Skate 4 Homies Art Show

Earlier this month I created some skateboard decks for the Skate 4 Homies art show.  Skate 4 Homies is a foundation started by my sister and her boyfriend. S4H works with after school programs to teach kids skating fundamentals and safe skating practices.  They also work to provide skate equipment to kids who can't afford to buy it.  The kids earn the equipment by completing community service and other goal oriented activities.  They held an art show on December 18th with all proceeds going towards their program.  Many of the boards are still available for purchase on their website. 

This was the first board I made, which also happens to be my favorite.  I called it "California Dreamin'" 

I also made these two boards using photos I took.  I took the one on the left in the Harvard Square T station in Boston.  I took the one on the right in the Krystal Cancun hotel in Mexico. I am proud to say the Mexico one sold.
                                                                                            

My cousins painted the two awesome boards on the top row.

 

This is the "Mother Board" by James Bayless of Ethereal Furnishings.



And here are a few of my favorites, donated by the very talented Abby and Amy LePeilbet.  The top two were painted by Abby, and obviously the bottom one was painted by Amy.

World's Best Pancakes

Just the sight of this picture makes my mouth water.  These are my dad's famous pancakes, of which I am the BIGGEST fan.  My dad used to make these every Sunday morning when I was growing up.  I remember when I was about five years old, we had a pancake eating contest.  My older sister Heidi won but felt so sick afterwards that she pretty much hasn't liked pancakes since.  But I, on the other hand, have never lost my appetite for pancakes, especially my dad's.  I have to take a little credit, though — I did help train my dad to become the best pancake maker ever.  When I was younger I would never eat a pancake if it was much darker than the ones pictured above.  I would complain in a very whiny, annoying voice, saying, "I wanna taaaannn one!"  However, my mom likes them dark (yuck), which my dad can also cook on demand.  Anyway, I am going to share his not-so-secret recipe with you today.  Good luck, though. I doubt they will turn out quite like my dad's . . . I think he is holding out on a secret ingredient, or something.

Here is the master hard at work.

And the special recipe is......Betty Crocker Pancake Mix! (Just Add Water Version). This particular box is Buttermilk, but he also uses the Original.  Both are quite tasty.  Not sure what is going on, but lately we have had a hard time finding the mix at the regular grocery store.  We did have luck at Walmart, where I stocked up by purchasing four boxes.