Ella's Play Kitchen Remodel

No, no we haven't decided to remodel our kitchen - yet. 

Today our daughter Ella turns 2! I seriously can't even believe two years have gone this quickly. I've been a bit of a mess about the whole thing. I'm planning on sharing some of the details from her birthday party next week - like I did last year - but a few folks asked for details on her play kitchen after I shared a photo of her "before" kitchen. 

I prefer to make her a birthday gift instead of buying one since her birthday is just off the heels of Christmas. Also I'm just the kind of sentimental nut who can't leave well enough alone. I was insistent that "we" build her a play kitchen, by "we" I mean my husband. Said husband was also insistent that we did not have time, that a store-bought kitchen would suffice, and that he was not making a damn thing from scratch. 

I tried shopping and even settled on a play kitchen to order online. This guide was incredible helpful, but the week I should have ordered it I just could not push "pay". I wanted Ella's play kitchen to be as special as she is to me. Also I think these birthday projects give me something to obsess over so that I don't have to accept that my little baby keeps growing up despite my pleas for her to stay a baby forever.

I did what any other blogger would do and posted my query on the webernet - was it better to buy a play kitchen of DIY one? A facebook friend suggested that we look on craigslist for a used play kitchen. And that's where I found this vintage gem. Originally the seller was asking $100 but the vintage play kitchen had been listed for several weeks and wasn't in the best shape. Much to my delight the seller accepted my low-ball offer of just $40! 

This vintage play kitchen was the best compromise for the husband and I; We got a sturdy wooden play kitchen that he didn't have to build but that need just enough work to make it feel like a from scratch DIY.  

The cabinets tops were warped and scratched - so they were the first thing to go. We made a trip to Home Depot for some paint (a quart of white and a quart of magnet paint) some knobs, handles, a set of push lights, and a 24 inch by 36 inch board of oak. We'd hoped to find a bathroom faucet to use for a sink, but the ones we liked were expensive and the cheap ones were kind of bulky. 

My husband removed the doors on all three pieces (the fridge, oven, and cabinet) and painted the oven and cabinet with three coats of white paint and primer in one (I believe it was RustOleum. He used the old tops as templates to cut the two new counter tops and then used the leftover wood to make a short back splash, which he also painted white. 

The magnet paint was the biggest splurge of the project - at $19 a can - but I really wanted Ella to be able to use her magnets on her fridge. We painted three coats on the sides and door fronts of the fridge. I would have done another few coats, but we were literally painting the magnet paint on the night before her birthday party and we still needed to do two coats of white paint over the magnet paint. Small magnets stick just fine to the finished fridge, but larger magnets don't hold at all. 

I had originally painted two burners on the new counter top with the magnet paint as well (I traced a roll of masking tape with a pencil and filled in the circle with a small paint brush) but my mom discovered some old electric cal-rods in one of the closets in our shop (we're still moving in and discovering things in our new home) So my husband attached two of them as well. 

We attached new handles to all three cabinets. I painted some unfinished wooden knobs with two coats of kraft paint and labelled them with a paint pen to act as playful oven knobs. We also added a push light inside the oven. We have plans to add another light to the fridge, but since the play fridge's paint was still drying when we moved it from our workshop into the house the morning of Ella's birthday party (we wanted her to "open" it on her birthday party day so she could play with it with her friends)we had to wait and still haven't gotten to it. 

I ordered a set of Plan Toys Pots and Pans and a Plan Toys Baking set, but everything else came from either our house, the dollar spot at Target or the dollar store. Also her aunt gave her a Melissa and Doug cookie set as a birthday gift. My husband added a small hook for Ella's pot holders. 

We found plastic cutting boards, baking pans, and the pot holders at the dollar store. A pen cup from Target holds all her utensils. 

We already had a colorful plastic dinnerware set that Ella has been playing with (I think it also came from Target) but I did pick up a few more plastic bowls at Target. 

I collected a few recyclables (an empty oatmeal container, a washed and dried half and half pint) to fill her fridge. In the future, we'll add some play food and maybe a sink. I'd also love to paint or cover the shelves, but we are all loving playing in her play kitchen! I haven't eaten this many pretend cookies and this much imaginary chocolate pudding ever. 

I'm keeping a pin board of play kitchens and play food going - feel free to follow along. Do your littles have a play kitchen? Did you buy or DIY? How do you deal with your kiddos growing up? 

Feeding Baby: Cooking with Toddlers 101

My daughter has always been an active participant in our kitchen. When she was a baby, I'd stick her in a bouncy seat and let her listen to cooking from a safe distance. I'd share tools with her while I cooked as she grew. Later, I'd even pull her highchair up to a counter and let her watch and play while I cooked. We've recently entered ruthless toddler-hood and now she wants to "help" with everything! 

Feeding Baby | Strawberry Oatmeal Yogurt Pops

Honest mom moment here: Last weekend I let my daughter have a popsicle for breakfast. Actually she had two - because after she devoured the first one I couldn't help but answer her plea for "more, pease". These Strawberry Oatmeal Yogurt Pops were designed from breakfast anyway.

FEEDING BABY: Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

*Cora is the Winner of the Breakfast for Dinner giveaway from last  week! Congrats Cora, I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly.*

Well, it has been quite a while since we talked about feeding baby, huh? I guess I was all caught up in playing mama and got too busy to share what I was making for our daughter, Ella. I had planned and shot a couple of posts along the way but they never made it here. Now Ella is 13 months and a lot has changed since we first introduced purees. 

{Feeding Baby}: Firsts

Let's keep things real around here. Ella's first "real food" {as in non-formula} was not a puree of the lovely organic carrots you see above. Her very first was brown rice cereal, followed by oat cereal, and then very ripe bananas. So, you know, nothing worth snapping a picture of. 

Donut Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Let's agree on two things: if it is not fried dough, call it a donut, not a doughnut and this motherhood thing is not for the faint of heart. The first, I just made up and the latter I am slowly learning.

I'm typing frantically, hoping that Ella sleeps twenty more minutes so I can finish this post and clean the toilets. You probably shouldn't mention toilets on a food blog. Also, you probably shouldn't talk about poopy diapers while you're at lunch with a bunch of lovely ladies, but its kinda par for the course today. All of this to say, that this time in my life is full of emotions. Emotions and complete craziness.

Some days I wish Ella would just learning how to walk/talk/use the toilet already. And then, in the same day, I will cry because she's almost getting too long to lay in my lap anymore and the elephant pajamas with the ruffles on the butt don't fit. I feel guilt for leaving her to work, obligated to work so I can give her everything. And in twelve years she will absolutely hate me, and five or so after that she'll leave completely.

My mom came to visit recently, and I am reminded and glad for the way our relationship has grown. It got me thinking a lot about the lineage of mother's before me. In fits of daydreaming and tired-mind wandering, I remember my mom's mother. Her house cast a sepia tone on everything in the summers I spent there. She kept a small garden and her cellar was lined with canned beans and carrots. Two freezers below the house kept blueberries we picked, popsicles, cool-whip, and bags of her cake donuts.

I wasn't one of those cooks who was taught at my grandmother's hip. I begrudgedly picked snap peas and peeled the toothy thread from the back steps of her little house on the corner. She always always took me blueberry picking under the guise that it was something I loved. I do now, but I was easily bored with it as a kid. Now I wish I had paid more attention to her in the kitchen. She made the very best cake donuts. My father loved them so much that she continued to make them for him long after my parents divorced. She made them every time I came to visit until her arthritis bothered her too much and then she'd ask a friend to make them for me. I never learned to make them from her before she passed.

On a trip home last fall I got to look through her recipes and found two notes regarding the infamous donuts. Neither is quite right, I'm sure something is missing. Now I'm sure the secret ingredient was her well word hands and heart. She too knew motherhood is not for the weak.

Donut Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

serves 10-12

Inspired by my grandmother's cake donuts that were flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg and deep fat fried, this cake requires a few extra steps than most cakes; I promise its worth it.

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons for the pan
2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extra
1 cup whole milk

For the glaze:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
Sprinkles, optional but highly highly recommended

Heat the oven to 350˚F and rub a large bundt pan with two tablespoons butter. Make sure to cover the pan well to prevent sticking later. Next coat the pan with 2 tablespoons of sugar: it easiest to do this by dumping the sugar into the pan, covering the pan with plastic wrap and shaking the whole pan until it well coated, remove the plastic wrap and tap out any excess sugar.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium-high, until lighted, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla.

Add one third of the flour mixture and stir in at medium speed. Stop scrap down the work bowl and add half of the milk. Repeat, ending with the last third of the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze: Combine the butter, milk, and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and toss in the chocolate. Leave the chocolate alone for 2 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and whisk, whisk, whisk until smooth. Pour over the cooled cake, sprinkle on your sprinkles and set for 30 minutes before slicing.

I suggest serving this cake with hot coffee and some good belly laughs.

More Donut Cravings? Check out:
Emma's Donut Cake
Luisa's Donut Cake 
Deb's Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs

{Feeding Baby}: Breast is Best

{I promise this is not the beginning of S&S turning into a baby blog or even a baby food blog; But in the interest of sharing everything I know/am always learning about food, I want to document my experiences in feeding Ella during her first year.}

During my pregnancy, I had a regular joke about breastfeeding - anytime someone asked if I planned to, I'd point to my {very, umm, blessed} chest and say "If I can't breastfeed - I'm gonna be mad at someone!" I never even imagined I would have trouble feeding my baby breast milk. But a few weeks ago, I quit giving Ella breast milk.