Get Out And Party!

Today is the official first day of summer...and that means sunshine, and outdoor fun! There is something to be said about entertaining outside. Nature creates the best backdrop for any party so, start planning!

We are currently doing some outdoor renovations as we are not great gardeners (luckily our neighbours are) but love to entertain, especially outside. So while the work is getting done, I've been scanning the internet for some great recipes to try out. I love the thought of individual portions or mini anything. I came across these 2 stellar ideas:

Cake pops have been all the rage...well how about an appetizer version? Here are Caprese Pops! Easy to make and eat...salad on a stick.

For dessert, there is nothing like pie in the summer. I found these adorable Tiny Tarts. Each is a perfect sized pie for 1.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Summer Countdown

The last day of school is coming soon! I'm sure there are countdowns happening in high schools everywhere. The anticipation of summer, especially for those who are graduating and moving on is extremely exciting. A new chapter in their life is about to begin.

Photo from Skip to My Lou

All the hard work and studying to reach your goal, whatever that may be, will all be well worth it.

So let's celebrate!

I came across these adorable candy graduation cap pops on Skip to My Lou. I love this website as it has great DIY ideas for every occasion and even projects for kids.

These candy pops are easy and would be great if you are having a little graduation get together.

Enjoy and congratulations!

Dads ROCK!

I was listening to a Freakonomics podcast the other day and they were discussing how women are not men, for better or worse.  The gender gap is closing in the way of income, education and certain fields of work. Happily, it’s not in things such as crime, alcoholism and oddly, being struck by lightning…men still out do women.

While it’s always good to remind us of the great strides women have come towards equality, it also got me to thinking of things in the reverse. Where women were the pioneers and men are just catching up. A number of professions and certain social skills come to mind.

There is also one gender gap where women have been in the forefront, celebrating the women in our lives…namely mothers. Mother’s Day has been recognized in North America since the early 1900’s. Father’s Day on the other hand, did not get the same level of acceptance. It took a number of tries to get the day recognized. The third Sunday in June was finally officially designated as a permanent holiday to honour fathers in 1972.

Domistyle knows that Dads ROCK and we would like to show appreciation to all the father-figures in all of our lives. Celebrate Father's Day and get 15% off any men’s apron using the coupon code LOVEAPRONS2013 when you buy online. Order by June 9th to make sure you get your purchase by June 16th.

A Domistyle apron is the perfect gift. All are one size fit's most, functional and easy to care for. These are not any plain old apron. All are MADE IN CANADA, our designs are original and our embroidered messages are funny and witty. There is a style to suit every dad!


xo
penny and lee

Easy A (pplesauce Muffins)

There is nothing I love more than EASY recipes that seem like they are way more work than they really are. This weekend, I tried out this recipe for Applesauce Muffins via Food.com. What attracted me to this recipe? The prep time was 10 minutes and cook time was 20 minutes and they were true to their word...

In 30 minutes the kitchen was filled with the lovey smell of fresh baked goods and I was eating delicious muffins. Yes, the recipe makes 12 even though my pictures only show 9. I couldn't resist trying out a few before I realized I should take a picture for this post.

The sweetie was so appreciative that I "worked so hard" making him a healthy breakfast/snack he can take on the run (of course I didn't tell him how effortless they were.)

I even made them gluten free by swapping out the flour for Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour.

** IDEA ** They are also so pretty that if you boxed them up and threw a ribbon on top, they would make a great quick and easy gift. 

Enjoy!

Celebrate Mama

Mother's Day is coming up, May 12th to be exact. Naturally, our thoughts turn to "how do we celebrate the wonderful women in our lives?" Mothers can come in all forms so it's not surprising there are a lot of definitions of the word in the dictionary. My fave has to be from wordreference.com:

mother
noun
a stringy slime containing various bacteria that forms on the surface of liquids undergoing acetous fermentation. It can be added to wine, cider, etc to promote vinegar formation

I do have to admit that I always buy apple cider vinegar "with mother" but that's a whole other post.

For our purposes, we'll stick to one we found in the Oxford Dictionary that speaks more to mothering, but very appropriate:

verb
bring up (a child) with care and affection: the art of mothering
look after (someone) kindly and protectively, sometimes excessively so

Moms are the women who care for us, feed us, worry about us and comfort us. There is nothing that nourishes more than mom's cooking, no better lesson learned than a treasured family recipe passed down.

Domistyle has the perfect gift for your mama. Get the apron that expresses her style in the kitchen. Will she cook for shoes, is she a Gourmet Goddess or maybe a Baking Beauty? Choose from an array of designs and messages, all are fully adjustable so one size fits most and easy care means they always look great! All are proudly MADE IN CANADA.

From now until May 12th, get 15% off ($5.70 value) any women's apron (excluding gift sets) by using the coupon code loveaprons2013.

Get mom the gift she'll use and is stylish and fun!