Friday, June 7, 2013

Happy Fragments To You...

Twenty five years ago today I became a mother-


How's that for a fragment?

Here are my sweet girls on Easter Sunday this year, the birthday girl is on the left.
She's all grown up now, her heart still so kind and gentle.


She makes me want to be a better person.

Happy Birthday Daughter1! She has a cute blog, so if you have a minute hop over and wish her a happy day today. You only turn a quarter of a century once, and she has the sweetest friends who've got a fun weekend planned. You'll find her blog here.

In other news, Daughter2 is still home for a few more days, and we're off to my gourmet group's luncheon in just a little while.  We have a luau theme this month, but a steady rain is falling, so not looking too tropical outside.


We can still eat mango cheesecake, right?


We're bringing two desserts, the cheesecake and these Blue Hawaii cupcakes with a spiked whipped cream icing.  Daughter2 is serious about her baking.

We used this recipe for the cupcakes and bought fun little umbrellas and pink flamingos for the top.  We also crushed a handful of plain graham crackers into fine crumbs to resemble sand. We had to display them on two trays because just like the Jersey shore, umbrellas crowd.

If they don't taste good at least they'll look good.


No worries...they taste good.
When you're taking a baked item to a party the rule book says you must first taste.

We resisted cutting in to the cheesecake.
Believe me, we considered it about 10 PM last night, but we talked each other down and the cheesecake is still intact this morning.

While Daughter2 made the treats for today I made meatballs and spaghetti sauce for last night's dinner.  Except instead of spaghetti we had spaghetti squash. Have you tried that? We'd both seen the recipe all over Pinterest, and if you watch The Biggest Loser, they make it a lot on there too. As I smelled the sauce simmering away I was kind of wishing we were having actual spaghetti, but this was pretty good too.  I'd never cooked spaghetti squash before and it's an interesting vegetable. It really does look a lot like spaghetti!  Next time I'll drain it more, before topping with sauce because we thought it was a teensy bit soggy, but overall pretty tasty.

I'm sure I've got more fragments to share, but I've also got a luau to get to so will end this post here. Why not hop over to Half Past Kissin' Time and share some fragments of your own today?

20 comments:

  1. I do like using spaghetti squash. It is interesting how much it can mimic pasta when you add the toppings. We like it with a little olive oil, parmesan and a lot of cracked pepper. Have fun at your lunch :-)

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  2. How wonderful - Happy birthday to your daughter - it looks like so fun. You cook together ...and have fun at the luau - now I know where that question came from! sandie

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  3. Happy Friday and the 25th Anniversary of your Mothering! On another frag, we like spaghetti squash and you must drain it well. Enjoy the luncheon!

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  4. We made that spaghetti once too. It really is pretty good.

    The cupcakes are so cute. Hope the luau was fun.

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  5. I've always wanted to try the spaghetti squash thing... I always hear its really good.

    Happy Birthday to your baby girl :)

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  6. Lovely pics of you and your daughters. I love the cupcakes with the little umbrellas. I have made spaghetti squash before and served with spaghetti sauce. I love it, but my DH doesn't.

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  7. Oh, I am such a dessert person those look tasty. Love the photo of you and your little one that is NOW all grown up into a beauty and of course the photo of both beauties topped it all off.
    Hope your weekend becomes less soggy.
    Sounds like your daughter's weekend is going to be filled with a big birthday celebration,which is always fun 25!!

    Lucy from Lucy's Reality

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  8. I know you wrote about other things but I am having a hard time getting past mango cheesecake. Wow, that sounds sooo good.
    Oh yes, happy birthday to your beautiful daughter.

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  9. Happy birthday to your daughter!

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  10. Happy Birthday to your daughter! Both girls are gorgeous, just like their mama! :)

    Mango cheesecake? Where do I sign up? And I love how the cupcakes turned out - and yes, rule of thumb always is you definitely have to taste first. ;)

    I've never tried spaghetti squash - I'm definitely going to have to look into that. :)

    Farewell to Friday for a Temporary Hiatus

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  11. Sweet pictures. Happy Birthday Daughter1! Hope you have a wonderful day. The mango cheesecake sounds delicious and yes I have done spaghetti squash and I LOVED IT....
    Have a nice weekend.

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  12. I did the spaghetti squash for spaghetti once. It was ok but just felt lacking compared to pasta.

    So I've never done it again.

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  13. The cupcakes are darling. I am sure they and the cheesecake were a big hit! Happy birthday to your sweet girl!

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  14. Once, when I was five, my mother served spaghetti. But it was actually spaghetti SQUASH. It was terrifying. TERRIFYING.
    I still haven't completely forgiven her. ;)

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  15. We love spaghetti squash, and have come to prefer it instead of pasta with our meatballs and sauce. The sort-of crunchiness of the strands feels unique as you chew.
    Mango cheesecake? Sounds exceptional!

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  16. Look at you! And your little baby! Ah my, and now she is all grown up! I know the feeling. I also feel like this with my Mandy!

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  17. The cheesecake and the cupcakes look delicious. I'm not so sure about spaghetti squash though... Hope you daughter had a great birthday!

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  18. I've never heard of spaghetti squash, how interesting! I bet you are lonesome now that Daughter 2 has gone home. But, you sure did have a lot of fun while she was home. Happy week!

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  19. Happy Birthday to Daughter1!
    You gals are all so thin and you are always cooking and baking up delish treats! No fair.

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  20. I know you have had such fun with your family!
    And "because just like the Jersey shore, umbrellas crowd" is one of the best things I've ever read!! That made me bust out laughing. :)

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