Lily P. Winthrop

Happy 4th of July!

Well, not quite yet but almost.  Here's a picture of Hugo, looking like he wants to be left alone to sleep in peace.  What?  That flash again?  Oh, mon Dieu!

Stellaluna on the bed with her chewed up teddy bear.  

I've been pretty busy with summer here and everything.  Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures of my family from tomorrow to post!  Happy 4th of July!!! 

Now, I know you want to see some 'Alice In Wonderland' stills.

http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/movie-stills/gallery/1864/alice-in-wonderland-stills#photo1

Ina Garten's 4th of July Cake, Your Friends and Family will Love you Forever. Isn't that what we all want?

Best cake ever, believe me.  I've made this and taken it several Marine Corps family picnics and they loved it! 

Here's the la la link to her flag cake video.  

Here is her recipe, taken from 'Barefoot Contessa Family Style'.  Lovely book, the only one that I do not own is the one from where she went to Paris.  And sadly, I've never been. Now, where are those violins?  : )

Flag Cake

2002, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, All rights reserved

Prep Time:

45 min

Inactive Prep Time:

hr min

Cook Time:

30 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

20 to 24 servings

Ingredients

• 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:

• 2 half-pints blueberries
• 3 half-pints raspberries

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan

I am a human being.

This Andy Warhol heart is for anyone that has had a bad day. 

 

The Last Good Book I've Read. 'My Booky Wook' by Russell Brand

 

I love honest autobiographies and it doesn't get more honest than this one, 'My Booky Wook'.

 

And yes, I like that crazy hair too.  Check You Tube for some of his stand up routines, he makes me laugh.  My DH doesn't understand, btw..

I thought he was fairly nice to that heckler, considering.....

Duran Duran news!

I'm so excited!  In my world, this is big news.  From what I've heard so far, it sounds absolutely incredible.  They're in the studio, hard at work with Mark Ronson and Nick Hodgson from the Kaiser Chiefs. This was recorded on May 7th, 2009.

Brace Yourself

Our son had his braces put on today.  Here he is, in the waiting room.  We were only sitting there for about 10 minutes, tops.  

Braces, you say?  No sweat!

What a wonderful young man he is....  He wasn't concerned about the whole process in the slightest.

I would have been.

They're green!  I was not back there when this decision was made, by the way. : [

They told me afterwards that Jack was wonderful in the chair and never once complained.  I took him out for ice cream afterwards and now that we're home, he's been a little uncomfortable.  If anyone has tips (besides aspirin/Tylenol) for a sore mouth, let me know!

Luna's Pawdicure

 

There's my Honey, Andrew, holding my new Honey, Luna.  She's wearing a color by OPI (for Sephora) called Lagoono-Beach.  We loved it, I only painted her front nails so there was no pedicure involved.  As it was, she was pretty anxious to go play with Hugo, her best friend.  However, as you know, the polish has to dry so I did that with a dryer on the low setting.  If anyone knows a better way, please tell, tell. 

 

I love that big pink bow but I couldn't leave it on her.  She started to try to gnaw at the pearls.  Hello, choking hazard!  So, off it went.  Photo op only!  She loves those dinosuars too, by the way.

 

Ahh, the love in his eyes just kills me.  He loves her so much, Hugo too, of course.

Elena wanted to know what their size difference was, this one isn't the best way to show the difference but of course, that's Luna on the right. Mr. French is on the left.

 

Yes, Miss E.  Mr. French likes the porcupine too!  Ha ha. 

I'm in the midst of working on my own online business, a .com.  It's pretty exciting, it'll take some time but I'm looking forward to it.  I'll have a special spot for FBRN in which 100% off all of the proceeds will benefit our resuces, like Luna. 

Shannon sent me some beautiful pictures of Luna

I had to share this one.

 

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she wonderful?

Isn't she precious?

(partial lyrics by Stevie Wonder)

Thanks again, for the pictures, Shannon.  I treasure them.

Luna Winthrop, our new baby Frenchie girl....

We adopted a Frenchie from FBRN!  We made it (they refer to us as her 'forever home')!  Shannon and her family fostered her and we're forever grateful.  We met them in Columbus to pick her up.  She's a very feminine Frenchie and a real heartbreaker.  Hugo is in love with her, as we all are.  She has huge black soulful eyes.  Not brown but black, they look like pools of black water, so pretty.

Wearing a new crystal necklace....

Yes, of course, I had to do it.  She loves to pose for me!

This one was my very favorite from our photo session and will go in a picture frame.  Look at those eyes!  What a sweet little minx!

It's Princess Luna from the Province of France.

'

Loved this one.....

Cute, cute, cute.  Couldn't be cuter or sweeter!

She has the softest fur in the world.  Shannon took such great care of her....

Shannon took these in Columbus.  Sort of backwards but there you have it.  Here we are, meeting Stellaluna for the fist time.  Naturally, we were both very smitten.

I love to snuggle puppies.  Especially sweet smelling ones like her!

There I go, sniffing her again.  Andrew is in love with her.  He seems to think she's 'his' girl.  Bwah ha ha ha.....

There we are, saying good bye and on our way to a shee shee dog store!  We had to doll her up.  I highly recommend the toy called 'Big Max' (bought that for Hugo but she likes it too) and then any collar made by Bella Bean.....

Loved the one called 'toadstool'.  Here's the link to Bella Bean's site.  We bought 'birds on a branch' in cherry blossom.  It's so pretty....