Monkey Monday

 

I got my “craft on” yesterday.  I use to be a big crafter.  I would obsess over scrapbooks, card making, knitting (failed miserably), attempted to crochet, quilting, stamping….you name it – I have the supplies for it.  Seriously, I have enough crafting supplies to open a small store.  When we lived in CT I would visit the JoAnn Fabrics so often they knew Jakob by name!   But baking and cooking have temporarily taken over my creative brain.  I really should sort through all the crafting supplies and sell some of it…to pay for new baking pans and sprinkles. 

I saw a picture of this on Pinterest (if you love to be inspired by all things beautiful you must check out pinterest) and thought it would be a fun thing to make for the students in Jakob’s class.  A cute little incentive to do some reading.  And it involves gummy candy…come on, we all love gummy worms.

So easy.  I took little cellophane bags (the same ones I use for my cookies), put in three gummy worms, and staple on the cute little tag.  I downloaded some free tag templates, glued onto red card stock and folded it over the top of the bag. 

Jakob was SO excited to take them to school and hand out to his friends.  And they were all pretty happy to receive them.

Are you allowed to take in treats like this to your child’s class??  If so, what do you like to take in for a special treat?  Ideas and links always appreciated!

A day of baking and treats...

I have been a busy baker today. Lots of goodies coming out of the kitchen today. It started with some Chocolate covered English Toffee. (and no J that isn't what I am sending you, though I could!) I have been wanting to make some other candies, but thought about trying my hand at this and see if the super cheap candy thermometer actually works before making some others that have more rich ingredients. I decided to make it with some fleur de sel in the toffee and sprinkled on the chocolate on top too. All I can say is YUM. It looks great and you can really taste the buttery goodness and the salty sea salt. I used Paula Deen's recipe for English Toffee and just omitted the nuts.

Then I decided to make a recipe that I had seen awhile back and thought would be fun for the boys. One of the fantastic blogs I check out daily, The Way the Cookie Crumbles, posted a recipe for Pigs in a Blanket. I thought the boys would love them. And surprisingly enough Jakob loved it, he ate it with strawberry jam, but he ate it! I had to make the dough twice - the first time I forgot to add the sugar and the poor yeast didn't have anything to eat and refused to rise!


For dinner I made a recipe that I have been wanting to make ever since I saw it a couple of weeks ago (or so). CHIPOTLE LIME GLAZED SHRIMP! Ok - not baking, but man were they ever freaking yummy!! I found it while perusing my Google Reader and all the blogs I follow. Ezra Pound Cake shared this recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I served it with lime maple sweet potatoes and cornbread. No greens - the green beans I had in the fridge went south on me. Oh well - double tomorrow! I think we will be working this into the "rotation" for sure - love it!!




And last but not least, Lemon Blueberry Muffins. I have another playgroup with the new meetup group in the morning. A coffee meetup while the kiddos play. I thought I would bring something yummy with me (as I usually do), so I made a Dorie recipe but substituted lemon for orange, and added some sweetened cream cheese in the middle before baking them. So when you bite into them there is a yummy cheesecakey center.

I am sorry I am not including recipes in this post - but follow the links and you can get them while checking out some new sites.

Take care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often