apple roses

I got the idea from this blog to make these lovely apple roses in honor of Opal's feast day (St. Therese of Lisieux) today. Aren't they awesome?! I didn't have any puff pastry dough, but I do know how to make a pretty good pie crust (thanks, Mom!), so I subbed that. The crust didn't hold up maybe quite as well as puff pastries would have, but it mostly got the job done. Opal, of course, got to enjoy some, too (chopped into little bit)-- her first "official" treat.

Ingredients:
enough dough to make two pie crusts
3 Apples - I used honeycrisp
4 cups Water
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 pinch Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
Powdered Sugar for dusting (optional)
Parchment Paper

Wash and core the apples. Slice very thin- about 1/8 inch slices. Place water, 3 TBSP sugar, lemon juice, and apples in medium pot and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes, or until apples soften and can easily bend. Strain apples and let cool in a colander. Place apples on paper towels to cool and dry completely. While the apples are cooling, prepare the crust and roll it out into a large rectangle. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle over the crust, pressing it down slightly. Cut the crust into 1/2" strips with a pizza cutter. Arrange about 7-8 apple slices aong the first strip, overlapping as you go to create the "petals." Roll the apples up in the strip of crust (fairly tightly so the apples don't fall out). COntinue with the remainder of the apples. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until golden. Enjoy!

Christmas sugar cookies

From 12/16/2011 (by Eye-Fi)

We made these sugar cookies with the kids. I prefer them without icing, so we kept most of them plain or with a few sprinkles, Then today I set the kids loose with this icing (I used a bit of Agave nectar instead of corn syrup). If you can tell, I did quite a few myself, as our kids aren't known for doing anything in a reasonable amount of time. The cookies, however, are going fast.

banana butterfly birthday cupcakes

I made these dear cupcakes for Abigail's birthday, and they went over very well. They were fairly healthy, moist and all around yummy.

From 06/07/2011 (by Eye-Fi)

Going fast...

INGREDIENTS

cupcakes--

1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup caster sugar (I used raw cane sugar, ground up some in the food processor)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 med. bananas)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup milk (I used soy milk)

icing--

100 g. reduced fat cream cheese (I used half a block of Neufchatel)
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1-2 tsp, fresh orange juice
sprinkles for decorating
strawberries for decorating

1. preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pan or line with muffin paper

2. Beat (with electric mixer) butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add banana. Beat until combined.

3. Sift flour and baking soda over banana mixture. Add milk. Using a large metal spoon, gently stir until combined. Distribute evenly into muffin pans. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make cream cheese icing, combine cream cheese, sugar and oj with electric mixer until smooth. If too thick, add more oj. Spread frosting onto cupcakes, decorate with sprinkles and strawberries as butterfly wings and serve.

company muffins

These are always so good. simple. And they're filled with fruits and veggies-- not that we have a problem getting our kids to eat them-- they'd much prefer some cucumber or bell pepper slices to a slice of greasy pizza. We know, they're not normal. Iris had about half of one mashed up this morning (with the nuts and raisins removed). She kept opening wide her little beak. The other kids really love them too.

From 01/17/2011 (by Eye-Fi)

Company Muffins
Recipe from Simply in Season

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat bran or rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl combine and stir well.

2 large apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
1 1/2 cups carrots (finely shredded)
1 cup walnuts (chopped) or flax seed meal
1/2 cup raisins

Add and stir to coat. Make well in center

2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

In a separate bowl mix together. Pour into flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven at 375°F for 18-20 minutes.

From 01/17/2011 (by Eye-Fi)

homemade soft pretzels

From 01/12/2011 (by Eye-Fi)

See more of the process here.

Ingredients

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Happy Fourth!

I saw a picture in a magazine of a similar Fourth dessert, but it called for "meringue nests," whatever that is, and some sugary goop for the white, but I decided to improvise and make up my own- based on ingredients from the dessert we made for Jack's first birthday.
Very simple.

Make the Jello as instructed on packet and divide desired amount between dessert bowls. After about a half hour of refrigeration, add cut-up strawberries. In a bowl, mix together one regular-sized container of lite Cool-whip, a container of light lemon yogurt and a little bit of sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Divide on tops of Jello. Top with bluebs. Festive and fun to make with kids. Though my strawberries and blueberries kept disappearing.

Chocolate easter egg nests

4 ounces milk chocolate
3 ounces dark chocolate
1/2 stick unsalted butter (I used 2-3 TBSP of Light Smart Balance)
3 TBSP light corn syrup (we didn't have any of this, so I used a tiny bit of Canola oil, and they still turned out great-consistency and all)
5 shredded wheat biscuits
Candy coated mini eggs

Break the chocolates into pieces and put into saucepan together with butter and corn syrup and melt over low heat. Crush the shredded wheat in a bowl. Line two baking sheets with waxed paper. Stir the shredded wheat into the chocolate mixture and spoon 8 mounds onto the baking sheets, shaping the rounds with dips in the ccenters.

Chill in the fridge for about an hour to set, then peel off the nests carefully and fill with mini eggs.