Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts

Monday, July 1, 2013

S'mores Cookies

Mamie and I spent some time this weekend baking cookies.  We picked out a recipe together that she wanted to make, and she selected s'more cookies.  She loved deciding who to take these cookies to.  They turned out great, and everyone loved them.  I hope you will enjoy them too!

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S'more Cookies
(adapted slightly from Jamie Cooks It Up)

Ingredients:
1 package graham crackers (9 full-sized graham crackers)
6 T butter, melted
1 T sugar
dash salt

1 C butter, softened
2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 T milk
2 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 1/2 C flour
2 1/2 C milk chocolate chips

24 large marshmallows
4 (1.55 oz) Hershey bars, separated into small rectangles

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350. 
2. Place graham crackers into a food processor, and  grind them into crumbs.   
3. To the crumbs add 6 T melted butter, 1 T sugar and a dash of salt. Let the food processor grind all of the ingredients together. Set mixture aside.
4. Place softened butter and brown sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until the ingredients are nicely creamed together, about 2 minutes. 
5. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes.
6. In a separate bowl combine baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Add it to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.  Toss in the chocolate chips and mix again until the chips are evenly distributed.
7. Pour the graham cracker crumbs into the cookie dough. Using a wooden spoon smash them into the cookie dough. You don't want the graham cracker crumb mixture to be totally lost in the dough.
8. Roll the dough into 2 inch balls, place them on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 6-7 minutes, or just until the cookies begin to crack.
9. While your cookies are in the oven, cut the large marshmallows in half.
10. Press a marshmallow piece into the center of each hot cookie (cut side down). Return the sheet to the oven and bake for about 1 1/2 more minutes allowing the marshmallows to puff up and get all wonderful and delicious.
11. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Let the cookies sit for about 2 minutes, then press one Hershey bar piece into the center of the marshmallow.
12. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Yields: approximately 48 cookies

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Happy Birthday, Richie!

Today is Richie's birthday! We are so thankful for him, and we love him so much!  We celebrated it early last week with a fun family dinner of some of his favorite foods. I made him cheese enchiladas and his favorite strawberry cake!

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Happy happy birthday, Richie! We love you!

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Around the World Dinner - Germany

Last night we had an around the world dinner featuring foods from Germany.  We grilled bratwurst, and I made homemade soft pretzels and apple strudel.  We also listened to some German music on spotify.

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Richie and Griffin taught us about German cars.

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Mamie researched Germany and shared some facts with us.

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Margaret drew the German flag and some German foods.

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Friday, May 31, 2013

Around the World Dinner - Thailand

We had another one of our annual Around the World dinners last night just like the summers of 2011 and 2012. Last night's dinner was from Thailand.  I made Thai lettuce wraps, Pad Thai and Thai tea.

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Mamie made this sign for the kitchen.

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Thai Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce - recipe here

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Pad Thai - recipe here

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Thai Iced Tea - recipe here

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After dinner the kids did a presentation of their Thailand research.  Mamie gave a factual report about Thailand.  

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Margaret made Thailand's flag and a picture of some Thai food.  

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Griffin made a lego model of Phra Chedi Suriyothai.  It is a memorial that was built for a queen of Thailand.  (He just googled Thai landmarks and randomly chose one that he thought he could replicate!)

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This is one of our favorite summer traditions.  It is a way to learn and to get the kids to try new and different foods. Everyone loved the lettuce wraps, and with the exception of Margaret everyone loved the pad Thai and tea too!

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Saturday, March 16, 2013

Brownies with Griffin

Last week Griffin and I had some one-on-one time together cooking.  I let him choose any recipe, and he really wanted to make brownies.  We had a lot of fun together, and he was so proud when he served them to the family after dinner.

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Brownies

12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips.  Stir constantly and remove from heat when chips are fully melted.  In the same pot, blend in the sugar and vanilla.  Then add eggs, blending fully one at a time.  Add flour and salt and beat until air bubbles form in the batter.  Pour into a 9 X 13-inch pan that is sprayed with Pam.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Turn heat down to 325 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes.  Cool before cutting into squares.

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Monday, December 17, 2012

December Update

December got off to a busy start, and I got very behind on blogging.  So here is a quick synopsis of what we have been doing.  It started off with Margaret's church choir program, and she was Mary.

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I have been baking and cooking a lot for school parties and teacher luncheons.  I made these yummy sugar cookie bars.

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Next we had Margaret's kindergarten Christmas program.  She was an angel in this one.

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Our playroom chalkboard....

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Griffin was sick last weekend, and enjoyed a lazy day around the house.

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I sneaked up and caught this shot of Margaret rocking out with her ipod.  She was REALLY getting into this song!

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Every year we give the kids a new Christmas ornament.  This year Mamie got a polar bear listening to an ipod, Griffin got a Lego star wars stormtrooper, and Margaret got a penguin popsicle frame ornament.

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Playing outside some...

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The fruit Christmas tree I took to Margaret's kindergarten Christmas party (thanks to Pinterest)!

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We decorated the teepee in Griffin's room.

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Loving our Christmas tree

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My yearly Christmas lunch for the kids (I'm sure I won't be able to do this much longer for my older two).

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Margaret had a "show off" day for the parents in her ballet class last week.

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Mamie is in the 5th grade choir at her school, and they did a Christmas performance.  They did a wonderful job.  We were so far back, that you couldn't really see her in my pictures, but here she is afterwards.

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Our chalkboard again...

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I hope everyone is enjoying their December!

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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Pumpkin Pancakes

Here is a yummy recipe for pumpkin pancakes that I tried out last week. The recipe makes a lot of pancakes. We had enough for several breakfasts. If I make them again, I would freeze half of the batch for a quick easy breakfast. Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Pancakes
(recipe source: adapted slightly from High Heels & Grills)

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional, I didn't add)
1/4 tsp. ginger (optional, I didn't add)
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin
3 cups low fat buttermilk
3 eggs
syrup (for serving)

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar, combining well.  Add pumpkin, buttermilk, and eggs to dry ingredients and mix gently. (I added a little bit of milk to thin out the batter some.)  Heat griddle to medium heat.  Scoop 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle and let cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.  Flip and let other side cook until lightly browned.

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