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Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker – Kid Recipe

June 29, 2009 By Laura 1 Comment

The other day, {A-11} asked me if she could make some homemade chocolate ice cream. “Ice cream?” I asked, puzzled. “Yeah, Mama. Ice cream. I’ve made it before and it’s really good!” “Uh huh” I answered. But I was thinking, ‘Without an ice cream maker?‘

So got out all of the stuff, and I started taking photos. You know, just in case this one turned out ok. Maybe I could use it for the blog. Even if it was less for Vittles (as in, edible), and more for a kid science experiment in the Home Schooling section! So, I found my purpose in sticking around for a bit, and kept shooting.

She got out all she said she needed:

Participating Ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, cold coffee, and cocoa baking powder.
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*In a small bowl, 1/3 C of baking cocoa powder.
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*1/2 C cream
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*1/2 C sugar.
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Start mixing.

Ever tried mixing cocoa powder into a wet ingredient? I was starting to wonder if we were on candid camera. You can mix and mix and mix….and the powder just doesn’t seem to get wet. For people like me, it’s a small exercise in patience and faith.

But eventually, it actually does start becoming a unified wet substance.
I think using the back of the spoon, and pressing out any powder pockets you can, is a good idea.
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*Add 5-6 teaspoons of cold coffee.
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*Measure out 3/4 C of milk…
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…and pour it in.

Then mix some more.

Now, to be honest, at this point, I still had my doubts. So I walked away to get back to work at my computer. But she poured the contents of this bowl into a clean and flexible container with a cover, and put it in the freezer, overnight.

The next it we took it out, and it still looked………questionable, to me. Just a tad.

But then we scooped some out, put it in a bowl and stuck a spoon in it.

Well, if I wasn’t a blue-nosed gopher.

Ice Cream.

And it even tasted good!

* The amounts of this recipe only make a small batch of ice cream. Maybe 2 servings. Or 1, if you really like ice cream.

So multiply amounts as you wish.

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A Simple Pentecost Sunday with Kids

June 6, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Our Pentecost Sunday this year was really quite simple. Not quite the more elaborate occasion we made it last year. But it was nice anyway. Acknowledging it was the most important thing to us, starting with Mass. But the kids (6, 6, 6, 11) spent the morning, before leaving for Mass, trying to remember and name all 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the 12 apostles.

But when we got home, we did decide to make some Holy Spirit cupcakes.

We added orange and yellow food coloring and attempted to make the frosting into peaks, to resemble the fire of the Holy Spirit that descended upon the apostles, of course. Our technique and the outcome may have been a little lacking, but the kids had fun, and thought it all was awesome!

They wasted no time taste-testing one themselves, and you can bet Daddy and I joined them! They were indeed delicious! Such a light frosting that we whipped up.

We spent a good part of the day outdoors. But later on in the day, as I came out from my computer cubby, I found {J} right there in his chair, intensely reading a Bible story. Guess which one?

I just love these signs, that they truly are listening, and taking it all in. : ) When we discuss a Bible story, or get home from Mass, one or other of the little ones often go grab one of their Bibles, knowing just where to find that story in the pages, to read again. So, as if seeing him do this wasn’t enough to please a mother, I look up, and just look at what I see happening across the room……….

{O} giving {S} a foot rub! He looked quite relaxed, reading some Bible stories himself. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Not only because it was an incredibly loving sight to see, but because I was jealous!! ; ) I love foot rubs. Or foot squeezes. Probably much more than the average person, and my kids are really good at giving them.

I’m wondering: Are you actually still thinking about the cupcakes as you’ve been reading along here, wishing you could have one right now? Be truthful now!! It’s o.k. – I understand! I would be doing the same thing!

Well, your in luck! Because we saved you one!!

ENJOY!!

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How to Make Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

January 21, 2009 By Laura 8 Comments

We thought you all deserved some nice treat ideas. So we’d like to share some steps on how to make chocolate dipped pretzels!
It’s a fun treat to make and eat!

Last year for our Christmas gathering with some family, we made these pretty pretzel rods drizzled with chocolate. Our visiting family even wanted to get in on the fun, and make their own! We simply melted chocolate, and drizzled it over the rod, slowly turning it as we did so. Then we sprinkled on some of our favorite decorative sprinkle balls!

This year, we’ve done something similar (a few times!), but with a TWIST!! : )

Participating Ingredients.

Get it?? With a TWIST?? (ROFL…..perhaps by myself. I should probably get up now.)

3 Ingredients!:

Mini Pretzel Twists
Hershey’s Chocolate Chips
Decorative Sprinkle Balls

These are SO easy to make, and your kids will have SO-MUCH-FUN helping!! Our kids sure do! Here we go……

Get some water in the bottom portion of a double boiler pan. You want to put the burner on MEDIUM, and wait for the water to be ‘just about ready’ to boil. Once it’s to that point, it’s good enough to turn it down to LOW, and put the top portion of the double boiler pan on.

Now pour in the top pan, a small amount (maybe equivalent to a couple of handfuls…but exactness is not that important) of chocolate chips into ONE SIDE of the pan. You kind of want them in a small pile, so that it makes dipping easier.

Use a spoon, and keep stirring the chips, letting them slowly melt, until the chocolate is really melty and smooth. Once it is, you’re ready for ……..

….some dipping!!

Bring the just dipped pretzel (or 2, if you can do 2 at once) over to a counter space, and sprinkle your sprinkles onto the wet hot chocolate.

We suggest doing this over an empty container. They are very bouncy……so otherwise you’d be finding them all over the place until Easter 2012. You can also re-use what you catch in the container for other pretzels, over another container.

Simply place them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet – spaced nicely so they don’t touch each other.

Just another photo, because I had to take it.

Repeat this process of dipping, sprinkling and laying, adding more chips to your pan as needed, and giving it little stirs to keep it melty and smooth as you go.

Once a tray is full………

….pop it into the refrigerator. (And begin a new tray, of course!) Putting them in the fridge will help the chocolate harden. Generally speaking, they need to be KEPT cool, until they are popped into your mouth, or the chocolate on the pretzels will get melty on your hands. (unlike m&m’s….and we know why. They do not have that hard candy shell. lol) (These don’t talk either. Sorry.)

We think they are pretty enough (and tasty enough) to give as little gifts too! We used these nice little clear bags, found in the stores where they sell chocolate melts, and supplies to make chocolate lollipops, etc. (In our case, our local Michael’s Arts & Crafts) We tied them off with silver twist ties. Who doesn’t love chocolate? Warning though: the sweet then salty thing going on, may keep you popping more in your mouth than you meant to!

Sweet, huh??

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HALLOWTIDE; All Hallows’ Eve – Part I

November 4, 2008 By Laura 4 Comments

As many of you know, Hallowtide is the 3 days of All Hallows’ Eve (better known as Halloween), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, carrying us all from the month of October into November. These last few days have been full of festivities, fun, and more education for all us! I’ve mentioned to you all before, just how much our kids love to plan any festivities. I think you’ll truly get the gist of just how much they ‘get into it’, as you visit our blog over the next couple of days. For any celebration we have coming up, our oldest always loves to plan the menu items (as well as do a lot of the cooking and baking), and the little ones might have a say in that menu, lol, make decorations, plan the games, and stuff like that. They are all, always, never short on ideas. They are very enthusiastic party planners, even if it is just for us. But we sure do have a good time!! Suffice it to say, I took loads, and loads, of photos. I have been splitting my computer time between processing them all for family history and blogging, and working! I’ll only be sharing a fraction of them here, but still out of necessity (and sanity), this Hallowtide theme will be split into multiple posts. I hope you all enjoy our ‘little ways’.

The children woke up on All Hallows’ Eve to Daddy’s artwork on the fridge chalkboard (that still makes me smile,) seen below. If you can imagine him, he sat on the floor, drawing and coloring like a child, and having as much fun as one. Just when I thought he was done, he’d pick up another piece of chalk for a little finishing touch here, and then there. Then adding this and that. Truth was, he didn’t WANT to be done. He’s just so cute about these things, and I’m sure you’ll agree he’s quite the sketch artist. It didn’t go unappreciated by the kids in the morning either. No one erased it to do their own thing.

But as excited as the kids were to get to all they had worked so hard on planning, it was still a school day, first. Devotion was dedicated to another more thorough and deeper study of the meaningful and interesting ties of ‘Halloween’ to our Catholic faith. As committed Catholics raising our children in our faith, it’s our obligation to teach how our faith relates to everything, and there is very interesting history to be learned here. We learn more every year! In addition to this, as we follow the Liturgical Year, we acknowledge all of these holy days, with ‘Halloween’ meaning “Holy Eve’ in reference to the eve of All Saints Day, which in turn leads to the observance of All Souls Day. (Just talking, in case anyone doesn’t know these things yet. )

At any rate (as my mother would say), All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints Day was pretty much rolled into one broo-ha-ha for us. We stayed up LATE, carrying on with our antics. Having spent a good amount of time discussing the important meaning of all of the aspects of this seemingly crazy holiday, and how it ALL came about over the course of history, and why,….we then dove right into the silliness of it all.

So here come just some of the photos for Part I of our All Hallows Eve festivities. As we sat gathered at our table, schooling as the morning turned to afternoon, we started paying more and more attention to this menu {A} had set on the window sill beside us,…..

as our bellies began to grumble for lunch:

A bit after lunch and awhile of working for me, I had to run out to a client consult. But when I got home, the kids were all geared up to get the celebration rolling!! They got out shirts/sweatshirts, as did Michael and I, and we all decided what designs we wanted for them. Daddy cut our choices out of vinyl and put them on for us. They were ready to ….

…..eat again of course!

{A}’s Salty Bones! These were so good with jalapeno cheese dip!

Bat Wings!

{S} couldn’t get enough of these things!

And then they made their own ‘Monster Pizzas’.

Here’s {O} just sitting there looking cute, waiting for her pizza to come out of the toaster oven.

Finally, they were cooled down enough to bite into! {J} was happy about that!

It wasn’t long after we ate our ‘main course’ that {A} was in the kitchen again, making us some candy apples. (Here she’s at the stove, melting chocolate in a double boiler.)

She wanted me to take ‘how-to’ photos for you all. So go ahead and make some, and enjoy them yourself!

Michael/Daddy started cutting out cookies, too.Take note of the pumpkin on his shirt, which he was all excited about wearing. (No, I am not being sarcastic. )

That’s FAR from all. The party just got crazier from there, late into the night.

So stay tuned, if you dare……………
Check out the crazy-fun antics in Part II HERE!

Tea Time for Our Lady of Sorrows Feast Day

September 15, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

Today is Our Lady of Sorrows Feast Day, so I’m be sharing a little special something I did with the kids, to learn a bit about it, and acknowledge it. Over the weekend, we decided to look around in The Christmas Tree Shops. If you don’t have one of those near you, I feel bad for you. It’s such a great, affordable place, and I always come out with more than I planned on getting. So I try not to go in often. : ) But this time we all went in – and being the season to sell autumn decorations and goods, I had to control myself with every turn. However…..we did let the kids each choose a mini loaf ceramic pan, with the intention of letting them bake some mini loaves on Sunday.

Sunday got away in terms of baking. So then it got pushed to Monday…which is today. This morning, somehow we went way off track of our usual school morning routine. We got into helping the kids put finishing touches on some paper crafts they had started yesterday ( I’ll be blogging about that soon), and then we had to clean up the mess made in a flurry of creativity. By the time we were done, we realized we really needed to get the kids to their schoolwork, so we decided to move family devotion to the afternoon (usually done first in the day). Since we were going to do that, and it was the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we decided to whip up some Quick Bread first and let the mini loaves bake while we did our school work, and plan on having an afternoon ‘tea’ together, and discuss the Feast Day, after school and lunch.

Boy did the house smell good while school work was getting done. Banana bread – one of our favorites. Soon the timer went off, and it was time for them to come out of the oven and cool for a bit.

The kids we so excited to have their own loaf (not to be eaten ALL at once) that they ate lunch a bit faster.

So we gathered in the sun room for Devotion, and discussion of the Feast Day while having a ‘tea’. We have had a ‘tea’ time a time or 2 before, but it was hot cocoa or something for them in the past. We just called it tea, for the sake of a tea time. But this time they tried some real tea. It was apple cinnamon decaf, and the little ones were pretty excited to try it – even though {A} tried to let them know they may not care for it, since she had tried it before. But she too was willing to try it again. Turns out, she still didn’t like it, 2 others didn’t think they did either. and the last thought it was ‘ok he guessed’. They sipped here and there as we chatted about the Blessed Mother, but not quite like they do hot cocoa. Their own little banana bread loaves, however, they were really enjoying.

For our discussion, first, we asked the kids how many times they could think of off the top of their head, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, might have experienced deep sorrow. Naturally, they all guessed his crucifixion, and death on the cross. {A} also named the time when Mary searched for three days in Jerusalem for her son, who was missing, and later found Him in the temple, teaching. Once they were done throwing out their thoughts, we taught them the 7 times Mary experienced great suffering in her life. We talked quite a bit about it, and how hard many of those times must have been. We can only try and imagine. (And as a mother, I don’t even want to. But I must, to truly begin to appreciate her sacrifice, and reasoning for it.)

It was a lovely tea time, even if the tea itself wasn’t the hit they hoped. There will be others, no doubt. Probably many in the coming cold season. We just leave the table with a warmer feeling inside. Perhaps it’s the tea. Perhaps it’s feeling a bit more in touch with our faith than when we sat. Or maybe it’s just the time together. In any case, we find tea time is good for the soul.

On a somewhat unrelated note, we might mention how Sunday ‘got away’. At some point, either while we were at mass, or picking up lumber at Home Depot, our little friend ‘Webington Ringaling’ broke free in the house…and we still haven’t found him.

ENJOY!!

Sweet, huh??

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