Rice Krispie Treats Pumpkin Patch

3 cups of crispy rice cereal
1/2 package of large marshmallows
1.5 tbsp of butter
orange and green paste food coloring
whole almonds
baking spray
wax paper
white icing

Put the marshmallows and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and microwave for an additional minute. Remove the mixture from microwave and add some orange paste food coloring. Add the crispy rice cereal and stir well. Spray your hands with baking spray and roll the mixture into balls and place them on wax paper.

After the pumpkin balls have set for a little bit, press a whole almond in the top to make a stem. If you would like to make leaves or the green for the pumpkin patch, color some white icing with green food coloring and pipe around and on the pumpkins.

(Adapted by the recipe at Mama Jenn.)

Navajo Fry Bread

1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying

Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.
Flour your hands. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured. Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about it being round.
Heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. NOTE: You can check by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a large cast-iron skillet or other large fryer.
Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
Indian Fry Bread can be kept warm in a 200 degree F. oven for up to 1 hour. They refrigerate well and can be reheated in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Source: What's Cooking America.

Bavarian Soft Prezels

From Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader
History of Pretzels here.

Yields 8 pretzels.

3 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups tepid water
1 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup baking soda for boiling
Kosher salt and/or sesame seeds for topping


In a large bowl, mix flour and butter and work butter into the dough with your fingers until evenly distributed. Add water and mix until absorbed, then add the salt to one side of the dough and yeast to the other side and work in both. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter top and kneed for 10 to 12 minutes until firm and smooth. Round dough into a ball and allow to rise, covered, in a oiled bowl at room temperature until light and springy, about 1 hour (it won’t double in size.)
Place the dough on a lightly floured counter top and from into a rectangle. Use a knife to cut into 8 equal pieces, form each piece into a ball, and allow to rest covered for about 5 minutes. Roll out each piece with your hands until it is about 18 inches long, tapering the ends slightly. To form the pretzels, grab hold of each end and cross the left end over the right with the looped portion nearest you. Now create a twist by crossing top piece under.

 Finally, lift the twisted ends and flip them over onto the loop. Press the ends down to seal.
Place the pretzels on a oiled baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

When you are ready to make the pretzels, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add the baking soda slowly and turn the heat down to a simmer. Place the pretzels into the boiling water one at a time, simmering on each side for 15 to 20 seconds. Remove from the water, draining well and return to the oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all pretzels are boiled. They will swell a little as the heat makes the yeast rise.

Sprinkle pretzels with kosher salt and/or sesame seeds and bake until they are a rich brown, about 35 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature with a good mustard. They are best fresh.

Meyer Lemon Teacakes or Muffins

I have told you before about my love for Meyer Lemons. These little muffins can be served at tea time as teacakes or at breakfast. My guys could not get enough of them!

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 Meyer Lemons or regular Lemons to make 2 tbsp Meyer lemon zest (or regular lemon) and 1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice (or regular lemon)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt.)
Optional: If you have another Lemon, you can juice it and add powdered sugar to it until it become thick enough to drizzle and drizzle over for a glaze.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini muffin tin with baking spray and then dust with flour. In a bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by lemon zest. Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by the lemon juice. Add in additional 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the yogurt. Stir in all remaining flour, but do not over mix. Using a small spoon, scoop batter into prepared pan until each is about 3/4 full. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Drizzle glaze over them, if desired.

Original Recipe from Cooking With My Kid

George Washington's Birthday Cherry Pie

Because some stories... are just too fun not to tell...
a Cherry Pie...


for President Washington's Birthday.

Pre-made crust and pie filling can help a little one to make an I-Made-It-All-By-Myself Pie.

What can be sweeter than that?

Sparkling Cranberry-Pomegranate Gems

This recipe is adapted from this recipe at Cooking with My Kid. When you pop these in your mouth first you taste the sugary sweetness, then the pomegranate taste follows, with a cranberry tartness in the end. Interesting contrasts in just one snack.

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/cup pomegranate juice
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup super fine sugar (If you cannot find this, you can make your own by processing granulated sugar in a food processor for about 1 minute.)

Combine granulated sugar, pomegranate juice and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool a bit and then stir in 1 cranberry while still warm. If the cranberry doesn’t pop, you should be OK to put the rest in. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl, reserving steeping liquid. Place superfine sugar in a shallow dish. Working in small batches, roll the cranberries in sugar and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet to dry. Let stand for 1 hour at room temp and re-roll any cranberries. Let dry again and transfer to container for gifting . Pour liquid into a jar and store in the fridge. I highly recommend storing them in a parchment lined tin. They should last up to a week in the tin.

Store the reserved pomegranate cranberry cooking syrup in a jar. This makes a fun sparkly drink when mixed with soda water.

Cinnamon-Spiced Nuts

This recipe is modified from the recipe at Almost Unschoolers. We served them hot from the oven in paper cones

.

1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups of whole, unsalted, almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Beat the egg white until frothy, but not stiff. Stir in the vanilla, then the nuts, and then rest of the ingredients, tossing them with a spoon, to coat the nuts.

Spread them out in a single layer in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan, and placed them in a 250 degree F oven, for 1 and 1/2 hours, stirring them every 15 minutes.

I made paper cones by just rolling regular printer paper into a cone shape

and served the nuts hot in them.

Cheddar Ale Spread

This recipe is an adaption from the recipe from the Brown-Eyed Baker and is great for those evenings of entertaining during the holidays.

photo from The Brown-Eyed Baker

.

8 oz. cream cheese
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2½ cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup beer (pretty much anything but a light beer)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro


Combine the cream cheese, mustard, cheddar cheese, cream, and salt in a food processor. Process for 30 seconds, add the beer, and continue processing until very smooth. Pulse in the cilantro until just dispersed.
This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Funnel Cakes

This recipe is from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.

3 cups All-purpose Flour
¼ cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
3 whole Eggs
½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2-¼ cups Milk
Powdered Sugar (for Dusting)
Canola Oil, For Frying

In a large, deep fryer or pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Add a dash more milk if need to achieve the proper consistency. The batter should resemble thin pancake batter.
Pour 1/2 cup batter through a funnel, while making circular, swirling motions, into the hot oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping halfway through. Drain on a paper towel, coat with powdered sugar, and enjoy!

Making Your Own Gummy Bears

Put 1/3-1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 or 2 small (3 oz.)boxes Jello and 2-3 packages (1/4 oz.) unflavored gelatin, and stir until gelatin is dissolved; anywhere from 2-5 minutes. If you like chewier gummy candy the larger amount of gelatin & Jello. When mixture is liquid and all gelatin has dissolved, remove from heat. Let cool a few minutes and then pour into a small pitcher or into plastic squirt bottles. Pour or squirt into small candy or gummies molds to cool completely. (Do not oil the mold.) This should take about 20 minutes on the table or about 10 minutes in the refrigerator. Once cool, the backs can be lightly dusted with corn starch, if desired. This keeps them from sticking together. Peel the gummy candy out of the molds. Enjoy!

Strawberry-Pretzel Salad

I got this recipe from a friend (Laura R.) and I am not sure where she got it. It is wonderful to make with children. You must use frozen strawberries to make the Jello set.

Put pretzels in a large plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin to make 2 cups. Kids love to do this part!

Mix 2 cups crushed pretzels, 3/4 cup melted butter and 4 Tab sugar. Spread in a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in a 400 degree F oven for 8 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool.

Bring 1-8 oz. package of cream cheese to room temperature. When soft, add 1 cup sugar to it and fold in 1-8 oz. package of Cool Whip. Spread over cooled pretzel layer.

Dissolve 1 large package Strawberry Jello in 2 cups hot water. Stir in 2-10 oz. pkgs. of frozen strawberries. After it starts to jell, pour on top of cream cheese layer and refrigerate until firm. Serve as a dessert or side dish.

Edamame (or Soy) Dip

This recipe is from Suzie J.

1 bag of
frozen shelled edamame*
1 cup silken tofu, drained
1 tablespoon or more salt
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon or more hot pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon or more of cumin

Cook soybeans in boiling water according to package directions.
Pour soybeans and remaining ingredients into food processor and process until smooth.
Use the minimum amount of salt and spices, and then add more to taste.
Eat with corn chips, pita chips or vegetables.

*You can use edamame in the shell, but you will have to add the time and effort of taking them out of the shell before starting with the recipe.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Snack

To make this treat, take a rice cake and spread a layer of caramel syrup on top. The eyes are Hershey's Kisses, the Nose is a Maraschino Cherry and the antlers are pretzels.

Inchworm or Snake Breadstick Snacks

We used store-bought refrigerator breadsticks,

but a homemade recipe or pre-made breadstick would work too. They need to bake and cool before you can decorate them.
Tint some cream cheese green and spread some on each breadstick. We used a can of Cheese Product to make the stripes to mark off the inches and black olive slices for the eyes.

Candy Hats

Take a marshmellow and dip in melted chocolate.

Put it on a graham cracker.
A candy Top Hat!

Decorate with sprinkles, if you wish.

Sunflowers Snack

These are made of a rice cake for a base, spread peanut butter on it. Line the edges with bananas and sprinkle sunflower seeds (sans shells, of course.)

Marshmallows

Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with butter and powdered sugar.
Put 3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin and a 1/2 cup of water in your mixer's bowl and let "bloom" for 10 minutes. Meanwhile add 2 cups of sugar, 2/3 cup of white corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Turn on mixer and drizzle boiling syrup into the mixer's bowl. Turn mixer up and add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Turn mixer on the highest setting you can without losing the contents of the bowl. When it fluffs around the sides, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn back on high and continue mixing until the volume stops increasing. (This whole process should take from 8-12 minutes.) Add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract and mix in. Add coloring now, if you wish. Pour into baking dish and smooth with a spatula.
Cool overnight.

In the morning, invert the baking dish over a cutting board coated with powdered sugar.

Cut into squares of the desired size.

Dredge squares in powdered sugar until not sticky. Keep in an airtight container until ready to use.
A small bag of these make a wonderful gift with a jar of homemade hot chocolate mix.