Cooking With Kids — Cupcake Kid Cafe

A Valentine’s Day Sweet Treat – Vintage V-Day Cookie Pops

image courtesy of Bakerella

I found these and fell in love with them. I do not think I could do these on my own – so all the Mommy’s out there will have to help, but I know my friends in my class would love these Valentine’s Day cookies.

It looks like you would need what is called frosting sheets and edible ink cartridges that work on some home printers. My mom and I have not tried this, but my mom found this website called TastyFotoArt.com that seems to have lots of products to do this type of baking. You would have to do a little research to see if you printer is one that can do this sort of printing though! There is also KopyKake.com which will give you more information on this process!

image courtesy of Bakeralla

I saw this on Bakerella – and here is what she did.

She made puffy sugar cookies (you can see the whole recipe on her site), but you could probably use the ones that come in rolls in the store if you are looking for a shortcut. Then a stick was inserted into the dough to make the cookie a lollipop. Separate the images from the backing and apply to your cookie. Depending on the shape of the cookie you may need to cut your image to fit properly. It is that easy! As a great added touch, she added a few dabs of icing around the edges which I think looks really pretty.

The options for decorating with printing are so fun! Let your kids choose the pictures though Mom!

Filed Under: Featured, Rachels Cafe, Valentine's Day

Almost Healthy Snowman Cupckaes!

Photo by SkinnyTaste.com

These adorable cupcakes, from SkinnyTaste.com are low fat, easy to make and as you can imagine – the kids love them! A fun afternoon activity to get ready for the holidays.

The face is made up of jellybeans, mini chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows and a few colored sprinkles. Standard Duncan Hines cake mix was used for the cupcake – but contain a healthy twist.

The mix was mixed with 6oz.fat free Chobani yogurt, egg whites and water for the low fat option. Take away the oil and butter and you have a healthier option.

The icing was made from powdered sugar with a little melted butter and water.

Ingredients:

18.25oz. cake mix
6 ounce fat free Chobani yogurt
1 1/3 cup water
2 large egg whites
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp. boiling waiter
M&M’s
Jellybeans
Sprinkles
Mini marshmallows

For the full recipe and instructions visit SkinnyTaste.com

Filed Under: Baking, Christmas, Holidays, Mom's Cafe

Kindergartners Talking Turkey

photo credit: Andrew

What a fabulous idea! Kindergarten teacher, Jill Cerny has an annual ritual of asking her class to share their thoughts on how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey. Each child creates an illustration and then dictates their ideas to the teacher who types it up and then adds their image.

Here are a few of the adorable things that kids have suggested!

Nathan: I will wait at the side of the road until I see a turkey in the trees. I will take my bow and arrow and shoot the turkey. My dad will skin the turkey and my mom and dad will drive to my grandma’s for Thanksgiving. My grandma will roast the turkey in the oven at 350 degrees. It will cook for five minutes. While the turkey is cooking, we will make a stew. We also make some drinks, like Kool-Aid. The turkey is put on a big table and some people sit at the small table, and we eat the big feast.
Ella: My dad gets the turkey from the farmer’s market. He starts to cook it in the kitchen. He puts it in a pot on the stove with a lid. It cooks for 45 minutes on warm, not hot. My dad takes it out of the pot and he puts it on plates for us to eat it, but my sister doesn’t like to eat it.
Tommy: My dad will go out to the woods and get a turkey. He will get a bow and arrow and he will shoot the turkey. He will take it home and cook it up. He will cut off the feathers and then put it in the oven. It will cook at 100 degrees for 20 minutes because it takes 20 minutes to cook chicken. My dad will take it out of the oven and place it on the table, and then we start eating it.

To view the full collection of stories and drawings submitted by Ms. Cerny’s class, visit the Darien Patch. It will be sure to give you a chuckle!

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Funny Stuff, Mom's Cafe, Thanksgiving

Veggie Bots – Makes Eating Veggies Fun

Us kids like food that makes us smile – if it looks cute, chances are we will try to at least taste. I cannot promise we will eat it all, but we will try it – and according to my mom, that is a challenge!

Getting Kids To Eat Vegetables with Veggie Bots Veggie Bots were created by Lee Bayless. He is a comedian who has created lots of things.

Veggie Bots is a set of tools that lets kids play with their food in a good way. They can make their veggies look like little building blocks and then stack them and build with them to create lots of different creations like robots, race cars and more.

I have not been able to find where to buy the Veggie Bot, but my mom is looking into it to see if it is actually available yet – if it is we will post a link!

But I thought this was a really cool thing to share to help moms be creative with their kids!

Here is a video so you can see how it works!

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Rachels Cafe

Edible Fruit Turkey

I LOVE this idea! The Fruit Gobbler is a great centerpiece or appetizer for the Thanksgiving Day festivities – it is although healthy! Your kids will want to enjoy this treat – cheese, fruit and all!

The turkey is easy to make and will keep the kids busy while you get ready for the big turkey day celebration.

Get all the ingredients ready, give the kids a picture and let them dig in and have fun creating! (Image Courtesy Family Fun Magazine)

Thanksgiving Appetizer Kids Can Make

Ingredients:

Bosc Pear (head)
Melon (body)
Cheese (beak & tail feathers)
Red pepper (snood,feet,side feathers)
Raisins (eyes)
Grapes (tail feathers)
Bamboo skewers
Toothpicks

Instructions:

1. Cut off a shallow slice of the rind of the melon to create a flat base for more stability. Using a bamboo skewer attach a Bosc pear to the front of the melon to create the turkey head. (Trim skewer if needed)

2) Cut cheese into a triangle for the beak and add a small piece of red pepper for the snood. Use toothpicks to attach these as well as the raisins for the eyes.

3) Cut red pepper as shown to create feet and place them as shown.

4) Cut cheese into cubes and use cheese and grapes alternately on skewers as shown and then place into the melon to create tail feathers.

5) Slice peppers to create side feathers and use toothpicks to attach to the sides of the melon.

Be creative! You can use other things on the tail feathers like pineapple, ham cubes, turkey cubes or whatever your family enjoys.

Have you made one of these with your kids? We would love to hear how they liked it!

Recipe courtesy of Family Fun.

Filed Under: Featured, Mom's Cafe, Thanksgiving

Oreo Turkeys – A Fun Thanksgiving Treat

: Image courtesy of Our Best Bites

I found these and love them! They are adorable turkey desserts made from Oreo cookies. They are easy to make and the kids can do them on their own – or with some help from mom of course! The idea comes from Our Best Bites, and the images are from there too.

These are great to use as desserts for Thanksgiving dinner, for parties and even as place card holders for your dinner table!

Here is what you will need:

Double Stuff Oreo Cookies
Candy Corn
Whoppers
Peanut butter cups
Chocolate frosting
Yellow Frosting
Optional: Red frosting
Optional: black sprinkles for eyes

Steps to make your Turkey:

1) Grab a cookie and put a tiny bit of frosting inside, this will help hold the candy corn a bit better!

2) Insert your candy corn. It seems that 5 candy corns, smaller tips inserted into the cream center works best.

3) Put a dab of frosting on the opposite end of the cookie from where you just inserted the candy corn, and then secure the cookie to the “base” cookie. Placing the cookies against the wall while they dry may help them keep their shape better!

4) While your cookies are drying open a peanut butter cup (have a parent do this part kids!) – and cut a sliver off of one end.

Image courtesy of Our Best Bites

5) Once your cups are ready, flip your cookies over, but still keep them next to the wall in case the frosting is not completely dry yet. Place a dab of frosting on peanut butter cup and place it on the cookie as shown below.

Image courtesy of Our Best Bites

6) For the heads you will put a dab of frosting on a whopper and attach it to the top of the peanut butter cup.

7) Use a dab of frosting and flue on a white tip of a candy corn for a beak, put 2 yellow dots for eyes and if you would like a smaller black dot for the center of the eye. (You can use frosting, a sprinkle, a mini chocolate chip for the black part of the eye).

Image courtesy of Our Best Bites

Once the beak stays put and everything seems to be sturdy, you can stand these cute little guys up and draw on some little feet if you would like. You can even add a little thingie under the neck!

To be extra creative and use them as place card holders, create your place card, adhere it to a toothpick and you can insert that into the center of the cookie!

And here is the final product! For more details, visit Our Best Bites!

Image courtesy of Our Best Bites

Filed Under: Featured, Rachels Cafe, Thanksgiving

Mini Triple Treat Cupcakes

Image Courtesy of Noble Pig

I saw these adorable cupcakes on Noble Pig and thought they would be a perfect addition to any Halloween party!

Made with miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups and topped with candy corn – or a candy of your choosing these cupcakes will give a big surprise when that first bite is taken!

The recipe is from Everyday Food.

Mini Triple Treat Cupcakes Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
48 miniature chocolate peanut butter cups, such as Reese’s
48 pieces of candy corn, for decorating

Preheat oven to 350^o F, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line two 24-cup mini muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together peanut butter, butter and brown sugar on high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and egg yolk, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture, buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

With the large end of a melon baller or a spoon, place 2 teaspoons batter into each muffin cup, then press a peanut-butter candy into each center until batter aligns with top edge of candy. Bake until puffed and set, about 10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.

Immediately place a piece of candy corn on top of each cupcake; let cool completely in pans on wire racks. (Store in single layers, in airtight containers, up to 3 days.)

To view the full article, visit Noble Pig.

Filed Under: Halloween, Mom's Cafe

Halloween Stoneware – Kooky and Spooky Cookie Molds!

Zanda Panda is a great shop for unique cooking equipment and once again they have come up with an innovative and just plain fun cooking accessory.

This Halloween add a little creative fun to your desert table with these Halloween Stoneware Cookie Molds. Every cookie mold is individually made and is built to last for generations.

The group includes a Bat, Cat and Witch and each measure approximately 4.5″ in diameter.

These molds are available for a limited time – so be sure to head over to Zanda Panda to grab yours now!

They have a great Pumpkin Spice Cookie Recipe on their site to that will make tastebuds happy!

A great rainy day activity your kids will love!

Filed Under: Halloween

Deal Of The Day – Halloween Cupcake Toppers

Just in time for the upcoming Halloween Celebrations we bring Cake Sugar Designs Inc.!

Bring some fun to their Halloween party with these adorable custom cupcake toppers in great spooky yet fun designs. From cute black cats to scary skeletons, these frosting appliques will have them thinking you paid an expensive bakery to make them!

And right now at Mampedia, there is a great deal for HALF OFF! Buy $24 worth of Sweet and Spooky Designs for you Halloween Cupcakes for only $12! Deal is only good through 9.26.11 so act fast!

Visit Mamapedia for more details on this great deal.

Filed Under: Contests, Gift Ideas, Halloween, Mom's Cafe

Kid’s Birthday Cakes That Will Bring Smiles!

A child’s birthday party is a day to show them they are special! These cakes will do just that! Creative and eye-catching, these unique birthday cakes will be sure to bring smiles to the birthday boy or girl and your guests.