Crunchy Vegetable Slaw

First up in our Summer Salad series is this amazing Crunchy Vegetable Slaw. My friend Karen brought it over one night and I fell in love with it. I'm not usually a slaw girl, but this one has just the right balance of sweet, crunch, flavor and color. Karen bought it at the local deli, so it took a little bit to figure out what all the ingredients were, and how to make the dressing. I'm pleased to share this new favorite with you.

You'll need:

 

you can find bags of broccoli slaw at the grocery store near the carrots

 

 

 

 

 

Put all your prepared vegetables, berries and seeds in a large bowl and set aside.

 

Now for the dressing:

 

Pour all your dressing ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together until smooth.  It will still be quite thick.

 

Now, toss the dressing with the vegetable mix.  I like to either scoop and mix with tongs, or put the lid on the bowl and shake until mixed. 

 

Cover and place in refrigerator for at least an hour to let flavors blend (although I can never wait this long!  I'm eating a bowl as I type!)

This slaw is a delicious side dish, or a meal unto itself accompanied by a slice of roasted garlic ciabatta! 

Enjoy!

Click HERE for the recipe.

Rainbow birthday - all the rest!

You've seen the craft and the decorations. Here's what else we did to help little E celebrate big FIVE!

Coloring pages (from here)...

...rainbow scavenger hunt: balloons of each color were hidden with coordinating stickers.  The kids had to find each balloon and sticker their paper.  When they found all six colors...

...they received a little bag of gold (and silver) at the end of the rainbow!

Fabric party hats (found here), rainbow-style...

...twirl rainbow pops...

...rainbow relay: the kids lined up in teams of six.  They had to put on the rainbow wig, run to the other side of the room and color in one color of the rainbow.  When done, they ran back to their team, pass the wig and the next child runs down to color.

 

The rainbow cake (recipe here), but we didn't make it for the kids' party because a certain five-year-old didn't like it. We made sugar cookies with frosting and rainbow sprinkles instead.

...a rainbow of fruit..

...the dress (handmade by me, am loving the finished look of the double needle!).

I think it was a successful party.

The five year old looks pretty happy!

Rainbow birthday - the craft: rainbow garland from upcycled cardboard tubes

Is it the crafter in me, the artistic birthday girl, or the 12 children in the house on a winter day that called for a rainbow party craft?
I love that little E was soo proud of our enviro-friendly craft - the first thing she announced to everyone as they sat down at the table was, "It's made out of toilet paper tubes!"  Not paper towel tubes or wrapping paper tubes (which are both true!).  She's a crafter and an enviromentalist!

Here's what we did:

Materials: washable paint, glue, 8 rings (cut from upcycled cardboard tubes from you-know-where), paintbrush, hole puncher, yarn needle and yarn, cotton balls, large beads

1. Punch two holes on either side of each ring.

2. Paint seven rings (eight if you want to do a white coat under the cotton ball). With the lighter colors, you may want to do more than one coat.

3. Pull apart the cotton balls for a cloudy effect.  Glue them on the remaining ring.

4. Thread your needle.  If you double up the yarn and push the loop through the eye of the needle, you'll end up with a loop to hang the project when you are done.  Handy, eh?

5. Alternate bead and tube (oops - no cotton on that one - I glued it afterwards - with the kids, we skipped the white paint and glued the cotton before stringing everything so the glue could dry a bit).

6. Have fun and be creative with your color choices.

All strung...

...and ready to hang.

Perfect for a rainy day, or any day you need a little extra color!

Capturing colors

It is mid-October.  To any New Englander, this means leaf-peeping season.  Hoardes of tourists drive from all over to view the blazing golds, oranges, reds and browns of the fall leaves. 

While I savor this time of year for the leaves, I would be remiss to leave out other colors of nature that are right out my back door.  

There is something warm and comforting about finding these last hold-outs of color before the world falls into a deep hibernation under blankets of white snow.