Chickie Eggs
I saw these in The Manga Cookbook
The thing that caught my eye about these were how cute and SIMPLE they were, using very few ingredients – and you can make a momma and a hatchling! I think these eggs would be so cute for Easter!
ingredients:
eggs
black goma (sesame seeds)
1 carrot
If you are afraid of boiling eggs, don’t be. You don’t need a special boiler or one of those floaty things that tells you when it’s done – just do it the old fashioned way, plain and simple.
Carefully place your eggs in a pan. (I usually do 6 in a saucepan, if I do more I use a large pot.) Gently cover the eggs with about 1-2 inches of water.
Bring the pot to a boil – obviously watch it, don’t go far it will be boiling before you know it. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat OFF. Cover with a lid, and let it sit there for 12 minutes.
Prep a bowl filled halfway with ice water, set aside. When the 12mins are up, drain the eggs and place them in the ice water to cool. Keep them in the fridge til you are ready to use them.
Once the eggs are cooled crack and shell them. If there are little pieces of shell stuck I like to run the egg under water and then dab it with a paper towel.
Now to prep the other ingredients let me first tell you, quite obviously you won’t need a whole carrot. Just an itty bitty tiny piece. Cut a slice of carrot, cutting out a small wedge shapes. Set aside.
As far as Black Goma is concerned finding black sesame seeds can be hard, but usually an asian market would be your best bet. You can find them online too
For the momma chicks:
Take a toothpick and poke two holes for eyes. Place the black sesame seeds in.
Poke a hole with a toothpick and insert the carrot for the beak.
For the baby chicks:
This time slice the egg in half – carefully so you don’t tear the yolk – then do the same for the eyes and beak.
So simple, it’s hard to not want to make an army of baby chickie eggs!
Lemonade Drop Scones
I needed to use up some lemonade and some lemons, can you tell I love lemon?? So I threw this together on the fly. The fragrant aroma when these are baking makes me salivate. They are just perfect right out of the oven.
Why are these called drop scones? Because when I mixed up this dough it was a little tackier than I thought so instead of cutting it, as you would a normal scone, I ‘dropped’ them like cookies. The round-ish shape was rather nice.
ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
½ cup lemonade
Zest of one lemon
Pinch of salt
Crystallized sugar
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter. Get it all together so it’s nice and crumbly.
Add the egg, milk and lemonade until combined, then mix in the zest.
As I said, this batter is a little on the wet side, which is why you are going to scoop them rather than cut them.
Using two large spoons, scoop out and drop the batter onto the prepped cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes until nice and brown.
They are PERFECT warm, try and eat them right away! Great with some butter and whipped cream!
Peeking Easter Bunny Cookie+Cupcakes
I wanted to do something different for Easter Cupcakes so I started sketching some ideas. One that stuck was using cookies along with the cupcakes. (I guess it’s still on my mind since I just did that with Praline Cupcakes.
I thought it’d be cute to have little cutout bunnies peeking out of ‘grass’ in a flower pot. (yet another one of my cupcake ideas revisited…)
They turned out just as I had hoped and as always the cookie + cupcake combo was deeelicious!
ingredients:
cupcakes (I used fresh strawberry cupcakes: recipe, here)
buttercream
green gel dye
bunny cut out cookies
Use any sugar cookie recipe and cut out bunny shapes, bake cookies and let cool.
While the cookies are cooling I made a simple mixture of powdered sugar and water, with a touch of gel dye.
Using a clean paintbrush (I have a set just for baking) I painted the ears and the face.
For the eyes I used the same technique with the paintbrush just using cocoa powder, powdered sugar and water. Set aside the bunny faces to dry.
Bake your cupcakes and while they are cooling tint your buttercream green. I didn’t want fancy piping, I just wanted it to look like crazy grass, so I frosted them then tapped at the top with a spatula until the frosting became spiky.
I added more green to the leftover frosting and added touches here and there = that gave contrasting grass colors.
Place the frosted cupcakes in the ceramic pots. You can get these at your local craft store for under a dollar. These 2″ pots are the perfect size.
Instead of just jamming the cookie in the cupcake, I cut a small slit so the cookie will be stable. Not too deep, just enough so the cookies sit nicely.
Carefully place the cookies, being careful not to break the ears off!
I added a few sugar flowers and wafer leaves which make the flower pots even cuter. Once the cookies are in you are ready to serve!
These would make cute little place settings for a lovely easter brunch!
Homemade Ice Cream Bon Bons
I love bon bons and wanted to try making them myself. They are so easy, and mini – just a nice little treat. The kids just loved them but I think they’d even make a great dessert for a dinner party.
This is also a good recipe if you have leftover ice cream. WHAT. Who has leftover ice cream??
ingredients:
vanilla ice cream (recipe, here)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 teaspoon oil
Line a small baking pan or dish with parchment paper. Using a mini ice cream scoop (1.5 Teaspoon disher works best)
In a double boiler melt the chocolate. I like bittersweet because I think it give a good contrast to the ice cream. Once the chocolate has melted, stir in the oil. You won’t notice it or taste it, I promise. It just makes the chocolate even out a bit and also gives it a nice sheen.
Let the chocolate cool slightly – then take the frozen ice cream balls out of the freezer. Using two forks, dip the ice cream balls into the chocolate, coating them completely. Work rather fast, the ice cream will start melting and the chocolate will start to harden before you know it. Again you may need to put the tray back in the freezer to harden during this process.
Keep the bon bons in a sealed container the freezer and pull them out when you are ready to serve. Yeah right, I stood in front of an open freezer and had about four of them…
Vanilla Ice Cream
It’s weird, for all the times I make this (which is a lot) I’ve never posted it here. It’s an easy no-cook vanilla on it’s own, but easily adaptable. I use it as a base ice cream for almost everything.
ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the milk.
Whisk in the sugar until dissolved. Stir in the vanilla.
Cover and refridgerate until nice and cold.
When you’re ready, pour into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Eat it.
Veggie Roll Ups
The Kid insisted we sign up for a one day Parent/Child cooking class at school. It was mostly nutrition and assembly, frankly he’s done more sous chef-ing on his own at home, but he loved it and he immediately wanted to show the Baby what we had made.
These are very simple veggie rolls, mostly using what was in my pantry, but they are easily adaptable and so easy for kids to put together themselves.
ingredients:
tortillas
hummus
cream cheese
shredded carrots
sliced tomatoes
sliced bell peppers
Sliced cucumbers
cheese
olives
lettuce
Spread the tortilla with either hummus or cream cheese (or both).
Layer in the veggies.
Roll from one end, tightly. Poke with a toothpick for support and cut in half.
The kids had so much fun making their own dinner and the Kid who just loves vegetables thought these were the best things ever. However…the Baby refused to eat it unless I threw some ham in there. So veggie – not quite, but still delicious!
Red and Blue Bacon Potatoes
We took the ‘Class Bear‘ to the Farmer’s Market and I told the kids to pick out what they wanted and I’d make it for dinner.
The Kid chose a blue potato. The Baby chose a red potato. ~sigh~ Sometimes I feel like I’m on a candid camera episode of Iron Chef. Here’s what I came up with.
ingredients:
5 strips of bacon
3 blue potatoes
3 red potatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
salt
pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the bacon into small pieces and cook until crispy. Drain and set aside.
Wash and cut the potatoes into small chunks about 1″ in size.
In a medium sized bowl toss the potatoes in the garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Pour the potatoes evenly into a baking dish greased or lined with non-stick foil. Bake for 40 minutes.
Test with a fork to make sure the potatoes are soft, them out of the oven and sprinkle with the crispy bacon pieces and serve. I mean really. What doesn’t taste better with bacon? Who knows what the kids will pick for my next Iron Chef: Farmer’s Market task…
Baked Salmon
I am a firm believer in getting your kids to eat fish. It’s a healthy protein, the omega 3s it’s just downright good brain food. When you are stuck for something to make for dinner, make this. This recipe couldn’t be simpler.
ingredients:
2 boneless skinless salmon filets
2 Tablepoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Teaspoons honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
salt
pepper
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and garlic.
Place the fish filets in a greased or foil lined baking sheet, and pour the liquid mixture over the fish.
Sprinkle with the paprika and season with salt and pepper.
Bake in the oven for approx. 20 minutes or until the center is pink and cooked.
This is a very quick dinner with very simple ingredients. The kids eat it up!
Fettuccine Alfredo
This tastes amazing when served immediately. The kids loved and the clean up was WAY easier than a red sauce. How does the Baby get pasta sauce IN HIS EARS I’ll never know…
ingredients:
16 ounces fettuccine
1 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
4 Tablespoons butter
zest of half a lemon
1 cup parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
In a large pot boil water and add the fettuccine. Cook about 10-12 minutes, then drain. DO NOT RINSE.
In a large skillet stir the cream together with the lemon juice. Add the butter and melt over medium high heat. Once the butter melts, take the pan off the heat. Stir in the lemon zest.
To the mixture add the drained pasta and the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn the pan onto low heat and stir until the sauce thickens and comes together. Add more salt and pepper if you like.
Mocha Cupcakes
The Kid got to bring home the ‘Class Bear’ to take on a weekend adventure and we decided to make cupcakes. Everyone knows you should wash your hands before you cook, and everyone knows I am a total germ-a-phobe.
Hot water, double rinse. Poor bear didn’t know what hit him.
Once the bear was clean the Baby and the Kid were ready to help make cupcakes! I went for mocha cupcakes, the coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor but if your bear is afraid of caffeine, just use decaf coffee…
ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup Valrhona cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coffee
Chocolate Whipped Cream (recipe, here)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time. Then the vanilla.
Alternating the flour mixture and the buttermilk until combined. Add in the coffee.
Pour the batter into the prepped liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
I topped these off with Chocolate Whipped Cream, the bear approves.
I hope the Bear enjoyed his foodie vacation and has just as much fun with his next family!
