Easter Houses - Gingerbread Style

Mimi purchased a fun mini gingerbread house kit a Christmas time and of course with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays there never was time to make them with the kids! So she decided it would be fun to make them into little Easter houses! Check them out:

James and Emmalie

Ethan and Mollie

Thanks Mimi for the fun project!

Fun with Fondant Class

The boys had fun participating in a fondant class with the homeschool group!

Here are some pics from the day:

Ethan is learning how to carefully lay the rolled fondant over the cake and then cut around the edges.

James is working hard to roll his out!

After the fondant is on the cake then comes the fun of creating designs for decorating!

Ethan created a hot air balloon and a butterfly!

James went with a cowboy!!

Emmy and the other "littles" had fun decorating their own cupcakes! Here she is with her friend Bekah spreading the frosting on (or eating it?)!

Mollie had some help from Mrs. Jette...

...but didn't need any help eating it!!

This was the first fondant that I actually like the taste of! Although I did not get to play with it much it seemed very easy to work with! Thanks Dawn and Shannon for teaching us how to work with fondant and for sharing your recipe!

Fondant Recipe

1/3 cup soft butter
1/3 light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb confectionery sugar

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and mix until well blended. Knead briefly and wrap tightly in plastic wrap then chill.

More Pond Hockey

The boys are doing better and better at "Pond Hockey" and are really enjoying it! Here are some photo's from this past week:

James got to play goalie for quite a while and did an excellent job!

Here is Ethan cheering James on while waiting for his turn to play.

James getting ready for the face off.Ethan was up next! He had really improved on the ice since week one!!

I managed to get him to stand still for a milla-second to snap this pic!

Here Ethan and the others pose for a group pic. Ethan is the one in the middle not paying attention!!

Strings at Sea

Last week we ventured out to "sea" with Lobster Laura and the Portland Symphony Orchestra! This was one in a series of shows that travel around to different schools and teach about music and instruments. This time we learned about four of the string instruments and many different musical concepts. Lobster Laura also taught us all about Lobstering in Maine! It was educational and fun!! Here are some pics:

Here Lobster Laura wants the kids to use their little lobster pinchers and follow along with the music:

Emmy enjoying the show:

Here she is telling the kids how you tell if the lobster is a mama (black eggs all over the belly) and how the lobsters that are too small can escape the trap through a special door!

The group with the quintet and Lobster Laura:

A couple of short video's:

HERE is a link to the other concerts in this series if you want more info!

You Live in a Zoo???

Happy Birthday to you, you live in a ZOO???

Sorry... I couldn't resist!

We love you Auntie Sarah and Uncle Zack, and hope you both have a great birthday!!!

Daddy's Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

On a RARE night out on the town for just the two of us we had stuffed ourselves with dinner and were not thinking so much about dessert until Pat saw they had Dulce de Leche Cheesecake on the menu and said he MUST try it! It was oh so delicious and rich and caramel flavored! We asked for the recipe but the waitress was unsure? He decided then and there that was what he wanted for his birthday cake! I searched on line and here is what I came up with which I adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe:

Dulce De Leche Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. Pecan Shortbread Sandies (by Keebler)
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1-3/4 cups dulce de leche or other caramel sauce (click HERE or HERE to see how to make your own)
  

Preheat the oven to 350°. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with foil. Using a food processor, finely chop all but 6 of the cookies (save these for garnish of just eat:-), then add the brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the butter and pulse until just combined. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 300°.

Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese until softened, 2 minutes. Beat in the flour and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt on low speed. Beat in the eggs and egg yolk, 1 at a time, on medium speed. Mix in 3/4 cup dulce de leche or caramel sauce.

Pour the batter into the crust. Loosely cover the pan with foil, set in a roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to reach a depth of 1 inch. Bake the cheesecake until set at the edges but slightly wobbly in the center, about 60 minutes. I uncovered the cheesecake during the last ten minutes or so. When the cook time is up shut the oven off and let it sit for 1 hour in the oven with the door slightly open.

Spread 3/4 cup dulce de leche over the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then remove the springform and slice the cheesecake. Once sliced garnish with whipped cream and then drizzle with leftover dulce de leche (if you haven't eaten it yet)! You can then crush the remaining cookies (if they haven't fallen to the same fate) and sprinkle them over the top!

WARNING: This cheesecake is very sweet! Everyone thought it was yummy but only Pat dared to have more than one piece!


Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!!

Check out Foodie Friday for an amazing spring salad recipe and more!

Pinewood Derby and Green Cupcakes Oh My!

Our St. Patrick's Day this year was not filled with birthday fun so much as derby car racing! The pinewood derby was hosted by the 4-H club that we have been participating in and they just happened to pick St. Patrick's Day for the event! So Patrick's birthday was spent racing and not opening presents! Thanks Daddy!! It turned out to be a fun night, the boys place first and second in their classed (with the help of Dad!). Here are some pics from the night:
James was super excited when his car took the lead:

Ethan intently watching the race!

Ethan placed second in his class! Nice job Ethan!!

James placed first in his class and second overall!!!

Nice job boys! (and Dad)!!

Emmy and Mollie had fun playing with the other little ones there. Here is Emmy with her pals!

Ethan's car was modeled after a favorite hot wheels car, here is a close-up:

James' car was also modeled after a hot wheels car and was strategically built for speed!!!

And for dessert:

I decided to use the Red Velvet cupcake recipe that was so popular around Valentine's Day and turn it into "Green Velvet"! I made 4 dozen and they were completely gone!! I thankfully made 4 extra large cupcakes to keep at home for us to enjoy for Daddy's birthday! All I could find at Walmart for green sprinkles was green with little eggs, so we decided to pretend they were little pieces of rainbows!! I thought it was funny that when I was checking out Bakerella's blog the next day she had done the same! Check it out here!

Diaper Cake #2

Diaper cake #2 was created for my cousin Kendra's baby shower on Saturday! Her shower had a fireman theme and so the diaper cake did too! Mom, Sarah and I worked together on this one, here is what we came up with:
The bottom is a Boppy that matched the theme!

The top two layers are diapers covered with an outfit for the middle layer and on the top a crib sheet! We stuffed the excess sheet material into the center of the other layers to make the top smooth.

I love the little fireman finger puppet we found!
Here is the tutorial on how to create one:
Diaper Cake Tutorial

We can't wait to meet our new baby cousin!! He is due to arrive next month!!!

Tex-Mex Meat Pie

This recipe is adapted from a Pillsbury cookbook I have called Budget Ground Beef Recipes. It originally used frozen meat balls but Pat and I both agreed that it sounded icky, so I decided to modify it! Check out the recipe below!

INGREDIENTS

1	pie crust (I used a Jiffy box mix because I was in a hurry!)
1/2 lb.	ground beef (I added a small diced onion to this while cooking)
1	cup corn frozen, fresh, or canned
1	cup salsa
3/4	cup shredded Cheddar cheese (3 oz)
	shredded lettuce
	sour cream

DIRECTIONS

	Heat oven to 375°F. Cook ground beef and diced onion until no longer pink and season with salt and pepper. Roll out pie crust onto a round pizza pan or cookie sheet to form a large circle. Spread ground beef mixture in the center of the crust leaving a couple of inches around the edge.
	In small bowl, mix corn and 1/2 cup of the salsa. Spoon the corn mixture over the ground beef and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Fold edge of crust over filling, leaving an opening in the middle.
	Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Bake 3 to 5 minutes longer.
	We used lettuce, sour cream, and the remaining salsa as topping! It came out really good! It maybe could have used a little more spice in the ground beef mixture? But got Daddy's seal of approval!! Since the crust mixture made 2 crusts we wrapped up the rest and used it the next morning to make homemade poptarts! My friend and I decided this would be a fun thing to make since our kids really like them! Check out her post here.

Yum!

Check out the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap for more yummy recipes!

Snowman Cupcakes

Selena and I had ton's of fun making these cute cupcakes yesterday! They are another idea from the Hello, Cupcake! book that we are determined to work our way through some way or another!

As soon as I put mouths on them they looked as if they were saying,
"Please NO, please don't eat us!!"

"Oh NO! Here they come!!!"

Without a face though they were still cute but far quieter!! We started by placing a mini cupcake on top of the regular size cupcake to create the "snowman".

Here are some in progress, we kind of made a combination of the ones in the pic. The scarf and the headband are made with Air Head candy molded into just the right shape by nuking them in the microwave for 15 seconds or so.
Selena, working hard!

And the kids waiting for their feast!

It was Mavericks birthday so this little guy was all dressed up for the occasion!

Mavericks cake! I love the little guy on the sled!!