Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

The Making of a Birthday Cake for the Teacher

Posted on March 29, 2007
Filed Under Birthday cakes

What a day! I got up this morning and mixed up some frosting for a birthday cake for one of the school teacher’s birthday party this afternoon.

The first thing that happened is that I splattered red food coloring on my housecoat (bummer, no more fun baking before getting dressed)… then things got worse from there. I was piping roses onto toothpicks and this being I think my first time doing that, you can imagine how good it went! I soon lowered my standards on how nice the roses had to look and the whole rose-making process went faster from there.

I went out of the kitchen for about 2 minutes for a bathroom break when Lexi said, “Mom, Tiffany got into the sugar. Oh, now she dumped some on the floor. Mom, can we play in it?” I came back to the kitchen as soon as I could and this is what I found…
leeanne10.jpg

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They were both licking sugar off the floor! Lexi said, “This sugar isn’t very good not on anything, but we like it anyway.” They were so sticky, so I put them in the tub while I cleaned up the floor (not like I had alot of extra time for that!). The sugar, by the way, is stored in a canister in that bottom drawer in front of them.

I had to run to Walmart because I wasn’t sure I had enough powdered sugar for all the frosting I was going through, plus I had to get ice cream, chips, and drink yet to round out the party. I got Lexi some popcorn chicken at the deli for her for lunch and as I rounded a corner in the store, I felt myself step on something at about the same time Lexi said “Oh, no!” 3/4 of her chicken had spilled and went down thro’ the holes in the cart and they were all laying on the floor behind me. I hurry picked them up, not looking around at other shoppers.

When we got home, Tiffany was kind of clingy, so while I was trying to carefully write “Happy Birthday Miss Hershey”, she was tugging at my skirt. Poor girl hadn’t had much of mom all morning. And while I was carefully and meticulously putting the flowers and leaves on, Lexi (who was standing on a chair beside me) would once in awhile lean on my shoulder and say, “That looks very beautiful!” How can you say “DON’T BUMP ME!!!” after something like that?!

Anyway, I had to leave by about 2:00 and I got done with the cake at 1:53, so it was a rush of changing the baby, getting on shoes and jackets, getting everything out to the car and when we got to the school, I got everything around, ready to go, and was as cool and composed as could be on the outside, but on the the inside it felt like I was still in high gear. On the way to the party, just out of the blue, Lexi said, “Mom, you are a very good mom.” Oh, I love that girl!!!! I said, “Oh, thankyou. Sometimes it seems like I rush us all around so much and forget to be nice.” She said, “Yeah, you do, but you’re still a good mom.”

So anyway, here’s the making of the cake…

I did the roses on toothpicks, then poked the toothpicks down thro’ a grater and a colander and pulled them out the bottom. Then, I put the roses (still on the colander and grater) in the fridge to get hard, then transferred them to a plate.
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Putting the ribbon on. I had always wanted to try that, and it worked great. I did it right after frosting the sides so the ribbon would stick.
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The bow is separate, stuck on there with a dab of frosting.
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A bit of trim and some writing. The cake is starting to look promising, even though things are hectic around here.
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The roses are placed on… I think I made too many, but put them on anyway.
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DONE!
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leeanne8.jpg And here is our top notch 1st grade teacher.

As I was at the party among all the excitement, trying to relax inside, I realized that some things in life just aren’t worth getting stressed over. Things like a totaled kitchen waiting at home and the horror of the girls licking sugar off the floor and the spilled popcorn chicken and the bumps and tugs while decorating a cake. There’s more to life… like excitement, laughter, friends, and those 2 sweet girls I can call my own.

Meal of recipes

I haven’t been taking much time to cook lately… just stuff like open-faced pork chop sandwiches, ravioli and applesauce, stromboli, and tonight we had baked sweet potatoes and grilled ham and salad. No new recipes and no good ones that haven’t been already featured. I’m a very sporadic cook, so I’m going into my reserve of meals that I made in a cooking streak and didn’t have time to post. Here’s one of them…

Pigs in Blankets

There are different ways of making these, but here’s how I did it…

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
24 Li’l Smokies

Separate rolls and cut each roll into thirds (you can also cut them in half if you like more bread per weiner, then it would be 16 Li’l Smokies instead of 24).
mealpigs1
Starting at a wide edge, roll a Li’l Smokie up in it. Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes.
mealpigs2 

Very good! Quick snack if company is coming. Children love ’em, too!

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Broccoli Casserole

2 pkgs (16 oz each) frozen broccoli florets
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (6 oz) french-fried onions

Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain well. In a large saucepan, combine the soup, sour cream, 1 cup cheese, and 1 1/4 cup onions.
mealbroc1
Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Stir in the broccoli. Pour into a greased 2 qt baking dish.
mealbroc2
Bake, uncovered, at 325 for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and onions. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6-8 servings.
mealbroc3 

I made a half batch for us. This stuff is SO good!!!! I went a little heavier on the french-fried onions and also used mozzerella and reg cheddar in place of the sharp cheddar (sharp cheese is NOT my thing!).

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Pudding Pumpkin Pie

1 egg white, beaten
1 reduced fat graham cracker crust (8 inches)
1 cup cold fat-free milk
1 pkg (1 1/2 oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups reduced fat whipped topping, divided

Brush egg white over crust. Bake at 375 for 5 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix. Stir in the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fold in 1 cup whipped topping. Pour into crust.
mealpie1
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Cut into slices; dollop with remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 8 servings. 1 piece = 180 calories.

mealpie2(That color change is the difference between no flash and flash… it doesn’t change colors once it’s refrigerated! LOL) I couldn’t have told this was a diet pie. Could probably be made though with non-diet ingredients. It was really good! Nicely spiced. Will definitely make again!

Comments

3 Responses to “Meal of recipes”

  1. Ali on April 18th, 2008 2:17 pm

    A twist on the traditional pigs in a blanket is to use a sheet of puff pastry, cut it into thin rows, then cut from the other angle to make small rectangular pieces. Wrap around a little smokie and bake at 400-f degrees for about 17 minutes. :)

  2. Marie on April 22nd, 2008 11:06 am

    Do you think I could use asparagus instead of broccoli for the broccoli casserole?
    I stumbled on your site and love it!I love recipes.Quick,easy,and healthy ones especially.I hope you dont mind.I am going to subscribe to you right now.LOL

  3. Kay on April 23rd, 2008 1:31 pm

    Marie,
    I very seldom cook with asparagus, but it seems like it would work. Worth a try anyway! If you try it, let me know how it turned out. :)

“Mom, how do you make… ?”

From my mom…

Easy Cinnamon Biscuits (not sure of the real name, if there is one)

2 7.5 oz cans Pillsbury biscuits (10 biscuits per can)
2 handfuls brown sugar
Cinnamon
8 oz Cool Whip

Grease 9×13 pan and put biscuits in.
biscuits1
Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top.
biscuits2
Spread Cool whip on top.
biscuits3Looks more like a dessert now, doesn’t it?
Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.
biscuits4
biscuits5  These are great!!!!! There’s a goo at the bottom and next time, I’m planning to add some pecans on top before putting on the Cool Whip. They take very little time to assemble, plus no rising time. Very good! Keep on hand for a warm breakfast on busy mornings!

From my mom-in-law…

Yum Yum Pudding

60 Ritz crackers
1 stick butter
2 qt vanilla ice cream
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk

Crush crackers. Mix with melted butter. Spread out in a 9×13 pan and bake at 350 for 5 min.  (I made a half batch for us, so used a smaller pan here and should’ve used a smaller bowl later!)
pudding1
Beat softened ice cream. Add milk and pudding. Put crumbs in the bottom of a serving dish, saving some crumbs to sprinkle on top.
pudding2
Pour ice cream/pudding mixture over crumbs.
pudding3
Top with remaining crumbs.
pudding4
pudding5
Store in refrigerator (not freezer).  Yum is right! I didn’t remember having it before and as I was making it, I was so tempted to add some chocolate for an extra layer. Glad I didn’t because it was so good!!!! Lots of buttered toasted crackers!

Saturday night PIZZA!

Here is a pizza dough recipe that I tried last night. I copied it off of madisonsmom2’s site from awhile ago. There is oregano in the crust and I thought I could actually taste it… but if that was just my imagination, it seems like a neat idea anyway! 

1/4 C. oil
1 egg

Mix these 2 together and add:

1/8 C. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 C. hot water   

Mix.

Dissolve 1 pkg yeast in 1/2 C warm water and then add and mix.

Mix in:
3 – 3 1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. Oregano

Knead 15 minutes (Whew! Definitely got my exercise in with that!) and let raise 1 hour. Madisonsmom2 says, “I roll mine into a cookie sheet
pizza1   pizza2
and spread the pizza sauce on
pizza3
and bake it 20 min. Add the rest of your ingredients
pizza4
pizza5
pizza6
pizza7
and bake till the cheese is melted. Happy eating.”
pizza8
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pizza10  I baked the crust w sauce at 375 for 20 min, then I thought maybe I should’ve had it at 400, so I upped it to 400 while putting the toppings on, then baked it for about 15 more min. Perfect crust!!!! I put it on a 16″ pizza pan. We ate 1/2 of the pizza (it was huge), so the rest is in the freezer for another meal. 

Valentines Meal 2007

I know this is now very out of season, but…

Featuring: Our family Valentines meal (for a bit of history, go to the next page to the Feb 11 post).

Menu:
Cupid breadsticks
Lasagna
Robust Italian Salad w tomato roses
Red hot salad
Broken Glass Salad
Punch
White Chocolate Mousse
Cheesecake (regular and mocha)

Here’s the action…
vtines action

Breadsticks… it’s Pillsbury popable breadsticks, shaped into hearts and arrows. Don’t ya love the towel? That would be Kris’… she’s crazy about coffee. She made the breadsticks…
vtines bread

Lasagna… We all brought ingredients for the lasagna and Kris put it together. She put a heart shaped tin foil piece on before putting the last layer of cheese on. Then when it was done baking, Seth took the tin foil off and this is how it looked…
vtines lasagna

Robust Italian Salad… I made this…
vtines salad
The tomato roses were easier than I thought they’d be. I discovered the secret is to peel the tomatoes as thin as you can. Here’s a closer up of a rose…
vtines rose

Red hot salad… Galyn made it. (She also made a sugar-free cherry delight for Tom for dessert, which I don’t have a picture of)…
vtines redhot salad

Broken glass salad… Kris made it…
vtines broken glass salad

Punch… Bruce and Sheila made the punch… I brought strawberries for the goblets (actually an idea off of th3rdtimesacharm’s site)…
vtines punch

White Chocolate mousse… Kris made it…
vtines mousse

Cheesecake… these were set between each couple and we shared them. There were also regular round cheesecakes for the unmarrieds and for seconds. Bruce made all the cheesecakes…
vtines cheesecake

Candy baskets on the table… I think Sheila did those… actually, most of the decorations are Sheila’s…
vtines candy basket

A place setting…
vtines table setting We ate by candlelight. Partway thro’ the meal, Sheila put more candles on.  There is always no end to jokes from the guys about not being able to see what they’re eating, etc. Last year, Tom and Shannon got their cell phones out, lit the little screen, and propped them up beside their plates for extra light. It’s actually plenty bright. Dad says he likes it because it saves on electricity and heating. That’s the type of things we have to put up with from the guys.

Mom is busy with school teaching, so this year Sheila, Galyn, Kris, and I did the meal, but it was at Mom and Dad’s house. Dan and Jan couldn’t make it because they just had a baby. For those of you who know our family, but are wondering who Seth and Kris are… they’re ‘part of our family’. They fit right in and it would seem very weird without them!

Are you a busy mom/wife/person?

Posted on March 1, 2007
Filed Under Easy meals

And, oh yeah , that’s right, you have to cook too!

Well, here you go…

This meal takes about 5 minutes of your time 2 1/2 hours before supper, then you don’t need to do anything else till about 15 minutes before suppertime!!! And the clean-up is a snap!

Turkey loaf
Baked potatoes
Cooked veggies
Brown & serve rolls
quick meal (Bird’s eye view because the others were already sitting down.) That’s iced tea in the glasses.

2 1/2 hours before suppertime , turn the oven to 350, take the turkey loaf out of the freezer, get it out of the box
quick meat1
and slide it in the oven. Then, get as many potatoes as you need, scrub them under running water, wrap them in tin foil,
quick pot1and put them in the oven. quick oven   Yeah,ok, admit it, your oven isn’t always clean either!

15 minutes before serving, get the brown & serve rolls out of the cupboard and put them on a baking sheet.
quick rolls  Turn the oven up to 425. Get a bag of frozen veggies out of the freezer and get them to cooking. Take the potatoes and meat out of the oven
quick meat2 and put the rolls in. Get the kids to set the table (that’s why the silverware is set wrong).While the rolls are baking for 8-10 min, get out the tea, butter, jelly, ketchup, sour cream, and serving dishes. Dish up the potatoes, meat, and veggies. Call everyone to the table while you get the rolls out. And there’s your supper!

Note: There is also condensed gravy in with the meat, plus directions to make more. I do that if I’m serving mashed potatoes with it.

This meal cost me about $5 or $6, plus we had leftovers, so it’s not like you pay alot for it for as quick and prepared as it is. I actually mixed up a batch of cookies and slipped a pan of them in the oven when I took the rolls out. During the meal, I got them out and by the time we were done eating, they were cool enough to eat. A can of peaches (or other fruit of choice) completes the dessert.

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On another note: I’m curious what you all do for bread at each meal.

What I do is have fresh-baked bread/rolls/breadsticks at pretty much every meal. I lean on the popable cans and brown and serve pretty hard. In the popable cans, you can get crescent rolls (our most popular), breadsticks, and French bread. I’ve tried the frozen dinner rolls, but they never get right for me. Frozen bread dough works though. I do make biscuits from scratch. (Yeah, I know, wow.)  Confession: I actually haven’t taken time to try yeast breads of any kind since you guys left all those great helpful tips! But, someday I want to… I just think I should really have more than just a little hand mixer to do it though.

When I was still at home, we always just got out the loaf of bread, stacked some pieces on a plate and that was our bread. On Sundays, we’d usually have fresh-baked homemade rolls though. I don’t know if that’s still what Mom does or not.

So, I know from before that alot of you are pros in making yeast breads… what type of bread do you put on the table each night? Or do you not have people in the family that will holler if there’s no bread on the table?

Comments

One Response to “Are you a busy mom/wife/person?”

  1. Ali on April 18th, 2008 2:21 pm

    I really love the Pillsbury brand bags of frozen Southern style biscuits. Especially served warm with honey and butter. They are my absolute favorite kind of premade biscuit ????