Red, white, and blue berries

Saw variations on these berries quite a few times on Pinterest, and thought they’d be perfect for Memorial Day. They were. *grin*

We ended up loosely following the directions here. Cut the bottom and top off 2 dozen strawberries, then use a small melon baller to scoop a hole inside each berry.

Beat together 8oz mascarpone cheese, 3 TB powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla. Then let your helper lick the beaters (of course):

Stuff the mixture into a pastry bag (or ziploc bag with the tip cut off). Saw a neat unrelated glass trick (also on Pinterest) to hold a bag while filling. Genius:

Squeeze a dab of the creamy mixture inside each strawberry, then top with a blueberry:

Store in the fridge.

Yum, these were so delish, and definitely easy! We’ll be making them again for the 4th of July for sure!

If you’d like to see other ideas I’ve pinned for our 4th of July party, they’re here.

Do you like mojitos? Then you’ll love this mojito marinade.

Everyone knows how much I appreciate a good mojito. Mmmm, wish I had one right now. And we all know how much TubaDad likes grilling. So I was pretty dang excited to find a fun new grilling recipe for Mojito Marinade for Chicken. Oh yeah! We’ve road-tested it a couple of times now and it’s a keeper, with thumbs-up from every member of the family. Here’s how we made it:

Assemble a few simple ingredients -- canola oil, lime juce, lime zest, fresh mint, honey, shallots, rum, kosher salt:

Put on your chef outfit (I was thinking something like jeans and an apron, but apparently they thought these getups were more appropriate. Whatev...):

Throw everything in a food processor and chop it up:

Put your chicken in a glass container and pour the marinade over it. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes (we also tried the marinade on Mahi Mahi and it was good too, although it rocked on the chicken):

If you’re wearing a fun outfit and have a pink car, might as well take a joyride while the meat is marinating and your parents are cleaning up the kitchen:

Then toss your meat on the barbie and grill away:

Yum! And of course this is perfect paired with tall glasses of fresh mojitos.

Mojito Marinade for Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:
- 2 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
- 1/4 cup rum
- 1 TB lime zest
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1 TB kosher salt
- 2 TB canola oil
- 3 TB honey
- boneless chicken breasts (can also use firm fish filets like Mahi Mahi, which were good, although our family fave was the chicken)

Instructions:
1. Place shallots, mint, rum, lime zest, lime juice, salt, oil, and honey (in this order) in a food processor.
2. Pulse until shallots are finely chopped.
3. Put your chicken in a glass (non-reactive) container in a single layer.
4. Pour the marinade over the meat.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes up to overnight. (If using fish, marinate for no more than 30 minutes or it might get mushy.)
6. Grill and thrill

Just a swingin’ (*)

* Does anyone remember that 80s country song Just a Swingin’? I remember walking the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with my friend Amy in our stylin’ Dolphin shorts singing that song. Funny the stuff you remember.

It’s almost recital time

Yes, we’re doing it again this year. And it’s going to be just as cute as last year. Ro and Ree are equal parts excited and annoyed – they really like to dance, but they don’t love the long practices put in right before the recital. Oh well, can’t have everything, right?

Here’s a sneak preview of what the ballet portion of the dance recital will look like (Ree and Ro are in the ballet, tap, and finale numbers, so they’ll end up wearing three costumes). The team had dance pictures last night and I grabbed a few outside the studio as we were scurrying back to the car in full costume (since someone *coughcough* forgot to pack regular clothes).

Cuties. Hey it looks like they have learned a few moves. I wouldn’t know, since Saturday dance class is daddy time. It’s the one day a week he is almost guaranteed to be in town, and Ro and Ree really enjoy dance class and then lunch (or whatever else they can talk him into) with daddy afterwards. It seems like quite a few families do the same thing, TubaDad told me that last week one of the dads brought his daughters into the studio lobby, looked around at the room and said “Not a woman in sight. Nice job fellas.” Hee!

Oh, since all hair is hidden in ballet buns and the bracelets still haven’t been repaired, can you tell who’s who?

PS: Any tips on ballet buns? Gah, I am NOT good at making those things to begin with, plus the girls’ hair is so thin that the buns are miniscule and practically spit the bobby pins back out.