Petit Fours

We did an Eloise at the Plaza themed birthday party for Piper Ann since Eloise is 6 and Piper Ann was turning 6.

Instead of making a cake, I decided to try my hand at making petit fours. I used this recipe, but decided to cut up pound cake instead of baking my own to save time.

All the ingredients waiting to be melted over a double boiler.

All melted and ready to be poured.

And Voila!

I jumped on the mini banner bandwagon.

 

Ok, obviously I’m kidding…When I poured on the frosting it turned into a goopy mess that wouldn’t pour evenly. It cooled before it would cover the cake. I tried thinning the frosting, but that didn’t work. However, the petit fours I got from the bakery weren’t completely covered either. In fact on most of them just the tops were covered. I wasn’t super impressed which made the $1/piece price tag even harder to justify.

My New Toy

I picked these up at Williams-Sonoma.

I’ve never used pancake molds before, so it took some tweaking with the recipe. Pumpkin pancake mix does not work well with the molds. Its way to starchy and sticks too much. I ended up using the recipe on the package and spraying everything liberally with nonstick spray.

Two of them make great sandwich presses (Yoda is too wide for normal sandwich bread). Nathan is definitely the coolest kid at the lunch table!!

Daisy Muffin Tin

I finally got the kids muffin tins spray painted. I also picked up some silicone muffin liners at Home Goods. They are flower shaped, so I decided to run with the theme and make a daisy/flower themed lunch.

The muffin tin colors aren’t very fun. I just used what I had.

Sliced string cheese with a raisin center.

A piece of bread cut with a circle cookie cutter that I then notched with my kitchen scissors. The center is a little dollop of Merkt’s port wine cheese.

Bologna with a string cheese center. I folded a circle of bologna in quarters and then cut petal shapes. Piper Ann told me it looked nothing like a flower. She said it looked like “a bandaid, when you need another one.” I can’t say I disagree!

For dessert a little Reese’s pieces flower. (suddenly, I love the purple, yellow and brown combo!)

The apples in peanut butter was kind of a stretch, but I tried.

Muffin Tin Madness

We’ve recently jumped on the “muffin tin” wagon here in the 3 in under 3 house and my kids LOVE it! It allows them a variety of foods for lunchtime in bite sized pieces. Here are a couple we’ve had lately.

Pretzel crackers with cream cheese “shmear.” Peanut butter shmear with bananas, turkey rolls, and frosted animal cookies.

Here we have cheez-its, graham crackers with yogurt for dipping, mini pb&j’s, sliced peaches and tiny twizzlers for dessert.

I love thinking in miniature form. If I’m short a food item for one of the spaces, I just put a little juice glass in its place.

FYI, 6 holed muffin tins are a rarity. I have found them at the dollar store, but they rust easily. I think I may spray paint them and then use silicone muffin holders.

Recipe Roundtable-Easy Corn Muffins

Ingredients:

2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 can creamed corn

1 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped jalapenos or bacon would make nice additions

Mix ingredients in a bowl and bake according to directions on box. I’ve made them in a 9×13 pan, as muffins and as mini muffins. All are delicious and kids love them.

Peanut Butter and Jellidilla

Melt some butter in a pan

Smear a tortilla with some peanut butter and some delicious homemade mixed berry jam.

Fold the tortilla in half and brown in the melted butter

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with a little dish of fruit.

The kids will wonder what they did to deserve this!

Off to Market

Things I Love Thursday-Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:

2 Can of black beans

4 medium tomatoes

1/2 red onion

Handfull of chopped cilantro

1 chopped jalapeno

Tablespoon of minced garlic

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients and serve with tortilla chips

*It would also be delicious with some roasted corn.

For more TILT head over to the Diaper Diaries.

Blackberry Jam

After I had my first go at canning, I was hooked.

I usually eat or serve blackberry jam at least once throughout the day, so I thought it would be more economical and healthy to make my own.

I came across some wild blackberries that needed to be used immediately at a local farmers market. It was a challenge not to eat all 4 lbs or so before I preserved them!

At  the nearest supercenter I found some reduced sugar pectin. It allowed you to control the amount of sugar you added to the jam. The recipe for blackberry jam called for up to 3 cups of sugar, so I halved it. Honey could also have been used as a sweetener, but I was afraid of what it would do to the overall flavor of the jam.

Piper Ann had a playdate on jam making day, so I decided to get the kids involved. They had a blast mashing up the berries.

(even Oliver wanted to have a stab at mashing the berries)

Mashed berries

Water Bath

Jam

Have I mentioned that I’ll be at Tomato Fest on Aug 22?!

“That Mom”

I always thought I would be “that mom.” You know the one who does a daily craft with the kids and lets them help me cook at every opportunity.

However, daily chores, laundry, errands and my own crafting keep me from doing that very often.

Well the other day I decided to put chores, laundry, tv and my own crafting aside and became that mom…if only for a few hours!
I brought out all the the crafting supplies that had to do with hearts and valentines and let them get to work.

There was glitter and glue and paint everywhere, but they had a ball!

We strung into garland  all the hearts they decorated.

We also baked some fresh bread. They loved getting their hands in there and kneading the dough.

Here it is during its second rising.

Fresh out of the oven, honey wheat bread.

I bet you wish you had “smell-o-vision.”

I served it with homemade corn chowder.