Grilled Pineapple with Ice Cream

While perusing Pinterest I have come across a lot of similar recipes and I always think that it looks super delicious and that it would be a 'lighter' alternative to other desserts. Well today I finally tried it and let me tell you that it was amazing! I used vanilla pineapple ice cream but this can totally be altered to your taste buds/what you have in the freezer. I think I am going to try grilling different fruits in the near future!! 

Ingredients 

4 rings of pineapple (about 1/2 inch thick)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 scoops ice cream 

Directions

1. Slice pineapple. Turn grill on high.

2. Combine syrup and cinnamon.

3. Coat each slice of pineapple in the syrup mixture.

4. Lower grill to medium and place pineapple on.

5. Grill 4-5 minutes on each side.

6. Take off grill, be careful they will be hot.

7. Add ice cream and enjoy!

xo

Chelsea

Eton's Mess

Happy Father's Day Everyone!

Last week we went out for dinner.  For dessert I had Eton's Mess cheesecake. I wasn't so sure if I would like it because I am not a huge fan of meringue. But, I am so glad I ordered it. It was fabulous!

Eton's Mess is a classic summertime British dessert. It is meringue, strawberries and cream. It is done in many forms- trifles, cakes, bombes, jellies and cheesecakes. 

Today we have kept the day really chilled out. Cole has decided to be a ninja of the night lately- and we were all worn out. 

Tonight we made Craig dinner and just enjoyed time together. For dessert we made Eton's Mess. 

I tried to make it look pretty in a trifle form, but we ended up putting it in a bowl and smushing it together. It was fabulous and so easy. If you have unexpected guests coming over, it is so easy to whip together really quick! 

I cut the strawberries up small and let them sit in the fridge with sugar on them so they would be juicy. I cheated and bought the meringues. I was to tired today to try making them. If you want to be really lazy, you can use cool whip, but they don't sell it in England. So, I whipped together whipping cream, a drop of vanilla and two teaspoons of sugar until it was in a whipped cream consistency.  (For this dessert, much better than cool whip- but just putting that option out there.). Just layer all the ingredients and enjoy!  

Deffinently give this dessert a try. It is a light dessert for summer and so delicious.  Also, a great recipe for toddlers to help with. Cece loves to smush things together! 

I am not listing a specific recipe, because for what I did, I layered the ingredients to my preference of taste. 

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Courtney

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

Since this past December, Cecelia has been obsessed with the movie "Frozen".  With my mom being basically, the best grandmother ever- she planned a Frozen themed tea party for Cecelia and her friends while we were visiting!  It was such a fabulous afternoon and Cecelia was in heaven!

Of course, everything was blue and purple and snowflake themed. We didn't do a traditional British afternoon tea menu, we did a fun tasty menu that all little girls would love. Blueberry scones, blue jello jigglers, blueberry tea, melted snowflake punch, frosted grapes, Olaf ice creams, rice krispy treats and matching coloured candies and marshmallows were all on then menu!

We had a beautiful table setting of Frozen themed, snowflakes, purple and blue  accessories. 

 

When the girls arrived, they started off by each getting a crown then joined Cece for some tea. 

About a half hour later, there was a special guest... The Snow Queen Elsa arrived! Cecelia was in awe and was quite shy! 

Elsa danced, sang and read the girls a story. They all loved it! It was a great afternoon of fun!

We did a few activities after Elsa left.  We played pass the Sven while music played, made themed bubble wands and then blew some bubbles.  Once the girls were done with that, Olaf was hiding in the yard and they had to find him. 

Of course you can't leave a wonderful tea party without a goody bag... My mom got Frozen themed colouring items, jellybeans, pez dispensers and other things for the girls. 

It was such a good afternoon, Cecelia really enjoyed herself!  This year for Cece's birthday we are going to have a tea party for her girlfriends.  Does anyone have some great ideas for a three year old's birthday tea? Please share your ideas!

Cheers,

Courtney 

Aguas frescas: blueberry and orange

Aguas frescas translates to 'cool waters' in Spanish and it is a very common drink in Mexico, Central America, and the Carribean. 

Since summer is basically upon us I was looking for a refreshing nonalcoholic beverage. This drink is super easy and you can easily alter the recipe to fit your tastes or what you have in your refrigerator! 

Ingredients 

2 cups blueberries

2 oranges

4+ cups of water

Ice

Directions

1. Clean and add blueberries to a pitcher.

2. Clean and slice oranges and also add to pitcher.

3. Muddle together using muddler or the end of a wooden spoon.

4. Add lots of ice

5. Add water and stir.

6. Pour and enjoy!

After you drink the initial water you could always add more and keep the pitcher all day, an excellent way to get in your daily water with the added nutrients/taste of fruit!!

Let us know what combinations of fruit you come up with by commenting on this post or tagging us on Instagram!

xo

Chelsea

Rainy Days Can Be Fun Days

I was looking for activities to do when my granddaughter Cecelia was at my house visiting. I got a bunch of stuff to play outside balls, bubbles, a bug box, and some pool toys. Then I got to thinking what if it rains, I have not had to entertain or find something for a child to do on a rainy day in quite sometime. So I started looking. I really liked the kinetic sand but it seemed expensive, so I did a little research and found a recipe to make it. I gathered the supplies and was prepared for that rainy day!

During Cecelia's time at my house we had a lot of fun and a lot of those days were sunny and we were outside! But two days before she was to go home it rained... I was kind of excited... we had a jammie day and watched a movie and then we got out the materials to make the kinetic sand.

Kinetic Sand

The supplies:

5 C sand (10 lbs.)

1.25 C cornstarch

1/2 tsp of dawn

1 C water

1 tsp tea tree oil

Directions:

Mix the sand and corn starch. In a small bowl  mix the dawn, water, and tea tree oil. Mix the liquid with the sand mixture. Enjoy!

I got the sand toys at Michael's.

Add caption

Making the sand was fun and easy. Cecelia loved playing with it! My one recommendation... put a piece of plastic on the floor because it was a little messy. 

Make Sweet Memories!

Kelly

Savory S'mores

Everybody loves a great campfire...but who likes eating the same thing all the time? That was our predicament the last time we had a campfire so we searched for new recipes to try. We came across savory s'mores and let me tell you they are pretty awesome.

Ingredients:

32 crackers ( we used Wheat Thins and Triscuits)

1/4 cup purchased pesto 

16 fresh basil leaves (optional)

Any firm cheese cut into 16 1-inch cubes

Directions

1. Set out crackers and spread one of each pair with pesto and top with a basil leaf. 

2. Spear a cheese cube on a marshmallow stick and hold over an open fire until the cheese is slightly melted and browned, turning occasionally.**

3. Using the other cracker or a fork, scrape the cheese onto the cracker with the pesto. 

4. Top with the second cracker and enjoy immediately!

**The cheese that we had got for this was not able to be speared without breaking so we ended up using a cast iron pan to cook the cheese on. 

We hope you all enjoy trying these savory s'mores and cannot wait to see pictures of your creations!! Tag us on Instagram!

xo Chelsea