Of Piercings, Puppy's New Toy, Inspiration + Berry Trifle Recipe

Ever since she was thirteen, Ellie wanted to get a piercing in the cartilage of her ear. Larr and I were not thrilled with the idea and a friend of ours, Josh, who happened to own the most respected tattoo place in Denver, agreed with us. He talked to her about how any respectable piercing place would not do piercings for people under sixteen; the teens simply do not take good enough care of the piercings to make it reasonable. She accepted this and did not ask again until she was a few years older. She asked again when she was sixteen. We were still not ready. The idea our baby getting more holes in her body willingly just seemed like she was getting too grown up. Now that she is almost seventeen and a half, her father gave her permission. I felt a little better since we went to Sol Tribe, the one place that Josh said would be the best, and so they were.

At Sole Tribe we met Chux. He is from Chicago and is part of a group of tattoo and piercing artists that are doing a tour of different tattoo places all over the world. Chux says that he loves Colorado and will move here when he can. He is a great guy. He is both passionate and very knowledgeable about his profession. And he is very friendly. The piercing took place in a room that looked like a doctor's office. Everything was very clean and sterile. Chux showed us the small paper strip in each package of things he would use, like the needle and the stud, that proved that it was sterile as evidence of the black line to show that it was perfect and ready for use.

We looked at his Facebook and Instagram pages to see other examples of his work. Ellie likes his tattooing style. (You can see his work by looking up Chuxtime, if you like.) She says that she and Kohlton will get tattoos on her 18th birthday.

Later that day we went to see Don and see how he is doing. He had been to the Kong factory that is in Golden. He brought back some presents for the cats and Remmie. Remmie loves his new toys that includes rope, instead of stuff. Remmie loves it, as you can see. He also sent home some catnip toys for the cats. Catnip makes Moxy crazy. like an addicted druggie. He meows like crazy for more catnip every time we go near the kitchen.

We decided to go to Don's to celebrate Father's Day. While considering what we would take to the celebration, I came across this wonderful blog and cookbook.It looks really lovely.


The Forest Feast Cookbook

I made a Caprese Salad; Ellie made a really lovely and tasty Fresh Berry Trifle.

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Berry Trifle
via: Today's Mama

¼ cup plus 2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 pre-made angel food cake
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature
2 pints blueberries
2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced

Directions:
Make a simple syrup by heating 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.

Cut the angel food cake into 1-inch slices and spread out on a cookie sheet. Brush both sides of each slice of cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.

Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries.

Save a handful of fruit for garnish and then repeat the three layers (cake, blueberries, cream). Arrange the remaining strawberries and blueberries in a decorative pattern to garnish.

Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.