Lalaloopsies in the Park!

Wednesday, 8/14/13 - One of the last of the Summer concerts in the park was with my favorite "Kindie rocker," Caspar Babypants! They happen at lunchtime, so a perfect excuse for a park picnic!

I just can't get enough of the detailed cookie cutters from Warpzone Prints! So I had to get the set of three Lalaloopsy ones. The neat thing about these is that Lalaloopsy only has 5 or 6 basic "heads," and they just change the hair, bow, and eye color for each one. So these could be any of a number of different characters!

Tippy Tumblelina

GF PBJ w/taffy, organic string cheese nibblets; organic carrots, spinach, English cucumber, strawberries, and blueberries

 

Since Tippy Tumblelina was Z's very fist 'loopsy, I went with that one for her lunch. It was veeery difficult working with the gluten-free bread, getting a nice imprint without shattering the crumbly slice. I think they turned out okay though.
To help bring out the details, I used some water and hot cocoa mix to "paint" in the eyes and mouth imprints. I now know that chocolate syrup is waaaay easier to use for painting. So make a note!

I used some naturally colored pink taffy to make the cheeks and bows. I started out kneading it in my hands a bit to soften it, then rolled it out between the wax paper wrapper and my cutting board. I then tried using the imprints in the cutters to make the cheeks and bows, but they stuck so badly and stretched when I pulled them away, I was having to re-form them by hand anyway. So I gave up and just free-handed the rest.

Crumbs Sugar Cookie

GF PBJ w/taffy, aged white cheddar; organic tomatoes, English cucumber, strawberries, and blueberries

I've already made a Crumbs Sugar Cookie lunch based on her second 'loopsy doll, but what's one more?

I gave E the sharp cheddar because Z hadn't been eating it, saying she no longer liked it. But then they ended up trading during lunch! Ha!

This was when I first got an inkling that I wasn't just intolerant to lactose, but to casein or dairy in general. We got this 4-year aged cheddar from Costco, and some reps were there from Cabot, and they reassured me that it tested lactose free (harder/aged cheeses like sharp cheddar and Parmesan have less (or no) lactose!) So when a flake of cheese fell off (this is a really flaky cheese!) I thought nothing of just popping it in my mouth. But later that day I had the same symptoms as with lactose. Hmmm.

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