Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Starbucks Gingerbread Coffee plus Summer Jello Ideas

Hello, everybody! I'm baaaaaaaack with a post that is less "recipe" and more "life instructional". All of the goodies here today aren't anything difficult but boy-oh-boy can they make your life a little bit sweeter.
First of all, Starbucks gingerbread latte mix. My friend Mindy brought this over. She found the recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it out. (I love when my friends try out recipes and then bring me the results. I didn't even WORK for this!) 

1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
(This is what we're trying to recreate. Can you smell it??)

So, you mix it all together in a large container. Large because it will start to rise a la those old volcano science fair projects!
 You can keep it on the counter, or in the fridge. It will separate, but just stir it back together. Add to a latte to make your very own home made Starbucks gingerbread latte! This weekend I was battle the WORLD'S WORST HEAD COLD. So, I was trying to stay hydrated, sipping hot drinks to soothe my throat and doing my best not to hack on anybody. I even tried a spoonful of this in steamed milk. Ohhhhhh, yummy. 

Passing along this sort of recipe gets you nice Christmas presents. Just sayin', my friends!
Now, usually I'm Sally Hawkins playing Anne Elliott in Persuasion (2007) but for the past month I've been working on a young adult project/ course with Franny Billingsley. I've had to put away my regency things and...
pretend I was high on a mountain top in Japan, surrounded by macaques. (That's me on the left. Looking tired.) You can watch these funny guys on a live web cam here. Seriously, click the link. It's a hoot. When I'm up late writing, I like to click on the live cam an watch the macaques hang out in their natural hot tub. (Who says writers are boring, eh??)

The Kuromon Gate of Mt. Atago, where my story is set. 
Anyway, that deadline was Monday and I felt the need to celebrate everything (I hope) I've learned.  Things like a believable plot, characters with hidden agendas (even from themselves) and world-building beyond a few houses or naming a state. 
 I really wanted to make some Mexican jello, like this tutorial in ourbestbites but didn't have an condensed milk or plain gelatin.
So, I decided to make something more like this. 
KIDDING.
 But I really did want to make some kind of jello treat so I decided to try something I saw on Pinterest. Cue the fail music, right? No, I was determined to make something pretty AND tasty.
 Now, I'm sure this post will have something that someone is allergic to, or is swearing off, or can't have right now. So, enjoy some fresh fruit while you read. Here, raspberries! They're not in season, though and taste a bit... bland.
 The blueberries are better. Not as good as the blueberries we get from the blueberry farm but these were close enough that we all started reminiscing about our time at the blueberry farm. WE CAN'T WAIT!!


 Strawberries. Freshly washed, ready to be chopped. The little guys were eating them out of hand, but I convinced them to save a few.
 Ok, the first Pinterest recipe had strawberries, blueberries and whipped topping in a pretty little display. I tried it. This is what I got. On of my kids said it looked like a fruit crab with eye stalks. Hmmm... Now it's looking at me.
 Ana was afraid all the fruit would be used in something that would be, in the en, inedible, so she tossed some in a bowl. The blackberries were just sweet enough that we decided we MUST make an effort this year to pick enough to freeze. We always say we will, but then it's 105F and nobody wants to stand out in the hot son, fighting off the wasps, and pricking their fingers.
 I tried another recipe I saw on Pinterest. Blue jello, red strawberries. Looks okay.
 I let it sit for a while. And then I added red jello.
 Ok, apparently it wasn't set enough. I decided that was another "fail". Nobody even wanted to eat it. Out it went.
 Third time's the charm!! Blue jello in jam jars and THIS TIME I waited an hour or two for them to set. (See? That's why the post is late. I has nothing to do with the fact I forgot I was here in the cafe today. :)
 After it's set (like, really, really set) cover with whipped topping and put strawberries or raspberries on top.

You can even turn them sideways and pretend it's for Bastille Day! 
No? Oh, okay...

I hope you find something to give your day a little bit of fun this week and let me know if you've found a great, fool-proof recipe lately!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Mini Pizzas ...Take Two

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have another snacky type food for those afternoons when lunch came too late and bedtime is creeping up on us. We need something fast, easy, and then we can move on to homework, baths, and bed. I put up the pizza crescent rolls and they were alright, but they tasted very sweet to me. So, when I saw this other recipe, I thought it might be more to our taste.

 You'll need flour tortillas, pizza sauce, cheddar or whichever cheese you prefer, and pepperoni. (Did I forget anything, Carol? Kav, did I miss a word? I need a proofreader, I swear. I should send these posts to you all before I hit "publish"!)
 The original post I saw was only a few pictures, without any directions. One had tortillas being trimmed into a circle with a glass, a la biscuits. But when I did that, it was too small! So, I used scissors. Yup, I'm classy like that.
 OK, now they're a little too big. Just adjust as needed. I could have measured, but who knows where the tape measure is. So, maybe four inches across? Don't quote me on that.
Preheat the oven to 350F. I just guessed on a temperature, since the picture I saw didn't have instructions, and figured I could turn it down I burned the first batch, or leave it longer if it needed more time.
 Since it looks like I only have one child, I decided to include the whole gang this time. As you can see, they were less than thrilled to be snapped at close range. And I see haircuts on the horizon...
 Swipe on some pizza sauce (about 1 tsp) and make sure it reaches the edges. Put in the cheese (about 1 TBS).
 Put a slice of pepperoni on the top. Leave off if you have pepperoni haters.
 I set the timer for five minutes, and they didn't seem quite done, so I added another five minutes. Ten minutes total.
 Ooooh, they smell delicious!
 The girls were having their online class on the history of Imperial Russia, so Isabel is giving me a combined "why are you handing me food" look and a "why are taking my picture" look.
 Here's Ana on my laptop, also "in class". It's great they can eat in class and not get in trouble!  Taught by a professor at Yale, it's open to anyone of any age, so it didn't matter my kids are 12 and 14. The application process is pretty simple. They get college credit, too! I've been teaching them Russian for two years, but most of the foreign pages they've had to read so far have been in Old Church Slavonic and some articles in Ukrainian. Anyway, you can see the professor in the top right hand window, and the main screen is the lecture notes she's writing as she's speaking, and the bottom window is the class, asking or answering questions. NIFTY. I would have loved this when I was little. Alas, all I had were old encyclopedias!
The homework has been really fun to see. Lots of livejournal links of what's happening in the Crimea have been added at the last minute, since it's history repeating itself. But we loved the section tracing the history of music in the Orthodox church.
Need a little chant in your day?  This is a  video of znamenny chant, and this one is a little longer but very beautiful video of Vaalam's Breathren monastery choir.
And then, with this video part of their homework was to translate the Old Church Slavonic to Russian, then to English. Since it took a while for them to do that, I got to hear this clip about... oh, twenty times. It was nice background music for the zoo...
 OK, back to pizza. Here is the child who does not like his picture taken. He doesn't know I'm doing this. Don't tell him I took it, and don't tell him I put it up on the blog.
 Aver, mi guapo jefe de jefes came back from work famished. He's not a pizza guy, so he made himself a sandwich. It looks like a normal sandwich on the outside, but see that little jar of pickled jalpenos? Secret ingredient. I think he does that so I don't ask for a bite.
 Ay ay! Esta es una mirada que dice, "PORQUE?" (Uh oh, this look says, "WHY?")
 And so I explain that all my cooking pictures have one child and no one else. This is his patient look. I see this a lot.
 While the next batch of little pizzas are cooking, I wanted to figure out what to do with all the tortilla scraps. One of my kids suggested baking them like chips, but with a little butter and sugar. Dessert! I don't have a pic of them after, but you can use your imagination. We sprinkled a little cinnamon on them and dipped them in honey.
 Before I forget, I'm giving away Jane Austen paper dolls over on my blog, so if you've ever dreamed of dressing Mr. Darcy then pop on over and enter! I have THREE to give away and although I'm a true Janeite, I need to reduce my stack of Austen goodies to a manageable size before it turns into an Elizabeth Bennet avalanche!
Ok, dear friends, have a wonderful week! I'm starting a new writing project and it's spring and everyone is healthy and the grass is growing and all is well with the world!
Until next time!