, join with a sl st to first sc.
• Rnd 3: 6 ch, *skip 1 sc, 1 dc, 3 ch; repeat from *; join with a sl st to 2nd ch of 6 ch.
• Rnd 4: (1 sc, 2 dc, 1 tr, 2 dc, 1 sc) in each loop; join with a sl st to first sc. Fasten off and secure ends.
• Weave in ends with tapestry needle if desired. Though if you'll be using flowers for this purpose, they won't be getting any wear and tear, so trimming yarn ends close to knot is probably sufficient, that's what I did!

Five Petaled  Blossom:

• Rnd 1: Ch 2. Work 5 sc in the 2nd ch from hook. Join with sl st to first sc.
• Rnd 2: (Ch2, 3 dc, ch2, sl st) in the same sc, sl st to the next sc. Repeat 4 more times to make a total of five petals. Fasten off and secure ends (see above advice.)

To hang slip fish line through the top of a petal, catching at least a few stitches. You don't have to tie any knots if you'd like to hang as shown in the photos, as the flowers have stayed in place, even those on a slight slope. Enjoy this little touch of spring and take photos of the results to share here!

I Need Your Vote, Pretty Please With A Cherry On Top!

Dear Readers, I've been nominated for a list of Mommy bloggers, and am way down on the the list, (actually I've now moved up quite a bit thanks to many of you!) won't you please help me move up the list by voting for me? I'm not going for fame and fortune, just want to get the word out to more readers who'd benefit from a little daily creativity! Go to this link and scroll down until you find me around #58. Thank you so very much for your support!

http://www.babble.com/babble-50/mommy-bloggers/nominate-a-blogger/index.aspx

Sewing On Paper: Too Much Fun!

Those of you who have been following my creative adventures here may know that I've recently started taking weekly sewing lessons. I can't begin to describe how happy I am to be expanding my repetoire of crafting possibilities! That said, I just wanted to remind you all that a sewing machine has quite a few possibilities as a crafting tool beyond actually sewing clothes and other fabric items.

• Use it to applique cloth to paper, or even to thin cardboard (cereal box) for cards, posters, calenders etc.
• Use it to add details to scrapbooking pages
• Use it to make bunting banners and garlands from paper shapes: just run the shapes through the machine one after another
• Use it for attaching pressed leaves and flowers to paper to create gorgeous botanical specimen artwork
• Do you have some more ideas or interesting ways that you've used your sewing machine? Please leave a comment, we'd all love to hear about them!

In case you are wondering about the picture above, well, I was asked to decorate some xeroxed drawings depicting historic Jewish events for the classroom of a neighboring 11 year old girl (she told the teacher that she has this crafty neighbor......) I honestly didn't know what I would do until it occurred to me to add details on the sewing machine! I had so much fun, and I hope I remember to use my machine for more projects like this one. Maybe I should subscribe to this blog! (And by the way, you really should too so you don't miss a thing! You can subscribe to receive posts by email or in a blog reader, it's up to you.)

A Felt Bean Bag For Alphabeans Alphabet Game!

Yesterday I promised that today I would post my packaging idea for the Alphabeans Alphabet Game I introduced yesterday, (post here) so here it is! A felt bean-shaped bag, with colorful beans on the outside, which will safely hold our alphabet beans. Sewing (I've just started learning) is certainly opening up a whole new range of crafting possibilities for me, and I couldn't be more pleased!

It took a bit longer than the 15 minutes I'd intended,  mostly because I decided that I just had to applique a few beans on the bag, and because due to my sewing inexperience I messed up a bit. I don't know what I was thinking, but I sewed the bag (leaving an opening for  the zipper) first and attached the zipper second. Big mistake and a bit difficult, especially since the zipper is on a slight curve. Well at least I learned from my lesson on a small project!e. You can't tell from this photo, but trust me the zipper didn't turn out so well, though it does zip and unzip, so we will be using it!

Just for fun, I made the designs on the two sides just a bit different, here's the other side:

Wouldn't this make a cute gift? And speaking of beans, guess what we're having for dinner? Baked giant lima beans (the same ones I used for the alphabeans) with tomato sauce and cilantro pesto!, a first for me, and if it turns out well, you'll certainly hear about it! I think I've got beans on the brain, so expect some more beany projects in the future. Thanks for stopping by!

A Fun Alphabet Game For The Kids Using Beans: Introducing Alphabeans!

Isn't this just too cute? Here's a new game for the kids that will cost you the price of a bag of lima beans (or any large white bean) and a thin permanent marker. And most kids like tiny things, so these beans have a certain appeal that you just won't find with any other alphabet game! Note: If you'll be using the beans to play with I recommend giving them a protective coat of acrylic varnish (spray would be convenient, but do it outside!) or even some clear nail polish. The letters on our beans started to wear off from handling.

I've been wanting to teach my kids the English alphabet and was thinking about a letter a week. My husband thinks we can invest far less time with some matching and memory games (this was his idea) so we're going to give it a try! My instincts tell me that I should do some workbook style coloring exercises together with games like these, and if we come up with anything noteworthy I'll be sure to share it with you.

As far as the rules of the game, well there are many ways to play depending on your child's knowledge. For older children you could devise a scrabble type game, and for younger ones a matching game, like which little letter goes with which big letter etc. (As you may have noticed I put a dot at the top of the bean so kids know which way is up.)

• Now the only dilemma is how to package our new game?  (Instructions for making the adorable packaging here.)I've got an idea that I hope to spend maybe 15 minutes on today, so come back tomorrow to see what I've created. And by the way, this is not the first post I've done involving beans, you can see my previous post about bean mosaics here.

Enjoy and do take a moment to let me know you are out there, with a comment or an email! All the best.

Recycle Promotional Magnets And Make Fun Art For Your Fridge!

I really hope you've been saving those promotional magnets you get with the pizza delivery or from a myriad of people trying to get you to remember them on your fridge. Because I've finally come up with a great project that everyone in the family will love! Simply scrub off the printed paper side after it's been soaked in hot water, cut the magnet into shapes and play with them on your fridge door to make fun pictures! My kids were so excited when they came home from school and saw this tree on our fridge, and I'm just imagining how fun a whole box of shapes of all kinds could be!

If you want to get fancy, you could of course use some modge podge or glue to adhere some nice paper or  even thin fabric to your magnets before cutting them, but I really like the simplicity of the black and white, plus it took all of ten minutes! The white magnets are a result of not scrubbing off the last layer of paper from the printed side of the magnet.

And now I'd like to share with you the amazing inspiration for this project:

Isn't it just wonderful? When I saw this creative work of art on the refrigerator at my sewing teacher's home, I just knew I had to share it with you! Her kids have been playing with little pieces of magnets that were once a long strip inside a refrigerator door, creating new works of art each day. I'm grateful that their ingenuity helped me come up with an idea for today's post and an activity that we'll enjoy in our home for years to come I'm sure! Now if I can just remember where I put that stack of magnets I've been saving!