Mud Pies....

Your never to old to play in the mud...especially with your kids. Both my kids have enjoyed mud playing through out their childhood. Even I played in mud as a child...making pies. I always enjoyed playing outdoors with my animals out in the dirt or mud in my secret hideout which was an old barn in our backyard...
Some of my memorable moments were when we lived on
 that tiny plot of land with the chickens, horses, rabbits,cats and dogs. After finding this book, Mud Pies and Other Recipes... I found myself giddy with excitement. To dig in the mud and pick goodies from around the yard with my little girl brings me back to my own childhood.

We gathered a bunch of kitchen stuff and her old tea sets
 and put together a mud kitchen in our backyard. We invited our honored guest,
Mary Quite Contrary to a delightful feast, rose tea and mud pie of course!

Her mud kitchen was stocked  and ready to cook and create.
 We went through the entire yard and picked leaves, grass, berries,
tangerines, roses, small flowers, succulents and more to make
 Mary Quite Contrary the meal of her life. It was so much fun putting
 it all together and shopping in our own backyard.

 
We found the perfect leaves and
 flowers for a light salad to add to the salad bar.

We filled a jar of dandelions and succulent cacti
 that looked like green beans

Pebbles & seeds
 became beans.
 
We mixed the salad with some white
 rose pedals which gave it appeal.

Twigs became noodles...
perfect for spaghetti.

 
A bean soup simmered in the sun while
Freckles prepared her Mousse mud pie for dessert.

  

The perfect mousse mud pie ever!

Freckles put it in the oven to bake while she
 went on to make the backyard stew.
We used a vintage bread box as the oven...cleaver huh?

 
As Freckles prepared her backyard stew,
 I got the rose tea ready for Mary Quite Contrary.

 
Mary Quite Contrary enjoyed her tea with a light salad and soup
 along with some other appetizers we made while we
 waited for the backyard stew to cook.

 
She nibbled on escargot..Not my favorite,
 but she liked it anyway.

Stuffed shells...
delish!

Extra salad leaves and croutons...
In case she wanted more salad of course.

A little fruit!

And don't forget some chips and dip.

 
Missy test tasted the
 backyard stew.

Nibbled at the beef.  She test
 tasted and approved!

And got a bit of mud in her face...Funny girl!

Freckles added the last of the veggies to
 her stew and served her guest.

After the dinner course, Mary Quite Contrary
 was quite anxious to have her Mousse Mud Pie.
Freckles cut her the perfect piece...
And she enjoyed every bite!

 
We had a good few hours of fun outside...
Thankfully it was still warm enough to play out there all day.
 I felt like a kid again. And, enjoyed this special moment with my daughter playing.
You are never to old to play!
So weather your 1 or 100 this sweet childrens book for dolls
 and their Mama's is adorable and will surely spark some
 imagination for any outdoor tea or dinner.
Can't wait to go out and play with my girl again &
 make some more recipes from the mud pie book!