Pacman cookies

Turn a tulip cookie cutter upside down and you get a .... Pacman ghost! Then cut a wedge out of a circle and you have a video game in your oven.


Use the painted glaze recipe for color...


Add black sprinkle eyes...




Ta-Da!


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Cookie Love

We used another Pioneer Woman cookie recipe for these yummy cocoa-cinnamon hearts.

Pancakes and Star Wars

I told you every day was Star Wars day at our house. We recently had some Yoda pancakes (plus various superhero symbols, and butterflies, letters, and a Star Trek pancake that didn't survive long enough to be photo documented.) The other exciting nerdy addition to our dining is the Star Wars cups. The local toy store recently had a "clean out the attic" sale, and sold four of these Star Wars episode 1 cups for fifty cents each. These are from the movie which came out in 1999. I bought them all. Someone suggested to me they are collectors items and I should store them carefully. But I poured milk in them and washed them in the dishwasher. Both of the kids are proud of their Jar Jar Binks and Queen Amawhatever cups.

Gabi's Bean Dip

Gabi likes to look at recipe blogs with me, like Pioneer Woman Cooks or especially Bakerella. So, she wanted to show you her own recipe complete with photos. This is her famous bean dip recipe which she invented and can make entirely by herself.

First, you need canned refried beans. We were fixing for a crowd here so we used 2 cans, but you can also just use one can for a small family. You'll also need a microwavable dish, preferably a round one.
Gabi recommends you use two kinds of cheese in this recipe- a yellow cheese, such as cheddar or colby, and some good melting white cheese. She really likes the quesadilla blend cheese from Kroger.
Your first step once your ingredients are gathered is to put half of the beans in the bottom of the dish and spread them out in an even layer.
Then you sprinkle on a generous layer of shredded cheeses: this will create a secret layer of cheese- the most important part of Gabi's bean dip!
Then you carefully spread the remaining half of the beans on top, trying not to disturb the cheese beneath.
Add another layer of cheese on top.
Now you microwave the dish until it's warm and the cheese is melted-- about 2-3 minutes depending on your microwave. I forgot to take a picture of the garnish, which is corn chips arranged around the outer edge of the dip creating the impression of a sunflower with petals sticking out. Serve with chips or as a side dish with your favorite Tex Mex recipe.

Peanutbutter Fudge Night

We traditionally make Jack's Famous Peanutbutter Fudge before Christmas. That's my favorite niece, up there, anxiously awaiting her job as fudge taster.
I thought I'd share the secret recipe with you all.

First thing you need to make fudge is to measure your marshmallow cream and peanutbutter.

Then you need two guys in matching aprons.

Melt some margarine with some sugar and stir in some evaporated milk.

This is the peanutbutter, but don't stir it in until the mixture has reached a nice, charlie sheen.

Be sure someone documents the whole process.

There's going to be lots of stirring. Have helpers.

Lots and lots of stirring.

Put a candy thermometer on your heavy pot, but ignore the temperature on it in favor of yelling "I need a glass of water!" You're looking for a softball stage here.

Don't forget the stirring! And beware the dangers of boys shooting soft balls at you.
There is a soft ball theme going on here.

Once you've reached the softball stage, stir on the rest of the stuff you've measured and pour it into greased pans. Put the pans out on the back porch to cool off quickly on a winter night so you can eat it sooner.
There- now you all have the secret recipe for our family's peanutbutter fudge. Enjoy!

Creepy Cupcakes

Wish Blake a Appy Birthday

Blake, who is a gadget guy always tethered to his iPhone, is turning 35 tomorrow and we're having a little party. I made him this cake.... a fudgey delicious iCake. I made a different frosting than my usual butter cream b/c I wanted a really dark chocolate brown to imitate the black phone without having to try to dye icing black. It's yummy, so I'm glad I tried it. The images are iPhone apps- some made up (like the "b2," and the UMC ccross and flame). Others are some of Blake's fave apps from his actual phone, like facebook, iTunes, and TicTacToe he has for the kids to play. I tried to sneak in birthday hints-- like hte 35 messages in his e-mail and the date being Thursday the 3rd. We're looking forward to celebrating more tomorrow. Come on over!

Painted Cookies

I didn't show you the pictures in December, but did share Gabi's writing about the recipe for Painted Sugar Cookies. We made some last week- aren't they pretty? And they are yummy, too.

Easter Weekend

We had a busy Easter weekend with baking cupcakes, dyeing eggs, trying on our pretty clothes for photos on Saturday then making cold rainy day adjustments on Sunday, seeing bunnies in the backyard. Sunday we had a great worship service, and a great meals with great friends.

I thought one of the funniest thing was that when we got dressed for the pictures, Micah saw Gabi's Easter hat and insisted he needed one, too, so he ran and found his cowboy hat and was SO proud of himself.

I smell cookies!

Before Christmas, Gabi and I tried a new sugar cookie recipe and she wrote about it at school. Instead of decorating with sprinkles, you paint them with a dye and egg yolk glaze before you bake them, then add details in a white icing once they cool. Painted cookies! What could be better? I thought I had taken a picture of them, because they were such pretty cookies, but I can't find the picture in my files. So, you'll have to make them yourself to see how nicely they turn out. If you doubt the 8 cups of flour baked for 2 minutes at 3 degrees is quite right, you can find a more precise recipe at a favorite blog, The Pioneer Woman.