COOKIES

I made chocolate chip cookies using a recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Clover Lane.  The cookies came out great, but you don't have to take my word for it:

Here is the recipe:
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl cream together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients.  Mix well.  Add chocolate chips.  I put the dough in the fridge for about 2 hours.

I wanted to make large cookies, so I used my ice cream scooper to measure and scooped dough onto parchment covered cookie sheets.  I flattened each cookie a little before baking.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes (keep in mind my oven is fast).  Cool before removing from sheets.


I sent R next door with cookies for the neighbors because we have had more than enough sweets around here lately, and she is always over there playing, so the least we can do is send over some cookies!

Made In the Pan Chocolate Cake

C and R made this cake with very little help from me.  I liked that it was all mixed and baked in the same pan.  C liked it with whipped cream on top; R asked for powdered sugar, but she didn't like the cake.  I thought it was okay, not my favorite cake recipe; I swear I could taste the vinegar.  The kids had fun making it though.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar or white vinegar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Have ready an 8-inch-square glass baking pan.
• Put flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking soda into a pan.
• Mix it together.
• Add water, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar.
• Stir slowly with a fork in small circles to blend. As it becomes a batter, mash, scrape, and stir with fork and spoon until smooth.
• Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula, and spread it evenly.
• Clean the edges, and then bake for 30 minutes.
• Cool before cutting into squares. This tastes good (and looks pretty) with some powdered sugar dusted on top.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 30 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Bat Pancakes and Bat Math

When C and R got home from school today, I had some batty fun planned for them.

We began with a snack of bat pancakes, a scoop of ice cream in a pumpkin silicone cup, a little whipped cream, and some bat and pumpkin sprinkles.  YUM!  I made the bats out of chocolate pancakes.  This is the recipe I used (SO good!!):

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Directions:
• 1.  In a small bowl, combine milk, egg and butter; whisk until blended.
• 2.  In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt; mix well.
• 3.  Add milk mixture; whisk just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• 4.  Heat griddle over medium heat until hot.
• 5.  For each pancake, pour scant 1/4 cup batter into griddle.
• 6.  Cook 1-2 minutes or until batter is set around edges.

7.  Carefully turn over pancake; cook 1-2 minutes or until pancakes are cooked through.

I cut the pancakes with a bat shaped cookie cutter.

After the snack, we played a game of bat roll and color addition.

C and R each had a page with bats and a bat cave numbered from two to twelve.  They took turns rolling the dice and would color in the bat or cave with the corresponding number.

The first person to color in all of the numbered spots was the winner.  They had a lot of fun with this game!  You can find the printable bat page to play this game by clicking here.

Crustless Mini Pumpkin Pies and a Good Book

I love pumpkin pie.  With the exception of T, everyone in the house loves pumpkin pie.  Usually, I just make a regular pumpkin pie; I hate to mess with a good thing, but this is delicious so I am happy that I tried it!

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1/2 cup Original Bisquick mix

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

1 T. melted butter

1-1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice

1 t. vanilla

2 eggs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Stir all ingredients together and pour into a greased muffin pan.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool. Refrigerate to store.

After eating this delicious treat, we read Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman.  In this story, a witch plants a pumpkin seed with the intention of baking a pie for Halloween.  When she is unable to move the pumpkin herself, passersby (a ghost, vampire, mummy, and bat) offer to help.  They work together, and in the end, share the pie.  There are some great lessons in this book - helping others, accepting help, teamwork, size doesn't always matter, sharing, etc., which make the book one of my favorites for Halloween.                                                 

*This recipe is from In Between Laundry.

Gingerbread Waffles

In my opinion, Rachael Ray's recipe for Gingerbread Waffles is the best of the best.  They are so good, and they smell like Christmas!  I topped them with homemade cinnamon whipped cream as a special lunch today.

Maybe not the healthiest lunch, but they do have pumpkin in them, so they are not all bad!  They sure are delicious!  Here is Rachael's recipe:

Directions

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, plus some to butter the iron
Syrup, whipped cream or fresh fruits for topping, to pass at table
Preheat waffle iron.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and melted butter. Stir the wet into dry until just moist. Do not over-stir the waffle batter. Brush the iron with a little melted butter and cook 4 waffles, 4 sections each. Serve with toppings of choice.

Haunted Cookie Cups

I saw the directions to make these ghostly treats on the Very Best Baking site and could not resist making them. 

Ingredients:
1 package Nestle Toll House refrigerated chocolate chip cookie bar dough
1 container of whipped topping
1 gallon size plastic food storage bag
48 mini chocolate chip morsels
24 chocolate chip morsels (regular size)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease 24 mini muffin cups.

Place one square of cookie dough into each cup.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool completely on wire rack.  Remove cookie cups from muffin pan with tip of a butter knife.

Fill plastic bag with whipped topping and seal the bag.  Cut 1/2 inch from corner of bag.  Squeeze bag lightly to pipe topping on top of cookie cup to form ghost shape.  Position two mini morsels as eyes and one regular size morsel as a mouth on each ghost.

Serve immediately or store refrigerated for up to two hours.

Halloween Smoothie

I had a bunch of kale in the fridge so I decided to throw some in the blender to make a smoothie.  I know this might sound crazy, but it really is very good.  My recommendation is to present this to your children as a fun Halloween beverage - green slime, witches' brew, monster shake, etc.  I can't say that this worked in my house.  R drank a little, but C would not even smell it.  I would not even dare present it to the teenager in the house.  Oh well, I think it's delicious.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups kale chopped (remove the vein before chopping)
1 frozen banana (whenever our bananas are turning brown, I stick them in a freezer bag for smoothies)
1 cup milk (whatever you drink; I used coconut milk, but soy or cow or whatever is fine too)
1 tsp maple syrup
You can add other fruit or yogurt if you so desire

Put it all in the blender with ice and enjoy!

This recipe came from Allrecipes.com.

Scarecrows

These scarecrow cookies have become a fall tradition in our house.  Well, this is the second year we have made them; is that enough to consider it a tradition?  I say yes.  This year, the base for our cookies is our favorite molasses cookie recipe - yum!  I topped a few molasses cookies with vanilla frosting, chocolate chip eyes, candy corn noses, chocolate jimmies (the rest of the world may refer to those as sprinkles, but in this neck of the woods, they are "jimmies") for a mouth, and shredded wheat cereal (I actually used Kashi's Cinnamon Harvest cereal) for hair.  The hats are made out of sugar wafer cookies and I put a few pumpkin sprinkles on top for decoration.

We have a few favorite scarecrow books that we are reading now. 

The Scarecrow's Hat by Ken Brown is a clever story of problem solving.  Chicken would really like to have Scarecrow's straw hat.  Scarecrow will swap it for a walking stick, and while Chicken does not have a walking stick, she knows someone who does.  Chicken begins a quest to find items to trade among her farm friends. 

The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown is a very sweet story about a little scarecrow boy and the lessons he learns from his scarecrow father every day.  Will he be ready to use that knowledge when the time comes? 

Scarecrow Pete by Mark Kimball Moulton is about a scarecrow who uses books to transport himself to new places.  When a young boy stumbles upon Pete, he learns how magical reading can be.  As a lover of books, I think this is a wonderful story.  It always makes me smile. 

I love scarecrows.  Laugh if you must, but the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz has always been my favorite character in the movie. 

 

Homemade Ice Cream!

We made homemade ice cream with just a few simple ingredients, and it was really good!  Making ice cream was one of the activities on our summer bucket list, and everyone was very excited about it.  I loved how easy it was.

First, we put 2 TBSP sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 cup of half and half into a quart size plastic storage bag.  Then, we put 1/2 cup Kosher salt into a gallon size plastic storage bag and filled the bag halfway with ice.

Next, we placed the sealed smaller bag with the ice cream ingredients inside the larger bag and sealed it.

Finally, C and R began to shake, shake, shake their bags.  This lasted about 30 seconds until they said, "MOM, these bags are too heavy.  Can you shake them for us?"  So, I danced around the kitchen for five minutes shaking their bags until they each had a bag of ice cream to eat.

I put some toppings out and they each enjoyed an ice cream sundae!  I had a few bites myself.  It was good!

I don't know why, but C likes to wear winter pajamas in the summer.  It was 100 degrees on this day!

On a science note, T asked me why salt is added to the ice to make ice cream.  I had to look it up.  32 degrees is the melting point of ice, but the ice cream mixture will not freeze unless the temperature gets below 27 degrees.  The salt changes the melting point of the ice. When you add salt to the ice, it lowers the freezing point of the ice, so even more energy has to be absorbed from the environment in order for the ice to melt. This makes the ice colder than it was before and the ice cream freezes. 

Speaking of T, he made his own bag of ice cream, but I did not get any pictures.  He thought it was a little watery, but it certainly did not stop him from eating all of it.

I am linking this to Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.  

Sun Tea

We made sun tea last week and it was delicious.  It is so easy to make.  Simply place four to six tea bags in a pitcher and fill it with two quarts of cold water.  Cover the pitcher and place it outside in the sunlight for three to five hours.  If the sun moves, move your pitcher so that it is always in the sun. 

Enjoy over ice with a little lemon.  We like our iced tea unsweetened, but you can certainly sweeten it however you like.  Refrigerate the leftovers, if you have any!

Homemade Butter

Making butter is one of the activities on our summer bucket list and we got to check that off this week.  This was so easy to do, and C and R were really amazed by the whole process.  If you have not made homemade butter before, this is how you do it:

First, put a clean marble in a clean pint sized glass jar with a screw-on top.  Then add half a pint of heavy cream and screw the cap on tight.

 R just had her hair cut the day of this photo.  Super cute, right?

Take turns shaking and shaking and shaking.  (Mom worried that someone would drop the glass jar!  Luckily, that did not happen.  Phew!  You can use plastic, but glass is recommended so that is what we used.)

C got a haircut too!

You will hear the marble for a while, but when you can't really hear it moving around anymore, your butter is almost finished.  Once you can see the glob of butter in the jar, pour out the buttermilk and wash the butter.  You wash the butter by rinsing cold water over it until the water is almost clear.  This will make your butter last longer.  Don't forget to remove the marble from your butter, and store your butter in the refrigerator.  The buttermilk you pour out can be used for another recipe.  I used our buttermilk to make apple pecan muffins!  Tomorrow, you will read about what we ate with our homemade butter!

Just in case you were wondering, I will tell you about the science behind making butter.  Cream or milk contains fat in the form of drops suspended in the liquid.  The reason this process works is that the shaking of the container forces the fat drops to come together and stick in the form of butter.  The marble stirs the liquid during the shaking, allowing more drops from different areas of the liquid to come together.

Remember to come back tomorrow to read about the super cool and yummy treat we made to eat with our butter!

I am linking this to Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

Hamburgers!

We are celebrating C's sixth birthday with friends and family today.  Last week, we went to our friend Sydney's birthday party and her aunt Christine and cousin Jessica made some very cool hamburger cookies.  I knew I had to make them for C's party.  Aren't they adorable?  This is how I did it:

1. I used Nilla wafers for the buns.  Place all of your bottom buns on a tray and put a drop of frosting on each to hold the "burgers" in place.
2. The burgers are actually Keebler Grasshopper cookies.  I thought Keebler made a caramel filled chocolate cookie and was looking for that because I thought the flavor would go better with the Nilla wafers but I couldn't find anything like that.  I also bought fudge covered Oreo cookies to try but they were too big for the Nilla Wafers.  I swear Nilla Wafers used to be bigger than they are today.
3. I mixed some vanilla frosting with yellow food coloring and spread some on the "burgers" to look like cheese or mustard.
4. I used red writing icing to drip like ketchup.
5. A few drops of green food coloring mixed with coconut makes the lettuce, and I just put a tiny bit on each "burger".  
6. Nilla wafers then go on top to make the top part of the bun.
7. Finally, I painted on a little Karo syrup and sprinkled on sesame seeds. 

C and R mixed the toppings and placed the "burgers" on the buns.  I did the rest.  I have to admit that I don't really think the cookies taste that great.  The mint chocolate and Nilla Wafer combination doesn't really work for me.  BUT, they are the cutest cookies ever and the kids seem to think they taste great.  C is very excited to have them for his party.  Thank you Christine and Jessica! 

Tent + Glow Sticks + S'mores

One homemade tent

+

Two Glow Stick Wands from Dollar Tree

+

S'mores Pops

=

Two Happy Children!

To make s'mores pops:

• Put one large marshmallow on each lollipop stick

• Crush graham crackers until fine
• Melt chocolate according to package directions

• Dip marshmallow pop in chocolate and then in graham cracker crumbs

• Enjoy!

This recipe can be found at Recipe Zaar.

Strawberry Shortcake

Yesterday, we celebrated the birthday of a special someone who prefers to remain anonymous.  I made strawberry shortcake and it was incredibly delicious.  Click here for the recipe I used.  If you decide to make it, read the reviews.  I followed the recommended variations.

Remember the birthday plate I received from CSN?  It looked pretty and worked wonderfully.  It spins and plays "Happy Birthday to You."  I love it.  We will be using it again soon because there is another birthday coming up in our house.

On another note, we recently learned that "Happy Birthday to You" was written by two women in Kentucky.  They originally wrote it as "Good Morning to You" for their Kindergarten students.  By the time we complete our Fifty States Project, I may be prepared for Jeopardy or, at least, Trivial Pursuit.

Kids Cook Monday - Pancakes

We are happy to be participating in Kids Cook Monday.  If you have not heard of Kids Cook Monday, the people behind the Meatless Monday campaign (HealthyMonday.org) have added this new weekly challenge.  Challenge yourself to get in the kitchen with your kids!  The website contains kid-friendly recipes and videos of parents cooking with their kids.  If you are interested in participating, visit the website or email jenbrite (at) gmail (dot) com.

C and R love to cook and bake with me.  When we work together in the kitchen, I try to incorporate a few lessons.  I always tell them how much of each ingredient we need, and I explain why we are going to whisk some items and stir in other items, etc.  R is much more open to trying new foods than her brothers are, but maybe they will come around some day!   

We make plenty of sweet treats, but I also try to involve them in making healthy foods.  If they help to make the food, they are more likely to eat it!  Last week, we made whole wheat pancakes with a mixed berry sauce. C and R both helped make the pancakes and the sauce.

Top your favorite pancakes with this sauce for a sweet and healthy treat.  We put 4 cups of unsweetened frozen mixed berries in the blender until chopped.  Then we put the berries in a small pan over low heat and added 3 TBSP of pure maple syrup; heat until warm.  The sauce is delicious and it goes a long way.  You can also mix it into oatmeal or pour it on top of frozen yogurt!

Lemon Poppy-seed Cake

This lemon poppy-seed cake is delicious!  Here is the recipe:

Cake:

2 sticks of butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 lemon

2 TBSP poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a Bundt pan
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy
3. Beat in the sour cream
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
5. Mix in the baking soda and salt
6. Stir in the flour
7. Grate the rind of the lemon into the batter and then cut the lemon in half crosswise and juice one half into the mixing bowl - be careful not to let any seeds fall in!
8. Stir in the poppy seeds
9. Pour the batter into greased pan, and bake until the cake is set and the top is light golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.  Do not overbake!

While the cake is baking, make the glaze.  Here is the recipe:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

4 TBSP melted butter

1 lemon

1. Put the sugar in a small bowl and add the melted butter
2. Grate in the rind of the lemon
3. Cut the lemon in half crosswise and gradually juice in both halves, stirring the whole time.  Watch out for those seeds!  Continue to add juice until creamy and smooth.

When the cake is done baking, allow to cool for 30 minutes.  Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and spread the glaze evenly over the top, allowing it to drip down over the sides.  

I found this recipe in a local newspaper a few years ago.  It is a Dave Lieberman recipe and it is SOOOO good!  I always get a lot of compliments when I make it and people always ask for the recipe.  You should try it, you'll love it!  It's a perfect spring recipe.  I made it recently for a political function and then again for Mother's Day.  It never lasts long!

Sweet Hearts

We made some sweet hearts yesterday.  My inspiration for these was the Mickey Mouse marshmallow crispy treats from Disney World.  The ears are dipped in chocolate and they look so cute.  My children loved those treats when we were there.  To make these, I followed the directions on the Rice Krispies box to make Rice Krispies treats and then cut them with a heart shaped cookie cutter.  I melted chocolate following the directions on the package and then C and R added sprinkles and candy.  They look great and taste better!

Notice the chocolate on R's chin!

YUM!

Punxsutawney Phil Comes to Breakfast

Tuesday, February 2, is Groundhog Day.  Last year, I saw these groundhog day pancakes at Gourmet Mom on the Go and bookmarked them with the intention of making them this year.  Well, believe it or not, I remembered and actually made them this year.  I think they came out great.  This is how you make them:

First, cut an apple in half and take out the core and seeds.  Then fill the hole with a scoop of peanut butter.  The peanut butter is not necessary, but it adds some protein and tastes yummy.

Then, place each half of the apple cut side down on a plate.  This will provide the base for two groundhog day pancakes. 

Next, make some pancakes (any recipe will do) and cut a small circle in the center of your pancakes.  Lay the pancake on top of the apple and place a doughnut hole ("munchkin" in this neck of the woods) on top of the opening.

The munchkin is the groundhog's head.  Cut a mini marshmallow in half and use some icing to stick both halves on as the whites of the eyes.  Then use more icing to stick some m&m's on for the eye color.  Stick a red m&m on for the nose, and two peanut butter chips for ears.

We used some green icing to look like grass and pink icing for some spring flowers. 

Now, let's just hope that Phil does not see his shadow.  We are ready for some spring weather here in the northeast.

Have a happy Groundhog Day!