Baby Zen Sprinkle

Photo Courtesy of Rachelle Bendixon

Have you ever been to a Baby Sprinkle? They seem to be quite trendy now. It's a smaller scaled spin on a traditional baby shower, where a small group of friends and family can "sprinkle" the new mom with necessities.

I recently had the pleasure of co-hosting a sweet baby sprinkle for my friend and work partner Melissa Skorpil. She is due with her first sweet bundle of joy in November.

The idea behind this sprinkle was to allow the guests to eat, drink and craft in a relaxed environment. No crazy games like tasting baby food, keeping track of clothes pins, etc. Rachele B (our friend and photography assistant) was in charge of the crafts and gifts. She made little stations all over the living room where the guests could either paint, stitch or applique on onesies, create cute finger-tip art on mini canvasses, or decoupage letters onto a wall-hanging for the nursery.

I must say that this was by far the most relaxed baby sprinkle I have ever co-hosted or attended. Having four hostesses broke all of the jobs up, from invites to food to crafts. I highly recommend this when taking on any party. Jennifer B and Jennifer K (Melissa's long-time friends) were in charge of invites and all the "woodland animal" decorations that were sprinkled throughout the room. They also made probably (in my book) the cutest baby diaper bassinet ever (another spin on a diaper cake).

Of course, I volunteered to make the food. Yes, I was a bit nervous at first to create a menu for her, however, when I sat back and really thought about it, it made perfect sense that I was in charge of this task blessing honor. It's been two years now that I have been honored to work as Melissa's food stylist on photo shoots, and of course I know what she likes and how important attention to detail is with her. I also know that she is really good at letting me have creative freedom, so with that I created a simple yet nourishing menu for the day. As for the menu, I stayed with vegetarian and since Melissa likes sweets I spun it again from one traditional cake to several sweets to choose from. When it came to the favors, I wanted to do a spin on that as well. I found these huge pears and decided to put a seasonal spin on the caramel apple and make it into an edible favor. Wrapped up with little "zen" sayings was the perfect way to end on a sweet note of love for Baby Jack and his Mama to be.

*All photos taken by Rachele Bendixon unless otherwise stated.

The Buffet Table

Autumn Quinoa Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

3 C. Cooked cooled Quinoa
2 C. Diced Roasted Butternut Squash
1 Red Bell Pepper Diced
1 C. Thinly Sliced Sweet Peas
1/2 C. Thinly Sliced Red Onion
1 C. Goat Cheese Crumbles (Optional)
1 C. Pomegranate Seeds
4 C. Mixed Field Greens
Orange Slices for Garnish

Orange Vinaigrette 

1/2 C. Fresh Orange Juice
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
Salt & Pepper
1 Tbs. Honey
1/2 C. Olive Oil
Place all of the above in a mason jar, attach lid and shake vigorously until thick.

In a bowl, combine the quinoa, squash, bell pepper, peas and onion. Toss with 1/2 Cup of vinaigrette.
In a large salad bowl, lay mixed greens followed by the quinoa mixture. Sprinkle cheese and pom seeds over top. Serve remaining vinaigrette on the side. Garnish with orange slice.

Brussels & Apples Salad


In a bowl, combine the following

3 C. Thin Shaved Brussels Sprouts
2 Apples (thinly sliced)
1/2 C Blue Cheese Crumbles
1/2 C. Toasted Pecans

1/2 C.  Balsamic Dressing

Line a bowl with mixed field greens. Top the greens with the brussels salad. Garnish with Larger thin slices of apples. Serve the rest of the dressing on the side.

Caramel Dipped Pears with Melted Chocolate and Sea Salt. Photo By Kristina Wolter

Photo by: Kristina Wolter

Finished Favor

Cheese Stuffed Rolls and Pesto Palmiers

Using craft paper and fresh foliage from my yard, I was able to create an inexpensive "woodland animal" themed table.

Image courtesy of Melissa Skorpil

That adorable Diaper Bassinet

Our painted/appliqued onesies. Image By Melissa Skorpil

School's in session.....

This past week, my youngest started her senior year of high school - What?????? When did she grow up? My husband says that our daughter and I are exactly alike - she's got a healthy dose of my stubborn side.  I say she is more like him as she is witty, sarcastic, sporty, and academically smart like him. She and I don't have much in common when it comes to school. My favorite classes were Foods 101, Home Economics and working in the cafeteria. Her favorites are Creative Writing, Lacrosse, and Orchestra. She even mentioned she enjoyed Physics once or twice - a class you could not pay me to understand or enjoy!  But the two of us do have one thing in common - we like to eat.  She's not much on the school cafeteria food, never thought it was worth the cost or the time waiting in line.  I, on the other hand. loved our cafeteria food.  Everything was scratch-made each morning. Nothing was brought in. I lived on pretty much the same thing for lunch every day. A hot ham and cheese pocket (remember, scratch-made), a chocolate milkshake and a peanut butter chew bar for dessert. Before you leave a comment about how unhealthy those choices are, remember, I was also a teenager.

I still remember the year I got to work in the cafeteria for extra school credits.  My job was to cut and bag those freshly baked peanut butter treats while they were still warm to ensure they stayed chewy. The only thing I could kick myself over is that I never got the recipe for them.

Thanks to the internet and Facebook reunion sites, I found out that I was not the only one in my school who loved those bars. One of the former students had gotten the recipe and posted  it.  Right off I noticed that some of the measurements were off (1/4 cup of Vanilla? I went with 1/4 Tsp.) so I made a couple of adjustments without ruining the integrity of the recipe.  After one bite, I was instantly transformed back to the halls of high school.

I'm not sure what memories will stand out the most for my daughter this year, but I'm fairly certain food, whether it be on campus or at home, will always give her good memories. I'm jus' sayin'!

Peanut Butter Chews adapted from the original cafeteria recipe of  John Muir Junior High School by a fellow alumni student Juaquina Thorpe Twidwell

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PEANUT BUTTER CHEWS
1/2 c.   white sugar

1/2 c.   brown sugar

1/4 t.    salt

1/2 t.    baking powder

3/4 c.   rolled oats

1/2 c.   flour (sifted)

3 T.      butter

1          egg

1/4 c.   peanut butter

1/4 tsp.   vanilla

1.     Mix dry ingredients together.

2.     Cream in butter and eggs.

3.     Add peanut butter, flour and vanilla.

4.     Mix just enough to blend all ingredients (do not over-mix).

5.     Put mixture in a parchment lined square 8x8 cake pan.  Press down with fingers to make level.  Make sure mixture is well into corners.

6.     Bake 375° for about 13 minutes or until golden in color.

7.     Chews will be quite soft when removed from oven but will firm up as they cool.

8.     Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

9.     Cut while still warm into squares.