Mayflower Cakes

As children, my family spent some time in Massachusetts & we would visit Plymouth, "Plimoth Plantation" & Plymouth Rock... When Thanksgiving comes around, my mind always flashes back to these trips. I cannot wait to take my son! But for now, I made these cute little Mayflower Cakes for his class:

 
Mayflower Cakes

• Cake recipe
• Frosting recipe
• Lollipop Sticks
• Paper

The cake mix I used was a gluten free box mix but you can use any recipe. I used my handy-dandy Egg Cakelet pan from Easter! I LOVE re-purposing holiday pieces. But you can also do Mayflower Cupcakes instead! What ever you do, ENJOY...

Be Thankful.

I am.

Thank you all.

<3 Lishie 
Gabriel's Mom

Homemade Slushees

Who needs the ice cream man?! Not us. This recipe is so easy & versatile!!! You can switch up the extract flavors, along with the color & make numerous types of slushees for very low cost. This makes a slew of cupfuls! The little ice treats were certainly a hit at our home & the blue color of these make them perfect little BBQ additions for Independence Day celebrations!!!

Happy birthday USA!
<3 Lishie
Gabriel's mommy


Homemade Raspberry Slushees
adapted from Love from the Oven

• 4 c of very cold water
• 1 c of sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Raspberry Extract
• 4-6 drops of Blue Food Coloring (or any color of your choice) optional

In a large bowl, combine water & sugar & stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Add in  Raspberry Extract & stir well. Follow with 4-6 drops of the food coloring to achieve your desired color. Whisk well. Pour into your ice cream maker (this recipe was tested in a 1 & 1/2 quart ice cream maker) & & run according to ice cream maker directions. Run for approximately 20 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Serve immediately.

Oh & don't forget to enter my SWEET HERSHEY GIVEAWAY!!!

School Bus Cake

Happy birthday Teacher!

On the teacher's birthday, what to do?

Create a School Bus Cake!!!

See, there she is, next to the bus driver^^^

See, there she is, next to the bus driver^^^

Divided Oreos for the faces...

See, there my son is^^^, in the middle^^^

And a TEACHER birthday card.

Thanks for looking!

<3 Lishie

Gabriel's Mom

Apple Cupcakes for Teacher

Apple Cupcakes for Teacher

Teacher Appreciation Week 5/6- 5/10.
Thank you...
For teaching my baby boy...
For taking the time to care...
For everything you do...
For the little things...
For the big things...
the kindness,
the stern-ness,
the gentleness...
the urging on...
the tenderness...
the love.
Thank you for it all.

<3 Lishie
Gabriel's Mommy

Apple Cupcakes for Teacher
1 Vanilla Cupcake Recipe.
1 Cocoa Frosting Recipe (see below).
Red Sprinkles.
Pretzel Sticks.
 Spearmint jelly leaves.
Gummy Worms.

Cocoa Frosting Recipe

• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 3 c powdered sugar 
• 1 c cocoa
• 1/3 c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients together until smooth.

ABCs/123s Cupcakes
1 Vanilla Cupcake Recipe.
1 Cocoa Frosting Recipe.
ABCs/123s Sprinkles.

~~~~~

Teacher Appreciation Days 1 & 2 are HERE.
For Day 1:


For Day 2:


For Day 3:



For Day 4:



And now, for Day 5, to cap off the week:
Apple & ABC/123 Cupcakes for Teacher

Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins

It's Teacher Appreciation week & today is Teacher Appreciation Day. My son has a great teacher & I've been throwing ideas around in my head for a week-long thank you celebration. Day 1: flowers & a handmade card (see picture below. The "card" is a pair of paper ice skates with yarn laces, all laced up. G's teacher is also a figure skater & skate teacher. The card says, "I APPRECI-SKATE you! Love, Gabriel").

I mean seriously, it's so easy to personalize a thank you, ignore that pinterest stuff! Do something FOR the teacher. I don't know about you but I had some great teachers myself. You know who they were... the ones who didn't count down the days till summer & who took a real interest in YOU. Yes, YOU. Well, I want to say a big thank you to all of them. They helped me so much.

I found out through G's teacher's sister that Ms. F loves carrot cake... I decided Day 2 would be cream cheese carrot cake muffins for the teacher & for the classroom aides. And these came out soooo yummy!!! You'll have to stay-tuned for Days 3 through 5 ;)

Love,
Lishie
Gabriel's mommy

Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins

slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Filling one 8oz package cream cheese 1/4 c granulated sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla Muffins 2 1/4 c, a-p flour 1/2 c granulated sugar ¼ c light brown sugar, firmly packed 1 1/2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 3/4 tsp ground ginger 3/4 tsp salt 2 large eggs 3/4 c water 1/3 c vegetable oil 1 c grated carrots, lightly packed; about 2 medium-large carrots 1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin pan. Or line the pan with paper muffin cups, & grease the cups. 2) To make the filling: Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl, & heat on low power for 40 seconds. Stir in the sugar & vanilla. Set aside. 3) To make the muffin batter: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 4) In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, & oil. 5) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. 6) Fold in the grated carrots, stirring to combine. 7) Drop about 2 TBsp of the batter (a TBSp cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. 8) Dollop on a heaping TBSp of filling; a level TBSp cookie scoop works well here. 9) Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. The batter will come to within about 1/4" to 3/8" of the top of each muffin cup. But don't try to use all the batter; unless you have particularly deep cups, you'll have abut 1/3 cup batter left over. Bake it in a separate custard cup, if desired. 10) Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted into the cake part of one (not into the cream cheese filling) comes out clean, about 20 minutes. The tops of the muffins will feel firm to the touch. 11) Remove the muffins from the oven, & as soon as you're able to handle them, transfer them to a rack. If you serve the muffins warm, the filling will be molten. If you wait for them to cool, it'll firm up. Yield: 12 filled muffins

carrots in a row

ooey-gooey goodness

"I APPRECI-SKATE you! Love, Gabriel"

Dinosaur Pull Apart Cake

Happy birthday to my boy, Gabrielosaurus! This was the first celebration on his actual birthday (4/17) at school. Pull-apart cakes are great for class celebrations- theme's there, without the cutting! This was easy- you can do it!!! My little dino had a great day!
<3 Lishie

Dinosaur Pull Apart Cake 

• 1 Chocolate Cake Recipe
• 1 Vanilla Frosting recipe
• green food coloring (or whatever color your dinosaur wants to be!)
• green (or matching sugar sprinkles)
• Bugles
• 2 white chocolate chips
• Eyes (you can make them with a toothpick & paper!)

24-25 cupcakes

Favors for the class <3
Dinosaur mask, dinosaur pencil, dinosaur stickers, dinosaur eraser & a personalized dinosaur coloring sheet

Mix the vanilla frosting with the food coloring to get the color you want; Frost the cupcakes. Place in the pattern above (pictured). add the green sprinkles, the bugles for the spine & claws... the eyes & the 2 chips for the nostrils.

Easter Bunny Cookies

I love to sending in goodies to my little one's preschool class. I've had these chocolate chip shape cookies on my radar since St. Patrick's Day & want to change up the cupcake thing. I am really going to call these "abstract" bunny cookies but they taste great!!! Ha ha. I also attempted to make Easter eggs but they came out looking like, well, chocolate chip cookies :)

Everyone have a blessed Holy Thursday.

<3 Lishie

Easter Bunny Cookies 

slightly adapted from Nestle

• 1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 1/3 c granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 1/2 c a-p flour
• 2 c (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels (I used the pastel pink & yellow ones + milk chocolate)
• 1 tube of decorative frosting or gel.

Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract & salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg yolk. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in morsels. Shape dough into 2 round discs; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 1 hour or until firm. *Lishie tip- I'd suggest placing the dough in the freezer- makes it easier & more pliable to work it.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Roll each disc to 1/4" thickness between two sheets of waxed paper. Cut into *bunny* (or any) shapes; place on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate.

These are the Bunny Pockets I made to send in to Gabriel's classmates. I think they came out cute! I placed a fruit treat in each & on the back there's a label saying, "Hoppy Easter, ______" Love, Gabriel.

March 28, 2013 is Eggsibit Day

Tomorrow, March 28th, is Eggsibit Day! 

 

Eggsibits (art exhibits of beautifully decorated eggs) take place each spring all around the world. At the annual Eggsibit in Phillipsburg, New Jersey for example, judges from the National Egg Art Guild award prizes for the most original, the most beautiful, and the most humorous egg designs. People have been decorating eggs for centuries. One of the traditional forms of this ancient art is the wax-resist method, which is popular in eastern Europe. Artists use a stylus to create a design on the egg with melted beeswax before dipping it in the dye. The wax seals that section of the design so it doesn’t absorb the color. They adjust the wax and repeat the process with different colored dyes to create an intricate pattern. 

In honor of Eggsibit Day, check out our DeLish DeMaria family's not-so-intricate-but oh-so fun designs & our Jello Jigglers:

Happy Passover or Pesach!

March 25, 2013 is

Passover

Passover begins tonight! Passover is an eight-day Jewish festival that celebrates the emancipation of the Israelites. Jewish families usually celebrate Passover on the first two nights of the holiday. They hold seders to retell the story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt and to enjoy a festive meal eaten in remembrance of their ancestors' hardships. During the meal, the youngest child asks the adults four questions about the significance of the Passover symbols. Traditional Passover food is kosher and does not include any “chametz.” Chametz are leavened foods made with wheat, barley, or rye. When the Israelites fled Egypt, they could not wait for their bread to rise. Modern-day Jewish families eat unleavened matzo bread during Passover to honor this part of their history. To celebrate Passover...  Make one of these meals from DeLish DeMaria:     Matzoh Brei  Chocolate  &  Sea-Salted Matzoh     PS- Totally plan to make one of these with my little one: Seen on Babble:  

Happy Pesach!

<3 Lishie

Palm Sunday

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday.

According to About.com Catholicism

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9), when palm branches were placed in His path, before His arrest on Holy Thursday and His Crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent, , and the week in which Christians celebrate the mystery of their salvation through Christ's Death and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

<3 Lishie: Spend the day with family in reflection.

DeLish DeMaria RECIPE: Soft Sugar Cookies

St. Patrick's Day Jell-O Cookies

I spotted these on Pinterest & remembered having them growing up. What a cute way to put color into cookies & the holidays! The color comes from the Jello, not extra food coloring :) And what I love is you can use any Jell-o flavor/color! The cookies taste like good, bakery-style cookies with a mere hint of the gelatin flavoring. And you can gussy them up with sprinkles!!! I <3 sprinkles.

Have fun with these!
<3 Lishie

St. Patrick's Day Jell-O Cookies

slightly adapted from Gwenny Penny

• 3/4 cup of margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3oz package of Jello gelatin (any flavor will do, but I used lime)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2½ cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• sprinkles (optional)

Cream together your first five ingredients: margarine or butter, sugar, dry Jello powder, eggs, & vanilla.

Carefully add the remaining ingredients: flour, baking powder, & salt. Mix well.

Grease & flour baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Roll the dough into 1½" balls & place on the baking sheets. It helps to add a little flour to your hands before rolling. I actually used my melon baller, sprayed with cooking spray first), then using the back of the melon baller, pushed down onto the "lump" of cookie dough.

Add sprinkles!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. They are done when you just start to see a light brown ring begin to creep up from the very bottom of the cookie. Move to a cooling rack & enjoy!

This is a great all-purpose recipe... you can change up the color and decorations to match any holiday or occasion. And Jello comes in so many flavors, there are lots of possibilities. Have fun with it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day ~ Leprechaun Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick's Weekend!!!

(And beware of the Ides of March)

My little one's school is celebrating today with green so I thought I'd send him in with these cute little cuppies for his classmates. They are Leprechauns with their Pots O' Gold. Very simple to make- but adorable...

Take a batch of your favorite cupcake recipe. I used my basic Yellow Cupcake one. But I folded in 1/2 cup of rainbow colored sprinkles in at the end since all little leprechauns need RAINBOWS! Whip up a batch of a simple vanilla frosting... 

OK, for half of the cupcakes, I made them the "usual" way in cupcake liners.

The other half? I filled the liner up HALF-way, then placed a flat-bottomed ice cream cone, UPSIDE-DOWN into the batter-filled liner. Yep.  Then baked as usual. Easy as that.

Allow all cupcakes to cool.

For the "Pots O' Gold":

Frost with vanilla topping then dip into yellow decorating sugar. Top with 5-6 strategically placed Captain Crunch pieces.

For Leprechauns:

Carefully peel away the cupcake-liner the ice cream cones were baked in; discard wrapper. Thinly frost with vanilla topping, then decorate using 

1) Captain Crunch pieces for hair & beard 

2) a large red or pink candy for the nose (I used the Lucky Charms cereal balloon marshmallow but an M&M would do, or large, round sprinkle, etc.) & 

3) 2 candy Wilton eyes.

Carefully place your leprechaun onto a new cupcake liner/wrapper.

The children will love them! I hope.
<3 Lishie

Chocolate Chocolate Chip & Peppermint Cookies

Oh goodness, these were yummy. I made them in December & am just now getting around to blogging. But do not fret! You can substitute nuts or butterscotch candy pieces or jolly rancher candy pieces or white chocolate chips... the substitutions can go on & on for the peppermint!!! Try pastel mints for Easter!

<3 Lishie

Chocolate Chocolate Chip & Peppermint Cookies

very slightly adapted from Hershey's

• 2-1/4 c a-p  flour
• 1/3 c Cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c butter, softened
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 3/4 c packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2  eggs
• 2 c Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 c  peppermint pieces

Heat oven to 375°F.

2 Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar & vanilla in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips. Add peppermint pieces. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Green Eggs... Cuppies!

Happy birthday Dr. Seuss!!!!! ~March 2nd

I thought I'd help my son's pre-k class celebrate with some fun cupcakes & saw these from Reading Confetti. Super cute & easy for this working, tired mama!

Hopefully, no one will be saying this: "I do not like green eggs cuppies [and ham] I do not like them ___-I-Am."

<3 G's mommy

If you are in NYC, come vist ME, Lishie:

Happy Thanksgiving

I am truly thankful for all of the support & interest I get from you all!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

And from Gabriel:

<3 Lishie

Pumpkin Pie Bars

We had Thanksgiving at work & I have a long commute with a lot of walking... so what to bring, what to bring? I had already decided "something pumpkin" but what? Well amongst the many holiday food emails I received, I got one from Kraft (of all places!) & this recipe hit me as very yummy looking & interesting. The twist that got me was the "crumble-like" aspect to it. The only adaptation I made was I made my own pumpkin pie spice (I never get the ready-made because I love fresh ground nutmeg. There is a huge difference!)

Problem was, I didn't have time to allow the end product to cool, refrigerate & cut it into bars... So I did 1 & 2... & carried the tin to work whole. The result? See picture below... I cracked the top & the entire thing was "U" shaped. Good thing, as always, it is the taste that counts because these were Delish... Oh, & sorry about the pics. I took them with my Blackberry AT work, before they were gobbled up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

<3 Lishie

Pumpkin Pie Bars
slightly adapted from Kraft

1-1/3c  flour

3/4c  sugar, divided

1/2 c  packed brown sugar

3/4 c  cold butter, cut up

1 c  old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1/2 c  chopped pecans

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 can  (15 oz.) pumpkin   

1 tsp FRESH ground nutmeg  

1 tsp ground cinnamon  

1 tsp ground ginger  

1 tsp ground allspiceHeat oven to 350°F.

Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides; spray with cooking spray. Mix flour, 1/4 c granulated sugar & brown sugar in medium bowl until blended; cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats & nuts.

 

Reserve 1c  oat mixture; press remaining onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min. Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs, pumpkin & all of the spices with mixer until blended; pour over crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. 

Bake 25 min.; cool 10 min. Use foil to transfer dessert from pan to wire rack; cool completely.
Refrigerate. 

 

Pre- Thanksgiving Post

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for...

Check out the guest post I did at Mom It Forward:

Nature Inspired Turkey / Thanksgiving Card

And look at these for Thanksgiving:

Plymouth Rock Cookies

After Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving Sandwich

Happy Thanksgiving!

<3  Lishie