Solstice Celebration

Yesterday when the sun was radiant in it's full glory, we headed over to our annual celebration spot at Echo Farm. It is a magical gathering space nestled in the rolling hills of Wilno ~ alive with lush, gorgeous gardens, fields full of wild flowers (with a peace sign mowed in it : ) a stage, a fire pit and of course a  big space for the potluck feast. It is one of my most loved community gatherings of the year.  It seems like everyone is glowing  with the joy of welcoming in summer ~ Old friends are re-uniting , kids are  finding their clan to run with, people are pulling out delights in the clothing swap pile,  musicians are jamming on stage,  people are dancing, hula hooping, and poi dancing. Good food is being shared and celebration is in the air with full force!

Last week when we made our sun cake my girls asked if they could make a sun cake to bring to the solstice celebration ~ by them selves!  

I gave up the reigns (not an easy thing for me) and stepped back to simply be the supervisor.  They worked together (with Luna directing!) and this creation was born...

The girls enjoyed walking this tight rope again, and again and again...

I loved being present for this moment in time of big sis being the support for little sis.

The children were ripe with  joy in this beautiful space of freedom
 

  
exploring, playing and soaking up the sweetness...

 We ended our night singing fire's burning to our blazing solstice fire. We then headed back home at the end of this longest day of the year...filled to the brim with sunshine, friends, dancing, fresh air, and fine food! I am grateful to be a part of such a rich, inspired, talented, diverse community to share in celebrating with.

One Love! One Heart!
Let's get together and feel all right.
Bob Marley 
 

Abundant sun infused love to you as you journey into this season of bounty and beauty

~ Shanti~

Here Come the Sun Week! Let's Bake a Sun Cake!!!!

In celebration of of our up coming summer solstice, the girls and I decided to create a sun inspired cake! It was wonderful to bring this sunshine to life ( especially since today was a quite the grey rainy day). I wanted to come up with a cake that was simple and delicious ~ This cake seemed to fit that desire and it is my joy to share...

For this sweet sunshine treat you will need

vanilla organic cake mix (or any cake that you choose to use) ~ I needed quick and easy : )

eggs

safflower oil

milk (we used rice)

lemons to squeeze ~ we made our icing lemon infused to add a little zing!

icing sugar 

butter

edible flowers ~ if you have them around

and I shall share the secret of yellow icing without chemicals...turmeric! It works wonderful and the taste is hidden beneath the lemon and the sweetness. 

we baked our two round cakes ~ can't you just see the excitement brewing...

we then froze them overnight to make the icing easier and the cutting cleaner (avoiding the crumbling)

and then cut one of our circle cakes like this... 

then assembled our pieces as such...

 we picked some ~ oh so juicy ~ wild strawberries to adorn our cake...

 and I think perhaps ate more than we put into the bucket (isn't that half the fun!!!)

We gathered daisies asking them to shine on our cake, sampled daisy petals and picked wild flower bouquets...

 

and then proceeded with much joy in creating...

Our Sunshine Cake 

topped with the pretty faces of Ms. Marigold, Ms.Pansy, Ms.Violet and 

Ms. Wild Stawberry...

sending out a warm, radiant, glow of sunshine to you...

~ Shanti ~

Mermaid Cake

Oh the joys of celebrating! If you have been following our blog or know me, you know my love of making cakes and a love of celebrating. I grew up third, in a family of eight children. Birthdays in our home while growing up, were the one day out of the year when you received the chance to be revered all day... with decadent, royal treatment. Everyone was expected to be  sweeter than sweet and lavish you with love. My parents,  regardless of how many kids  were in our clan, were always more than accomadating for us to celebrate with parties. This tradition of making someones big day shine continues to fuel my love of parties! Having two daughters gives be plenty of opportunity to indulge myself!

When my Luna turned five we had a mermaid theme party. We celebrated at a friends lovely private beach in the pines and the kids enjoyed a magical afternoon of being mermaids in the water.

Here was the cake I made for this event...

To make you will need:

1 baked 8-inch round cake
1 baked 13- x 9- x 2-inch cake
12 baked cupcakes

• I like to just use two organic cake mixes ~ easy and yummy. For this cake I used white cake for the cupcakes and face and chocolate for the tail.

• you could use frosting but I choose to use organic apricot jam as the frosting
• blanched sliced almonds
• edible flowers ~ if you wish! 
• unsulfered apricots
• spagetti noodles (uncooked) (to be taken off before eaten)
• shells with glitter 

Cut and arrange the cakes as shown in the small photos.


photo and pattern courtesy of spoonful

You will need a very large platter to present this cake. I recommend a big slat of wood covered with tinfoil. If you are traveling with the cake you may need to bring it in pieces and assemble once there.

photo and pattern courtesy of spoonful

 For the face I used apricots for the eyes and cranberries for the lips ~ you could get as creative as you are inspired though!

  

The mermaid scales are a labor of love...I shall not lie, they took the better part of my evening to put into place.  I used that quiet time though, to reflect on my strong, introspective, brimming with imagination daughter and the journey of her birth into this world.

I used pansies for her necklace, calendula petals for her hair, violets for her waist and nasturtiums for her tail. She was a hit with the kids and so much fun to create!

 

a day filled with lots of laughter and play...

 

   a visit from  papa the sand monster 

 

 bubbles...bubbles...bubbles...

 

a birthday girl swinging with her gals

 

 and one plum tuckered little sister...

Here is a delightful mermaid craft...

This craft is an idea from the wonderfully creative Pink and Green Mama...click on her name to see how she did it!  Basically you just need a clear plastic tote, some aquarium stones or pebbles, plastic fish, aquarium plants or sew your own fish and plants, and some peg mermaids.  This is a great craft for the mermaid lovin' children in your life, or you could do it as a party craft or as a party favor for a mermaid inspired party!  I'm sure Pink and Green Mama would gladly make them for you too!

Here is our little slice of mermaid paradise...best of all, when playtime is done, put the lid on and it goes on the shelf!!

 In mermaid magic

~Shanti~