MIA and Bird "Cakes"

I have definitely been missing in action for the past couple of months.

There are several reasons for that:

1.  I had a bad headache that just wouldn't leave me alone,

2.  Christmas (need I say more??),

3.  I just needed more time to get some important things done around my house,

4.   and I just needed to focus on my family.

Now, I am ready to have fun blogging again . . .

I decided to start with a repost from last January because Caroline and I made these fun bird cakes again today.

Enjoy! and I will see you again real soon!!

Caroline has so much fun watching this squirrel eat from her bird feeder. She wanted me to take this picture because she just loves how he hangs on with his little feet.

Since Caroline likes watching her new bird feeder so closely (thanks Uncle Steve, Auntie Becca, and family!) we checked a book out at the library called Birds in Your Backyard by Barbara Herkert. I think it was written especially for Caroline. :) It gives so many cool ideas about how to attract and identify birds and the illustrations are beautiful. Today, we made a recipe for little "cakes" to feed the birds.

First, you hollow out oranges. We hollowed out 2 to make 4 cakes. (we used a grapefruit spoon to do this)

Then, we mixed the following in a bowl:

1 cup of bird seed

1/2 cup melted vegetable shortening

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (Caroline insisted on making homemade peanut butter . . .nothing but the best for the birds!)

Last, we scooped it into the hollowed out oranges and . . . voila!!

Don't they look yummy?

We put one outside and waited and waited for the birds to come, but they must have seen us. After a while, we looked and . . . the whole thing was gone! That pesky squirrel. :) That'll feed him for the rest of the winter.

Oh, I tried to get Luke involved in the project, but he was perfectly happy playing Jake's Nintendo DS. :)

Cute Cookie Recipe

Caroline made these cute reindeer cookies for a cookie exchange party. 

Aren't they cauuute?!

We got the recipe out of Parents magazine.  Here it is:

Ingredients:

Pillsbury's Simply Peanut Butter cookie dough

Chocolate covered mini-pretzels

white cookie icing

mini chocolate chips (the recipe called for M&M minis)

Red M&Ms

Directions:

1. Cut the cookie dough in half and shape them into 1 1/2 inch triangles.

2. Bake for 8 minutes at 350*.

3. While the cookies are still warm, press the pretzels on the top of each side for the antlers.

4. Let the cookies cool.

5. To make the face, put the chocolate chips on for the eyes and a red M&M for the nose with cookie icing.

Easy and cute!! 

Easy Pumpkin Pie Bars

I saw these at ALDI and thought Caroline and I would give them a try. (normally, I do not like dessert mixes, but they are so easy to make with kids)
Oh yum! (I was pleasantly surprised!)

They are sooo easy to make and they are sooo delicious! (if you like pumpkin pie, you will love these!)

They have a gingerbread crust, which is actually my favorite part.

Make sure you cook them long enough and then refrigerate them or they will be very runny.

Enjoy!!

Apple Pickin'

The kids didn't have school on Thursday, so I took them to an apple orchard near Rockford, Illinois.

We went with some good buddies of ours.

(apple orchard + good buddies = lots of fun)

Of course, we had to make apple crisp when we got home!

Luke helped with the cutting. (they used pumpkin carving knives so they weren't too sharp)

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Psalm 34:8



Have I told you how much I love Fall?

Pink Shakes

Caroline checked this American Girl magazine out from the library. . . and wanted to make these . . .. . . so we did.The kids had fun shopping for the ingredients and making them.. . . and eating them. :)
They were yummy, but a little bit too sweet even for Luke and Caroline. Way too much sugary stuff. (Cool Whip, sugary strawberries, raspberry sherbet, vanilla yogurt, apple juice . . . yum, but yikes!!)

Snowy Day

Last night we got about 5 inches of snow, which I was really happy about since all of the snow in our front yard had melted. It was THE PERFECT snowman-building-kind-of-snow . . . finally!! It is usually way to cold for snowmen . . . the snow usually just falls apart. The kids and I had soooo much fun building this guy today.Caroline built a little snowcat for the snowman.
Luke had so much fun just playing in the snow. I built huge snowballs for him to demolish.

Our snowy day snack was fondue. (or "fundue" as the kids like to call it)

Snowy days are blessings!! We had so much fun!! (now if Jake and Daddy would only have a snow day!!)

Let's Build a Gingerbread House

Cooking with Grandpa

For cooking class today, we had a guest chef . . . Grandpa!!! He and Caroline made some very delicious scones. Yummm . . .

Here is the recipe :

2 cups of flour

1/3 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter (frozen and grated through the large holes of a hand grater)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large egg

In medium bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients minus the 1 tsp. of sugar.

Grate the butter into the flour mixture and use your fingers to work butter into flour mixture . . . the mixture should resemble course meal. Add raisins.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth. Using a fork, stir mixture and add to flour mixture.

Use your hands to press the dough against the sides of the bowl into a ball. The dough will be sticky in places and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press the dough it will come together.

On a floured surface, pat the dough into a 7-8 inch circle. Sprinkle with remaining tsp. of sugar and cut into 8 triangles. Bake on a baking stone if you have one at 400* for about 15 - 17 minutes and serve nice and warm.

Enjoy this delicious blessing!!!

Homemade Play Dough

The other day, Caroline and I made some homemade play dough. I got the recipe online from a school in Maryland. It is the BEST Play Dough recipe ever!! I like it because it is super smooth (not grainy). I also like it because the kids play with it SO much longer than store bought Play Dough. It is perfect for making "cookies". Caroline kept playing candy store and making cherry Tootsie Rolls and other "yummy" things. Caroline made a banana split!
Here is the recipe:

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 cups water

4 Tablespoons oil

1 package of UNSWEETENED Kool Aid (for smell . . . we used cherry)

food coloring

1/2 cup cream of tartar (the secret ingredient to make it super smooth!! expensive, but worth it!!)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook and stir over low/medium heat until play dough is completely formed and no longer sticky. (be patient . . .keep stirring and don't stop until it is a huge ball) Allow to cool slightly before storing in an airtight container or Zip-Loc bag.

ENJOY!! :)