Murder Mystery Party: Meet Al Kohol and Brandy Chaser

If you're looking for a way to jazz up your next party, check out the Murder Mysteries at Host-Party. Last night we attended "A St. Valentine's Day Murder Mystery", which took place at [my brother's place turned into] a 1929 Chicago speakeasy (note the gangster and flapper attire on "Al Kohol" and "Brandy Chaser"). We had a blast!

The site has a great selection, with games for all ages and group sizes. There are even children's games (which don't involve murder) with themes like pirates, wildlife, Ancient Egypt, love potions, knights and fairies. An original birthday party idea!

You customize all of your party information on the website, and then print invitations which provide your guests with login details so they can access additional clues about their characters (and costume ideas) before the party.

The games are between $20 and $30, and you can choose from various time periods, settings, and holiday themes. (Wouldn't "Murphy's Wake" or "Paddy O'Really is Dead" spice up your St. Patrick's Day bash?) One caveat: the games are no friend to the environment, as my brother had to print out 111 pages in total for last night's event! (You can pay extra to have it printed and shipped to you.)

The game is really what you make of it, but with the right group it can be a lot of fun, which it was last night. Thanks, Ed and Ash! It was worth paying for a babysitter and staying up late, which I don't often say!

Peanut Butter Pie: The First of Few Recipes

Just so that no one thinks I am completely useless in the kitchen, I want you to know that I can bake when I put my mind to it, and over the holidays this year I actually whipped up this yummy dessert twice, both times to rave reviews. (Joan, Amanda and Allison: you are obligated to leave comments to confirm this statement.)

Part 1: The Chocolate Crunch Crust

Melt 1/3 cup margarine and one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Stir in 2 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
Press into bottom and up sides of greased 9" pie plate*
Chill 30 minutes.

Part 2: The Filling

1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
3 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipped cream
1-2 tbs choc syrup

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in Eagle Brand and peanut butter until smoth.
Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
Fold in whipped cream.
Turn in to crust.
Drizzle syrup over top, swirl with spoon.
Chill four hours, refrigerate leftovers.

Enjoy!

* Because no post is complete without some self-deprecation: the first time I made this, I had no idea that there was actually an item of bakeware to use for pies. Instead, I reused a little aluminum pie plate from a storebought dessert, which was far too small, and left me with extra filling. What's a girl to do? Don't worry, I didn't let it go to waste.

Oh, and please note - I have had this printed on a recipe card since I was a child. If it comes from a source which I should be citing, please let me know!

Icy Decorations

The daycare at my school did a really neat activity with their kids, so I repeated it with my daughters, and think it's worth sharing here. It's a fun and easy way to create outdoor winter decorations for your home.

1. Take empty containers (margarine, yogurt, etc.)*
2. Fill with water.
3. Add food colouring and mix until desired colour.
4. Place string in the mixture (tape to the side of the container if necessary; you want it to freeze inside the decoration)
5. Take the containers outside or place in your freezer until frozen.
6. Remove ice from containers, and hang outdoors.**

* I used a 6-pack muffin container from the supermarket. Of course usually I get up before dawn to make my own muffins, but just this one time I bought a package. No, I am not serious.

** If you live someplace where it's too warm to hang ice outside, I hate you.

P.S. The branches shown here are from the beautiful cherry tree my husband planted on the day of our first-born's baptism. Yes, it had to be planted that very day. It's not like we had anything else to do. Our second born? She did get a tree, but (surprise!) we didn't get around to planting it until a few weeks after her celebration. 

Pin It

Read It: Sarah Palin "Going Rogue" (really)

Now, if I were American, I'm pretty sure I would be a Democrat. At least that's what I would tell people, because right now it sounds so much cooler than the alternative. That said, I truly enjoyed reading "Going Rogue" by Sarah Palin. It was a learning experience, as I knew little about American politics, even less about the state of Alaska, and hardly anything about Palin's true story.

Throughout her autobiography, Palin shares valuable lessons about working families and about faith, as well as great quotations, including this one from Aristotle: "Critisism is something we can avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, being nothing." Coincidentally (though Palin doesn't believe in coincidences) I read her book the weekend that I launched this blog to the public, and was second-guessing myself, and the words of wisdom hit home. Love her or hate her, Palin 'says', 'does', and 'is', and knows that some criticism may be the price she pays.

Momtrepreneurs: Little Leggings By Lynn

I love momtrepreneurs (and in fact wrote an article on the subject, see sidebar) and I especially love the baby legwarmers from Little Leggings by Lynn. My youngest has been in them since she was a few months old, and my almost four-year-old still loves hers.

The best thing about Lynn's legwarmers is that they cost only $8, a fraction of the cost of brand-name pairs (and your little one certainly won't know the difference).  Lynn offers great customer service, and an excellent selection, which often includes holiday themes. This ups the cute-factor significantly --I'm a sucker for holiday-themed accessories!

Check it out; you won't be disappointed.

True Confessions

Well, I can’t honestly say I love making confessions (although I am Catholic, so of course I see the spiritual value...) but for your entertainment pleasure I will return to this topic every once in a while.

Today’s shocker Part I: I pay someone to clean my house. It’s only every other week, just the heavy stuff, but it’s true, I am not able to maintain my home to my standards all by myself. Not so shocking? Here’s Part II: Every other Friday I insist on returning home before the rest of my family in order to replace all of the items that have been moved slightly out of place. There, I said it...

Junk Food in Schools: Whose Responsibility Is It?

I came across an interesting article by American Alex DiBranco, "Junkfood Unwelcome in Canadian Schools, Eh?" on change.org, and it got me thinking: at what point do we relinquish the responsibility of food choice to our children? I'm sure eliminating vending machines and removing the unhealthy foods from cafeteria menus will be a change for the better, but is out-of-sight-out-of-mouth the best way to teach the lesson we want our students to learn?

Getting Baby To Sleep Through the Night!

I thought this one would get your attention! Perhaps I am just the luckiest woman in the world, but I would like to think that my husband and I played some tiny role in our daughters’ sleep habits. Both slept through the night at an early age, and have been excellent nappers and sleepers ever since. My top 5 tips?

1. Be realistic: the first couple of months, let baby feed and sleep at will. Even I’m not that unreasonable. Do what you can to grab sleep in the daytime yourself, although I could never nap properly, and found it more refreshing to get something done rather than lay in bed and count down the minutes until baby was up again.

2. Swaddle! With our first, my husband mastered the art of the blanket-burrito, but with the second we invested in a Kiddopotamus “SwaddleMe” (pictured here; we used this exact same pink microfleece version) and it was one of the best baby purchases I ever made. Even in the summer heat we swaddled her up over her diaper and just kept the room cool. There is no doubt in my mind the swaddle bought us extra hours of sleep.