Honey Bears

Hello everyone! I hope the weekend has left you rejuvenated and excited for the new week. It's all about cute and cuddly on blah to Tada!. But you may be asking, "How can something cute and cuddly be a blah?"

Does this answer your question?
When a honey bear bottle has no honey anymore,
that qualifies as a blah!

Blah is now Tada! when we re-use the bottle.
Fill it with juice (cranberry, orange or grape are my picks)...

Make some shaved ice in your blender or food processor...

Drizzle juice on the shaved ice using Mr. Honey Bear and
Tada! -- instant snow cone!

This is great for parties or play dates where the kiddies can pick their favorite flavor and color. So remember, when the honey has run out, SAVE THE BEARS!

See you tomorrow for another Tada! idea.

Going Bananas

It's Friday and I'm going bananas!
I mean that both figuratively and literally:

I've got some ready for a blah to Tada! transformation.

I turned them into banana bread, baked in muffin tins.

Very easy to grab as a quick breakfast!

And yet another transformation -- my version of a banana trifle! I cubed up some banana bread, sliced some bananas and put these in a glass, topped it with ice cream and some dulce de leche (you can use caramel or chocolate syrup, too).

Tada! Instant dessert!

Have a fabulous long weekend everyone!

Ice Pops

It's all about cool & sweet this week when we turned plain old ice cream from blah to Tada!

Here's another idea using a recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine:

We'll turn vanilla ice cream into Strawberry-Vanilla Swirled Frozen Pops!

Here's what we'll need:
1 lb strawberries, hulled & halved
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 pints vanilla ice cream, room temperature
12 (1/3 cup) ice pop molds or 12 paper cups and 12 wooden sticks

Here's what we need to do: Mash strawberries in a large bowl with a potato masher or fork. Add the sugar and the lemon juice. Add in the vanilla ice cream and mix just enough to combine.

Spoon the mixture into molds or cups -- I used an ice cube tray.

Add the wooden sticks & return to the freezer until firm.

Tada! Pink popsicles with bits of juicy strawberries.
Go ahead and indulge!

Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Are you Vanilla or Are you Chocolate?

If you can't decide, then why not be both?

This week on my blog, we're adding some Tada! to ice cream.

Scoop some vanilla ice cream on a parchment paper-lined tray. Allow the scoops to firm up in the freezer. As the ice cream freezes, melt some chocolate (milk or dark chocolate...it's all up to you) in a double boiler & allow to cool slightly.

Take out the ice cream from the freezer and pour the chocolate sauce on top using a ladle. Return to the freezer when the ice cream begins to melt or, if you work fast, when all the ice cream balls have been coated in chocolate. Freeze again to let both ice cream and chocolate to harden.

Tada! Vanilla ice cream enrobed in chocolate.
Can anything be more mouth-watering than that?

Little Icy Umbrellas

When summertime rolls in, I have this habit of hoarding fruits like berries, peaches and cantaloupes. And why not? They are at their sweetest and they're so cheap! I eat them for breakfast, some I freeze for later use and I also turn them into smoothies (add milk or yogurt to your choice of fruit and whiz in a blender):

Then I figured, what if I freeze this smoothie?

I poured them into tiny tart pans. You can do the same using little paper cups, sauce containers or mini muffin tins, then put them in the freezer.

After about 20 minutes, take the tins out of the freezer and insert some popsicle sticks. The smoothie will be firm enough to hold the sticks in place. Return to the freezer to fully solidify.

To unmold, dip the tin in hot water & apply some force to loosen.

Tada! A healthy snack using the season's best harvest.

I really like how they resemble small umbrellas.

Hope to see you again tomorrow!

I Scream for Ice Cream

Happy new week everybody!

I looked through my freezer this weekend and I found some neglected ice cream. Gasp! I know, I have no excuse for ignoring this heavenly dessert, but if sweets like lemon meringue pie, strawberry shortcake and banana pudding find their way to your fridge, you would forgive me if I allowed the ice cream to "chill" for a while.

So this week on my blog, I'm serving up some icy treats that turn plain ice cream from blah to Tada!

Ice cream + cookies

Tada! Ice cream sandwich!

It's an easy snack that both adults & kids will love.
See you tomorrow for another icy cold idea!

Punch & Bind

One lovely reader recently asked for help to transform her blah business card holder into a Tada!. And that's how the blah to Tada! challenge was born. If you need some Tada! solutions using everyday blah items, send me an e-mail and I'll try my best to help you out.

Maybe you also need help organizing your thick wad of business cards that you've collected recently? Here's a crafty idea:

Blah: Sheets of cardboard & an old J. Crew catalogue.

You'll need these materials, too: pencil, ruler, a pair of scissors,
puncher, glue, a computer/printer & a big binder ring.

Step 1: Measure the cardboard to the size of a standard business card and add a half-inch allowance to its height (portrait orientation).

Step 2: Cut the cardboard. Once cut, you must have a total of 26 cards corresponding to each letter of the alphabet.

Step 3: Punch a hole on the upper left side of each piece of cardboard.

Now the fun part!

Step 4: Decorate each piece of cardboard. I opted for a "summer" look using bathing suits cut out from a J. Crew catalogue. You can choose whatever theme you fancy -- shoes, bags, flowers, food, cartoon characters...

Step 5: Print out letters from the computer & stick one letter on each piece of cardboard.

Step 6: Take out your business cards and punch each at the top left corner (make sure not to punch out important details like phone numbers & e-mail addresses). Rotate the business card if necessary.

Step 7: Insert the decorated cardboard sheets and business cards (now organized alphabetically) onto the binder ring.

Tada! Not your usual business card holder
but clean & compact just the same!

Note: You can easily add or remove a card by sliding the binder ring opening to the corresponding letter. Unlock the binder ring and attach or detach a card. Lock the binder ring once again.

Wishing you a Happy Tada! weekend!