First Cupcake Cooking Demo in New Orleans

Last weekend Pete and I were in New Orleans for the American Library Association Annual Convention where we were thrilled to be presenters at the What's Cooking @ ALA.  The cooking demo went great and we had over 150 people watch us!  They loved the cupcakes and all of the books the publishing company brought to the demo were picked up.  Our trip, on the other hand, was a bit of a disaster.  We traveled separately and between flight delays and cancellations neither of us were in New Orleans for very long and we had a few very short nights! We were suppose to both arrive Friday evening and fly out Saturday night.   I did not arrive until 2am on Saturday morning and Pete's return flight left him in DC for a 4 hour night at a Westin.  So it goes for our first trip ever away from the girls!!

Bourbon Street when Pete arrived at the hotel.

The extent of my walk in New Orleans, a visit to the grocery store two blocks from our hotel!

French Quarter during the day.

Decorating cupcake samples that we brought with us from NY.

Here we are with our HUGE poster!  Looks a bit like a high school prom photo.

Can you find us?

A real cooking demo with microphones and everything!

And over 100 people stood in line to get our signatures...and a free book and a cupcake. :)

Father's Day Weekend Visit to the Jersey Shore

The gang at Spring Lake beach

I mistakenly took Pete's bag - which contained his swimsuit, among other beach necessities - out of the trunk. So...he wore the next best option: my shorts!

Cousins!

Run, run, run!

Charlotte heading for the waves with Grandma and Grandpa. She had no fear and loves the water. Bring it!

Aunt KK and Madeline.

Garden Update

At the garden, where Marin notes "there's a barn at the farm."

"Do we have to put the peppers here? I like to play in the dirt!"

Carrots, broccoli, winter squash and zucchini. They are all MUCH bigger already!

Roma, San Marzano and Beefsteak tomatoes...they made it! Corn in the background, too. Knee high by the Fourth of July? Try the waist, baby!

The rugby field at the Vassar Farm.

"Stop taking pictures. I want you. Come, please."

Time to run back to the garden!

Mommy walking with her two girls. Charlotte took her first true unassisted steps at the garden. Sitting between some of the rows, she suddenly stood up and walked from the broccoli to the carrots! Woohoo!

As much as it pained us to pull this beautiful zucchini plant, it had to be done. The others are getting huge!

The tomatoes need (and love) the water. Of course right after we planted them, the Hudson Valley got a dry spell, so we had to water pretty much nightly.

Random June Pictures

"I love pasta!!"

"Nope. These aren't extensions. Looks like Marin has real hair."

Happy to have "the alcove" to myself for a minute.

"Now, I will read you a story, Charlotte!"

GF beignets are delicious! (This photo was fun but a reject that didn't make the No Gluten, No Problem blog.)

Marin liked them, too.

Marin can almost make the flour blend all by herself!

Cheering Daddy on at a race in the rain.

After the race.

Caught red-handed. Corn Chex all over the floor!

"What's the big deal? Here, have some!"

10 Year Cornell Reunion

Last weekend we took a trip up to Ithaca to celebrate our 10 year college reunion.  We had a wonderful time catching up with friends and being back on campus.

The girls with their buttons. Maybe Charlotte's needs to be a little bigger?

Jared, Debbie and Josh Saperstein

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Charlotte finished her piece of pizza!

Yeah, Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes is here!!

Camping in the Catskills

We have been looking forward to taking the girls camping ever since the weather turned warmer, and we finally had our chance!  We were not sure how the trip would go so we opted for just one night, which enabled us to have the camping experience and make sure everyone had a fun time even if we did not get any sleep.  We ended up having a wonderful time AND we all slept great.  Our little 2.5 man tent is still serving us well, although we realize it is only a matter of time until we will have to upgrade. :)  Our neighbors came over after we were settled and let us know how impressed they were that we fit two kids, two adults, a dog and camping stuff in a sedan!!  They think we need to upgrade our car too...keep in mind they had a huge vehicle (think Yukon or Exhibition type SUV) and the biggest tent we have ever seen.  It had three rooms, took up almost their entire campsite and was tall enough to stand in.  I suppose everything is relative.

I am ready to help.

Kicking back with a root beer while Daddy puts the tent up.

Getting dinner started.

Trying out the tent with the luxury of pillows and of course soothie.

Daddy is excited for hot dogs for dinner.

Charlotte loves empty root beer bottles.

Camping is great....we don't have to sit at the table!

Daddy knows how to build a fire!

Well rested and ready to start the day.

I think these two are ready to get up too.

Daddy and Charlotte

Just for fun because we took Marin camping for the first time when she was the same age Charlotte was for this trip - Daddy and Marin :)

Bacon with breakfast

Cutie pie

Whoa, that is one good pancake cooked over an open fire!

Playing by the river that goes through camp while Mommy and Charlotte take a morning nap.

Helping roll up the tent.

Ready to hit the trail.

The start of our hike up Slide Mountain, the highest mountain in the Catskills.

Happy hikers.

Our entertainment - Marin sang almost the entire 2.7 miles up the mountain making up songs as we went along.  My favorite line of the day "Daddy is an old man, and a great man!"

At the summit before we were swarmed by little black flies and retreated down the mountain.

Big girl hiker

The view from the summit, it was a rather hazy day.

Back at home on a hot day.