Wordless Wednesday: A Very Harry Birthday...

Baking Away...

Pie, pie, me-oh-my... Smitten Kitchen's pecan, First Prize Pie's cranberry dream, Joy The Baker's sweet potato pie filling done for Wednesday. And some loaves of "stuffing bread," that I'm recreating with inspiration from a store-bought loaf that Karen introduced me to a couple years ago (but that QFC no longer carries). Bread with stuffing spices. 

I still need to make apple crisp for Joel and pumpkin pie, and some cranberry-orange breakfast rolls for Friday (and as a hostess gift). And, maybe some pretzel rolls if I go crazy. (Oh, who am I kidding? I'm totally making the pretzel rolls...)

Such a pretty little cake...

made by Erik and me for Bea's birthday. It's a fantastic white cake recipe from Glorious Treats called "Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes." Paired with my usual simple buttercream, and some sprinkles and sugared nasturtiums, it was the perfect cake for a wee 2-year old. We baked it in my 4-inch mini Bundt pan, and this one is two layers since we had enough batter for this and Modi's cake too.

100 Christmas Cookies

Fifty white-chocolate dipped (and green-sugar sprinkled) gingersnaps and 50 classic gingersnaps for 100 kids in a Ukrainian orphanage sponsored by our dear friend's church.

Not Fried Green Tomatoes

This fantastic recipe is from our friend Jennifer, and she and her husband Matt reportedly fight over who gets to eat more of it...

Since I had so many green tomatoes today, and I didn't feel like making fried green tomatoes, I made a quadruple batch of Matt and Jennifer's salsa and sent some off to work with JT. Jennifer gives it a thumbs up.

Green Tomato Salsa
Makes about 2 cups
Time: 10 minutes

1 cup cored and finely chopped green tomatoes (or tomatillos - I might have done mine in the food processor, not positive)
2 tbsp minced cilantro leaves
1 tbsp lime juice
½ tsp sugar (or to taste)
½ tsp minced garlic (or more)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Mix all ingredients, taste, and correct seasoning.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to a week.

Back to School

Snacks &  lunches, ready to go. Now, to manage the rest...

Summer: Blackberry Pie

Minecraft Block "Cake"

There are some fantastic ideas on the internet, and this "cake" is no exception. It was M's other favorite birthday cake idea, but not ideal for the pool party last weekend. What kid doesn't love frosted, sprinkle-covered brownies, crispy-rice treats, and Jello blocks?

Add to that the fun Happy Birthday sign that M found at the cake-decorating shop last week, and the fantastic (free printable) paper crafts from PixelPapercraft, and we had a winner! Ten rainbow candles topped off this fabulous creation!


It was very cool to find a girl "Steve" for the cake, and (of course) a cake block, and she loved the mini squid, TNT block, bookcase block, and mini pumpkin. And, perhaps her favorite, the crafting table block that cousin Sophia and Grammy assembled (although I did pull it apart for quick reassembly since they glued the white tabs on the outside of the block...)

All-in-all, a fun and easy cake. The paper crafts took the longest, and next time I'll make the fabulous Colophon chocolate cake for grass blocks instead of brownies. 

Happy 10th Mads!

Chocolate Chunk cake recipe from The Colophon Cafe. Cake Crafted, inspired by Minecraft.

Colophon Cafe Chocolate Chunk Cake
-a dark, dense, chocolate cake that's not too sweet, with a chocolate frosting to match. I also spread several tablespoons of fresh raspberry jam between the second and third cake layers to cut the full-on chocolate power of this cake.

2/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. boiling water

First, add the boiling water to the cocoa powder, whisking slowly. Set this aside as you prepare the rest of the batter. 

3/4 c. softened butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. vanilla

Cream the butter and sugars, add the eggs and yolk, then the vanilla. Once creamed, mix in the slightly cooled cocoa mixture. 

Then add, 

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

And, blend to combine. Then, with your stand mixer on medium-low, slowly pour in 

1 2/3 c. buttermilk

Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again for 60 seconds. 

Pour batter into baking-sprayed 10-inch square baking pan and bake at 350-degrees F for about 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick-test comes out clean. (I used a professional anodized aluminum baking pan, so baked my cakes at 325-degrees F for almost 50 minutes). 

I baked two of these, then sliced each cake layer into two layers to fill and stack. I filled with the Colophon's chocolate frosting, slightly modified with vanilla extract, and frosted the whole cake with it too, then topped it with my usual buttercream (which I don't measure anymore, and would guess that I make with only about 5 c. of powdered sugar now) with a splash of almond extract and about 1/3 cup of cream cheese, plus some powdered lemon peel from Penzey's.

Colophon Chocolate Frosting

1 c. softened butter
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla 
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. half-and-half

Cream the butter and cocoa powder together, then add the vanilla and a splash of the half-and-half, and mix. Then, mix in the powdered sugar, and slowly add the rest of the half-and-half to the frosting, scraping the bowl as needed. 

#minecraftcake

Summer: Kids in the Kitchen

Uncle Andy's smoked salmon and Ritz crackers got Erik to try cream cheese again. Which he loves now... So, after eating two batches of these this weekend, we had to make these with dinner last night.

Cheers! Cookies & Gelato

Here they are... the 55 dozen cookies that I baked for my brother's wedding! They were very well received, and in the end there were only about 10 dozen left (for the clean-up crew to take home). #weddingcookies

Almond Funny Fortunes

Gluten Free

Thin Mints

Gluten Free

Chocolate Chip Pecan

Vanilla Bean Hearts

Sugar Cookie Hearts

Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

Margarita Citrus Sablés

Nick's Favorite Peanut Butter

Thankful Thursday: A Mom Lunch

Madeline very nicely asked me to make her lunch for camp since she was exhausted and wanted to get to bed. I agreed, since I'm up making cookies anyway, and she was very thankful. Nice how a few weeks of making her own lunches significantly improves appreciation of the family cook.
I even threw in a personalized, homemade fortune cookie.

Wordless Wednesday: Wedding Cookies

Summer: Pea Patch Salad

Summer: Grilled Kabobs

He lit the grill, he sliced veggies and fruit and garlic, and he made a few kabobs. He loved the chicken, and the regular mushrooms, hated the shiitake (my gain there), and didn't choose any of the other veggies for his skewer. He did have some corn though. Someday he'll love more things. I'm ever hopeful. Regardless, it's only my job to provide the healthy meals - it's his job to eat them. 

The Walla Walla sweet onions and the grilled apricots were especially amazing, as were the pork kabobs. I also did oregano garlic potatoes and two small pork loins on the grill tonight for tomorrow's dinner, and they all look amazing. 

Radicchio, fennel, zucchini, white and shiitake mushrooms, apricot, sweet onions, potatoes and corn. 

Wordless Wednesday: Kids Making Lunches

Summer: Making Lunch for Camp

Summer: Kids in the Kitchen

E loves crepes. So much so, that the recipe is taped inside the kitchen cabinet where our pancake recipe is posted.

So tonight the dinner he chose to make and learn was crepes. He got a lot of spatula practice, and stovetop/hot pan practice, and while waiting for each to cook, he set the table and got toppings on like I do. Excellent. He was so proud of himself, and rightly so.

Summer: Kids in the Kitchen

Rainbow Pasta. They loved it. And, they still aren't big fans of pasta. Plus, it invoked teamwork, math, art (color mixing), and cooking.



I used the technique from this post: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/66782/easy-rainbow-pasta.


**And, luckily, no one but the kids will be eating this, since M's hair dipped into it during the picture... At least she's just showered too.

Wedding Cookies: Peanut Butter

6 dozen. Only 27 dozen to go! Easy peasy.

Summer: Kids in the Kitchen

Mads learning her favorite Caesar dressing. It was fantastic.

3/4 c. mayo
2-3  cloves crushed garlic
3 Tbs. Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
4 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
Romaine hearts
Croutons

That's All Folks!!

No more lunches! Even though they only take minutes to pack, it'll be a nice break. And, I'm going to have the kids pack any lunches they need for day camps or outings. Ease  them in to packing their own lunches for school next year. 

Lunch: Final Monday!

Almost Summer...

Eight more lunch days...

Wordless Wednesday: Looking forward to summer...