Dear Mama Lisa,

I made this peanut butter chocolate cake for my mom, on her birthday. Her two favorite ingredients are peanut butter and chocolate. Her birthday is right after Halloween, so we had plenty of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. One of my favorite things to do is cook but especially bake. This was a fun way for me to give a homemade gift to my mom.

This is my second attempt to bake a cake from scratch using my own recipe. The first cake was a chocolate-cherry cake. For both the cakes were chocolate, and the icing was different for each. I decided to add sour cream to the second cake batter because the first cake was dry.

I encourage kids to try cooking. It doesn’t matter if you are helping your mom around the kitchen or making up your own recipe.

I hope you enjoy making my P.B. and Chocolate Cake.

Your Nephew, Nick

Here’s Nick’s cake recipe…

Peanut Butter Cake:

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

1. 2 sticks of Butter
2. 1 1/2 cups of Sugar
3. 4 Eggs 
4. 1 3/4 tsp. of Vanilla
5. 3/4 tsp. of Salt
6. 1 tsp. of Baking Powder 
7. 2 3/4 cups of Flour
8. 1/3 cup of Chocolate Powder
9. 1 cup of Sour Cream
10. 1 tsp. Baking Soda

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Whip the butter with a mixer. Then add sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Then whisk all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add a cup of the dry mixture in at a time and put the mixer on the lowest it can go.  Then add the sour cream.

Pour batter evenly into two greased round 9 inch cake pans.

Cook for 20 minutes and stick a toothpick in and don’t stop cooking it till it comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Icing:

Ingredients for Icing:

1. 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
2. 2 cups of Confectioners Sugar
3. 1 cup of Peanut Butter
4. 1/2 a cup of Cream
5. 2 tablespoons of Vanilla
6. 1 1/2 sticks of Butter

Directions:

Mix everything together (except the Reese’s PB cups) till smooth. Put icing evenly on cake.  Break up Peanut Butter cups and put on top of cake.

Bon appetit!

Nick

Many thanks to Nick for the great recipe!  You can see more of Nick’s Recipes at FoodJoe.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

The fifteenth birthday is very important for girls in many Latin American countries and in some Hispanic communities in the US.  It’s called Quince or Quinceañera (15 years).  It marks a girl becoming an adult.  It’s a bit like the Jewish Bar Mitzvah, a Sweet 16 Party and a Debutante Ball all mixed into one.  It’s a right of passage.

The custom for the party varies from country to country.  The birthday girl wears a fancy dress that’s traditionally a pastel color or pink.  Many wear a tiara.  There’s normally a religious ceremony at church involving the parents and godparents. 

The party is typically a big dance like a ball, sometimes including a waltz.  The ball may highlight a dance with the father or boyfriend.

One tradition in some countries is The Ceremony of the 15 Candles. The girl gives candles to 15 people who were important to her in her childhood.

There’s also the Tradition of the Last Doll.  The girl gives away her last doll or trades it in for a bouquet.  It’s a symbol of giving up the toys of childhood and becoming an adult.

Another tradition, which reminds me of Cinderella, is where the girl goes to the party in flat heeled shoes and trades them in for high heels, which the father may put on her as part of the ceremony.

Feel free to share your Quinceañeras traditions in the comments below.

Mama Lisa

This is a wonderful song for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day or really any day at all.  What mother wouldn’t love to hear their children singing to them a song about how much they’re loved?!

MP3 of Mamá te quiero mucho

Mamá te quiero mucho

(Chorus)
Mamá – mamá
Te quiero mucho mamá
Mamá – mamá
Te quiero mucho

Me gustas mucho mamá
Tú eres mi San Valentín
Me gusta jugar contigo
Tú eres mi Corazón

(Chorus)

Tú eres mi favorita
Me gusta cuando me das un beso
Me gustan tus abrazos
Te quiero muchísimo

(Chorus)

English Translation…

I Love You Mommy

(Chorus)
Mommy, mommy
I love you mommy
Mommy, mommy
I love you a lot!

I really like you mommy
You’re my Valentine
I like playing with you
You’re my Sweetheart.

(Chorus)

You are my favorite one
I like it when you kiss me
I like it when you hug me
I love you a lot!

(Chorus)

Check out Sara Quintanar’s Site to learn more about her work and music.

Thanks for sharing your music with us Sara!

Mama Lisa

MP3 Recording of On a Young Lady’s Sixth Anniversary

On a Young Lady’s Sixth Anniversary
by Katherine Mansfield

Baby Babbles–only one,
Now to sit up has begun.

Little Babbles quite turned two
Walks as well as I and you.

And Miss Babbles one, two, three,
Has a teaspoon at her tea.

But her Highness at four
Learns to open the front door.

And her Majesty–now six,
Can her shoestrings neatly fix.

Babbles, babbles, have a care,
You will soon put up your hair!

A lot of people are still having a tough time financially.  Even if you’re not, who can’t use ways to spend less money for Christmas, but still give nice, fun gifts?  

One great idea is to trade in old electronic games and equipment to GameStop for credit towards new toys.  You won’t get the original price, but if they’re just gathering dust, what do you have to lose?  Be aware that the newer or more popular the games, the more you’ll make. 

If you do this, you can get either cash or store credit. If you take store credit, they don’t charge you tax when you use it. If you take cash, they’ll give you less than if you take store credit.

Someone I spoke to said they got a new Wii for half price by turning in old equipment.

If you really want to save, you can buy used games and consoles.  They guarantee them with the receipt for a certain amount of time.  Check with your nearest store for details about their return policy.

They have special trade-in deals throughout the year too to get extra money or store credit.

My son asked why I’m advertising for GameStop.  This isn’t an ad… I just think it’s a great way to make Christmas happen this year for people who are hurting financially.  And like I said, even if you still have your job, aren’t we all a bit worried about the economy? It’s a good year to be financially prudent.

Have a Merry Christmas!  Remember, in the end, it’s about spending time with loved ones and showing you care however you’re able. 

Mama Lisa

Yesterday I went ice skating in Rockefeller Center, below the famous Christmas Tree in New York City.  My daughter and I were there for a birthday party. 

While skating, we heard news on the rink that some guy went down on his knees on the ice and proposed to his lady below the Christmas tree.  When I looked over I saw them hugging and kissing… how romantic!

Other places I’ve heard of guys proposing in Manhattan are the top of the Empire State Building and on horse and buggy rides through Central Park.

Of course, if you were in Paris, the place to propose would be the Eiffel Tower!

Viva la romance!

Mama Lisa

P.S. Feel free to share in the comments below:

-Romantic proposals you’ve heard of or experienced!
-Popular locals around the world for proposing marriage.

1. I’ll start with the food processor, since it’s the new love of my life!  It took me a long time to get myself into the habit of using it.  Now that I do, I can’t imagine cooking without it.  In a world where we’re all pressed for time, this gadget cuts down on your manual labor by leaps and bounds! I use it for chopping, grating, smashing, blending and mixing.  Of course it also replaces the mortar and pestle when making pesto (our family favorite!). 

I’ve gotten so tired of lugging this thing out of the cabinet all the time that I’ve decided to leave it on my countertop to use even more often!

 
The new love of my life! (Sorry honey!)

2. A Ginsu Knife – these are really inexpensive and make chopping much easier.

Ginsu Knives are great for chopping vegetables 
& they usually cost under $10

3.   An Immersion Blender – these are light and easy to use.  You can mash things with them, mix, whip and puree food.  It’s easier to take out for light jobs than a full-sized hand blender with its attachments.

4.  A Scale with Metrics and Pounds – when you have this type of scale, a whole slew of recipes open up for you… recipes that go by weight instead of other measurements.  I recommend getting one with a bowl on top to put the food in while measuring.  My bowl, shown below, comes off the base and doubles as a large measuring cup. 

5.  The Flavor Bible is a really interesting book for creative cooks.  It’s specifically interesting to people who want to create their own dishes… to figure out what goes well with what.

6. There are some simple inexpensive gadgets that can be given as stocking stuffers…  A good grater for shredding, a hand grater (you can grate parmesan with it, ginger, orange and lemon peels for zest, etc.)…  a really good peeler (like Oxo brand) makes peeling much easier…  a garlic press for crushing garlic . 

7.  An Oil Mister – This gadget helps you to use less oil in your recipes – perfect for the health conscious cook!

8. Consider giving a basket or box of high quality fresh spices from a spice store. Every foodie loves their spices! Who can resist the smell of fresh vanilla beans, chipotle or the taste of specialty sea salts added to a dish?  Here are a couple of spice stores I’ve used in the past (both ship):

The Spice House
Penzey’s Spices

Feel free to let us know what you love to use in your kitchen in the comments below.

Happy gift giving!

Mama Lisa

Note: Photo of the spices at top is from The Spice House.

We read Go Dog Go by PD Eastman to our kids for years when they were younger.  They loved it!  The climax of the book was a big dog party.  By chance, we threw a party for our 1 year old pup this past weekend.  Who would’ve thought after all those years reading the book that we would host our own dog party?  My daughter’s friends came with their dogs.

We don’t have a fenced in yard yet, so we had our party at a dog park for smaller dogs.  All of the canine attendees were small to medium sized. 

My dog Mango loves tuna, so I made homemade tuna treats.  They were a bit smelly for humans, but a hit with the canines!  We gave each kid a goody bag with treats in it to feed the dogs.  Both the kids and the dogs loved that.

For the human guests, we brought homemade sugar cookies in the shape of dog houses, bones and dogs.  We dipped the cookies in chocolate.  We also brought Yoo-hoo and Iced Tea in juice boxes.

(Note: If you don’t have time to get dog themed cookie cutters, there’s a dog bone template you can print out from the PBS Clifford pages. )

This was an easy party to host.  All we did was arrange a time and date and then bring the snacks and treats.  The entertainment was built-in.

The dogs ran around together and sniffed everything.  The kids followed them.  Fun was had by all! 

Mama Lisa

Note: The kids who come don’t all have to have dogs.  One of my daughter’s friends couldn’t bring her dog, so she played with the other dogs.  Another friend brought her grandma’s dog.  Non-dog owners can join in the fun too!

Thanks to Calvin for the photo of Mango!

Dedy said: "They do a dance of traditional java that’s called Jaranan or Jatilan (Horse dance)."

I asked if it was performed for any specific event and Dedy wrote: "Yes it is, usually in a traditional ceremony or to celebrate a birthday and big events such us weddings, independents day of my country (soon)."

He wrote: "I don’t know exactly the name of the crowns, but in my language we call them bando and they’re made of Jasmine.

Indonesia has a lot of traditional dances from our archipelago. We have more than a hundred dances. There are no specific songs its just dance, and there are many songs that go with these dances."

I found the YouTube video below that said: The Traditional Dance call is"Jaranan Kediri":

Here’s a second video that shows people dancing to a song that Dedy said is "the dance song of jaranan. It is the famous jaranan dance in some cities in Java Island."…

Thanks for sharing this with us Dedy!

FYI Temari balls are fancy balls with colorful, intricate patterns on them. They originally come from China, but are also found in Japan. They were traditionally made out of silk, often from old kimonos. Now they’re made with embroidery covering the balls.

They’re thought to bring good luck to whoever owns them. They’re given for births, birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. They’re also given by parents to kids on New Years Day.

Mama Lisa

I asked Ayako in Japan about the Temari balls. Here’s what she wrote:

“Hi Lisa,

Temari balls are beautiful. Their embroidery is fancy. We don’t play with them now. We just enjoy looking at them.

By the way, one of the traditional gifts is “Otoshidama”. It is special money given to children from their parents or relatives on New Year. It may sound dry to give money, but it is traditional heart-warming gift.

On Valentine’s day, women give chocolates to the men whom they love in Japan. It is called “true heart chocolate”. Sometimes working women give chocolates to their male coworkers. It is called “obligation chocolate”. Recently, it’s also common to give chocolate to one’s friend. That’s called “friendly chocolate”.

Usually men give gifts to the women in return on the 14th of March.

Ayako

Please join the discussion and let us know about any special gifts given for special events in your culture by commenting below…

UPDATE: Check out a later post about Holiday Traditions, Gift Giving and Superstitions in the UK.

I asked my children to tell me what they’d consider to be their favorite video games. In case there are people out there still looking for last minute gift ideas, below are some recommendations.

I recommend going to Game Stop to buy video games since they’re small stores that you can find anywhere. If you’re looking online, you can also try Amazon.

Here are my teenage son’s favorite games:

For the Wii:

Super Smash Bros Brawl

For the DS:

Mario Kart DS

For the PC (Computer):

Spore
World of Goo (It can also be downloaded onto the Wii*.)

For the N64 (Some old N64 games can be downloaded onto the Wii* – that’s how my son played it):

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Here are my 7 year old daughter’s favorites:

Disney Princesses: Enchanted Journey – available for the PC, Wii and PS2
Littlest Pet Shop Video Game – available for the PC, Wii and DS

Bratz Baby Ponies – this is free online – all you need is a Flash player! You choose a pony and style its hair. Great for girls!

Frogger – another game that has a free version online – good for boys and girls (My daughter played it on the GameCube – which is an older system.)

For the DS:

New Super Mario Bros.

For the PC:

World of Goo (It can also be downloaded onto the Wii*.)

Most kids seem to like games in the Mario Bros. franchise. You can see that Mario games are on both of my kids’ lists and I’ve bought them for many other children in our lives who have enjoyed playing them.

If you’re interested in stuffed animal and robotic animal gifts you can click the link to see an earlier post I wrote with recommendations.

Feel free to let us know about the games the kids you know like in the comments below…

Mama Lisa

*A Note About Downloading Games onto the Wii: There’s a Wii Shop Channel on the Wii Menu on the Wii. You can buy a Wii points card at a video game store or you could by points through the Wii Shop Channel. To use the card you just enter the code on the card into the Wii Shop Channel and search for a game. If it’s there it should come up. Most games cost $15 or less. 100 points costs $1. You can get old games on it and some games that are programmed specifically for it. The old games are from NES, SNES, N64 and some other systems.

Furreal Friends is the big thing this year. They’re robotic pets that act like real animals. They feel like stuffed animals – though sometimes, they’re hard underneath. There’s a horse that kids can “ride” on. Actually, it’s the head that moves – making real-looking movements – and you can “feed” it. There are cats, dogs, hamsters, and the list goes on. They range in price from about $19.99 (for the small animals) – $199.00 (for the horses). Preskool put out a Triceratops robotic toy that young kids can go on too. If you’re interested in buying a robotic stuffed animal, I’d recommend checking out the reviews of the different types of pets on Amazon and YouTube. Furreal Friends is the main brand – but some specific animals rate better than others.

Chantilly Lane Bears sing! Their mouths move while they belt out a song! These are really cute – though hearing the same song again and again can make a parent crazy! They’re less well-known than some other toys and I think there’s value in that! They come in other animals besides bears. They’re priced around $19.99.

A Webkinz is a little stuffed animal that comes with a special internet code that lets your child can interact with an online version of it. Webkinz have been around for a couple of years – but both boys and girls in elementary school still enjoy them. Their animals can get a “job” online and with the “money” they make they can improve their houses, and buy virtual food or clothes for their Webkinz. There are also games kids can play online in the Webkinz World. Webkinz normally cost between $8.00 – $15.00.

Girls aged 4-8 like Animals in My Pocket (like “Puppy in My Pocket“) and also Littlest Pet Shop animals. My daughter and her friend can’t get enough of them! There’s also “Safari in my Pocket” that boys might like.

These are some fun gift ideas if you have a school-aged child in your life who loves animals!

Mama Lisa

UPDATE: Check out my more recent post of recommended video games for kids!

However, I’ve been looking into the possibility of buying one, as a gift, and I’ve come to the conclusion that, if you’re the type of person who cares about image quality, the minimum you’re looking at paying is about $100.00 – here and now in December 2008.

Here are some considerations to keep in mind when buying:

According to PC Magazine, a digital photo frame should have a resolution of at least 640-by-480 pixels.

Also, consider who you’re buying for. If it’s someone who’s not tech-savvy, make sure they can easily access the photos. If I was going to give this as a gift to anyone over 60 or so, it would be for a family member and I’d load it up with photos in advance for them. This way they’d only have to figure out how to scroll through photos or set it to a slide show.

Make sure there’s enough memory built-in to the frame. It should have at least 128 MB or some easy storage for the photos. I would want the built-in memory.

Consumer Reports recommends buying a frame that’s at least 8″. They also recommend a matte frame.

The most standard and less expensive frame right now is 7″ – so if you’re going to go up to 8″ as recommended by Consumer Reports – it’ll cost more money.

I’ve only been able to find two digital frames that are close to $100 (on sale), that are 8″, with a resolution of at least 640-by-480 pixels, and with the buit-in memory of 128 MB. They are:

Smartparts SP800WS 8″ Digital Brown Wood Picture Frame
Kodak EASYSHARE M820 Digital Frame (Photo Above)

I don’t have direct experience with these frames. You can check around the internet to see what other people say about them, if you’d like, and to hunt for bargains. These are the two I’d check out based on what’s out there for a reasonable price right now.

My hope is that next year there will be lower price/higher quality choices!

Being artistic, Jennifer created signs on foam board of the animals in the movies. She drew the animals and glued them onto the foam board. Then she cut out the figures and attached each one to a stick so she could stand them up in the ground outside. They lasted well throughout the day – so she’ll be able to remove the sticks and hang them in her daughter’s room as a wall decoration!

Jennifer also used her creativity to make cool t-shirts for party favors. She used iron-on transfers of Bambi and put them on turquoise shirts and surrounded them with pink gems. They look very pretty.

If you’re having a themed party with a subject that’s out-of-date you’ll need to use your imagination a little more, but Jennifer shows that it can be done!

-Mama Lisa

PS Feel free to let us know about any of your party ideas or tips in the comments below.

I made round sugar cookies in advance – two per girl. (If you want to cut down on your work you can buy the pre-made sugar cookie dough in the dairy section of the supermarket.) Then we prepared white icing. We made three pretty pastel colors for them to use – pink, lavender and yellow. (If it’s for a boy’s party I would make more boyish colors.)

Then I had fun toppings available for the kids to use: sprinkles, crystal sugar, M & M’s and chocolate chips.

The activity took about 15 – 20 minutes. We wrapped up the cookies on plates for the kids to take home.

The kids had a ball!

(This doesn’t have to be just for parties or holidays – you can do this on a rainy day just for fun.)

What you’ll need:

One box of cake mix
White Icing
Food Coloring
Chocolate Chips
Large Platter (Preferably Round)

All you have to do is make one 8″ round layer cake and 12 cupcakes. You should be able to do this with one box of cake mix (at least in the US). Then you ice the cake. If you want it to look like a typical flower, you can use yellow icing on the round cake. You can do this by mixing a little yellow food coloring into white vanilla icing.

Then you can make the cupcakes have a different color icing for the petals of your flower. Mix another color food coloring with the white icing and spread it on the cupcakes. I made them pink by using a couple of drops of neon red food coloring. Then arrange the cupcakes around the round cake on a large round platter.

Then you can put the chocolate chips around the yellow icing on the cake to look like seeds.

That’s all you need to do to make a pretty flower cake!

Happy Baking!

Mama Lisa

It’s time for my daughter’s birthday. She’s turning 7 and she wanted a number 7 cake. It turned out to be pretty easy to make. You can choose any kind of cake you’d like to make. Prepare it as you would normally but bake it in a 9 x 13 inch rectangular cake pan. After it’s cooled off, place it on a large tray or cookie sheet. If you’re making a Seven Cake – cut out the seven as I did below.

1) First cut out a triangle on the left…

2) Then cut off the bottom right corner of the cake…

3) Then remove the bottom corner (you can put icing on it separately if you’d like)…

4) Put the icing on the cake…

5) If desired, you can decorate the cake (or let your kids decorate it like I did)…

Then you have a finished cake!

You can use different shaped pans depending upon what number you’d like to make. If you’d like, you can draw a template of the number using the backs of your pans and paper. Cut out the number on paper first then cut it out of the cake using the template you made.

Have lots of icing on hand – you’ll need more then usual, since it’s harder to ice cut cake. You might need to put thicker layers of icing to cover the cut portions neatly.

Happy Baking!

Mama Lisa

Hello!

I am looking or the words for the traditional La Multi Ani sung at birthdays in Romanian.

It starts off with “La Multi Ani sa traiti…”

There is another song (which I am not looking for, but which pops up all the time!), which is “Cine sa traeasca” (a sort of “For he’s a Jolly Good Fellow” a la roumaine).

Any help would be gratefully appreciated!

Naomi Sollinger

If anyone can help with the lyrics to La Multi Ani, please comment below.

Thanks!

Lisa

MP3 of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,
How I wonder what you are.

Enjoy!

-Lisa

Finally, we sang happy birthday. I had made a castle cake, using a castle Bundt pan I had purchased. It was a quick and easy way to make a castle cake, since time was an issue for me. I added McCormick’s Neon Pink food coloring to white cake mix and white icing to make both pink. We decorated the cake with wafers, jelly beans, and other candy. I found tall thin candles which made the castle look more majestic.

I also had purchased stuff for ice cream sundaes in case there was extra time at the end of the party before the parents arrived. We did end up making them.

I think it’s a good idea to have extra activities in case your party ends early and the parents aren’t there to get their kids.

I have to say I’m very happy to have held a kiddy party in our house for my daughter. I think it gave her a nice opportunity to interact with her friends all at once, at our house, at a special event that was planned just for her.

Judging by the smiles on the kids’ faces when they left, they all had a good time too!