Baby, Baby

We've had so many new babies among family and friends. At one of our recent Baby Showers we played this Concentration Game.

It's really cute and everyone always loves it!

How to:

Get two poster boards and draw 7 lines across and 4 lines down, giving you 28 squares - enough for 14 matches.  Then cut out the squares from one poster so you can write numbers on them and cover the words or pictures for the matches on the other poster.   The guests  choose 2 numbers and you lift them up to expose the item. Continue giving each one a turn as they try and find matches.  The candy bar treats are a huge hit.  That is really  the fun part- seeing which candy goes with which match.  These are some we have used in the past, but the options are limitless!

BABY CONCENTRATION:

Baby's Laugh - Snickers

Umbilical Cord - Licorice rope

Epidural - Life Savors

Dr. Bills - 100,00 Bar

Diapers - Mounds

Nursing - Milk Way

Baby's Father - Sugar Daddy

Baby Boy - Jr. Mint

Baby Girl - Baby Ruth

Contractions- Whoppers

 Pregnancy - Rocky Road

6 Weeks After - Score

Labor - Ouch Gum

Bib Baby - Big Hunk

Tiny Baby- Runts

Sleepless Nights - Air Heads

Baby Talk - Goo Goo

All Sewn Up and a Give-Away

Pineapple Hill is excited about a new site coming soon .... SEWN!

SEWN is new and innovative online sewing community for all lovers of fabric crafts. It is launching June 8th and will be the perfect place for Tips and Innovative Tools to help with all of your fabric projects. There will be an Advice Centre for all your sewing questions, online forums and chats, and information on shops in your area, sewing groups, quilt groups and classes. There will be articles, interviews and tutorials from industry experts AND free patterns!

To help celebrate the launch of SEWN, Pineapple Hill is hosting a Give-Away. We are giving away a pair of our Glamour Gloves (not even listed in our store yet).

Glamour Gloves coming soon to Pineapple Hill Etsy and Pineapple Hill Designs! Be the first to own a pair.

Here's how to win:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• For an extra TWO entries, become a blog follower or leave me a comment letting me know you are one.
• FOR an extra THREE entries, link to my giveaway on Facebook or Twitter or your blog and let me know and leave me a link.

You could have as many as SIX entries! We will randomly select the winner on June 8, 2009. Be sure to leave me contact information in case you are the winner!!!! Click on the SEWN icon at the top of this post. It will take you to the SEWN website where you can enter their AMAZING launch giveaway. Thanks for playing♥

Tuesday Tip

Do you have pinking sheers that need to be sharpened?

Do you have aluminum foil? You're in Luck! You can sharpen your pinking sheers by cutting folded aluminum foil. I learned about this in one of my sewing groups and it WORKS. I was so thrilled when I heard about this, I couldn't wait to try it. Now I can spend that 9 dollar sharpening fee on something else hmmmmmmm

Mexican Pizza

Loaded Mexican Pizza Recipe

from Taste of Home Recipe Contest Winner:

Mary Barker of Knoxville, Tennessee

Ingredients:

• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 small sweet yellow pepper, chopped
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 prebaked thin Italian bread shell crust (10 ounces)
• 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• Hot pepper sauce to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese

Directions:

In a small bowl, mash black beans; stir in the onion, yellow pepper, chili powder and cumin. In another bowl, combine the tomatoes, jalapeno and garlic. Place the crust on an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan; spread with bean mixture. Top with tomato mixture and spinach. Sprinkle with cilantro, hot pepper sauce and cheeses. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6 slices.

Cookies for Mom

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

Martha Stewart Living - April 2006

The juice and zest of fresh ruby-red grapefruits add flair to these cookies. You can bake the cookies and make the filling a day ahead

Ingredients:

Makes 15 sandwich cookies

• Grated zest of 1 Ruby Red grapefruit, plus 1/4 cup freshly squeezed juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large egg yolks
• Pink Grapefruit Cream Filling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, combine zest with 1 tablespoon sugar; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and remaining sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add egg yolks, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in reserved zest-sugar mixture. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the juice, and beat to combine
3. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out disk to 1/8 inch thick using a lightly floured rolling pin. Using a lightly floured 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place about 1 inch apart on prepared sheet. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Transfer parchment paper and cookies to rack to cool completely.
5. Using an offset spatula, spread 1 tablespoon filling onto flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping flat sides down. Once filled, cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tuesdays Tip

The Health Benefits of Riding a Bike

image from stampin prettyRetro Pink Schwinn Cruiser

"Health Benefits of Bike Riding for your Body and Mind"

Article from nmhealth March 2008

Who didn’t love the feeling of riding their bike as a kid? It was totally freeing. Suddenly you had wheels and could zip around the neighborhood! We would ride all around town and back and forth to school. Bike riding kept us lean and healthy. As an adult, bike riding offers many benefits for the body, as well. Get back on your bike today along with your own kids, and feel like a kid again.

It goes without saying that bicycling is a great cardiovascular exercise. Bike riding is very beneficial for the health of your heart. Every body needs between thirty minutes of aerobic exercise at least three days a week. Purchasing a bike with several speeds will allow you to increase you fitness level as your cardiovascular function improves. Begin by riding at an easy speed over even ground. If a challenge is what you desire, change your terrain.

Bicycling is kind to the joints. Women often experience joint pain especially in the knees as they get older. Osteoporosis causes joint problems to worsen because of the lack of proper calcium levels in the bones and other factors. Bike riding can offer exercise without pain. The aerobic benefit is comparable to jogging or running yet without as much strain. Be sure to adjust the seat height on your bike so that your legs have full range of motion with each turn of the wheels. This promotes better circulation to the lower extremities which do the majority of the work in moving the bicycle.

Bicycling whips those leg muscles into shape! If you’re going for endurance, stick to a flat terrain, but adjust the speed of the bike as your strength improves. To avoid cramping, stretch thoroughly before and after each bike ride.

If you are looking to increase muscle definition, vary your terrain. Off-road biking on dirt trails helps to flex leg muscles as you keep the bicycle under control on uneven ground. Steep hills are great for working the quadriceps and hamstrings.

How’s your seat looking? I don’t mean the one on the bike. The glutes also reap rewards from bike riding. For maximum effect, raise your body about an inch off of the seat as you pedal. Squeeze your butt to control the pedaling motion. After a mile or so, those glutes should be on fire.

Bicycling increases your balance. Learning to ride a bike is all about staying upright. To do that, you have to find a balance between your body and the bike. Maintaining that strengthens the core muscles of the abdominal region. Tightening the core muscles keeps you from falling off of the bike. The lower abdominals pull your legs back towards you body from the bottom of the cycling revolution. The lower back is also kept pain free by a strong balanced core.

Riding a bike is not just for kids anymore. The physical benefits increase as you get older. Besides, bike riding is just plain fun. So, get moving!

image from snippet & ink

Additional Articles: Cycle for Health and Fitness Health Benefits of Bicycle Riding Benefits of Riding a Bike Women Cycling and the Benefits of Riding of Bicycle