RAMBUTAN.....yummy goodness!

What is a rambutan, you may ask? Well, here is the definition from Dictionary.com:

ram·bu·tan

 /ræmˈbutn/ Show Spelled[ram-boot-n] Show IPA

noun

1.

the bright-red oval fruit of a Malayan, sapindaceous tree, Nephelium lappaceum,  covered with soft spines, or hairs, and having a subacid taste.

  

Here is a picture of one of my favorite exotic fruits: 

It's not an ordinary looking fruit by any standards in my book but it's really a yummy treasure. It's almost like a pearl on the inside, you just have to cut back he spiky outer skin and voila....a white, fleshy (sometimes translucent) center. The texture is close to a lychee but can range from soft to crunchy. There is a hard, husky seed within the white flesh that sometimes sticks to the white meat or if you're lucky, comes right off the meat. The taste to me, is somewhere between a sweet lychee to a tart kiwi....but it's so yummy! 

 

Grandma's birthday gift

A few days ago, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday, instead of giving her the usual store bought gift this time, I had the kids add their own little twist to the gift. We've really been into making gifts for people in the last few years, not that things bought at the store and gift wrapped aren't special and great BUT I enjoy the creativity and time spent with the kids. I've been meaning to start blogging more and working on my scrapbook/card-making projects BUT something always gets in the way. So tonight, I've forced myself to get on the computer and write about the gift my kids helped create for their grandma's birthday.

The idea came a few weeks ago when my daughter and I had our "Mother/Daughter Day" while my hubby and son had their "Father/Son Paintball Day." My daughter and I were walking through the mall and came across the Ceramic Cafe, this is one of of those stores where they have pre-made but unfinished pottery items that you purchase and paint, then the item is baked and ready for pick up in a few days. I've promised the kids on numerous occasions that we'd go in and check out the place but we were always on some kind of a time crunch, this time was different, this time we had the time and no real plans, so off we headed. When we got in, we were greeted by one of the really nice ladies and given the run down of how the store works, then we were left to choose what we wanted to paint and begin the process. With no real idea in mind and my mother-in-law's birthday coming up, I suggested that we find something grandma would like and maybe use.

If anyone's ever taken a child into a toy store, this place is no different, it took her almost 30 minutes to decide what item to paint and even longer to decide how she wanted to paint the item after we paid and sat down. Normally, I would have both my kids work on the project but since my son was out with his dad, I figure, I'd let my daughter paint the item and my son decide on what was to go into the item. Okay, long story short, she ended up picking a mug and my son ended up picking an Aloe Vera plant to place inside the mug....below is a picture of the final product before the plant and after w/the plant. :)

The SVG files I used for the mermaid, little boy, and balloons were from one of my favorite websites, Lettering Delights. I also used my cutter and the program Make-the-Cut to get the images and sizes I wanted. Once that was done, I just had the kids add their little cards to the back of the present for an added homemade feel. :)

REVAMPED!!!

Ok, I decided to redo or rather revamp my blog :)! Going to start posting more and about things that I find interesting, things I've tried, and of course the ones that failed. Only by admitting failure do we learn from them. :) Ok, that's all for now. :)