Homemade Paint

Kids Paint:

1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 cup water
food coloring colors of your choice

Candied Jalapenos

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup fresh jalape�o peppers -- sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Green food coloring -- optional

Directions:

Combine jalape�o slices, sugar and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes until jalape�os are cooked and liquid has boiled down to a thick syrup. Remove from heat and add 1 drop green food coloring, if desired, to tint syrup. Place in a clean jar and refrigerate.


Version 2 - 
Candied Jalapenos

These are awesome! I served them with Ritz crackers and cream cheese

• 4 lbs fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced
• 2 lbs onions, diced
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 6-8 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons celery seeds
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ginger

1. Slice jalapenos into thin slices and dice onions(I would suggest a pair of rubber gloves for handling jalapenos. Personal experience.do not touch your face!) Remove some of the seeds to make this less hot. Place in pan with water and vinegar, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minute or until tender.(Do not breathe fumes) Pour off most of the water and vinegar mixture, add the sugar and spices. Bring to soft candy temperature to completely dissolve sugar, about 10 minute Place boiling mixture into clean, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust caps.

Version 3

Jalapeno Sweeties

(Candied Jalapenos)

4 lbs fresh jalapeno peppers sliced
2 lbs onion, diced bite size chunks
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
6 to 8 cups sugar
2 tablespoons turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed (optional)
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger

Slice Jalapenos into thin slices and dice the onions. ( I suggest wearing rubber gloves while handling the jalapenos and DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE!

Place jalapenos in pan with water and vinegar. Bring the pan to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer unitl tender (about 10 minutes.) Remove the lid from the pan carefully and do not breath fumes. Pour off the water and vinegar.

Add the sugar and spices, bring to soft candy temperature to completely disolve the sugar.

Place boiling mixture into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Put on caps and place rings on loosely.

Tighten the rings, once the jars are completely cooled.

4 - Simple Candied Jalapeño Peppers


• 4 Jalapeño Peppers, cut into rings
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1-2 cups water

Cooking Instructions

1. In a saucepan, add sugar and water.
2. Heat over low heat until the mixture forms a syrup.
3. Add jalapeno slices and heat 3-4 minutes.
4. Remove the jalapenos and allow to cool.
5. Repeat by adding the pepper slices to the syrup until the jalapeno peppers are thickly candied.
6. Cool and serve!

5 - Candied Jalapenos

This makes a very tasty and spicy addition to almost any meal.
Ingredients

• 8-10 jalapeno peppers, sliced
• 1-2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon tumeric
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• green food coloring

Cooking Instructions

1. In a saucepan, add sugar, vinegar, dry seasonings and 1 cup water.

2. Heat over low heat until the mixture forms a syrup. Add more water if syrup is too thick.

3. Add 1-2 drops food coloring, if desired.

4. Add jalapeno slices and heat 3-4 minutes.

5. Remove the jalapenos and allow to cool.

6. Repeat by adding the pepper slices to the syrup until the jalapeno peppers are thickly candied.

7. Cool and serve!

Twizzler Candy Bracelet

It’s cold, rainy lazy day and this edible bracelet activity is great to keep the kids engaged and entertained indoors. Don’t have any twizzlers? You can make bracelets with fruit loops. We’ve even made bracelets out of jelly beans – if it’s edible and sweet it will keep the kiddos engaged.

.

All you need to make your own twizzler bracelets is some ribbon and a few packages of the candy. We dug into the last of our Halloween candy (gasp! Candy doesn’t have an expiration date does it???), the snack-sized packs are perfect.

I chopped them into segments. The kids got to practice self-control, fine motor skills, and pattern-making as they created their jewelry. Ironically, this post could alternately be titled, “how to get your kid to eat less candy.” I think it’s interesting how interacting with their food makes the kids enjoy it more, even if there is less of it to go around. These twizzlers made a total of 4 bracelets.  

Playdough

2 c flour

1 c salt
4 tsp cream of tarter
2 c water
food coloring
1/4 c vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients.  Add food coloring (if desired) to water Mix wet and dry inredients well

Cook over low heat in a non-stick pot until it becomes rubbery and playdough-like (Yes. You will just know when it is done.)

Cool and knead

*For Glittery Playdough, add glitter in near the end of your cooking step! It is definitely 4 year old approved playdough!*

Puppy Chow

Ingredients:

• Chex Cereal (Rice or Corn will do. I use corn because I think they don't break apart as easily as the rice)
• Nestle semi sweet chocolate morsels
• Peanut Butter
• Powered Sugar

Directions:
Melt Chocolate over medium to high heat in a non stick pot on the stove. Once melted, add about a 1/4 of a cup of peanut butter to start with. If you want more of a peanut butter taste, add more. I used about 1/2 a cup total for my stuff.

While chocolate is melting, pour powered sugar in your biggest mixing bowl. Leave a little of the powered sugar to add to the top.

Once the chocolate & peanut butter is melted, add about 3/4 of the box of chex cereal to the mixture. Mix cereal in until it is completely covered in the chocolate. Then pour the chocolate covered cereal into the bowl with the powered sugar. Place bowl's lid on tightly, then shake hard. You might have to open the bowl and stir gently just to get the clumps out and every piece coated with sugar. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes to cool.

Once it is cooled, you can store in an air tight container or make into cute gifts for teachers, friends, or family members.

I like to make my own cute labels with nice paper stock and ribbon. Be creative.

From: 6 Inches of Ribbon
http://www.ashleyrussell726.blogspot.com/

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

What you need:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

First, cream the shortening, butter and sugar in a large bowl. Then add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended. In a separate bowl sift together the salt, baking powder, and flour. Then mix it little by little into the batter. Then stir in the chocolate chips. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

Heat the oven to 375º.

Using upside down muffing tins, cover the cup bottoms with squares of aluminum foil (use every other cup so there's some space between them). Grease the foil and set it aside.

Unwrap your dough, place it between 2 sheets of waxed paper, and roll it out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 4-inch circles of dough and place each one over a cup bottom, smoothing out any cracks (we did this and still ended up with small cracks in our bowls - oh well!).

Bake the cookie cups for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Let them cool for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cookies together from the muffin pan. Peel off the foil and let the cups cool completely on a rack. AS you can see from the pics, ours didn't turn out nearly as pretty as the original recipe's, but looks aren't everything! :)

Just before serving, fill each cookie cup with some yummy fruit salad (or ice cream if you prefer). Makes about 10.

Playgroup Granola Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

This recipe is really great, but I have some changes that can make it near perfect. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, canola oil in place of vegetable oil, and I reduce the brown sugar to 1/2 cup and they are still super sweet, and even down to 1/3 cup and they're still yummy. For flavor I always use 1 tsp. of cinnamon and a whole cup of raisins. To make them chewy still use a 9x13 pan but don't spread the mixture into the entire pan- leave about an inch and a half empty space on one end. (The batter will cook exactly as it sits so you don't have to worry about it spreading. Also, you must be careful not to overcook these. Thirty minutes is way too long, but since every oven is different I can only really tell you that you need to take them out right when you see the edges becoming brown (the middle may still appear undone.) For me that is 18 minutes. If you do that they will stay chewy forever--just store them in a ziploc bag. And my last bit of advice is that you can get really creative with this recipe. For example, instead of raisins add dried cranberries and slivered almonds. Or up the cinnamon and add chopped dried apples. Or you could add peanut butter and freeze dried banana bits (like you find in the toddler section).
What I love about this recipe is all that you can do with it. I've been making this for months now. What I usually do is throw in whatever leftover bananas (goes great with the vanilla), applesauce, trail-mix, etc. into the mix! (this week I put in blueberries) Some weeks I put about a 1/4 cup peanut butter with the wet ingredients. Sometimes I put lemon, almond (especially yummy) or rum flavoring with the vanilla. Most times it comes out like a granola bar, sometimes like a cookie bar, but it's always good. I sometimes use whole wheat flour too. The only time I messed up this recipe, it came out a little dry and wouldn't cut without crumbling. I just crumbled it up, threw it back in the oven for a bit and had some mean granola. A good tip with this recipe is to measure out the oil first and then use the same measuring cup for the honey....it prevents the honey from sticking.
Add 1/2 cup of apple sauce to the mix . This made the bars much easier to cut and gave them a more chewy, cookie-like texture.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

• 10 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
• 1 liter vodka

1. Place the vanilla beans in the bottle of vodka and seal. Store in a cool, dark area such as a kitchen cabinet for 3 weeks, shaking the bottle every week. Three weeks is the minimum, store it 6 months for the best flavor. After using, replace with more vodka. The same beans will continue to flavor the vanilla for up to a year.

I split them and scraped out the seeds and placed seeds and beans into the 1.75 liter bottle of Vodka to age for 3 months, stored it in a dark area and gave it a little shake about once a week. After it aged for 3 months, I filtered it through a gold coffee filter to separate the seeds and bean fibers from the liquid, Don’t discard the beans, save them to place into the individual bottles. Gold coffee filters can be found at Walmart for about $5, they are very fine and make an excellent filter and they don’t absorb the extract. I placed one vanilla bean into each bottle so that it will continue to strengthen in the months to come. Used a small funnel to fill each individual bottle, added my custom labels, a gift tag and bow and I have a wonderful little gift to give to family and friends. I filled 10, 4 oz bottles and 1, 8 oz bottle and had about a cup of extract left over that I saved for myself. I would recommend using a 4 oz bottle; it seemed the perfect size for gift giving.

This is the best way to make your own vanilla extract! Don't buy those little expensive bottles in the grocery store. Make your own! So much cheaper.

Buttery Soft Pretzels

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.

4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

*I replaced the oil with butter and used less flour. Why is the baking soda bath is necessary: Old world Germans used to dip their brezels (pretzels) in a solution of sodium hydroxide (lye) and water before baking. Lye is a very strong and caustic alkaline. Because most people aren't comfortable mixing lye and water to make pretzels, baking soda - a much weaker alkaline - is now used in most pretzel recipes. Once the pretzels begin baking, a 'Maillard reaction' occurs. This is a chemical reaction sortof like carmelization, which allows the exterior crust to become a deep rich brown color. The reaction accelerates in an alkaline environment, which - you guessed it - has been provided by the baking soda bath. The baking soda, and resulting reaction, is also responsible for the unique taste of a pretzel. Without the baking soda bath the pretzel exterior ends up pale/white, and taste more like bread. This baking soda / lye bath step is paramount in making a pretzel a pretzel.

Here's what I will do next time I make a batch: After dividing the dough into 12 pcs., roll the dough out into a rope at least 20-24" long. The dough will expand. Spray "I Can't Believe Its Butter" after I place the pretzels on the sheet and sprinkled coarse salt. I tried this on 3 pretzels from my first batch and they were better tasting. Use a rack that's up higher in the oven to prevent burning of the pretzels bottoms.
These are better than Auntie Anne's!! The changes I made = I used 4 cups of flour instead of 5. I used organic pure cane sugar and All Natural sea salt and instead of vegetable oil (I used super healthy 'Organic Virgin Coconut Oil by Tropical Traditions') and also used that to grease the bowl the dough was to rise in. After putting the pretzels in the soda/water mixture, I put them on parchment paper which I sprayed with Olive Oil spray (instead of greasing) and then I sprinkled Kosher salt on the tops of them (on a few others I did cinnamon w/Raw sugar). The oven temp. seemed way to high even at 415, so on the second batch I decreased it to 400 degrees for 8 minutes - they got browned very quickly on top. After removing them from the oven I brushed melted UNsalted butter over the tops and bottoms of them - saturating them with butter (I did not put any more salt on after the butter). Loved the recipe -- the rolling took a while,didn't have a lot of patience - I didn't roll them on the table, I just rolled them between my hands vertically until the 'snake' became long and thin.

WOW!! These pretzels are absolutely amazing. They were soft and chewy on the inside, awesome flavor, with that great authentic thin "pretzel" crust on the outside. I spooned the melted butter over them after baking which soaked in and was just perfect. Next time I will bake at maybe 415 or lower to keep them from being too brown before being done in the middle. Tip: let dough rise in your oven, no heat, just turn on the oven light. Provides a draft free, warm place for dough to double flawlessly. Also use a damp kitchen town instead of plastic wrap to cover bowl and you won't have a dry crust to your risen dough. I do this with all of my bread recipes!

I've found the sea salt is the absolute best thing to top them with (but be sure to use kosher salt in the dough), Excellent recipe! I've found it is best to add 3.5 cups of flour and slowly mix in the final half cup as I'm kneading the dough. I've made these at least 4 times in the past 2 weeks. They freeze up great! Just thaw and pop in the oven for a couple minutes for an awesome snack!!

I made them as the recipe stated, using the dough hook on my mixer. I added flour until the dough was no longer sticky, so I do not know exactly how much I ended up using. When rolling out the dough I came up with a trick. You need to make them much thinner than you think, so i rolled small pieces into thin (like about the thickness of a finger) sticks, then joined two together to get them as long as I needed them to twist. I made the dough quite thin, but they puff up a lot, do not worry! I also dipped my pretzels in the baking soda mix, which I think really makes the whole pretzel. When they cook they get this browned yumminess on the bottom, that tastes JUST like the ones at the mall. I just drizzled them with butter and a little kosher salt when they came out warm... they were gone right after that.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Most recipes I have come across use a pie dough for the pastry but I was really stuck on getting a crust that was a little more sturdy — one with an egg. Often I see fillings of just jam, yet a little thickener added to the jam goes a long way towards keeping it from being too wet and soggy inside. Finally, a lot of versions I came across while I was digging around offer some sort of apology that the glaze (should you make one) isn’t as hard as the packaged ones, that a homemade version really wont hold up well in an upright toaster or that the brown sugar filling doesn’t have the odd stiffness of the ones you can buy at the grocery; this version does not. Sure, it may lack the sturdiness and shell-like slick of a packaged Pop Tart, but it has the buttery, flaky, no-toaster-required-to-soften-it transcendence the grocery store aisle version can only dream about, and hooray for that.

Homemade Pop Tarts
from King Arthur Flour

Pastry

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk
1 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)

Cinnamon Filling (enough for 9 tarts)

1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Jam Filling

3/4 cup (8 ounces) jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

Alternate Fillings: 9 tablespoons chocolate chips, 9 tablespoons Nutella or other chocolate-hazelnut paste or 9 tablespoons of a delight of your choice, such as salted caramel or a nut paste

To Make Cinnamon Filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

To Make Jam Filling: Mix the jam with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts.

Make The Dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. If you’ve used a food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Whisk the first egg and milk together and stir them into the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive, kneading briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.

Divide the dough in half (approximately 8 1/4 ounces each), shape each half into a smooth rectangle, about 3×5 inches. You can roll this out immediately (see Warm Kitchen note below) or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Assemble The Tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8″ thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9″ x 12″. [You can use a 9" x 13" pan, laid on top, as guidance.] Repeat with the second piece of dough. Set trimmings aside. Cut each piece of dough into thirds – you’ll form nine 3″ x 4″ rectangles.

Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of the first dough. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Tip From King Arthur: Sprinkle the dough trimmings with cinnamon-sugar; these have nothing to do with your toaster pastries, but it’s a shame to discard them, and they make a wonderful snack. While the tarts are chilling, bake these trimmings for 13 to 15 minutes, till they’re golden brown.

Bake The Tarts: Remove the tarts form the fridge, and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Cool in pan on rack.

Whole Wheat Variation: I was itching to swap out 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour. I am sure it would make it more deliciously breakfast.

Pop Tart Minis: The biggest struggle I had with these was the size. I actually like my baked goods on the tiny size, thus I think this could make an adorable batch of 16 2 1/4″ x 3″ rectangles.

Savory Pop Tarts: Nix the sugar in the dough and halve the salt. Fill with pesto, cheese, ground nuts or olives, or any combination thereof. Brush the tops with additional egg wash and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. Please invite me over.

Do ahead: The sweet versions should keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a week. If you’d like to make them further in advance, I vote for freezing them unbaked between layers of waxed paper, and baking them as you need.

Roasted-Vegetable Stock

• 1 whole head garlic
• 4 carrots, cut into chunks
• 4 stalks celery, cut into chunks
• 3 onions, cut into chunks
• 1 green pepper, quartered
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 bay leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Cut the top off the head of garlic. Arrange the garlic, carrots, celery, onion, pepper, and tomato on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables; season with salt and pepper.

3. Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven, turning every 20 minutes, until tender and browned, about 1 hour.

4. Combine the water, thyme, parsley, and bay leaves in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Squeeze the head of garlic into the stock pot, and discard the outer husk. Place the carrots, celery, onion, pepper, and tomato in the stock pot. Bring the water to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours; strain and cool.

How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

• Hard COOKED, not hard BOILED


Apparently, I’ve been cooking the eggs the wrong way. While the cooking water must come to a full boil in the
recommended method, the pan is immediately removed from the heat so that the eggs cook gently in the hot water. Hard-cooking produces tender eggs and minimizes cracking.

• Hard-cooked eggs in the shell can be refrigerated safely for up to one week.  Peeled hard-cooked eggs should be eaten the same day.

• How to peel a hard-cooked egg:

Gently tap egg on countertop until the shell is finely cracked all over. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell. Peel starting at the large end and hold the egg under cold running water to help ease the shell off.

• Banish the greenish ring.

This harmless but unsightly discoloration that sometimes forms around hard-cooked yolks results from a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk. It occurs when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature.

• Very fresh eggs can be difficult to peel.

Buy and refrigerate your eggs a week to 10 days in advance of cooking them to make the peeling process easier. This brief “breather” allows the eggs time to take in air, which helps separate the membranes from the shell.

• Hard-cooked eggs are easiest to peel just after cooling.

Cooling causes the egg to contract slightly in the shell.

• Prepare a dozen hard-cooked eggs on Sunday so you’ll have an all-natural, high-quality protein option on hand for your family during the busy week ahead, either for an on-the-go breakfast or after-school snack.

So here’s the info that you’ve been waiting for. Get your eggs ready.

How to Make Perfect Hard Cooked Eggs

1. Place the eggs in saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. Heat over high heat just to boiling.

2. Remove pan from burner; cover. Let eggs stand in hot water – about 15 minutes for large eggs, 12 minutes for medium eggs; or 18 minutes for extra large eggs.

3. Cool completely under cold running water or in a bowl of ice water. Peel and eat, or store unpeeled in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Version 2

Perfect Hard Boiled Egg (And I Mean Perfect)


• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 6 cups water
• 8 eggs

Directions

1. Combine the salt, vinegar, and water in a large pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the eggs one at a time, being careful not to crack them. Reduce the heat to a gentle boil, and cook for 14 minutes.

2. Once the eggs have cooked, remove them from the hot water, and place into a container of ice water or cold, running water. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

Granola Mix:

From: quirkymomma.com

Grab handfuls of any or all of the following:

Walnuts
Sunflower Seeds
Peanuts
Cashews
Pine Nuts
Craisins
Cocunut Wheat Germ
Granola
Flax Seed
Raisins
Banana Chips
Dried Apricots/Mangos
Mini Marshmellows
Chocolate Chips
Sprinkles
Rice Crispies
Chex Cereal
Grape Nuts
Almonds
Pecans
M & M's
Candy Corn

***USE YOUR IMIGINATION

Miso Pickles

recipe from: http://www.bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/

For those who can’t even think about waiting weeks or months before eating their pickles, this speedy version is for you. Admittedly best after at least a day or two, they’re technically ready to eat after only a few hours. Flavors of all sorts are possible, limited only by the cook’s imagination, this is a Asian-inspired. Miso, ginger, and scallions combine to create a tangy and unusual pickled cucumber, flavorful enough to stand as a condiment to just about anything. 


Although they may not technically be pickles without being properly fermented, I’m willing to bet that they’re tastier by a landslide in comparison to 90% of those corn syrup-imbued, grey slivers of limp cucumbers you’ll find at the local mega mart.

1/4 Cup Barley Miso Paste
1/2 Cup Rice Vinegar
2 Scallions, Thinly Sliced
1/2 Inch Fresh Ginger, Grated
1 Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Pound Pickling Cucumbers, Sliced

Place your miso paste in the bottom of a 1-quart jar or container with an air-tight lid, and add in half of the rice vinegar. Stir to loosen up the miso, until it’s completely dissolved in the liquid, and add the remaining ingredients. Throw on the lid, give it a good shake, and stash it in your fridge for at least 6 hours before eating, and up to 2 weeks.

Snow Ice Cream

Ingredients:


• 6 c. clean snow (Or use shaved ice from a snow cone maker)
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream
• 2-4T Sugar
• 1 t. vanilla

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately.

** Daddy made it for us when we were kids and he made it with milk, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Yep! Raw eggs mixed right in! Didn’t think a thing about it back then….I think today I would cook a bit to make a custard, cool then add to snow.

Puppy Chow ~ For People

Ingredients

• 9 cups crispy rice cereal squares
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• Into large (2 gallon zip lock bag, measure cereal; set aside.

• In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter, butter, mix until smooth, add vanilla, or In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon re-sealable food-storage plastic bag.

• Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Frozen Chocolate-Covered Bananas

Ingredients
• 4 large ripe bananas, peeled and cut into thirds crosswise
• 3/4 cup(s) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, melted (see Tips & Techniques)
• 1/4 cup(s) shredded coconut
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Directions
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Insert a Popsicle stick into the cut end of each banana third. Cover each piece of banana with melted chocolate using a rubber spatula and sprinkle with coconut. (Reheat chocolate, as needed, to keep it melted.) Place the bananas on the baking sheet and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours.
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Tips & Techniques

To melt chocolate, microwave on Medium for 1 minute. Stir, then continue microwaving on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted. Or place chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until melted.

Grandma’s Butter Noodles

Ingredients


• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and melted butter together with a fork. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt until dough becomes stiff. Knead on a lightly floured surface or in the bowl for a few minutes to blend completely. Divide the dough into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a sheet about 1/16 of an inch thick. Place each sheet onto a dry cloth and set aside for 30 to 45 minutes to partially dry.

2. When the noodle sheets are somewhat dry, roll up one at a time into a loose spiral and cut into strips as wide as you want using a sharp knife. Spread out the noodles to dry for about 1 hour before cooking or storing in freezer containers. To use frozen noodles, thaw in the container before using.

3. To cook the noodles, drop into rapidly boiling water or broth, and cook until tender, 7 to 10 minutes

Fresh Tomato Sauce

From Country Living

Ingredients
• 2 tablespoon(s) finely chopped shallots
• 1 teaspoon(s) finely chopped garlic
• 2 teaspoon(s) roughly chopped fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon(s) roughly chopped fresh oregano
• 4 cup(s) (about 4) roughly chopped red and yellow tomatoes
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon(s) pepper
• 2 1/2 tablespoon(s) olive oil
• 3/4 pound(s) tagliatelle pasta
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Directions

1. Combine the shallots, garlic, mint, oregano, tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 2 tablespoons olive oil together in a large bowl and let sit for at least 15 minutes.

2. Prepare the pasta according to package directions, drain, and toss with the tomato mixture.

3. Sprinkle the remaining salt and pepper over the dish, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, and serve immediately.
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Tips & Techniques
Organize by first washing all herbs and vegetables. Chop in the order listed, rinsing the cutting board only after chopping is complete .

Homemade Vanilla

The only ingredients needed are vanilla beans, alcohol (vodka, brandy, or rum) and a tightly sealable glass jar

Slice the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and add to jar. Completely fill jar with alcohol of choice (vodka is most common) and store in a cool dark place for 6-8 weeks. Remember to shake the bottle every few days.


Homemade vanilla extract can last for years. Some "home brewers" will remove the vanilla beans after 2-4 months. A few may even strain and filter their extract in order to remove any impurities. Others will leave the vanilla beans in the jars for several years and will continue to add vodka to the bottle as the vanilla extract is used. However, the one thing all home brewers agree on is that there is nothing quite like homemade vanilla extract.