Cardboard Mom: recipes

Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Unless you're new to this blog, you know that I love making holiday themed foods for my kids. So for St. Patrick's Day we love green foods! But since I also try to make pretty healthy recipes most of the time, we turn everything green naturally!

Today I have a healthy remake of the Shamrock Shake without any vanilla ice cream or food coloring. And while my kids would probably enjoy the ice cream version, they love this one enough that I've never made them the sugar-loaded one.

I have two versions of the recipe for you today, a regular smoothie and a thicker version for smoothie bowls. Try them both ways, either way it'll be delicious!

Shamrock Smoothie

Makes 2 small and 1 large glass of smoothie

In the pitcher of a high powered blender combine 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen mango, 2 cups baby spinach, and 10 fresh mint leaves*. Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream and gold sprinkles if you want to be a little extra festive!

*Since there are always way more than 10 mint leaves in the bunch you buy from the store, I freeze the extra. Simply give 10 leaves a rough chop before tossing them into the cup in an ice cube tray then fill with water. Repeat with however many mint leaves you have. Once they're frozen, I keep the cubes in a bag in the freezer and if I want to make the Shamrock Smoothie I can just throw one cube into the blender with everything else!

Shamrock Smoothie Bowl

In the bowl of a food processor combine 1/2-2/3 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I use Oikos triple zero), 1/4 cup water, 1 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen mango, 2 cups baby spinach, and 10 fresh mint leaves. Blend until smooth.

We topped ours with chia seeds, chopped cashews, gold coin sprinkles, and mini chocolate chips.

Note: If your kids - or you - want it extra smooth without any tiny bits of spinach, blend the liquid and spinach by themselves before adding everything else. That will help it have a more uniform look.

For another delicious green recipe, check out Naturally Green Spinach Crepes.

I wanted to learn a little more about Passover so reached out to Alva Sachs, author of "Dancing Dreidels," to find out about her favorite Passover traditions and memories.

So many memories over all the years of celebrating Passover with my family and friends. I learned everything I know from my mother, whose recipes I still use to this day. For me, memories are vibrant from cooking special foods with my mother, eating matzah with jelly, and making fried matzah for breakfast. I learned to make my mother's chicken soup with noodles and matzo balls, which everyone loves. I make a special Passover sponge cake, and mandel bread, kind of like a biscotti. We also make matzah pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and bake it in the oven. Yes, it is all about the food, sharing the history, and gathering with family and friends. Most families all have their traditions but they are all similar in nature. If you walk into someone else's house at Passover regardless of how they celebrate, you feel at home immediately. - Alva Sachs

Alva explained a little more about the tradition of hiding the Afikoman:

There are traditionally three pieces of matzah at the middle of the Seder table; the middle one is called the afikomen and it's usually the part of Passover that kids most look forward to. Relatively early in the Seder, the afikomen is broken in two pieces; the bigger piece is wrapped in a napkin and hidden somewhere in the house. Some Jews see this as symbolic of the ultimate redemption from suffering, which comes at the end of the Seder; some see it as a reference to the Passover sacrifice that used to be offered at the ancient temple in Jerusalem; and some see it as a reminder that the poor must always set something aside for the next meal, or a reminder that there's always more to discover in life than what we know. For any kids at the table, though, it's a game: after the meal, they're sent running to hunt for the hidden afikomen. It's sort of like hide-and-seek, but with religious significance. The kids bring it back to the table and everyone shares a bite - sometimes after giving the child who found it a small reward, like a piece of candy or money.

Finally, Alva was kind enough to share her recipe for Matzah Candy with me!

Matzo Candy

Ingredients:

- 1/2 lb matzo

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1 cup butter

- 12oz bag chocolate chips

- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

- 1 cup toffee candy pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Line a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan (or a large cookie sheet) with aluminum foil. Fill matzos in a single layer, covering the entire pan (some may be left over).

3. In a small pan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar. Boil until mixture coats a spoon, about 3-5 minutes. Pour mixture over matzo layer. Bake 4 minutes.

4. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake 12 minutes more. Remove from oven and gently spread melted chocolate to cover as completely as possible. Sprinkle with chopped nuts or candy as desired.

5. Cool completely in refrigerator. Break into pieces and store in the refrigerator.

If you're looking for a good Passover book for kids, check out "Meet the Matzah" by Alan Silberberg.

I love Indian rasmalai and so I was really excited when I came across a rasmalai recipe using ricotta as the cheese base (if you want to see how the cheese for rasmalai is traditionally made, check out this recipe at Cook with Manali). Using ricotta made the process so much simpler and I knew I had to give it a try! I adapted the original recipe to use what I had on hand (cardamom pods rather than powder and no saffron threads) and to make a larger amount.

Semi-Homemade Ricotta Rasmalai

(adapted from Vidhya's Home Cooking)

Ingredients (for 12 rasmalai)

- 14oz whole milk ricotta

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 12oz evaporated milk

- 8oz whole milk

- 3 tablespoons hot water

- 2 cardamom pods

- 6 tablespoons sugar

- a tiny piece of a cinnamon stick

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a regular size muffin tin (makes 12) or use silicone liners.

2. Combine ricotta with 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl. Scoop about 2 tablespoons ricotta mixture into each muffin cup. Bake 35-45 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of the cheese round comes out clean.

3. While the cheese bakes, add the cardamom pods to the 3 tablespoons of hot water and let it soak.

4. Pour regular and evaporated milk into a saucepan and heat over medium until small bubbles start to form.

5. Add the cardamom pods and their soaking water, 6 tablespoons sugar, and the piece of cinnamon stick. Stir everything together and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

6. When the cheese rounds finish baking, let them cool 5-10 minutes. Then remove them from the muffin tin and place in a large shallow baking dish (I used a 13x9inch pan). Carefully pour the milk mixture over the cheese rounds, cover the dish and refrigerate at least half an hour.

7. To serve, place one or two cheese rounds in a bowl and scoop over a good amount of the milk mixture. We topped our rasmalai with chopped pistachios.

"10 Gulab Jamuns" by Sandhya Acharya was a great addition to the other books we read for Holi. It is a sweet story about two little boys who sneak some gulab jamuns that their mother had made for a dinner party! I think every child can sympathize with the little boys who just want a taste of the special sweet treat! My Squidgy is famous for asking, "Can I just taste test one?"

Today's story and activity focuses on knowing where your food comes from. Ideally, I'd like for us to only eat foods with a short list of ingredients that we can all identify. The reality is, we're not there yet. Sometimes we still rely on cereal for quick morning breakfasts and prepackaged snacks make food prep so much easier when we're going to be out for a while at playdates or classes or things like that. Things like sausages and frozen fries or pierogis make dinner prep time much faster, but we try to look for brands that aren't chock full of mystery ingredients. So while we're not perfect, I feel like we're at least on the right path.

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This recipe is perfect for a little extra green on St. Patrick's Day, for Christmas if you add some bright red tomatoes or strawberries on the side, or any day when you want a little punch of color. I love recipes like this that use fruits and vegetables to add a little vitamin boost to every day foods without really changing the flavor - especially when you have children that are a little particular about what they choose to eat! My policy is, a little bit of a good food is better than none so if your child doesn't like green smoothies, spinach salads, or creamed spinach, this is a great place to start adding a little of that super spinach goodness into your child's diet.

Spinach Crepes

Ingredients:
- 2 cups spinach (or a spinach blend like spinach, kale, and chard)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup flour (I usually do half whole wheat and half white - for the photos I used all white to get the best green color I could)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients into the jar of a blender and blend until smooth (you may have to pause and scrape down the sides with a spatula).

2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high. Once heated, coat pan with butter or oil. Pour some batter into the center of the skillet and then swirl the pan, spreading the batter around. It may not be a perfect circle and that's ok!

3. Cook a couple minutes until the top looks dry. Flip the crepe over and cook just one minute more. Remove and repeat until you've used all the batter.

4. Fill however you like! I filled mine with cheesy eggs, but I think cottage cheese with avocadoes and tomatoes would be delicious too!

For another delicious green recipe, check out All Natural Shamrock Smoothie and Smoothie Bowl.

I keep testing new recipes for smoothies, trying to find combinations that are both yummy and provide a range of nutrients. When I came across a recipe for a chocolate sweet potato smoothie bowl, I knew that was a combination I had to test! I really liked it, and Lil C drank it all up. Squidgy is harder to please with smoothies and although he said it looked like chocolate pudding, he only drank a bit of it. But I figure, a bit is better than none and I'll just have to keep trying to find recipes we all enjoy!

Chocolate Sweet Potato Smoothie

Ingredients:

- 1 cup water

- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I usually use Oikos Triple Zero when I use flavored yogurts, I put in the whole container so it ends up being a little more than a 1/2 cup)

- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

- 1/2 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato

- 1/2 a frozen banana

- 3/4 cup frozen pineapple chunks

Directions:

Add all ingredients to the jar of a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.

This Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie is one of our favorite smoothies - even when I make it green (which I usually do, I just happened to be all out of green today!). This smoothie has vitamins and minerals from fruit, protein and calcium from yogurt and peanut butter, and water to make it extra hydrating. When you add in the greens, it makes it an even more well-balanced drink! If you wanted to turn it into a more filling breakfast or snack, you could always add in some ground flax or oats.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (I use whole milk)

- 1 cup water

- 1 frozen banana

- 1 cup frozen grapes or strawberries (the "jelly" part!)

- 2 tablespoons peanut butter

- 1 cup fresh spinach or baby kale (to make it green)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to the pitcher of a high powered blender. Blend until smooth (there will usually be tiny bits of grape skins that don't get completely blended).

Notes: Mix it up to work with your dietary needs or to use what you have on hand. You can turn it into an almond butter and jelly smoothie by using almond butter in place of peanut butter and almond milk yogurt or almond milk.

Also, I make our smoothies on the thinner side so it hydrates the kids without being quite so calorie dense. If you like thicker smoothies, feel free to reduce the amount of water!

I've been making chili since I got married almost 13 years ago and we make it every fall-winter. There's just something so warm and comforting about it! If I had chosen a date for National Chili Day, I definitely would have chosen a day during football season - football and chili have just always gone together for us! It's a little warmer than it's been, but there's still snow on the ground outside so I think today is a perfect day for chili, even though football season is long gone.

I'm going to share my chili recipe but, to me, there is no perfect chili recipe. It's a very versatile personal kind of dish so feel free to use this as inspiration to create your own signature chili recipe! I don't even make it exactly the same every time!

Cardboard Mom's Chili

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef (or a mix of ground beef and Italian sausage with casings removed)
1 1/2 onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, choppped
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
14-15oz can of diced tomatoes, no salt added
3 cloves garlic, minced
8oz can tomato sauce, no salt added
1/2 cup ketchup (or plain BBQ sauce)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Seasonings of choice - I usually include garlic, onion, and chili powders, cumin, paprika, oregano, and salt and don't measure :-)

Special Equipment:

6-quart slow cooker

Directions:

1. Cook ground meat in a skillet. Once it's cooked through, add it to the slow cooker.

2. Add in the onions, peppers, corn, diced tomatoes, and garlic.

3. Pour the tomato sauce, ketchup, and apple cider vinegar over the meat and veggies. Sprinkle brown sugar, cocoa powder, and seasonings over the top. Give everything a gentle stir.

4. Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for at least 3-5 hours, stirring well after an hour or two. After that, leave the slow cooker on LOW or KEEP WARM until you're ready to eat (or just eat right then if you can't wait!)

5. We like it best served with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar, a dollop of sour cream, and a pile of Fritos for scooping.

Notes:

- Sometimes I add about a cup of refried beans or a can of black beans, but my family prefers it without beans.

- The kids don't really like spicy stuff so I leave it out now, but before they came along I used to add 1 1/2 tablespoons of pureed chipotles in adobo (it may not seem like a lot but a little really does go a long way and it adds a nice smoky spicy flavor). Now, if we want it a little spicy we just add a little hot sauce or chili sauce to our bowls after it's cooked.

- You could experiment with other ground meats - I've used venison before when we had friends go hunting and share some meat with us. I've also used veggie crumbles when making it for vegetarian friends and it's been delicious every time!

I hope you're inspired to create your own chili recipe that your family will love!

I felt like I couldn't celebrate Black History Month without remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was such a powerful voice in the Civil Right Movement and I greatly admire his resolve to remain peaceful no matter what was thrown at him. It can be SO hard to remain level-headed, calm, and non-violent when people are constantly attacking you, but he stuck to his values and beliefs. I know nothing positive will come from yelling at or fighting with someone and I try very hard - and sometimes don't succeed - to remain kind and calm when dealing with problems or addressing disagreements.

What I think is really cool about the book I chose for this week is that instead of focusing on Dr. King, it focuses on the children who made a difference in the Civil Rights Movement. The CHILDREN. It's so easy to write children off as being too young to make a real difference in the world but they are so much more powerful than we give them credit for! It fills my heart every time I come across a child doing something amazing to make the world a better place.

Featured story: "Let the Children March" by Monica-Clark Robinson

Activity: Our activity today is inspired by an amazing and inspiring young man, Michael Platt of Michaels Desserts. Michael is a teen from Maryland who in 2017 - at the age of 11 - started a baking business with a 1-for-1 model in 2017. For every dessert purchased, he donates one to someone in need. I love that it's such a novel idea that most adults would never think of! We think of donating vegetables and fruits and pasta and bread and meats to the food bank, we don't think of donating treats. But really, who hasn't felt a little happier celebrating or easing some stress with a sweet treat? Why not let everyone have the opportunity for that?

So today, I'm giving you two activity ideas. The first is to create a Martin Luthor King inspired cupcake created by Michael Platt and continue the discussion of Dr. King, civil rights, and African Americans while sharing a sweet treat with your family! You could even deliver some extra cupcakes to friends or family that you can't get together with right now.

Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes Article and Recipe

Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes Video

As an alternative, you could create a birthday kit to donate to a local food pantry. Chances are, if a family doesn't have enough money for food, their children are not having birthday parties or birthday cakes. Find out how to put together a birthday kit at Doing Good Together: Birthday Giving Project.

Some more links to inspire you:

Michaels Desserts Facebook Page

Operation Awesome - show premieres March 10 on BYUtv and follows a group of kids who hit the road to make the world a better place

We LOVE pizza at our house and while we enjoy ordering out every now and then (especially to get a Sicilian pie - I haven't attempted to make that at home yet!) most of the time we make our own. There are two pizza dough recipes we use regularly. One is crispier and much easier to bite so it was perfect when the kids were 3-4yo and not as good at biting through thicker chewier pizzeria crust. The other is fluffier and chewier and now that my kids are older, they both prefer this recipe.

Thin Crispy Pizza Dough

(adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

*This dough is great for weeknight dinners because you can make it an hour before you plan on making the pizzas or a few days earlier so it's ready to just pull out of the fridge at dinnertime!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon instant or active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/3 cup light olive oil

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the water (I always leave the water in the glass measuring cup). Let stand while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flours and salt.

3. With the mixer on low, combine the flours and salt using a paddle attachment. Add the garlic and then the olive oil.

4. Stir the yeast-water mixture together briefly and then pour into the flour mixture. Let the mixer run on low for a minute or two until the dough comes together and easily pulls away from the bowl. If it looks too dry, add a bit more water and if it looks too sticky, add more flour.

5. Divide the dough into two balls. If using the same day, place the two dough balls into a bowl coated with oil, cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap, and set aside. If saving for a later day, place each ball into its own zip-top bag and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Cooking directions:

1. Preheat oven to 465०F. Spread oil on two large cookie sheets and sprinkle with a little cornmeal (we've also made 4 pizzas in cake pans).

2. Take one of the dough balls and start gently stretching it. Once it's stretched to at least 12" circumference, place in the center of the cookie sheet and gently pull the edges of the dough toward the edges of the pan until it's all stretched out and the pan is full (it will spring back a little bit, but I can usually get it to pretty much fill the pan). Repeat with the other dough ball.

3. Top the dough however you want! At the end of this post is a list of our favorite toppings.

4. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and underside is browned.

Fluffy Chewy Pizza Dough

For our fluffy pizza dough, we use this recipe from King Arthur Flour. We've had good results replacing 2 of the cups of flour with whole wheat. We've also always cooked this pizza on the grill!

Favorite Pizza Toppings

Sauces:

Tomato

BBQ

Alfredo

Pesto

Cheeses:

Mozzarella

Fresh mozzarella

Cheddar

Ricotta

Toppings:

Peppers

Onions

Olives

Spinach

Pepperoni

Salami

Meatballs

Chicken nuggets

We mostly only make pies around the holidays but seeing that today was National Pie Day has motivated me to sprinkle pies in throughout the year! I'll have to search my pantry and fridge to see if I have the ingredients to make some kind of pie today, but in the meantime, I've collected some of our favorite pie recipes to share.

I have made this chocolate pecan pie for many Thanksgivings. Plain pecan pie was always too sweet for me but the addition of chocolate in this one helps balance out the syrupy sweetness. Unfortunately, the only picture of our chocolate pecan pie I could find was before we baked it...

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 pie crust, premade or refrigerated store bought
1/2 cup (3.5oz) of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 9" pie plate with pie crust.

2. Microwave half of the chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl for 1-2 minutes, stirring after each minute, until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

3. Brush bottom of pie crust with a small amount of beaten egg. Stir sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla into chocolate mixture until well blended. Stir in pecans and the remaining chocolate. Pour into pie crust.

4. Bake for 55 minutes or until knife inserted 2" from the edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

We made this pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year and it was perfect! I can be pretty critical of pumpkin pies when they're overly sweet or overly spiced, but we all though this one was perfectly balanced. Find the recipe here: No Fail Homemade Pumpkin Pie

I made this chocolate cream pie for the pie eating contest during our Backyard Fair this summer. I completely forgot to take a picture of the pie and all I have is this slightly blurry photo of a half eaten pie slice! I really wish I had heavy cream in the fridge so I could make this pie again - it was so delicious!

Get the recipe here: Chocolate Cream Pie

Lastly, we have apple pie. This apple pie was actually made a few years ago when I began using the Build Your Library Level 0 curriculum with Lil C. Level 0 is an around the world study and we began with the adorable book, "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" by Marjorie Priceman. At the end of the book is the apple pie recipe we used (you can find the recipe in the book preview on Amazon) - it was our first time making homemade pie crust together and we had so much fun! If you're interested in the book and not just the pie, Teaching Mama has some fun activities (she also has a picture of the recipe from the book) and just below is a read aloud of the story. I hope you try out some of these recipes and enjoy them as much as we did!

I wanted to make banana bread, but I wanted to make something a little different from the typical run of the mill banana bread. So when I came across this recipe for Double Chocolate Banana Bread from The Toasted Pine Nut, I knew I had to try it! I altered the ingredients just a tiny bit to use what I had on hand and it came out chocolatey and delicious! It's gluten and dairy free and a great option for anyone who is not a fan of strong banana flavor - the chocolate and nut butter do a great job of subduing the banana. I think a slice of this banana bread would go perfectly with a hot cup of coffee or tea or a cold glass of milk. I would definitely recommend you give it a try!

Chocolate Almond Banana Bread

adapted from The Toasted Pine Nut

Ingredients:

2 very ripe bananas
3 eggs
1/4 cup peanut butter, plus 2 tablespoons for drizzling
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray or line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Whisk in the eggs, peanut butter, and sugar. It's ok if the banana is still a little chunky.
3. In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add to the banana mixture. Stir everything together using a spatula - it will be very thick.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Microwave the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter at 70% for 30 seconds until warm and a little melty. Drizzle the peanut butter over the top of the batter. Sprinkle on a handful of chocolate chips.
7. Bake for about 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack before slicing.

Happy Winter Solstice! To welcome the return of the sun and longer days to come, we made Greek yogurt sun pancakes for breakfast. I made the pancakes larger than normal because Lil C wanted to cut around to make it look like a sun. Then I set out some toppings so they could decorate their suns. These pancakes are easy to make and full of protein from the yogurt, milk, and eggs to keep little bellies full a little longer.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Makes 7 5" pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup Greek yogurt (I usually use Oikos triple zero Greek yogurt strawberry or vanilla)
1/2 cup milk (any kind)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

2. In a larger bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla until well blended.

3. Pour in the flour mixture and mix until everything is blended (some lumps are fine!).

4. Heat a skillet and coat with butter. Drop batter onto skillet using 1/4-1/2 cup measure (depending on how large you want your pancakes). When bubbles start forming and popping on top of the pancake, flip and cook on the other side until golden brown and cooked through.

5. Serve with your choice of toppings. To make suns, I set out yogurt, shredded coconut, pecans, apple slices, chocolate chips, and grapes.

December 15th is National Cupcake Day! Did you know that Winston Churchill was the first person to suggest putting frosting on cupcakes (thank you, Winston Churchill!)? I am not sure who was the first person to suggest putting decorations on cupcakes, but I can tell you that my kids love having free reign of the sprinkles :-)

Today we made orange cranberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting - I was looking for something with winter/holiday flavors and since I love fresh cranberries in baked goods I had to try these! The cupcakes came out a little dense (but I find most fruit cupcake recipes end up dense) but the flavor was spot on. And the frosting was creamy and just sweet enough.

Lil C and Squidgy helped make the batter, but their favorite part is always decorating the cupcakes. They both wanted to do the frosting all by themselves (I only helped a little!) and then add sprinkles, lots of sprinkles!

Lil C's cupcakes

Squidgy's cupcakes

I also asked the kids to draw me their perfect cupcakes, promising that we would try to make them later this month.

Squidgy is a simple man, who knows what he likes. He takes after Mommy and loves chocolate - chocolate with chocolate and then some more chocolate! I love that he named his cupcake design "The Batwing!"

Lil C, on the other hand, likes to go big. And apparently when it comes to her cupcakes, going big means going "sky high" with A LOT of grape frosting on a strawberry sprinkle cake and a unicorn on top! I told her I had never had grape frosting before, nor did I know how to make any. She suggested making the cream cheese frosting again and adding grape jelly to it. It's worth a try! I'll let you know how it turns out!

In just about a week, we will be celebrating the winter solstice. One more week of shortening days and then the days will start to lengthen once more! I came across this adorable book called "Sun Bread" by Elisa Kleven about a town that was desperately missing the sun among all the wind, snow, and rain. The baker came up with an idea to warm everyone spirits (and tummies): sun bread! The warm fluffy bread lifts everyone's spirits and brings the sun back to the sky! I thought this was a perfect book for winter solstice, as we eagerly await days of longer sun to warm our bodies and the earth.

Featured story: "Sun Bread" by Elisa Kleven

Activity: Make your own sun bread to welcome back the sun! You can find the recipe at the end of the story but I've also included it here:

Sun Bread (adapted from "Sun Bread" by Elisa Kleven)

1. Mix together 3 eggs and 3 tbsp sugar.

2. Combine 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour and 1 stick of melted butter.

3. Combine the egg and flour mixtures; beat well.

4. In a small bowl, combine 2 packages active dry yeast (about 4 1/2 tsp) with 3 tbsp warm milk. Let stand until foamy, at least 5 minutes.

5. Add the yeast mixture to the batter and stir. Knead dough on greased, floured surface - or in a stand mixer with a dough hook - for 8-10 minutes.

6. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until about doubled in size (about an hour).

7. Punch down dough, knead a few minutes, and separate into two pieces.

8. Shape one portion into a round, somewhat flattened ball to make the sun's face. Place dough on a large greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet. With the greased end of a spoon (or your finger), punch two eyes in the sun and draw a mouth. Make sure your lines are deep so they don't close up while baking. Make a nose by attaching a small ball of dough to the face.

9. To make the corona for your sun, roll half of the remaining dough into 4-5 long snakes. Coil the snakes into snail shapes. Shape the rest of the dough into puffy triangles. Firmly attach the snails and triangles to your sun's face. (Use a little water if the dough is too dry.)

10. Cover the sun and let it rise again in a warm place for about an hour.

11. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake the sun bread for about 20 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into center of bread - it should come out clean.

12. Enjoy plain or with butter, honey, or jam.

There is some cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy weather forecast for this coming week and I think baking this sun bread will be a perfect way to warm our bellies!

Someone recommended "Meet the Latkes" by Alan Silberberg as a fun Hanukkah (and Chanukkah!) story and as soon as I read it, I knew it was the perfect book to teach us a little more about Hanukkah. The story is absolutely hysterical and engaging, while teaching you about the history of Hanukkah. This read aloud version done by Shira from Shira's Story Corner* and Scott Speiser is just perfect too - you definitely don't want to skip this one!

Featured story: "Meet the Latkes" by Alan Silberberg

Activity: Have latkes! You can absolutely purchase latkes from the store and just heat them up at home, but if you have the time and energy to make your own, this recipe was recommended to me.

Homemade Latkes

Ingredients:

- 2 1/2 pounds potatoes (about 8 large)

- 2 medium onions

- 2 large eggs

- 1 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper

- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

- a pinch of baking powder

- about 3/4 cup vegetable oil (for frying)

Directions:

1. Line a tray with paper towels for draining latkes and have a baking sheet ready for keeping latkes warm.

2. Peel and grate potatoes and onions on the large holes of a grater or with a food processor fitted with a coarse grating disk, alternating onion and potato. Transfer grated onion and potato to a colander. Squeeze mixture by handfuls to remove as much liquid as possible.

3. Put potato-onion mixture in a bowl. Add egg, salt, pepper, flour, and baking soda and mix well.

4. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a large, deep, heavy skillet. For each latke, drop about 2 tbsp potato mixture into pan. Flatten with back of a spoon so each pancake is 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. Do not crowd the pan. Fry over medium heat 4-5 minutes on each side, or until crisp and golden brown. Transfer to paper towels. Stir batter before frying each new batch and add more oil to pan as necessary to fry all the latkes.

5. Serve with applesauce.

*I just happened upon the read aloud of "Meet the Latkes" on Shira's Story Corner and found that it was an adorable super fun reading. But when I clicked to learn more about Shira, I was so touched and inspired by her story! After touring the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and finding out that some children are too sick to receive visitors, Shira decided she could "visit" them by making videos of herself reading stories and sharing them online for them to see. She also writes a book every year and all proceeds from the book sales go to the Children's Hospital!

If you'd like to find out more, visit Shira's Story Corner.

Tomorrow is National Brownie Day and I wanted to make sure everyone was well prepared for it! :-D My sister in law, owner of Cakes by Marina, is an amazing baker so I asked if she would share her go-to brownie recipe with us (and some mouth-watering photos!).

Cakes by Marina's Favorite Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup all-purpose flour + 1 tbsp for coating chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8x8" aluminum baking dish with a light coating of cooking spray or wipe with a small amount of shortening.

2. In a bowl, combine the white sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract until smooth and fluffy.

3. In a second bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.

4. Beat the eggs, one at a time, into the sugar and butter mixture, until thoroughly combined.

5. Add the flour mixture in 2-3 additions, mixing slowly until just combined.

6. Toss the chocolate chips in about 1 tbsp of flour, and then fold into the batter (this will help keep the chips from all sinking to the bottom of the brownies).

7. Pour batter into prepared pan and use a rubber spatula to level off the top.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Brownies are done when edges are set and have started to pull away from the sides of the pan. The center may appear to be slightly jiggly, but will firm up once brownies have cooled.

If you're feeling extra decadent, serve brownies warm with a scoop of ice cream (and maybe some sprinkles!). Enjoy!

Cakes by Marina is located in Middlesex County, NJ. If you live in the area, check her out for all your dessert needs! She has made Lil C's and Squidgy's birthday cakes every year and not only are they delicious, but her decorating is out of this world!

I am very excited about today's book for a number of reasons. For one, I grew up celebrating St. Nicholas Day and often felt weird and out of place because no one outside of my family or church really knew about it. Everyone else just celebrated and got gifts on Christmas! So I was very excited to find a book about St. Nicholas Day that I can share the story and traditions with my children and with all of you!

Second, I connected with author Charlotte Riggle through a Multicultural Children's Book Day group and was thrilled to be able to collaborate with her. She answered all my questions about her book (interview is after the video and activity) and created a video read aloud so that I could share her beautiful story with you!

Featured story: "The St. Nicholas Day Snow" by Charlotte Riggle

Activity: I actually have two activities to go along with this story - you can choose one or do both! Growing up, we were told that good children would get gifts (especially fruits, nuts, and chocolates) and naughty children would get a twig. When I was teaching preschool, I found out that one of my fellow teachers also celebrated St. Nicholas Day. She told me that her mom turned the naughty twig into a treat and she would decorate a twig with ribbons and candies for each child. So the first activity is to find a nice twig that you can decorate and give someone on St. Nicholas Day. If you have some candy to hang/tape onto it, go ahead! If not you can still paint it and decorate it with ribbons, pom poms...anything you think looks beautiful!

Activity two is to make snowball cookies like Catherine and Elizabeth. This recipe is vegan so it is perfect for anyone with dietary restrictions or keeping the Advent fast.

Snowball Cookies

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine 2 cups flour, 2 cups finely chopped pecans, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup coconut oil (or 2 sticks softened vegan margarine), and 1 tsp vanilla in a large mixer bowl. Beat at low speed until well mixed, scraping sides if necessary.

3. Use your hands to shape rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into 1" balls. Place 1" apart on cookies sheets. Bake 20-25 minutes or until just barely browned. Cool completely on a rack.

4. Make the glaze by combining 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbsp light corn syrup, and 2 tbsp coconut milk in a bowl. If the glaze is too thick, add coconut milk 1 tsp at a time.

5. Place waxed paper under the cookies to catch the drips then spoon the glaze over the cookies. Before the glaze dries, sprinkle the cookies with snowflake-shaped sprinkles, white sparkling sugar, or finely shredded coconut. Share and enjoy!

Keep reading for a little interview with Charlotte about her holiday traditions and her inspirations for writing this "The St. Nicholas Day Snow."

1. Can you tell us a little about your cultural and religious background?

I grew up in a Southern family. But we moved around a lot when I was growing up, and I never quite knew, as a kid, how to answer when someone asked where I was from. Although I was born in Mississippi, my earliest memories are from central Illinois and east Tennessee. My tween and teen years were in the southern Great Lakes area. On our trips south to visit family, Mom would go to a local buy cases of food that we couldn’t get where we were living – grits, stone ground corn meal, a particular brand of barbecue sauce, her favorite crab boil seasoning.

Besides Southern food, I also grew up with a Southern understanding of hospitality. My mother welcomed everyone to our home, and treated them like family. When it was time for a meal, she counted how many people were in the house, and that’s how many places she set at the table. It didn’t matter who you were, you were welcome.

My parents were Presbyterian, and I grew up with an understanding of the majesty of God. And I was taught, explicitly, that I can’t really take credit for anything I have or anything I do. Everything good that I have, I received as a gift from a gracious God or the good people he has placed in my life. These ideas became part of me as I grew up.

When, as a young adult, I grew restless in the Presbyterian church, I started looking for something else. The Presbyterian church is restrained and austere. I felt that the love of God called for something richer, something more. And, after some years, I found that in the Orthodox Church.

2. What made you want to write this book?

There were three reasons, really. First, I had enjoyed my collaboration with R.J. Hughes on my first book, Catherine’s Pascha, more than I could tell you. It was such a joy to see her bring the characters and the story to life. She saw things in the story that I hadn’t even quite realized were there. She drew those things out, and made the story richer and deeper and fuller. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with her again.

Second, I love St. Nicholas. Not the elf who lives at the North Pole, but the bishop who lived in the part of the world which is now called Turkey. St. Nicholas truly lived out the command to love God with all his heart and soul and strength and mind, and to love his neighbor as himself. He was known during his lifetime for his compassion and his kindness. He was an example of the virtue called philoxenia, the love of strangers. All you needed to do to get his help was to ask. I wanted to celebrate St. Nicholas, to honor his life, and to introduce him to children who might never have heard of him.

The third reason might be the most important one. I wanted to get to know Elizabeth better. When I was working with R.J. Hughes on Catherine’s Pascha, we both knew that people with disabilities are severely under-represented in children’s books. We wanted to help close that gap, and to make sure that disabled kids would have the opportunity to see themselves in books. So we decided that Catherine’s best friend, Elizabeth, would have a mobility impairment.

While we worked on the book, we learned a lot about her. We realized that she was an ambulatory wheelchair user, that her favorite color was purple, and that her patron saint was Elizabeth the Dragon Slayer. We knew that she was an only child, and that she preferred fried chicken to hot dogs. We also knew that her parents were not from Orthodox families, but had become Orthodox Christians before she was born.

But I still wanted to get to know her better. And one of the ways that you get to know a character, when you’re an author, is to put them in a story, and see what they do, and what they tell you. And by the time we were done with The Saint Nicholas Day Snow, I loved Elizabeth more than ever.

3. What were your St. Nicholas Day traditions growing up? Do you follow the same traditions now or have they evolved?

As I mentioned earlier, I was raised Presbyterian, and Presbyterians don’t do saints, not even St. Nicholas. So I didn’t have St. Nicholas when I was growing up. I did have Santa Claus. Santa Claus came on Christmas Eve, and he left oranges, apples, candies, and nuts in our stockings.

I didn’t start developing St. Nicholas Day traditions until after I became Orthodox. At that time, I already had two children, and they were used to having Santa come on Christmas Eve. At church, though, we celebrated St. Nicholas Vespers every year on the Eve of St. Nicholas. After Vespers, the teens put on a play based on the life of St. Nicholas, and then we had cookies and punch. And the first St. Nicholas Eve after I had joined the church, my godmother gave me a beautiful little ceramic figurine of St. Nicholas. That was the first St. Nicholas in what would become a rather large collection of St. Nicholas ornaments, figurines, and icons that I put out every year during Advent and Christmas.

I didn’t want to try to change from stockings on Christmas Eve to shoes on St. Nicholas Eve, but I did want the kids to be able to celebrate St. Nicholas Day at home as well as at church. So I started giving the kids Christmas picture books on St. Nicholas Day. I wrote that into The Saint Nicholas Day Snow – that’s what Catherine’s family does. And I would send the kids to school with candy canes to share with their class. Candy canes started out ages ago as a traditional St. Nicholas treat. The cane shape represents the bishop’s crozier, and St. Nicholas was, of course, the Bishop of Myra in Lycia.

4. What are your Christmas traditions?

In the Orthodox Church, we begin Advent on November 15. On the first weekend in Advent, I set out my St. Nicholas collection on the mantel above our fireplace, and I set the Nativity set that my mother made for me in one of our living room windows. (The St. Nicholas figures on the mantel in Catherine’s living room in the book are all based on figures in my collection. If you have a copy of the book, the large St. Nicholas on the right, in green vestments, is one that my mother made for me.)

And I clear the display shelf on our big bookcase in the living room, and fill it with Christmas picture books.

We don’t do any other decorating until the weekend before Christmas. That’s when we put up our tree, and hang a wreath. We’ve always gone to a tree farm to cut a real tree, but we finally got an artificial tree last year. We have a young dog who has a very low tolerance for new things. We thought that an artificial tree would be easier for her to cope with. We may go back to a real tree when she’s older and more laid back. But for now, this works.

Christmas Day starts with church. When we get home, our extended family that lives in the area joins us for a breakfast of sausage biscuits and mimosas and sparkling cider. Then we open presents. Christmas dinner is usually late afternoon.

For the rest of Christmas, we bake cookies, entertain friends, and celebrate the glorious joy of Christmas.

5. If you had to pick just one thing, what is your favorite part of celebrating St. Nicholas Day?

I love picking out Christmas picture books for the little ones in my life. My kids are all grown now, of course. But I have grandchildren, and a young godson. And I love trying to find just the right picture book for each of them every year.

Purchase your own copy of "The St. Nicholas Day Snow" here.

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