Christmas party

Keegan the chef

Keegan is getting quite accomplished at making omelets.

Home made cupcake burgers

I’ve been watching Andi and Shaun make “cupcakes”with the kids. They made homemade fondant for the pickles and tomatoes. They squashed starburst for the cheese and the burger was brownie. Apricot jam on the top of the bun, sprinkled with seeds finished the burger.

They were huge. Fun for all

Easter Egg Hunt

Andi made Easter lunch and a really cool Easter cake with the kids.  We did our lunch a week early so we could have our egg hunt.  We had it outside - which was a first in recent memory. Peyton found the golden egg with 5 one dollar bills in it and instead of keeping them all for herself, gave one to each kid.  She is such a kind kid.  I love hanging out with her.

Homemade Pretzels

The kids and I made pretzels when they were out of school on a snow day. It was a first for all of us and they turned out amazing!  They were gone in no time at all. I'm sure we will be making them again and again. 

Joe's Crab Shack

The crew took on their first taste of lobster and crab legs. Sophie was a fan, so she had her own steam pot.  The other kids were more a fan of the bibs than the food. 

Cruise Food

Jacob loved having access to the 24 hour pizza buffet, but every night at dinner, we would try something new and different. We ate escargot, which was actually quite yummy.  We had duck breast, which we liked. Alligator fritters, crab cakes and strawberry bisque soup were also yummy. The one thing we both agreed on should never be eaten again is sushi. So gross.

 

Neither of us liked lobster, which was great for Vicki. She ate her 2 and our 2!

 
 
 

Ressurrection Cookies

Easter is fast approaching and if you've never made Resurrection Cookies with your kids, you should give it a try this year. Here's a recipe along with the verses to read that my Granny Gayle sent to me this morning. We're going to be trying this out.

Easy Ravioli Lasagna

I found this recipe in a Kraft food magazine (changed it a bit) and all the cheese lovers in my family loved it.

2 jars of spaghetti sauce
1 can of undrained diced tomatoes
dehydrated onion
2 bags of frozen ravioli
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese

Mix sauce, tomatoes, onion and spoon about a cup into the bottom of a 13 X 9 pan. Lay out the frozen ravioli square by square to cover pan. Cover with sauce and sprinkle cheese on it. Repeat layers with sauce, ravioli and cheese, ending with cheese. Bake covered at 400 for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.

No pictures - no leftovers.

Chocolate Toffee Pecan Cookies recipe

This recipe came from Lynn's Kitchen Adventure and the only modification I made was to add more chocolate chips. I've learned to just double the recipe. If you do, you will get about 50 cookies using the ice cream scoop measurement. Lynn said - and I agree - making them into small cookies changed the texture. So make 'em big!

2 c. plus 2 TB flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
12 TB butter melted
1 c. brown sugar
½ c. sugar
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
4 ounce English toffee bits
3/4 cup chopped pecans, very finely chopped

Preheat oven to 325. In mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars until well blended. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla. Batter will appear slightly greasy. Add dry ingredients, until blended. Add chocolate chips, pecans, and toffee pieces. Scoop in ¼ c. balls onto cookie sheet. I use an ice cream scoop. Place 6 on each cookie sheet. You should only place 6 per sheet because these are large cookies and they spread out. Bake for 15 - 17 minutes.

Pizza Pasta

This recipe from Jodi was adjusted to fit my kids it was an instant hit with them. As for me, I love anything easy that can be cooked in one pan.

1 cup pepperoni sliced and diced

1 lb pasta (I use tiny penne)

1 jar pizza sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

After cooking the pasta according to the package directions, drain and return the noodles to the pan. Add the pizza sauce and pepperoni,. Mix until heated through. Then right before serving mix in the shredded cheese until melted. Serve immediately. Serves 6-8

What the heck -- my entry

I didn't put this part earlier, but Kate asked what the winner gets. Well, the winner gets ONE MILLION DOLLARS. You've got a couple more days to enter your own recipe. Just go to here for details and if you happen to win, remember who suggested you enter. A 10% commission will make me happy. Of course that would be 10% after taxes, please.

Brownie Turtle cheesecake

1 Fudge Brownie mix 19.5-oz
4 large white eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup Pure Vegetable Oil
24 oz. Cream Cheese
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon bottled lime juice
2 tablespoon bottled lemon juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3/4 cup HEATH® BITS OF BRICKLE® Toffee Bits
3/4 cup Pecan Chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray 12 large muffin tins with cooking spray. Make brownies as directed on package. Spoon approximately 1/3 cup prepared brownie mix into each muffin tin. Divide any remaining mix to ensure all cups are equal. Top each cup with 1/2 tsp. each of chocolate chips and toffee bits.

Beat cream cheese and condensed milk in large mixer until smooth. Add sugar, lime juice, lemon juice and vanilla, Mix thoroughly. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low, just till combined.

Remove one cup of the batter into another bowl. Microwave 3/4 Cup of chocolate chips till smooth and easy to stir. Add the melted chocolate chips to the batter which was removed and mix well. Put 1/4 cup white batter on each brownie mixture. DO NOT STIR TOGETHER.

Top with 1/8 cup of the chocolate batter. Spread to the edge of the muffin tin. Layer on top of that 1/8 of the white batter. Divide any leftover batter equally.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out with just a light smear on it. These will continue to cook once removed from the oven. Cool on a wire rack.

After 15 minutes, run an offset spatula around the edge of the muffin tins, loosening the cheesecakes. Continue to cool for 45 minutes. Remove from tins and let cool completely.

Once they are cooled, microwave the chocolate and caramel syrup for about 30 seconds. Drizzle in a back and forth motion over the tops of the cheesecakes. Mix the pecan chips and remaining chocolate chips and toffee bits together into a bowl. Sprinkle this mixture liberally over the toppings.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Mud Cookies

I made these as the recipe instructed and they looked like the cookies on the left. Perfectly yummy. Easy to make and I was quite content with this new recipe. Then Andi piped up and said something about melting chocolate bars into them. So I got 2 dark chocolate Dove bars, melted them and stirred them through the remaining batter. Which resulted in the cookies on the right - which I thought looked like mud balls. I like the left better. All 4 kids liked the right better. I suppose either way, you can't go wrong.

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cup oatmeal, ground in blender (measure then grind)
12 ounces chocolate chips (I used chunks instead of chips)


Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla mix until well
combined. Add dry ingredients including oatmeal. Mix well
and then add chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 375 degrees
for 10-11 minutes.