Spring Chick Nests

These neat little nests, crafted from crunchy chow mein noodles and melted marshmallows, are perfect for nestling chocolate eggs or jellybeans and make sweet place settings for springtime celebrations. What a perfect Easter treat! My friend Diana was sweet enough to think of me when she saw these, and shared the recipe with me.


Ingredients



* 2 cups miniature marshmallows
* 1/4 cup butter
* 4 cups chow mein noodles

Cooking Instructions

1. Butter a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. Combine marshmallows and butter over medium heat in a saucepan; stir until the butter and marshmallows have melted. Stir in the chow mein noodles, coat well.

3. Butter fingers and press the mixture into the bottom and sides of the prepared muffin tin. Refrigerate until firm.

April Fools!

This is what my husband will be waking up to on April Fools Day. He'll swing open the bedroom door in a mad rush to get downstairs and head out the door to work, only to be met by doorway masked with the morning news! He'll have to burst through the newspaper in order to get out. (I hope he thinks this is as funny as I think it is... I could be really evil and leave a gap at the top and pour styrofoam peanuts in between the newspaper and closed door so that they spill all over when he opens the door, hehe!)



(This photo was taken on the outside of the room)

Here are a few other ideas:

"While You Were Out" - Leave a phone message for the victim that says that a “Mr. Lyon” called (or Mr. Behr also works), and wants to be called back. Then list the phone number of the local zoo.

Another idea is to tape magnets to the bottom of an empty coffee cup, and attach it to the top of your car. Laugh at all the people who frantically try to get your attention as you drive by.

Buy a package of “hair extensions” that match the victim’s hair. (Inexpensive ones can usually be found in the hair accessory section of a drug store or grocery store.) Snip some strands about the length of the victim's real hair and spread it around on their pillow while they are asleep. They will wake up to a real fright!

These ideas are from Family Fun Magazine:

* It's easy to get somebody to walk right into this startlingly funny doorway joke. When he does, balloons will go whirling and blurting all over the room.

To plant the prank, blow up three balloons and wind their tails together (don't knot them). Seal the tails in an entryway by placing them over the top of the door and closing it tight. When your target makes his entrance, the balloons will go flying out in front of him.



**On a few squares of toilet paper, write a goofy gag line with permanent marker, then float the paper in the toilet for the next visitor to find.

Tip: For a longer floating time, allow the paper's edges to touch the sides of the bowl.

Other prank messages:
Who goes there?
The joke's on poo!



***Conceal a dollar bill inside your toilet paper roll by unwinding it several turns, then wrapping it back up with the bill inside. Rehang the roll flap-side down as shown. When your target tugs at the tissue, the money will spill out.


****A scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt makes for convincing mashed potatoes. Set a helping on each plate and top with butterscotch or caramel sauce gravy just before serving.



*****1. Can't Un-Ziplock: Hungry April fools will be trying hard to wrestle the goods out of one of these special sandwich bags. The reason? The opening is discreetly sealed with a thin line of clear adhesive strip. To set up the prank, zip the bag closed and place a length of double-sided scrapbook tape (we used Zips Ultra Thin Clear Adhesive Lines) on one of the flaps just above the closure. Firmly press the flaps together to make them stick.

2. Wormy Apple: The creature wiggling out of this apple will make an April Fools' Day lunch both silly and sweet. Use a plastic ballpoint pen, washed and with the ink cartridge removed, to bore a hole in the fruit, then insert a gummy worm. (Don't make it the night before, or the worm may get mushy.)

3. Snack Switcheroo: The joke in this snack-sized scheme is let out of the bag as soon as your target realizes the contents don't match the label. Make the switch by carefully opening a snack bag along the top seam. Empty out the original contents and fill the bag with another edible item (we filled a cheese puff bag with baby carrots). Add a playful message such as "April Fools!," then use a strip of double-sided tape to reseal the bag along the seam.

Spring Napkin Rings

What you need:

Empty toilet paper cardboard roll
Glue (and frosting, optional)
Dry cereal
Scissors

Instructions:

To make two napkin rings, cut an empty toilet paper roll in half. Cut out a 2x7-inch strip of colored paper, and glue to ring.

Glue on colorful cereal to complete any design you wish.

Safety note: Don't let children eat cereal that has been glued. An alternative to glue would be to use frosting-- that way if any cereal pieces fall off and are consumed, you'll only have to worry about a sugar high as opposed to glue chemicals. :)

Beer Bread

This can be made with any carbonated beverage instead of beer, but I wouldn't recommend it. It just doesn't have the same yummy taste (and I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I love this bread!). I've made it both with Sprite and Coke and it just didn't compare. Also, this is just as tasty as the box mix that you can buy from Tastefully Simple-- just much more cost effective!






Ingredients:



3 cups of all purpose flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
12 oz of beer (or pop)
2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Gently pour in the beer and mix until just blended. Batter will be thick.

Pour into a greased bread pan and pour melted butter over the top of bread batter. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from pan and let cool on a baking rack.

Black and White Cheescake Squares

This recipe is from Martha Stewart- it's very rich and tasty and the edge pieces are to die for!

Makes 24

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
21/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Line dish with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both long sides, then spray parchment.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Cream butter and granulated sugar with a mixer until smooth. Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla, and beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture. Increase speed to medium; beat until incorporated.

Reserve 1 cup of dough; cover, and refrigerate. Press remaining dough into bottom of prepared dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake until base is set and edges are puffed, about 25 minutes. Let cool in dish on a wire rack.

Mix cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and remaining egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in a medium bowl. Spread over cooled base; crumble reserved dough on top. Bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in dish on wire rack, then lift out using overhang. Cut into 24 squares. Squares will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Banana Crumb Muffins

My intention was to use up the three over-ripened bananas on my counter while simultaneously making something that was able to be frozen yet easily popped out eaten as a yummy snack for my kiddos. I thought making these muffins would be the perfect solution. I even baked them in mini muffin tins to make them more kid-friendly. That was as about 4pm today-- there are only about 10 remaining from the 48 mini muffins I made and it's only about 10pm. *****D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.*****

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. (or you can use a mini muffin pan; the recipe will make just about 48 mini muffins)

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Mini muffins bake only 10 minutes.

Glitter Art

This cute idea came from the Kids Craft Weekly newsletter. Use cookie cutters dipped in glue to create shapes on paper. Sprinkle each shape with glitter. You can make glitter art to adorn homemade greeting cards, pictures for Grandma's and Grandpa's, pictures to hang on your refrigerators.... anywhere your little creator's heart desires!



*** A little tip: Save empty spice containers to use as glitter shakers. The plastic insert with the holes makes it nice and neat to work with!***

February Daring Bakers Challenge-- Chocolate Valentino Cake & Vanilla Ice Cream

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Be sure to check out other Daring Bakers creations!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer:
This month's challenge is responsible for any weight I've gained this month.

Between:
*licking the spoon/pan/rubber spatula from the custard for the ice cream
*licking the beaters/bowl from the whipping cream (that I *added* fat content to... don't most people want less fat? Here I am increasing the fat content intentionally!)
*licking the spoon/bowl/rubber spatula from the custard/whipping cream combination
*licking both beaters after I had to whip the freezing ice cream
*licking the beaters again after I had to whip the freezing ice cream a second time
*licking the spoon while melting the chocolate and butter together for the cake
*licking the spoon again just because the chocolate/butter combo tasted so good the first time
*licking the spoon/spatula and pan clean after transferring the chocolate mixture to a bowl to cool
*licking the bowl after folding in the egg whites and transferring batter to the cake pan
*licking the spoon/pan/spatula after making hot fudge to use on my presentation platter
*licking the funnel that was used to transfer the hot fudge from the pan to a squeeze bottle
*eating (not licking) the scrap pieces of milk chocolate and white chocolate candy hearts I made for accessories to the cake and ice cream (I don't even like white chocolate but still ate those scraps)
*eating the scraps after cutting a small heart shape out of the larger heart shape
*licking the spoon that was used to dollop some homemade raspberry jam onto the plate
*eating a piece of the finished product; it will be virtually impossible to make it through the month without gaining a pound.

I found this months challenge to be exciting! I was more nervous excited to make the homemade ice cream than a flourless cake. The cake directions seemed cut and dry... and with the small amount of ingredients, how could you go wrong? I was a little disappointed in the taste of the final result (of the cake); it was not nearly sweet enough for my liking and instead was far too bitter. I used semi-sweet chocolate and will use milk chocolate next time. That was a bummer to not like the taste of the cake, but the presentation was fun and the texture of it was surprising. It was like biting into a cloud!

I also didn't care for the ice cream-- which means it was good ice cream! Confused? Let me explain... Not only do I not like semi-sweet chocolate, but I don't like ice cream (I know, what is wrong with me?). You will never find me just scooping up a bowl of ice cream to eat, regardless of the flavor or toppings.

I thought I would like this ice cream because you first needed to make a custard, and I loved the custard. I could have eaten the whole thing! Then you needed to make whipped cream, and I loved the whipped cream. Then all you had to do was combine the two and freeze..... and if I loved the custard and loved the whipped cream, one would think that I would have loved the result of the two of them together. But I didn't. It tasted like ice cream!

Which means that the recipe is a good one-- because it resulted in ice cream tasting like ice cream.

Here are the two simple recipes for this months challenge. I think they make a beautiful presentation together and perhaps even taste good together....

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

16 ounces (1 pound) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

Directions:

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F

9. Bake for 25 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 140F
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Here is my unmolded cake-- it sinks quite a bit as you can see:






Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients



1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 ¼ cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
1 tsp cornstarch
1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat*)

{*you can easily increase your cream's fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted - cool to room temperature and add to the 1.5 cups heavy cream .)

Directions:

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod length ways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.

2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy.

3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time.

4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.

5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container.



I was surprised at how much this already looked like (melted) ice cream, even before it made it's way into the freezer!



Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse. I used a hand beater to whip mine at the 2 hour and 4 hour marks.)

Marble Target Game

Got an old shoebox lying around your house? Use it to make a target for shooting marbles into! Cut a few holes into the side of a shoe box and assign and label each hole a point value. Set the target at one end of the table and mark a starting line at the other end of the table and see who can get the most points!

If you have any old building blocks also lying around, they make great "barriers" on each side of the box to keep the marbles from rolling off of the table.

Also, keep the shoebox cover for two reasons:
1. It makes a great marble holder for those marbles waiting to be shot.
2. When you aren't playing, you can store everything inside of the shoebox and just place the cover on top and put the entire box neatly away!

Winter Bird Feeder

Here is an easy craft that even the littlest of kiddo's can help out with... feeding the birds! Wintertime in Minnesota leaves a lot to be desired for the birds so why not help them out with a little treat that they will be thrilled to stumble upon?

All you need is:



A shoestring
Cheerios

Tie a knot into an end of the shoestring. Starting with the un-knotted end, string as many Cheerios as you'd like onto the shoestring, one at a time. Be sure to leave some of the string empty at the end opposite of the knot so that you can tie it around a branch when it has become as long as you'd like it to be (I cut my shoestring in half).




I can't promise that the birds will get to it before the snow or rain gets to it-- but it will be something fun for little ones to watch!

Rainbow Cake

My son is usually very particular when it comes to his birthday cake. He takes his time and debates all of the different flavors, sizes and themes that he can go with. He is very serious when it comes to cake. But this year, he wanted me to surprise him. So when I saw the recipe for this RAINBOW CAKE, I knew exactly what I would make for his 6th birthday! It was a bit pokey to make, but the results were worth it. He loved the bright colors-- which are the result of food coloring paste (no little triangle shaped capped food coloring for this recipe-- you'll never get the desired results).

The recipe that I saw was ironically close to my recipe for Watergate Cake, by the fact that it was made with 7-up and instant pudding. However, the recipe did not call for eggs and it called for diet 7-Up and fat-free instant pudding, ( which was only used in the frosting rather than in both the cake and the frosting); a pathetic attempt to make a fat-free cake. If you're going to eat cake-- you deserve to enjoy it and put all the goods into it. No skimping here. I adapted my own recipe for this Rainbow Cake.

Ingredients:

White Cake Mix
1 cup 7-Up
1 cup water
1 package vanilla instant pudding
2 eggs

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients for 1 minute (usually a cake needs to be mixed for about 2 minutes, but you will be mixing again when you add the coloring).

2. I measured the entire batter so that I knew what I needed to measure in order to have 6 equal portions. Conveniently, the batter equaled 6 cups! How easy!



I simply used a 1-cup measuring scoop to divide the batter into 6 separate bowls. I then tinted each bowl with a different color.



3. Grease 2 round cake pans.

4. Now, I used my first three colors in the first pan and then switched to do the last three colors in the second pan. I did it like this, because you want to use about 2/3 of the total amount of batter in each bowl for the bottom colors. (Make sense? Basically, if I did all 6 colors in one pan before moving onto the 2nd pan, I would end up having a hard time making sure I had equal amounts of batter in each pan.)

5. So use about 2/3 of your first color (red) and plop it dead center into the pan. Don't worry about swirling it around or anything-- it magically will work out.

6. Add about 2/3 of the batter of your second color (orange) smack dab on top of the first color.

7. Do this also with your third color (yellow).



8. This is where you want to now go to your second pan and work the colors backwards. Using about 2/3 of the batter for the LAST color of your rainbow (purple), plop it into the empty 2nd pan.

9. Do this with the next color (blue) and again with the green.



10. You should be left with about 1/3 of the batter for each color.

11. Go ahead and finish up your rainbows--- put the remaining green, blue and purple in your first pan and put the remaining yellow, orange and red in your last pan.



12. If you insist, give the pans a little swirl to make sure that your batter is even. Don't do this too hard- you don't want to mix your colors and as tempted as you may be, do NOT drag a knife through it to marble the cake.

13. Put your two pans into a preheated 350° oven and bake until cake test is complete (about 25 minutes... but watch them-- you have mixed up your ingredients a tad from the given directions on the box).

14. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.



15. Frost with either frosting of your choice, or with whipped cream (I mixed another package of instant vanilla into mine before frosting). Also tuck some waxed paper under the edges of the cake while you frost so that your plate remains clean. When you're done frosting, simply slide the waxed paper out.




Keep refrigerated.

Homemade Raspberry Jam (and cookies)

I made homemade Raspberry Jam for the first time last week and loved it so much that I made a larger batch today. The first time I made it, I used my bread machine; I know that sounds weird-- but I found a recipe for it in the bread machine manual and it looked so simple to make that I had to try it. It was pretty simple: Mix, push button, wait. 1 hour later... yummy jam!

So I thought I'd try it the traditional way today- on the stove top. It was just as easy! It actually was quicker, although I didn't have to stand there and stir it when I made it in the bread machine. But making it on the stove knocks out a bigger batch and saves a lot of time.

Once the jam was made, I baked these sugar cookies and instead of frosting them, I slathered them with the homemade jam and topped them with a cookie dusted with powdered sugar for a perfect Valentine Cookie treat!

Here is how I made the jam:

What you need:

5 cups crushed raspberries (not pureed)
7 cups sugar
1 packet dry Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
Jars/lids/bands

Directions:

1. Run jars through a dishwasher to sterilize and keep them hot on the "heated dry" cycle. (you'll want to time this right so the jars are still hot when you fill them, otherwise they may break) Also, fill a stock pot with water allow to simmer while you make the jam.

2. Wash the lids and screw bands and place in a pan of water that you had brought to a boil but removed from heat.

3. Prepare fruit by mashing with a potato masher.



4. Measure exact amount of fruit and put into a 6-8 quart sauce pot.

5. Measure exact amount of sugar and pour into a separate bowl. Set aside.

6. Stir in one packet of dry fruit pectin into the fruit. You can also add a tsp of butter to help minimize foaming, but the butter is optional.

7. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop boiling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.



8. Stir in sugar quickly. Return to a full boil (it took about 10 minutes to get there) and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam.



9. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.



10. Being very careful, use tongs to lower jars one by one down into the simmering stockpot of water. The water must cover the jars by 1 - 2 inches; add boiling water if needed. Cover. Bring water to a gentle boil. Process jams 10 minutes.



11. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars are cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger (if lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary).



12. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Store unopened jams in cool, dry, dark place up to 1 year. Refrigerate open jams up to 3 weeks.

Valentine Heart Attack

Give a loved one a heart attack by surprising them with many of the reasons you love them! What a fun way to wake up!

Valentine Chocolate Treats

Make some sweet treats to present to your Valentine by melting some chocolate and cutting with cookie cutters. These are perfect toppers to cakes, cupcakes, ice cream or even presented by themselves. They literally take a few minutes to make.

What you need:

Quality chocolate (milk, white, dark... it's up to you)
Wax Paper
Cookie Cutters

What you do:

1. Melt chocolate either in a double boiler on the stove or in a microwave-safe bowl. I opted for the microwave, and used two blocks of chocolate bark. I set it for 1 minute on high, stirred and then cooked another 30 seconds until it was melted.

2. Using a spatula, spread chocolate into a thin layer onto wax paper.



3. While chocolate is setting up, but still a bit soft, press cookie cutters into the chocolate to cut a shape (don't go anywhere... it took mine about a minute of setting up before it was ready). Work quickly.



4. Using a spoon, drizzle with melted chocolate of another variety (optional). (If you mix the drizzle chocolate with a teensy bit of vegetable shortening, it will be thinner, allowing you to drizzle it easily.)




* Use a cheese grater to sliver the leftover chocolate scraps to use on cakes, pies and ice cream.

Valentine Candles

Light up your Valentine table with these simple decorative ideas for candles. Place different kinds of Valentine-themed candy sprinkles in a clear votive or tea light holder. Top with a candle and light.