UltimateMama did early online Valentine’s Day shopping this year and her girls are in for a real treat! Some fantastic treats:
– Ghiradelli Sweet Hearts – Premium Chocolate Assortment
– Roller Rabbit Hathi pajamas in heather grey
– Tennis Warehouse pink love t-shirts
– Zara pink ribbed t-shirts
UltimateMama and her family are spending this New Year’s Eve at home. In order to make it a little extra special she brought out some Welch’s Sparkling Rose (Grape Juice Cocktail) in fancy flutes! Cheers to all!
UltimateMama loves to use Wilton 3 tier treat stands as table centerpieces during the holiday season. These sturdy dessert stands make beautiful presentations of your favorite creations from cupcakes to cookies to brownies. UltimateMama’s kids enjoy dressing up the stands with mini pumpkins in the fall for a sweet, seasonal surprise.
UltimateMama started her Valentine’s Day shopping early this year to ensure everything would arrive on time. With items from Williams Sonoma, Amazon.com, and Lindt, UltimateMama’s kids will be in for a great holiday treat!
–American Girl by Williams Sonoma Cookbooks $11.99 each (from $19.95)
–Gray Malin 500 piece puzzle $20.29
–Ravensburger 300 piece puzzle $18.49
–Lindt assorted chocolates $5.99 (from $11.99)
–Disney Frozen II Holiday Mug with Double Chocolate Cocoa Mix & Marshmallow Pop $5.99 each
UltimateMama often forgoes serving soda at her children’s birthday parties or family holiday parties due to the high sugar content. Seltzer water is a decent alternative but UltimateMama has heard a few complaints about the carbonation on more than one occasion. Over the years, UltimateMama has created infused water recipes for special gatherings. It is a quick, healthy, and cost-effective way to appease both children and adults (not to mention no-mess, no-stress). And, if your guests close their eyes they will feel like they are at a top spa!
A few infused water ideas include:
– Cucumber slices
-Strawberry, mint, lime
– Raspberry, pineapple
– Apple, cinnamon stick
– Strawberry, cucumber
– Rosemary, grapefruit
– Honeydew, watermelon, mint
– Thyme, lemon
– Orange, blueberry
– Blackberry, mint
– Orange, kiwi
– Cucumber, lemon
– Lemon, lime, mint, ginger
– Cucumber, celery, lemon
– Blueberry, lemon
– Blueberry, orange, basil
– Jalapeno, cucumber, mint
– Orange, lemon, basil
Whether your child is celebrating a birthday party, first communion, Bar or Bat Mitzvah, holiday event, or end of season team championship, UltimateMama believes a Donut Wall would make everyone excited. A Donut Wall is perfect for any occasion and is great for kids of all ages (not to mention adults).
To add a bit of pizzazz, one could offer assorted toppings for the donuts, including frostings, icings, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, caramel sauce, nuts, shredded coconut, sprinkles, red hots, nonpareils, dried fruit, candy (M&Ms), cookie crumbles, (Oreo, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, etc.), or candied citrus peel.
Donuts are the perfect dessert for any kids party or even an ideal party favor to take home in a box (hello tomorrow’s breakfast)!
UltimateMama realizes the holidays are sneaking up on everyone so she wanted to give her recommendation on a quick and easy centerpiece idea for entertaining. Pre-made, fresh, floral bouquets are an affordable and convenient way of sprucing up any table place setting.
UltimateMama loves to use fragrant flowers such as roses. She always lets her children select the colors. It is so easy to create a festive centerpiece as one just places the bouquet (or bouquets) in a vase and the table is ready for any party or event. For longer tables, UltimateMama is a fan of alternating the bouquet colors in beautiful crystal vases.
Since the fresh flowers in the bouquet arrangement usually last for a few days the bouquet vases are great addition to the table for all meals when one has overnight or weekend guests!
UltimateMama and her girls can’t resist thinking back to their trip to Spain a few years ago and longing for the excitement of Barcelona. Since flying to Europe was out of the question last weekend, UltimateMama decided to do the next best thing–make paella with her girls for Friday night dinner. Using a brilliant Matiz paella rice recipe, the girls made an out of this world seafood paella! The one catch–make sure you have saffron on hand–expensive but worth it.
Matiz Seafood Paella recipe:
Heat 8 cups of fish or chicken broth with 1 teaspoon of saffron (we used a bit more) in a pot. In a separate (very) large pan, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add 1-2 medium sized diced onions to the oil and fry until translucent (6 minutes, approximately). Add 1 chopped red bell pepper and 1 chopped orange-yellow bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Add 16 oz diced artichokes (canned), 28 oz diced tomatoes (canned), and 4 cloves of diced garlic — simmer for 5 minutes. Pour in 4 cups of Matiz Paella rice and stir until the rice is fully covered with the sofrito tomato mixture.
Carefully add the broth to the paella. Gently move the rice mixture around until evenly distributed. Do not “stir” the rice after this part.
After 10 minutes place your fresh seafood (white fish, uncooked shrimp without the shells, mussels, clams, etc.) into the mixture one by one and evenly distribute the seafood. After about 10 minutes add piquillo pepper to garnish and add color. In another 15 minutes or so the water should be completely absorbed and you can remove from heat. Cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. You can serve it directly from the pan (add wedges of lemon or lime if you want to impress).
UltimateMama and her family recently spent 4 days and 3 nights in Berlin, Germany and organized a great family friendly itinerary. The details:
– Stay at the Berlin Marriott Hotel near Potsdamer Platz (Inge-Beisheim-Platz 1 Berlin) as it is centrally located and offers an extensive, affordable buffet breakfast option when you book in advance. Plus, it has an indoor pool! If you want luxury the Ritz-Carlton Berlin hotel is a stone throw’s away
– See the Watchtower at nearby Potsdamer Platz
– Dine at Café LebensArt Berlin which is a short walk from the Marriott (UltimateMama suggests it for lunch)
– Walk through some of the 300 stores at the Mall of Berlin if shopping is your passion
– Stroll to Brandenburg Gate which is Berlin’s top landmark and represents a united Germany, post Cold War when it sat between East and West Berlin. Tiergarten Park is nearby if you need a quick rest amongst greenery (additionally, visit the Berlin Zoo if you have time)
– Walk to the Topographie des Terrors museum which was the former headquarters of the SS during World War II
– Spend time at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe or Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial
– Go over to see Checkpoint Charlie, which the Western Allies called the Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin
– Hit the Pergamom Museum on museum island (or another of the many museums in that area)
– Head to the middle of Berlin to see the Berlin Wall Memorial which is quite expansive as well as educational
– Spend a Sunday afternoon at the Flea Market at Mauerpark. UltimateMama’s family loved the freshly pressed juices
-Visit the Reichstag (Parliament building) which has been destroyed by arson, bombed, and reconstructed with a glass dome. A tip to get a tour of the impressive dome is to book dinner at Kafer but be sure to make reservations in advance as you will most likely need to bring passports
– Travel over to the East Side Gallery which was UltimateMama’s favorite part of the trip as it represents an open air monument of murals to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Context Travel offers an amazing Berlin Wall for Kids tour for families that also includes a trip to the TV Tower where UltimateMama’s children enjoyed the 360 degree views and Bubble Bar’s bubble tea nearby
