Bean Bags Crazy

I went bean bag crazy this year. I had a vision in my head and set out to work. . . in order to make some fun gifts for my nieces and nephews for Christmas. Even better was seeing the kids faces get excited when they saw them. . . and then watching the bean bags fly across the room (fun for even the daddies!).

These small ones were made specifically for the newest arrival of the Klassen clan. . . Mr. Braden. I made them out of different orange and blue fabrics and ribbons. The backs are made of various textured fabrics (i.e. chenile, softy stuff, and felt). I liked these for the little guy because he can stack them or just play and shake them.

For the girls. My niece, Zoe, helped pick out this fabric. It made the cutest bean bags and bags. So nice and girly!

Rocket Scientist. . .

Trains, puppies, and mushrooms!

So much fun in a bag!

Cranberry Eggnog Muffins

Okay, so I have never made so many recipes from my Food Network Magazine, and the December issue I have made at least one thing a week. . . sometimes two. I am quite proud of myself. . . really I am.

This recipe just sounded good. I like egg nog. . . okay, I like Silk nog. It's completely egg and dairy free, but it still has this rich, creamy taste that is just delightful (thanks Steph for introducing me). This recipe gave me the perfect excuse to buy a container. These muffins came out incredibly moist and delicious. Even my husband, who strongly dislikes eggnog (due to the egg factor) gobbled these up each morning for breakfast. . . willingly. (it may have had something to do with the fact that I used the Silk Nog, instead of regular eggnog).

Charlie's Cranberry Eggnog Muffins

Food Network Magazine, Dec. 2010

Ingredients:

1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

1/2 cup apple juice

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups eggnog

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tbs vanilla extract

Topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Directions:

:: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

:: Warm cranberries with apple juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Drain.

:: Whisk the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.

:: Whisk together the butter, eggnog, eggs,a nd vanilla in another bowl. Gently fold in into the flour mixture, but don't over mix. Fold in cranberries.

:: Divide batter among the muffin cups.

:: Make the topping by combining the ingredients eith yoru fingertips until it looks like wet sand. Sprinkle generously over batter.

:: Bake for about 30 minutes.

A quick peppermint treat

I needed a quick and inexpensive gift for my MOPS steering team. . . they do such an amazing job, that I really wanted them to feel loved and appreciated. I really think hot cocoa is such a fun gift, because most people really enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa on a cold, rainy evening (and we've had quite a few of them lately).

Hot cocoa, a chocolate bar, and marshmallows.

For the marshmallows, I dipped them each in melted white chocolate and then again in crushed candy canes. After they had set, I placed them in their gift bags.

A quick peppermint treat

I needed a quick and inexpensive gift for my MOPS steering team. . . they do such an amazing job, that I really wanted them to feel loved and appreciated. I really think hot cocoa is such a fun gift, because most people really enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa on a cold, rainy evening (and we've had quite a few of them lately).

Hot cocoa, a chocolate bar, and marshmallows.

For the marshmallows, I dipped them each in melted white chocolate and then again in crushed candy canes. After they had set, I placed them in their gift bags.

Gingerbread Week: Part 2

Last week, we were just swimming in gingerbread. . . it was awesome! So, my pictures are way out of order, so bear with me. . .

Ethan had so much fun helping decorate the cookies with homemade Royal Icing.

He even got to put sanding sugar on some of them. . . he loved that, too!

Royal Icing Recipe:

1 egg white
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 3/4 c. confectioners sugar

Beat egg whites and lemon juice until foamy and then add sugar slowly. Beat until stiff peaks form. While using, keep covered with a damp paper towel. Use a baggie, cutting a small hole in corner of bag to decorate.

Rolling out the dough. . .

Molasses. . . an important ingredient (we went through almost 2 bottles last week!).

Our cookie recipe came from this month's Food Network Magazine. . . they turned out delicious!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbs ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp allspice

6 tbs melted butter

1 tbs melted shortening

2/3 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup molasses

1 egg

Directions:

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine melted butter, sugar, molasses, and egg. Beat with electric mixer. Beat in flour mixture in 2 additions. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

The finished product! It was a family affair and we had a blast!

Gingerbread Week, part 1

Gingerbread week got off to an awesome start! At the beginning of the week, I always try to make some sort of breakfast treat that is easy for Jon to grab on the way out the door. (I will confess that I have been really bad lately). So, this week, it just made sense to make something to go along with our gingerbread week, so gingerbread muffins we had. I will mention that they were delicious and did NOT last very long at all. Even Ethan gobbled them up rather quickly!

This recipe came from Taste of Home and recommended a lemon curd recipe to go along with it. I honestly wasn't so sure about the lemon and gingerbread combo. . . so I didn't make the lemon curd. You can find this delicious recipe here. I will also note that this recipe was one of their award winners. . . and it was a winner in our family!

Enjoy!

Toddler Time: Christmas Trees

Last week, we kicked off the first week of December by decorating our tree and doing an assortment of Christmas Tree crafts. I don't have pictures of all of them, but I will do my best to give easy instructions, and maybe I will get some pictures taken and add them later.

:: Paper Pieced Christmas Tree

Materials: Scrapbook Paper. . .construction paper. . . glue. . . scissors and/or paper cutter

Directions: Cut a triangle out of 1 or several pieces of scrapbook paper. If you want your pieces to be all different, you can cut them out of different pieces. I only used one piece of scrapbook paper, and cut a triangle out of it and then split it into several pieces. We talked about big and small, and we glued them on. I also cut out a star from some yellow construction paper scraps and had him glue it on the top.

:: Sticker Ornament Tree

Materials: Construction Paper, Green Christmas tree (out of construction paper), Yellow construction paper star or sticker, assorted stickers, glue

Directions: Choose a color for your background to glue the rest of your stuff on. Cut a Christmas Tree out of green construction paper. Have your child glue it to your background piece. Then give your child stickers and have them stick them anywhere on the tree for ornaments.

:: Foam Ornament Tree

I bought a pack of foam ornament kits at the Dollar Tree here in town. It was great, because it was 3 for 1 dollar! Super easy craft that Ethan loves to do. But, you can get them at Michael's or order them through Oriental Trading Company.

We are having so much fun filling our day with these fun activities. I can't wait to show you all our Gingerbread week stuff.