I am the first to admit I have a scrapbooking addiction. I am also the first to say I have had absolutely no time to work on my beloved scrapbooking, so I have piles of pre-arranged pages just waiting to be assembled dating back to my pregnancy (and as you all know, my son is now 3). Yet, even though Connor has yet to watch me scrapbook, he has found my mounds of papers and stickers which he constantly is bugging me to let him use. So I decided to let him start his own little scrapbook (mind you, he's not touching all my fancy papers and stickers!) with pictures of things he loves. It's any easy project that they can do often, such as making it a monthly family craft where at the end of the year you can compile them together to make a year in review book.
Here's what you need:
Construction paper
Decorative paper (could be plain white, stamped, decorative, your choice)
Glue
Hole punch
Ribbon or yarn
Pictures of family, things they love, etc
Crayons, markers, stickers, glitter, and anything else they want to use to decorate
Here's what to do:
Glue decorative paper onto the construction paper, making sure the construction paper shows off the sides (you can glue it covering most the construction paper, or just parts).
Punch three holes down the side of each sheet and then tie ribbon or yarn thru the holes to bind the pages together
Glue pictures and photos onto the decorative paper
Now decorate with markers, crayons, stickers, etc
Let your child's imagination run wild, and let them put whatever they want down. Remember this is a reflection of themselves, and will give you something to cherish as they get older.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Brownie Balls Recipe (aka mommys moment of happiness)
After spending some time creating a chocolate themed Etsy treasury, I started craving these delicious little bite sized brownies. I also decided to be nice a spread the love by posting the recipe for all to enjoy. So here it is...and as long as you don't eat all the batter before cooking, the recipe makes about two dozen.
1/2 cup butter
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate squares
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups flour
6 dove chocolate squares cut into 4 pieces each (sometimes I'll use caramel filled kisses or other types of kisses for a change of pace)
Powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 375*
Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan on low heat (or in a microwave safe glass bowl or cup on 30 second intervals until melted). Set aside to cool for about five minutes.
Mix sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla together until well blended.
Stir the chocolate butter mix until nice and smooth, then add to the sugar mixture.
Stir in the flour until smooth.
Shape batter into 1" balls surrounding the 1/4 piece of dove chocolate (or kiss) and place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven, and while still warm, roll in powdered sugar.
Cool on wire racks.
Once cool, sprinkle with some more powdered sugar.
Store in an airtight container if you actually have any left to store!
I'm planning on making these this week, so I'll update this with a photo soon.
Enjoy!
1/2 cup butter
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate squares
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups flour
6 dove chocolate squares cut into 4 pieces each (sometimes I'll use caramel filled kisses or other types of kisses for a change of pace)
Powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 375*
Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan on low heat (or in a microwave safe glass bowl or cup on 30 second intervals until melted). Set aside to cool for about five minutes.
Mix sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla together until well blended.
Stir the chocolate butter mix until nice and smooth, then add to the sugar mixture.
Stir in the flour until smooth.
Shape batter into 1" balls surrounding the 1/4 piece of dove chocolate (or kiss) and place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven, and while still warm, roll in powdered sugar.
Cool on wire racks.
Once cool, sprinkle with some more powdered sugar.
Store in an airtight container if you actually have any left to store!
I'm planning on making these this week, so I'll update this with a photo soon.
Enjoy!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Matzo Ball Soup recipe
Okay, after many requests (sorry it's taken so long), I'm finally posting my matzo ball soup recipe here. Of course, yours may taste differently than mine as I don't really follow measurements any longer cause I just know what looks right to add. But this should get you off to the right start, and will be the yummiest regardless! BTW - the secret ingredient is of course love...never rush thru making your soup, cause then the love just won't be in it. :)
Matzo Balls:
12 eggs
4 cups warm water
1 stick melted butter
1 tbl Better than Boullion chicken stock (I just started doing this, and it just adds a hint more flavor and so yummy)
4 tbl parsley
4 cups matzo meal
salt and pepper to taste
Beat yolks. Mix water, salt, pepper, butter, parsley, and bouillon (if you want) into yolks. Add matzo meal slowly (it will get really thick). In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into mixture (since the mixture is so thick, I usually scrub up, and just knead it together with my hands until it is throughly mixed). Place in the fridge covered with saran wrap at least 2 hours to overnight (so best to make these before the soup). Form into balls (about a heaping tbl as they fluff up nicely) and place into a pot of boiling water. Boil until they float, and then cook 10 minutes extra. Remove from water and add to soup, and allow to simmer with soup an additional 20 minutes or longer to absorb more of the soup's flavor.
Soup:
1-2 whole chickens cut up (mattering on whether you want to add boullion or not)
approx 2 tbl Better than Boullion chicken stock (if you used only 1 chicken or want more flavoring, then just add to taste)
1 large vidallia sweet onion cut up
4 stalks of celery cut up
4 large carrots cut up (I usually add more because my son is a carrot fiend)
4 bay leafs
dill
parsley
salt
pepper
water
Place chicken into a large soup/stock pot (the bigger the better). Fill pot with water and boil chicken for an hour. Strain soup to remove all chicken, bones, fat etc. Put chicken pieces back in (as much or as little as you want, depending on how hearty a soup you want...I usually put in 1 whole chicken). Now add the onions, carrots, celery, and bay leafs. Now for the fun part...the dill and parsley. I usually add enough to do a light-medium covering over the top of the soup. This is where my measuring is not so good b/c I just know how much to add, so just start small, and you can always add more as it cooks to taste. Also, add salt (not too much as you don't want to overpower it) and pepper to taste. Let it simmer an additional 1/2 hour. Now taste it, and add the bouillion and other seasonings as needed. Simmer another 1/2 hour, and it should be ready to go. Just add the matzo balls, and eat up!
Matzo Balls:
12 eggs
4 cups warm water
1 stick melted butter
1 tbl Better than Boullion chicken stock (I just started doing this, and it just adds a hint more flavor and so yummy)
4 tbl parsley
4 cups matzo meal
salt and pepper to taste
Beat yolks. Mix water, salt, pepper, butter, parsley, and bouillon (if you want) into yolks. Add matzo meal slowly (it will get really thick). In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into mixture (since the mixture is so thick, I usually scrub up, and just knead it together with my hands until it is throughly mixed). Place in the fridge covered with saran wrap at least 2 hours to overnight (so best to make these before the soup). Form into balls (about a heaping tbl as they fluff up nicely) and place into a pot of boiling water. Boil until they float, and then cook 10 minutes extra. Remove from water and add to soup, and allow to simmer with soup an additional 20 minutes or longer to absorb more of the soup's flavor.
Soup:
1-2 whole chickens cut up (mattering on whether you want to add boullion or not)
approx 2 tbl Better than Boullion chicken stock (if you used only 1 chicken or want more flavoring, then just add to taste)
1 large vidallia sweet onion cut up
4 stalks of celery cut up
4 large carrots cut up (I usually add more because my son is a carrot fiend)
4 bay leafs
dill
parsley
salt
pepper
water
Place chicken into a large soup/stock pot (the bigger the better). Fill pot with water and boil chicken for an hour. Strain soup to remove all chicken, bones, fat etc. Put chicken pieces back in (as much or as little as you want, depending on how hearty a soup you want...I usually put in 1 whole chicken). Now add the onions, carrots, celery, and bay leafs. Now for the fun part...the dill and parsley. I usually add enough to do a light-medium covering over the top of the soup. This is where my measuring is not so good b/c I just know how much to add, so just start small, and you can always add more as it cooks to taste. Also, add salt (not too much as you don't want to overpower it) and pepper to taste. Let it simmer an additional 1/2 hour. Now taste it, and add the bouillion and other seasonings as needed. Simmer another 1/2 hour, and it should be ready to go. Just add the matzo balls, and eat up!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)