Recycled Magazine Bowl

I saw this months and months ago on a craft blog that I can't even recall-- so I can't give them credit. I remember seeing it and thinking that it would be something very easy to do without really having to concentrate on it. It took a tad longer than I thought it would, but made for a nice activity to keep my hands busy while watching my soap operas! My daughter can't stop touching it and looking at it. I finally caved and gave it to her and her eyes lit up like sparklers. She's already loaded it up with girly goodies on her dresser.

What you need:



A magazine
Glue gun
Glue sticks
Time ;)

What you do:

1. Rip out each page of a magazine. You can use as many sheets as you'd like. For my particular bowl, I used an even hundred. However, you can make the bowl as big or as little as you'd like.

2. Fold each sheet from the magazine in half, lengthwise. Fold it again, 3 more times.... so you end up making four folds. The sheet will be about 1/2 an inch wide now.



3. Make a tight roll with one strip of paper.

4. Use a skinny line of glue to adhere a second strip to the first one, overlapping the ends about 1 inch, and wind that around.

5. Continue adding strips with glue until you have the base of your bowl to be about the size you want it to be.



6. Now start adding and winding your strips upwards.... just raise them up about 1/8 of an inch as you wind around. As you place the strips, be sure that the "raw" edge of the paper is on the inside when you glue and that the clean, folded edge is on the outside (see picture).



7. Continue adding strips.... moving up, until the bowl is as big as you'd like it to be.



8. I added a "lip" on the top of my bowl by winding about 4 or 5 layers at the same height at the top.

Newspaper Hut

I saw these instructions on how to make a Newspaper Hut and thought it looked easy enough and knew that my kids would love it! Boy was I right! I've been waiting for the right day to make this, thinking it would take a long time. It really didn't... the rolling took the longest and I probably got all 25 rolls done in about 20 minutes (and that was with me stopping to do something a few times, too).
Putting it all together was a breeze, too... but you definitely need some little hands to help! (or big ones...) The key is just having a couple extra hands... mine just happened to be little extra hands.

What you need:

Lots of newspaper
Tape
A stapler
A pencil

What you do:

1. Lay 4 sheets of newspaper on top of each other. Place the pencil in the corner and roll the 4 sheets diagonally to make a tube. I pulled the pencil out as soon as I got a few turns over and just continued rolling from there.



2. Tape the middle and let pencil slide out of tube, if you didn't remove it while rolling.



3. Repeat 25 times. The 25 tubes should be close to the same length.



4. Take 3 tubes and make a triangle and staple at each corner. Repeat until you have 5 triangles. I stapled mine about three times at each joint and you may also want to fold the edge over before stapling, to make it a bit less thin and have a little more girth to it.



5. Connect the triangles in a long line and then staple together, again, using several staples at each joint and building up the joints by folding it first if you need to.



6. Use individual tubes across the top and staple those to the triangles.



7. Here is where my little helpers came into place.... Stand the triangles up and staple the two ends together. Add a tube to the last top spot.



8. Use the 5 remaining tubes to make a star stapled in the middle.



9. This is your rooftop. Staple into place.



Enjoy! You can play in it as is, or throw a sheet over the top for privacy! I foresee us doing both!

Dollar Bill Shirt

I sure wowed my kids with my knowledge of folding a dollar bill into the shape of a shirt! I actually just copied the tutorial from here, but they are still impressed with me. It was so easy to do and took a matter of minutes (and that was only because I had to take a picture after each fold, hehe).

What you do:

1. Start by folding the bill precisely in half lengthwise. Unfold the bill, leaving the crease produced by the fold for the next step.



2. Fold the bill one quarter of the way in from each side lengthwise. The edge of the bill should just meet the crease made by the fold in the previous step. Do this for both sides as shown.




3. Turn the bill over. Fold the white of one end over as shown. This will become the collar in the next step. (If the bill is printed unevenly, use the wider edge.)




4. Turn the bill over again. From this side, angle-in the two corners from the end you folded in the last step. The two points should meet at the center line. The angle is not really important, but should be about the same as shown in the photo.



5. Fold a little less than one third of the bill lengthwise from the opposite end as shown. If you're following in the same orientation as the photos, use the markings on the bill for a fold point. (Notice that the edge of the bill just meets the word "OF" on the reverse printing.) If you fold too little, the shirt will appear too long in the end. If you fold too much, the next step will not work. See below.



6. Now you will fold inward in the same direction, tucking the previous fold under the "collar" created in step 4 . So far it looks somewhat like a shirt, but it's not done yet! Now the tricky part....



7. Gently unfold the previous two folds, keeping the creases. On the lateral fold furthest from the collar, refold it strait across as shown.



8. Here is the tricky part. You are going to introduce two new folds on each "sleeve". Do this by holding each side of the previous fold between thumb and forefinger in the orientation shown, just on either side of the vertical fold as shown. Just force the angle to close slightly, and force the extra paper inside the vertical folds. Once you've got it looking right, force the insides to crease by pressing on a hard surface. Basically, you can "see" the sleeve, but you need to hold it there while shoving the rest of the dollar back in.



Here is a close up:




9. Repeat on the other "sleeve".




10. Now fold up and re-tuck the fold you've been working on back under the collar. And you're done!

Granola

This is Alton Brown's recipe for granola that my mom shared with me last year. The first time I made it, I didn't add any dried fruit to it. I just ate it plain or on top of yogurt. My husband ate it by the bowlful with milk and a spoon. I made it again last night and added dried cranberries to it. I can't stop eating it this morning! The cranberries add such an unexpected flavor and texture burst.

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup cashew nuts (optional)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

preheat oven to 250­°

In large bowl, combine oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil and salt.

Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 baking pans. Cook for 40 -50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color. Watch your time!

***The recipe calls for transfering the granola to a large bowl when you remove it from the oven, but I actually dump it out onto a paper grocery bag that I had cut open. The granola will keep cooking a bit after you take it out of the oven, so I spread it out to cool it faster. Otherwise I think it may get a little overdone if it was grouped in a bowl.***

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. (or spread on grocery bag)

Add raisins if you prefer and mix until evenly distributed.

May substitute dried cranberries or dried chopped apricots for raisins.

June Daring Bakers Challenge-- Danish Braid

This month’s Daring Bakers recipe was chosen by Kelly and Ben. The challenging recipe they chose was for “Danish Braid” from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking cookbook.

I didn’t know it at first, but soon realized that I would have a Love/Hate relationship with this challenge.

I love that I have succeeded with my first two Daring Baker challenges and headed into this one thinking I would be just as victorious.

I hate that I was wrong.

I loved the recipe when I first read it…. It wasn’t too long, wasn’t too short, didn’t sound too confusing, nor did it call for ingredients that I would have a hard time finding.

I hate apple.

I love that I could choose a filling of my choice if I didn’t want to make apple.

I hate that I didn't choose two different fillings for my braids.

I love that the recipe has instructions for making it with a stand mixer and without a stand mixer.

I hate that I’m the only person in the world that doesn’t have a stand mixer.

I love that the stand mixer I had my eye on at the store was on sale the week I wanted to bake my challenge.

I hate that it was “out of stock” when I arrived at the store with cash-in-hand. (lame)

I love the fact that I’ve never minded kneading dough by hand.

I hate the fact that I know longer like kneading dough by hand after this challenge.

I love how I thought that my big center island countertop would work as my “work surface” when I made a fountain out of the sifted ingredients.

I hate how my fountain wasn’t deep enough and the liquid ingredients broke through the walls of my fountain and spread out in all directions faster than I could scrape it all back together.

I love that I thought to use tape on my counter to form a square the size I needed my dough to be to use as a guide as I rolled.

I hated rolling cold, hard dough to be the size I taped out onto my counter.

I loved the burn in my biceps as I rolled (and kneaded!).

I hated the burn in my biceps as I rolled (and kneaded!).

I loved finding an easy recipe for pastry cream.

I hated that my pastry cream had a few teeny tiny lumps in it that I couldn’t get out for the life of me.

I loved filling the dough and braiding it.

I hated that the part I was looking forward to the most took the least amount of time.

I loved the idea of making little Danish doughnuts (Danuts?) with the dough for the 2nd braid.

I hated that they were hard to fill and pinch and seal.

I loved the smell of it all while it was baking.

I hated that I made it around dinner time so the smell didn’t last for long.

I loved the look of the Danish and the Daunts (hehe) when I drizzled a little chocolate glaze over them.

I hated the citrus taste from the orange juice/zest (I wish I had left that out).

I love that this challenge is over!

(and now, one more thing I hate that I just realized looking at someone else‘s challenge photos….. I tri-folded my dough the wrong way… I folded the long sides… not the short sides. No wonder why mine kept getting longer and longer every time I did a turn!)


Here is the recipe with some pictures. I will also include the recipe for the pastry cream that I made and for the chocolate drizzle. Be sure to check out other challenge creations at the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

Ingredients:

For the dough (Detrempe)

1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
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DOUGH

With a standing mixer:

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed.

Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well.

Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated.

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer:
1. Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk.

2. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well.

3. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain.

4. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

5. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

BUTTER BLOCK

1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour.

Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally.






Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle.

Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. (Cut your dough in half before refrigerating the dough the final time)

The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients:

4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl.

2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 to 8 minutes.

3. Add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. (If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. )

4. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Putting it all together)
DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients

1 recipe Danish Dough (see above)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see above)


1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

3. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart.

Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

4. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle.




Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling.

Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

My bigger braid didn't braid as neatly as it should have. There were a few gaps that I tried to cover by folding the flap over and up a tad-- I thought if the filling was exposed, it would ooze out. It wouldn't. I should have just braided it normal. :(


Egg Wash

Ingredients:
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking

1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid.

Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.



2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown.




4. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature.

*The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I skipped the apple filling and used this pastry cream:

Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup sugar
A vanilla bean, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
The yolks of 6 very fresh eggs
2 cups whole milk
A pinch of salt

Preparation:
Pastry Cream is not difficult to make, though it does require care and attention lest it curdle. It is suggested that you use a copper pot because it conducts heat better. Also noted is that the cream should be transferred to a bowl as soon as it's ready, because it will continue to cook in the pot.

The quantities given above can easily be expanded or reduced.

Set all but 1/2 cup of the milk to warm over a slow burner with the vanilla bean. In the meantime, lightly whisk the yolks in a bowl to break them. Strain the flour into the bowl, whisking gently, and making sure that no lumps form. Whisk in the sugar too, and then the remaining half cup of milk, keeping a wary eye for lumps.

By this time the milk on the stove will be about ready to boil. Fish out and discard the vanilla bean, and slowly whisk the milk into the egg-and-milk mixture. Return the cream to the pot and the pot to the fire, and continue cooking over a low flame, stirring gently, until it barely reaches a slow boil. Count to 120 while stirring constantly and it's done. (Note -- depending on your eggs and milk it may thicken to the proper consistency before it boils. If it reaches roughly the consistency of commercially prepared plain yogurt of the sort that will pour from the cup it's done).

Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool, gently stirring it often to keep a skin from forming across top.

Chocolate Drizzle

In a microwavable bowl, combine 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips with 2 tsp of shortening.

Heat on high for 45 seconds. Stir. Continue heating at 10 second intervals if needed, until smooth and creamy.

Zebra Nipples

Okay, so that isn't the real name for these oh-so-yummy-and-even-easier-to-make treats. In fact, I don't even know the name of them.... my mom made them a few years ago at Christmas time and used red and green M&M's. I've been hooked ever since. The first time I made them, my husband looked at them and said they looked like Zebra Nipples. They have just sort of adopted that as their name! A friend of mine calls them Zebra Kisses. That's pretty cute and creative, too. And probably more appropriate for serving them to children, hehe.



Ingredients

Waffle weaved pretzels
1 bag of Hershey's Hugs (no nuts)
1 bag of plain M&M's (the seasonal ones are great for festive occasions)
Parchment paper

Directions

1. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

2. Place waffle weave small pretzels on parchment paper (although regular and round ones work, too... I think the waffle weave is just for looks and kinda holds it all in).

3. Place one unwrapped Hershey's Hug on each pretzel.




4. Bake at 170 for about 4.5 minutes. Remove from oven and promptly place a holiday colored M&M on each Hug and squish down.



The baking time will vary. You don't want the Hug to just sink in at the tip when you push the M&M into it, you want the whole thing to ooze down, so it is kind of rounded... but not ooze off the pretzel, either.

5. Put the cookie sheet in the fridge for a bit to allow the candy to harden back up.

6. Enjoy!

****These freeze well if you stack them with wax/parchment paper between the layers****

****Try using different flavors of Kisses... I have a friend that loves them with the Candy Cane Kisses and another friend that loves them with the Chocolate Mint Kisses. With all of the variety's of Hershey's Kisses, you're bound to find a combination you love!****

Here are the Candy Cane Kisses made by my good friend Shiela last Christmas. Didn't they turn out cute? Of course, now my husband has named hers, too.... he thinks they look like blood-shot cartoon eyes!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

For the topping
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 cups 1-inch chunks fresh pineapple (about 1 pineapple)


For the cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk





Directions:

Make the topping:
In a small bowl stir together well the butter and the brown sugar and spread the mixture evenly in a well-buttered 9- by 2-inch round cake pan. Pat the pineapple very dry between several thicknesses of paper towel and arrange it evenly on the sugar mixture.

Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, and the cinnamon.

In another bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in the vanilla.

Add the flour mixture alternately in batches with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating well after each addition.

Pour the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly, and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, run a thin knife around the edge, and invert the cake onto a plate.