Spring Garden Cake

spring garden cake

I got a little carried away with this one 🙂
But my girls have SOOOOO much fun doing it with me, it really isn’t work, it’s a fun kitchen art project.  Marshmallow fondant is super easy to work with, and is like edible playdough, so mistakes are taken care of rather quickly!
To make coloring the fondant easier, put a small amount into sandwich ziplock bags (one for each color you’ll need), then add a little gel coloring.
Massage color into fondant through the bag, this way you don’t get the coloring all over your hands, and you can close the ziplock when not in use.
You could make this a day in advance as well.
Check back tomorrow, I’ll show you a little something you can add to change this up too. 🙂

SPRING GARDEN CAKE

Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting
Marshmallow Fondant
Gel icing colors: orange, green, red, brown
Green jimmies
Crushed chocolate graham crackers

I baked my carrot cake in an 8 inch round pan, and a 9 inch square pan.
Make path dividers using folded strips of foil, then fill your “garden plots” with the “dirt” (crushed chocolate graham crackers).
Fill the path with green jimmies.  Carefully remove dividers.100_7546

Make the path stones:
Work some brown color into some fondant,  but not mixing all the way through, so as to leave some marbling.  Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick in between 2 layers of wax paper, then cut out using a small square cutter or freehand with a knife.  place along the green pathways.100_7531

make the basket:
Color some fondant light brown, and make very skinny ropes. Twist lightly together:

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Then shape into a basket:

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Make the carrots:
color fondant orange, then shape into carrots. Use a knife to make little marks.  Can make some as short ones since they will be “underground”:

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make some stems with green fondant:

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use a toothpick to push the end of the stems in:

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Make radishes:
Form teardrops from red fondant, and make leaves by curling a little circle into a point on one end and inserting into rounded end of teardrop.

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Make watermelons:
marble a couple shades of green and shape into ovals.  Make some coiled stems.
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Make the cauliflower:
Form balls from white fondant, then add some texture to the tops.

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For the cabbage leaves, indent leaf lines on small circles

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Then form 3 or 4 around each cauliflower.

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Fill the basket with some veg, and add a handle over the top, if desired.  Place foods in ea garden bed, then make signs with food markers on a small rectangle of white fondant, and place on a toothpick stake.  Use the full carrots and radishes for the basket, and the shorter ones to go in the dirt.

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Rainbow Jello

rainbow jello

My daughters picked this for their choice to make for our Irish Dinner Party.
I made a mini version up as well, and loved how it looked.  When you serve the big one, it does start to look like a mess pretty quickly, so the mini versions are a good choice if you’re worried about that too.  If you have time, allow a little extra chilling time between every couple layers to prevent colors bleeding through.

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RAINBOW JELLO
3 oz jello in 6 colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)
Large container cool-whip (or greek yogurt)

Mix purple jello with 3/4 cup boiling water, stir to dissolve.
In a 4 cup measure add ice to 1/2 cup cold water to make 1 1/4 cups.
Whisk into hot jello, then remove any ice left after a couple minutes of stirring.
Reserve 2/3 cup jello, then pour the remaining in a trifle bowl or other container.
Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.
Whisk 1/3 cup cool whip (or greek yogurt) into the reserved 2/3 cup jello, then gently spoon or pour over chilled jello.
Place back in the fridge for 1 hour.
Repeat for the blue, green, yellow, orange, and red layers.
Dollop with cool whip before serving.

For mini versions, assemble in half pint canning jars or other small containers.

Lime Slush (Or Leprechaun Punch)

lime slush
I wanted a fun green drink for our annual Irish dinner, and made this one up the day before, hoping it would turn out.  Luckily, it turned out well!
The kids LOVED it, I’m not sure how much my 5 year old drank, but I’m guessing that’s why she was bouncing off the walls at bedtime 😉
Next time I might try making it with seltzer water for a more tart punch, but I just loved how green this was 🙂

LIME SLUSH (OR LEPRECHAUN PUNCH)
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups water
large lime jello
1 cup lime juice (unsweetened)
1 cup lemon juice (or an additional cup lime juice)
46 oz pineapple juice

To serve: 2 (2 liters) lemon lime soda (or ginger ale)

Bring the sugar, water, and jello to a boil in a pot.  Let boil for 3 minutes, then stir in the remaining ingredients.  Let cool, then divide between 2 gallon ziplock bags and freeze overnight or longer.
To serve add one 2 liter of lemon lime soda to each bag (or ginger ale) in a punch bowl.  Break up with a wooden spoon.

First Silhouette Cameo Project

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I just got my Silhouette Cameo and for my first project I made some decorations for our classroom for St. Patrick’s Day.  I ended up laminating them so we can reuse them in coming years.

I used these Silhouette files :
Pennant- file #24597 (resized to fit the letters)
Leprechaun file #39324

And these free fonts from DA Font:
Celtic Hand
Clover Things  (for the clover shapes)
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I strung the pennants with green and white striped twine, and for the leprechaun’s flag I used a long wooden skewer.
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Isn’t he cute?  I did learn that in the future I will probably think about how many tiny pieces I will have to glue together before choosing images next time.
And yes, I do display books in our classroom for the current season/holiday.  What, doesn’t everybody do that?! 🙂

New obsession

I am the product of a teacher and library supervisor.. so when I find a book I like, I don’t just read it, I OBSESS about it.  And cookbooks are no exception.  I will study a good cookbook, reading it front to back entirely.
I particularly love cookbooks that include history about that type of cooking, even reference cookbooks.  My new favorite is Irish Traditional Cooking: Over 300 Recipes from Ireland’s Heritage by Darina Allen.
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The pictures are beautiful as well…
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I’ve been reading this book for a couple days now, and I can’t wait to try some of the recipes.  I love the history of Irish foods she gives, and the historical recipes too.
My dad was very proud of his Irish heritage but had never been to Ireland.  When I was 18 my dad and I decided to go to Ireland together (I had caught the traveling bug having been travelling around the US with my job.)
Unfortunately, he passed away before we could take that trip.  Being the youngest of 5 I was kind of my Dad’s shadow and so I have always had a soft place in my heart for my Irish heritage.
I’ve always planned on making that trip, and hopefully one day I will.
Every year we have an Irish dinner party and I have to say it’s one of my favorite meals of the year.

Cucumber Salad (2 ways)

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I am not embarrassed to admit we eat this probably 3 to 4 days a week.
I think it’s in my genetic disposition to like it.  I remember my Grandmother making it as a side dish with pretty much anything, along with a plate of sliced tomatoes.  My Grandfather was German, and it seems to be popular in German households, so I’m not sure if that’s why she made it?  Wish I had the history of it now, but my Mom remembers eating it all the time in her childhood as well.
I’ll share the “fancy” way first, but the “everyday” recipe at the end is how we make it most of the time.. almost all of the time 🙂  Just like Grandma did, just like my Mom did.
There are many types of vinegar you can use, but my standby is the apple cider vinegar.  Raspberry vinegar is good here as well, but in all honesty I just prefer the apple cider here.  My husband, who did not grow up eating this, found it a little acidic at first, but now he loves it, requests it, and even takes it to work in his lunches!

CUCUMBER SALAD (FANCY)
1 English cucumber, sliced about 1/4″ thick (you can use a zester to score a few lines in the skin if you like)
1-2 tsp kosher salt (use more the more pliable you want the cucs)
1/4 cup diced red onion
3 T chopped fresh parsley
2-4 T apple cider vinegar (or vinegar of choice-use more the more acidic you want it)

Sprinkle cucumber slices with salt in a large shallow bowl and toss gently.
Let sit for 10 to 30 minutes (the longer it sits, the more moisture will be pulled out of the cucumbers and the more pliable they’ll become.  This is totally personal preference).
Rinse the cucumber slices under cold running water REALLY well (or they’ll be too salty).
Toss with red onion, parsley, and vinegar.

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CUCUMBER SALAD (EVERYDAY)
2 regular cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/4″ thick
1-2 tsp kosher salt (use more the more pliable you want the cucs)
2-4 T apple cider vinegar (or vinegar of choice- use more the more acidic you want it)

Sprinkle cucumber slices with salt in a large shallow bowl and toss gently.
Let sit for 10-30 minutes (the longer it sits, the more moisture will be pulled out of the cucumbers and the more pliable they’ll become.  This is totally personal preference).
Rinse the cucumber slices under cold running water REALLY well (or they’ll be too salty).
Toss with vinegar.

 

Sick Days

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We don’t usually get the flu vaccine.  But this year we did.  And it’s been our worst winter ever for viruses.  After almost a month of straight misery, we are finally all on the mend.  It seems many of our friends and family have been been hit by the nasty bugs lately, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite recipes for those miserable days.

Honey Water: Place a couple spoons of honey in a teacup (with a sprinkle of cinnamon if you like).  Pour boiling water into coup and stir to dissolve honey.
Sometimes I add a fresh squeeze of lemon as well.

Jello Water: I know this might sound strange, but I grew up having this when I was a kid.  My mom always made it for us when we were sick, and it always seemed to help!  I still have it sometimes when I’m sick!
Prepare Jello (for some reason we always made the red varieties, like strawberry or raspberry, but any should be fine) by adding boiling water, but add about double the amount of water, and drink while warm.
(You can even just put a spoon of dry jello mix in a cup and pour boiling water over it).

Celery Soup– I make this all the time when we’re sick, and it just seems to help so much.

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Cupid Crunch (Valentine’s Day Chex Mix)

cupidcrunch

Our standby chex mix, which I just change a little for every holiday it seems. 🙂
It’s quick and easy, my kids love making it with me (always a bonus!), and it gets eaten pretty quick!  I make a double or triple batch for parties sometimes, and never seem to have any left at the end.  Happy Valentine’s Day!
CUPID CRUNCH

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Lay on a lined sheet for the coating to dry, then mix into chex mix.
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Heartbreakers! (Valentine Pouches)

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I thought it would be fun to make a pouch for valentines instead of an envelope, so we’d have room to put some fun things inside, like the Halloween Pouches.
We put some valentine jokes, heart suckers, a couple chocolates, and some stickers inside.
Here’s the pdf:  valentine pouches

You could also just freehand cut hearts out.  I sewed ours together, using red paper (I think it would be cute to do pink for girls too, especially if you do different stickers for boys and girls).
I rough cut the hearts out and placed on a piece of brown kraft paper and sewed around (I did some where I sewed on the line, some I sewed inside the line and used the line as a cut guide.)
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Leave a space when sewing to insert the treats, then finish enclosing.
Cut out either with decorative scissors or plain.
If you don’t fill them very full, you could also just glue the hearts together.  Either way it’s fun for the kids to rip them open.

Love Shacks!

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I think I actually enjoy Valentine’s Day more since having kids.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my hubby, even now that we’ve been married over 11 years.  Even more than when we were googly-eyed newlyweds.   But having kids as just magnified that for me.  We have even more love in our home!
So for Valentine’s Day we celebrate as a family.  I make a fun dinner and we make “Love Shacks”.  Sugar cookie houses loaded with fun.
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We had a few friends and their kids over this year and made a party of it.  Each kid got a house to decorate, and we put tons of valentines candy down the middle of the table.

Each kid got a small plate with some frosting and a knife (pre-“glueing” the houses together really helps here, they won’t fall apart even with tons of candy on them).
You could also give each kid a piping bag or a ziplock with a snipped corner of frosting.
We started this tradition because our oldest daughter adores decorating cookies and gingerbread houses.  We usually make a few for friends or family who might be going through a rough time, like the elderly widow down the street we visit with, or someone we love, like my daughter’s therapist.
Autism has not stopped my sweet girl from being a sweetheart, that’s for sure!

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For Sugar Cookie Houses:

4 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 T milk
1 T vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and shortening together until softened.
Add sugar and beat until fluffy.   Add milk, eggs, and vanilla, mix until well blended.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to dough and mix until well mixed.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate a couple hours to a few days.
Roll out sections of dough on silicone mats. (I find it helpful to cover dough with a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap so you don’t have to over-flour the surface of the dough to roll it out.)

Here is a template for houses that works well for small kids houses.

Cut out shapes and take away excess.  I find it works well to have the shapes up against each other, so there is less room for expansion.
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Bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 12 minutes, depending on size of shapes.
You want it slightly golden brown.  Within a minute of taking out of the oven, I slide the silicone mat onto a flat counter and trim any excess that may have expanded during baking, and re-score lines.
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After pieces are cool, make royal icing.  Fill a piping bag (or even just a ziplock with a snipped corner) and “glue” houses together.  I like to use overturned paper plates like my friend Angela does, it makes decorating easier.
Ideally, “glue” the houses together at least one day before decorating, it makes them more stable for little ones who like to add alot of heavy candy 😉

For Royal
Icing:
1 lb powdered sugar
3 egg whites (you can substitute 2 T meringue powder and 6 T water alternatively)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Mix all icing ingredients together until stiff peaks form when the beater is pulled out.  Decorate as desired!

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