Parmesan Crusted Salmon

I am a very un-adventurous eater, but I'm trying to remedy the situation by being an adventurous chef. Even though I am pretty anti-seafood, I loved this salmon.

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 pounds salmon fillets

1. In a shallow bowl mix Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoned bread crumbs, tarragon and dill.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, blend white wine, soy sauce, butter, red onion and garlic. Cook and stir until onions are tender.

3. Press one side of each salmon fillet (the side without scales apparently) into the Parmesan cheese mixture. Place fillets crust side up in saucepan with white wine mixture. Cook over medium high heat until most of the liquid is reduced, 10 to 15 minutes, then flip with a spatula. Continue cooking until crust is golden brown and fish is easily flaked with a fork.

The fish was amazing with a dill/ mustard dip. I dumped some mayo, dijon mustard, dill weed, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into a bowl and mixed it up. Voila!

Formal Baby Boy Onesies

Here are the onsies I made for Fisher to wear to my brother's wedding. The wedding colors were blue and lavender. I made one long sleeve and one short sleeve so we'd be prepared for any weather, or have a backup if Fisher pooped through one right away. This turned out to be so much better than buying a real formal outfit. The layers of a dress shirt, tie, vest, and/or jacket are so hot and bulky on a 3 month old. I used satin scraps for the ties, and made the vest out of a hubby shirt that was destined for goodwill. Good reminder: Do not attach your tie all the way down. Let it hang loose at the bottom so it does not get tucked into baby's pants.


Some other great formal onesies and tutorials:


from: Decorating the Dorchester Way

from: Winter Peach

from: Burda Style

from: Lemon Tree Creations

Space - Rocket ship Baby Shower

I adore pennant banners, don't you? With the chosen colors of paper, I used my cricut to cut everything out. I didn't pay much attention to what order of stuff I was cutting in what color because I wanted it to look random; using multiple types of fonts on the letters helped. I used red, green, and silver glitter glue to accent the triangles before attaching the letters. I used brads to attached the pennants together. This allowed them to be folded up without damage, to be sent home with the mother-to-be.

Standard diaper cake. Instructions here. I used bamboo skewers to attach the sides and top of the spaceship as well as the amigurumi aliens I crocheted. The sides were cut out of foam posterboard (left over from the homemade felt board) then covered in foil. The cake is sitting on a drink canister stand. I covered the art on the wall with blue wrapping paper so it wouldn't distract from the cake.

Adorable handmade pinwheels, instructions here, used at our sign in spot, stuck in sand. I love them so much I will be making them as Christmas tags for gifts this year. Great way to use up some scrap paper. At the sign-in spot we had pics of the mother-to-be on the digital frame. Just load up a USB and stick it in.

Instead of giving away a prize for each baby shower game, we gave away clothes pins for winning games. The lady with the most clothes pins at the end gets the prize. This was so smart, but not my idea :) It allowed us to get one big prize (gift card) that someone will actually use instead of giving out a bunch of little prizes that will end up at goodwill or in the trash. We also had favors for each guest.

Star shaped sugar cookies and chocolate cupcakes topped with extremely fattening yet delicious buttercream icing, recipe here. Add a couple drops of lemon juice to your sugar before you boil it to help fight crystallization.

Instead of a guest book we had people sign a onsie. We printed the rocketship image that we used on the invitation onto iron-on transfer paper. Note to self: this paper is for inkjet printers, and kinko's does NOT have inkjet printers. Laser printers will melt the paper.

Other cool space parties:

from: The Sweetest Occasion

Space Invaders Baby Shower from: On To Baby

Rockets Baby Shower from: Bump Smitten

Outer Space Birthday from: Half Baked

Outer Space Party from: Le Petit

Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

12 whole fresh mushrooms
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems.

2. Stir cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Place mixture in a Ziploc bag, and cut a small hole in one corner of the bag. Use the bag like a pastry bag to fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.

3.Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.
I ended up with enough filling to fill at least another 1/2 package of mushrooms. Also, Hubby loved the spice of the cayenne, but next time I'll try a little less... it was a bit overpowering.

Great Gift: Origami Baby Mobile

For the first time I'm showing something I was given, rather than something I made. This origami mobile was a gift I received at my baby shower. My friend knew I had a gray and yellow bird theme and created this beautiful mobile. It is currently Fisher's favorite thing to stare and coo at.

Some great tutorials of other origami mobiles:

from: The Domestic Domicile

from: B-Inspired Mama

from: Mad Pimp

from: PinkBird's Nest

from: PetitPoulou

Not origami, but so cool anyway!

from: Miss Make

from: Moth and Sparrow

from: Sew She Sews

from: Naptime Novels

from: jaellundtofta 

Tummy Time Mat Tutorials

Here's the tummy time mat I made for Fisher. I love the mix of fabrics and using ribbon in the middle of the mat. The ribbon acts like Taggies, but is also a place for you to attach baby toys with plastic links. I suppose you could sew baby toys onto the mat, but if you use links, you could detach the toys when it comes time to wash the mat.

Here are some awesome tutorials:


from: Merriment Design

from: make it and love it

from: today's top 20

from: Clothesline

from: Permanent Kisses

Next time I'd love to try a scalloped edge. This tutorial makes it look so easy!

from: Zaaberry

Pee-Pee Tee-Pee Tutorials

For the first 2 weeks after bringing my son home from the hospital, there was an inescapable rain storm just about every-time we changed his diaper. Fisher, Daddy, Mommy, the dogs, the walls, the neighbor three houses down... nothing seemed to be out of the "splash zone". I finally learned to place a baby hat over Fisher's little fire hose whenever I'd change him. Definitely solved the problem, but now Fisher was constantly hat-less. A friend told me about Pee pee Teepees and my problems were solved :) . Handmade Pee-pee Tee-pees will now be included in every baby boy shower I go to. They're so clever, adorable, and unknown to anyone who's new to changing a baby boy. I made these for a baby shower last week and included some handmade cloth diaper burp cloths to match.

Free Pee-Pee Tee-Pee tutorials:

from: The Crunchy Mamacita



from: Makeitandloveit

Pee-Pee Tee-Pee tutorials on Etsy:

from: Beffie48

from: Shabby Star