Recipe Mondays

Every parent needs a recipe for chocolate pudding – to satisfy the cravings of mom & dad, and of course, to satisfy the chocolate cravings of the children.

I am obsessed with “finding” the perfect recipe. To eliminate the need to keep trying to find a good recipe. To have “the” recipe I will make again and again for the family. To have the children, when they are grown, come back home, and eat and enjoy those things with will flood their senses with memories and moments from a happy childhood. And, I believe that in raising children, repetition, is key. Repetition is the foundation for happy memories.

Our eldest daugther asked me for chocolate pudding, and I didn’t yet that perfect recipe in my recipe box. I rathered a recipe that did not call for only egg yolks. I like recipes that call for 1 cup of this 2 cups of that, rather than recipes that call for 1 3/4 cups this, 2/3 cup that. Silly, I’m sure, but they just make me more comfortable. It’s much easier to multi task, when you don’t need to think too much. And, for my own curiosity, I test recipes with the more rounded-off ingredients, to see if it makes a difference. I also test to see if it makes a difference using easiest mixing methods (i.e. combine all ingredients, vs. first combine this, then that, then this, then that, etc.). This chocolate pudding rocks. And, it’s soo easy.

Ingredients

2 cups milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (the better the chip, the better the pudding)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
dash of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients except the vanilla in a medium saucepan. Whisk somewhat constantly over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, while whisking, for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and divide among 6 cups, ramekins, or 1 bowl! Cool and enjoy.

Well, at least I am set to finish the Christmas cards this year, before … 3 days before Christmas. I had decided that I did not want another picture of all the children, sitting next to each other, smiling at the camera. Every Monday morning, I accompany one of our son’s to a teacher’s lesson prior to the start of school. And, the teacher has all the Christmas cards she receives tacked to a wall. There are quite a lot of them. And, in every one, the children are looking straight at the camera smiling. And, this is what we have always done too. But, I find something quite unnatural in them. So, this year, I decided to take a different approach. And, in doing so, learned learned a lot about pictures, lighting, and cameras.

I started by looking for inspiration. Something, or some idea, to spark a creative ah-ha moment. I always start with Google, then Google image search, then Flikr. And, really, nothing caught my fancy. Everything looked so posed. Looking through magazines from the 1930s, 40s, or 50s, would have been nice. But, where to access these? However, I did stumble upon this photo, which I thought was super.

I loved this photo of the two children, whispering in Santa’s ear. Just loved it. I initially wanted to re-create something like this. With all four children, whispering in Santa’s ears, and whiskers. But, I didn’t have anyone that could pose (and pose convincingly) in a Santa costume. Maybe, with a little more prep, I will try this one next year. It’s such a fun and sincere picture.

I ended up deciding to take an un-posed picture of the kids, dressed up, in our home, in front of the fireplace. I’m sure many of you can attest to the stress and logistics involved in taking family pictures. It was several hours of intense stress for me … making sure the little ones got their naps at the right time (so they’d be happy!), prodding the older ones to get dressed, dressing the younger ones when they woke up from their nap, making sure nobody ate anything or got into any food (I have pull locks on the cupboards), getting everyone into the room at the same time, and so on. Very stressful. And, prior to that I had to set up some lights in the room (it was nighttime so there was no natural light, and the room itself does not have sufficient light), setting up the camera, practicing with the different camera settings, and on and on. But, anyways, we have one picture that is not perfect, but it will do. It seems to me photographing children should be a job for 3 people. One to photograph, and one assistant per two children.

The red Christmas frocks I found for a steal at a little shop in Greenwich, CT, that is going out of business, unfortunately. So many of these brands going out of business, Best & Co., gone, Oilily, gone, Old World, gone. I was able to get these for less than $20 a piece. The red ballet slippers on our eldest girl, are real ballet slippers, around $5 on e-bay, brand new. We buy a bunch of them in different colors, and the girls use them as house slippers. And, the boy’s bowties I made from a brown velvet, to match the brown corduroys. But, you can find (and alter) adult velvet bow-ties also on e-bay for under $5.

On a side-note, I just finished a large wool quilt, that I am planning to gift to a couple as a wedding present. I will try to post it in the next few days, with a tutorial for anyone that has not made a quilt before (it was my first!). It has one square that is a collage of the couple, a collage made of fabrics. And, all the wools, are super quality, which I was able to find at Mood Fabrics in New York City (Carolina Herrera and Ralph Lauren wools at great prices). (A lot of the big time designers unload their remnant fabric inventory at Mood – it’s a wonderful place to shop – aside from e-bay!).

Dina

To print, open this high res .pdf file: gingerbread_men_paper.pdf

Gingerbread men stationery, that a wonderful artist created for us, I believe that this one is done in watercolors. The high-res .pdf here is the original high-res .pdf, that can be used for professional printing. It looks amazing printed on a good home color printer.

To print, open this high-res .pdf file: gingerbread_men_craft_paper.pdf

Open this .pdf file to print the above pictured Thanksgiving Turkey Hat: thanksgiving_turkey_hat.pdf

Here are some printable Thanksgiving Turkey Hats for the children to have fun with. We make Thanksgiving Hats on Thanksgiving Day, and leave them on the children’s table. They put them on, and color on them, and have fun with them. But, they are fun for any make-believe day in November. I find that our 8 year old girl, is playing school more and more often with her younger siblings, and she loves to have these types of crafts to entertain them.

I have matching Thanksgiving Paper here: www.familye.com/thanksgiving-paper/

This is one of my favorite table centerpieces during the fall, and for the Thanksgiving Table. It is terribly easy to make, as long as you have pumpkins, flowers, and a little of that green floral foam. Where we live in Connecticut, everyone stops selling pumpkins right after Halloween. I think the stores literally ship off their pumpkin supplies. So, knowing this in advance, I stock up on pumpkins, for these floral arrangements. If you keep the pumpkins outside, they will last at least a month, in my experience.

I like to use the smaller sugar pumpkins for arrangements that will go on the table (the finished arrangement will be low, so they do not obstruct your guests from seeing and talking to each other). You will want to cut out a fairly wide round opening at the top of the pumpkin, like you can see I did in the picture below. I scooped out everything, and then with a regular metal (eating) spoon, I scrapped the sides of the interior. When done, the interior of the pumpkin should be quite hard (you will remove most of the soft flesh layer).

I found that my sugar pumpkins did not leak water, so I simply put a piece of the green floral foam directly into the pumpkin. If you would like to play it safe, you could first put a plastic container into the pumpkin (plastic food container, or yogurt container cut in half). Before putting the green foam into pumpkin, soak it in cold water, so that it becomes completely saturated with water. Cut a piece that will fit snug into the pumpkin, push it into the pumpkin, and add water before you begin to arrange the flowers. I then cut the flowers to height, and arranged the flowers (by sticking them into the green foam).

In the arrangment here, I used red roses, sunflowers, green leaves, and berries.

If you wanted to make your own Halloween Wreath, this is an easy one to make. You can make your own twig wreath with sticks you find in the backyard, or, you can purchase a pre-made twig wreath.

What you’ll need:

1 Pre-made twig wreath, or thin sticks to make your own (about $18 from Michael’s)
1 Orange paint spray in a can (available at a hardware store, Michael’s or Walmart)
1 Can primer spray (unless your paint does not specify to use a primer)
1 piece of black ribbon, or black material, to make a bow

What to do:

First, you will want to apply the primer to your wreath. We did this in the backyard, to avoid fumes near the house. Lay down 2 large black garbage bags on the grass, to prevent paint from getting on the grass. Place the wreath over your covered area. Spray with primer. Wait until time specified on primer can. With some, you only need to wait 30 minutes. When primer is dry, spray with your orange paint. Wait until dry. Some paints dry in under 1 hour. Tie on a black bow. (Be careful, under most circumstances, you will need to first apply a primer. If you skip this step, the paint will not stick to the raw wood, and  the little parts that do stick, will simply scratch off).

Print this file to make the Halloween Garland: halloween_garland.pdf

We like to decorate the house  a little bit for Halloween; the children, especially, like to decorate their rooms. We enjoy doing it together. And, you can make this garland at home with some string and the printable file, provided here. No need to run to the store, and purchase yet another thing. I find, that with four young children, shopping is a chore; and I don’t mind consuming less in the world. I don’t want to be continuously throwing or giving things away. And, I would rather ground the kids in simplicity.

I had a designer create the file above, Halloween Garland, especially for this purpose in mind. I have seen printables online for awhile now, but why not take it the next level, and have printables that are really very nice quality. We used some kitchen string, printed the Halloween Garland file three times on cardboard stock paper, cut out the shapes, then glued them onto the string with some Elmer’s Glue. Have fun! And, if you send in your pictures, I would be happy to post them.

This year, we are making our Halloween costumes again. Our eight year old girl, is going to be Mary (from Mary Had a Little Lamb). I learned how to sew (better) for the occasion. Our one year old baby girl is going to the Little Lamb. Our three year old boy is going to be a Bat. And, our seven year old boy is going to be Darth Vader. We are still working on them, but I will post tutorials on all, hopefully by next weekend. And, I am making printables for the Bat and Darth Vader costumes that I will also upload. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I think I will post a how-to on the orange pumpkin wreath we made this month.

Print this file: halloween_decorations.pdf

Open and print this file for great, easy to cut out, decorations for your windows. We are also working on making Halloween garlands with these shapes to hang in the children’s rooms. We stuck them on the windows with a double sided sticky tape, but regular tape will do just fine as well. You could also use these shapes to make festive Halloween goody bags, by pasting them onto regular brown paper lunch bags (for the classroom parties?). Have fun!

Here is another idea for Spooky Halloween Cupcakes. These too are super easy, and even the youngest children can help make the spider cupcakes. There are no decorating bags to handle (mummy cupcakes), just licorice, mini marshmallows, and a tube of grocery-store-bought decorator’s icing (here I used the color brown).  And, chocolate cupcakes of course. If you can still take treats to your children’s schools, the kids always think these are fun. Maybe we can convince the moms to break the rules for the in-class Halloween Party? (To see spider cupcakes arranged with mummy, pumpkin, and witch friend cupcakes, see the original post: Halloween Cupcake Decorating Ideas).

What you’ll need:

Chocolate cupcakes, store-bought or homemade
Black licorice rolls (the kind in a bag, in the grocery store candy aisle)
Mini marshmallows
1 tube of decorator’s icing (the color you choose will be the pupil color)

What to do:

Start by getting your licorice legs ready. Unroll the licorice rolls, and using a knife, cut down the middle of the rolls to detach the two pieces of licorice length from each other (to have skinny legs). Then, cut these to lengths that will reach from your cupcake down to the counter or platter. Don’t forget you will need a little extra length on the legs to stick into the spider.

Now, you can start making the spider cupcakes. Stick four licorice legs into each side of the spider. To attach the mini marshmallow eyes, squeeze two drops of icing onto the spider before attaching the marshmallows. You can then squeeze another drop on top of the marshmallow for a more detailed eye look. Have fun!

- Aaarrr! Come if ye dare to Pirate (Birthday Boy)’s nth Birthday Bash! We need shipmates to swab the deck, walk the plank & hunt fer pirate treasure. Aaarr! Ship sets sail on (Date & Time). Meet us at old man (Birthday Boy’s) island at (Address). Let ye misses (Mom’s Name) know at (Contact Info.)

OR

- Ahoy there mateys! Ye be invited for some birthday spirits at Captain (Birthday Boy)’s birthday bash. He needs some shipmates to hunt for long lost treasures. Chart yer course for the ___ of ___ at ___. Join us for some grub, fun & kiddie treats. Wave yer flag if ye be attendin’ if not ye’ll have to walk the plank. Yo ho ho let us know, call (Parent’s Name) at _____. See ye there if ye dare.
OR

- ARR, Me Hearty! I’d be invitin me dear buccaneer friends to me (8th) birthday party! It will be at this great, grand house, that me’d plundered, me own’s house, at (address), at (time). Please let me mamas know whether ye comin. We’d be eatin good, delicious treats, and playing some fun games. See ye there! Arr!

OR

Shiver me timbers! It’s me birthdays again, and you’d be invited to me’s party, cuz you’s me mates. The parties will be at the grand ole (place name), at (address), on the (date and time). We’s going to use the treasure map to find the treasures, and celebrate ours find with cake and fun! Wear ye best pirate gear. Be a mate and let me knows whether ye’s comin (phone number).

And, if you need to make your own invitations, here are printable treasure map invitations:
printable_treasure_map_invitations.pdf