I am an aunt. Have I ever told you that? I am not just an aunt because my siblings have had kids (I think we have 12 between both of our families) but I am an aunt to my friend’s kids.
I am not the crazy-spoil your kid kind of aunt. I am more of the say silly stuff; give you food treats kind of aunt. (Sometimes I am the grumpy aunt who will frown when behavior or manners are lacking.)
I am also the aunt who discusses underpants because it makes the little kids laugh. (It also makes me laugh because of the memories of my great aunt having the same discussions with me.)
I have nieces/nephews who really know me and squeal when I see their smiling little faces. Sadly, I also have a few that don’t know me at all because that is how life sometimes lays things out.
My sentimentality about being an aunt has come into focus this week because the first kid, Austin, to call me an aunt is having HER first baby.
My best friend from childhood, Kelly, included me in everything when she was pregnant with Austin.
I was around from her first moments of conception (well, not the FIRST..we aren’t that close of friends). I watched Kelly bloom. I felt the first kicks, heard the first heartbeats and was there when Austin entered the world. To this day, it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.
I think my “auntness” always has room for improvement. The kids learn from me and I continue to learn from them.
This past spring, I had the joy of sharing my birthday with my 3-year old niece. My sister in law had let me off the hook for making any food for the party since I hadn’t been feeling well. (We were doing a tea party with little desserts.)
Being the aunt, I still wanted to produce something but it had to be easy. (It also had to be super cool because I am Aunt Barb after all!)
So I made “Candy Sushi”. It was simple, fun and most importantly tasty. (Okay, most importantly the kids liked it.)
EASY Candy Sushi
Ingredients
8 fruit rollups (I couldn’t find green ones so it would look like nori but I think the colorful rollups we did find worked great and now I could call the rolls “Rainbow Rolls!”
8 rice Krispie treats (Yep, I bought the premade ones.)
16-24 Swedish fish
Directions
On a plastic wrapped bamboo mat (or something else to offer some assistance in rolling), place one fruit roll up.
On a cutting board, roll out the rice Krispie treat until it is about ¼ inch thick.
Place rice Krispie treat on roll up. Lay Swedish fish across one edge and roll up. Let a little of the fish head or tail peek out because it will look cuter when cut up.
Cut into 6-8 pieces. Do not cut until right before serving.
Serve with chopsticks!
I was shocked at how tasty these little bites were. You had some crunch from the rice treats, sweet of the candy fish and sour of the roll-ups. The kids got a kick out of trying to pick them up with chopsticks and the adults liked the whimsy.
I tried to count how many kids call me aunt and realized there are too many too count! The only thing I do know is that I have loved carrying this title and can’t wait to see what Austin’s baby calls me. (I am going for Gr-Aunt).
