The best leftovers EVER!!

I made 5 cakes this past weekend, a hefty order, but had enough time in between to make it a pleasurable experience. At the end of the weekend I had a bit of cash in my pocket and a TON of odds and ends icing colours. My sweet tooth wouldn't let me throw it away, and my brain wouldn't let me eat it all by itself, so I had to figure out a happy medium. I baked some chocolate cupcakes and blended the colours in one bag to try and make it yummy, fancy, and experimental all at once. These cupcakes became my lunch (my sugar tooth won over my brain in this one!) and then made a few other people quite happy that night, including Zack & Maggie who were allowed a bite of cupcake between bites of sandwhich (the first time I've ever bribed them to eat something...apparently they don't like avocado and goat cheese sandwhiches!). I had to post pictures to show you all how you too can make leftovers a request in your house :-)

New favourite treat!

We have delighted in this treat 2 times in the past two weeks! It is gluten free (important when our friend Jemaica was visiting), wonderful when warm, delicious when cooled, nice to eat for breakfast (shhh, don't tell Zack & Maggie), and really good for all occasions.

This recipe is from the most recent Martha Stewart FOOD magazine, which I now have a subscription to, thanks to my Mom!

"Puffed-rice bars with peanut butter and chocolate"

- 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish (I used margarine and an 8" silicone baking dish so didn't need the extra)
- 4 cups mini marshmallows (I used one big bag of marshmallows)
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I used 1/2 cup as more peanut butter was requested by Mike after the first batch)
- 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
- 6 cups puffed-rice cereal (I'm assuming Martha means rice crispies. In order to make this treat gluten-free, I used "Nature's Path" rice crispies as these are gluten free. The rice crisps are actually bigger than Kelloggs too and we think they are much better in all rice-crispy like treats)
- nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil, for pressing (Jemaica taught me a trick so that we could skip this step - just wet your hands to press the mixture down...they won't get sticky. It is hot though so be careful!)
- 1 package (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips, melted (as always, I used milk chocolate)
- 1/4 cup chopped, roasted salted peanuts (optional)

Butter an 8" square baking dish. In a large pot, combine marshmallows, peanut butter, butter, and salt. Cook over medium, stirring, until melted, about 4 minutes. Add cereal and stire to combine. With a wooden spoon greased with cooking spray or oil, press half the cereal mixture into the dish. Spread half the melted chocolate on top. Repeat with the remaining cereal mixture and chocolate; sprinkle with peanuts. Store in an airtight container, up to 3 days.

Makes 16 bars.

Next time I make these, I will take a photo and add it here

:-)

crafting...

I love to do crafts. My friend Katie said something today about being crafty, that she enjoys "making something from nothing," and I think this is what I love about it too. If you read my posts, you will notice that I have just gotten into sewing, so this is the newest type of craft I am doing. I have dabbled in card making and ceramics, and now think sewing is the 'it' thing. I want to teach my children how to make something from nothing, and how to have fun doing it. I also want to improve their fine motor skills and challenge them with new activities. This week our craft was beading. It was inspired by Greek Festival, where they both made bracelets. We went on a huge adventure last week to West Vancouver so we included a stop in a Michael's. I bought beads, string, a bucket full of other stuff, and then pipecleaners as a last minute idea. When I brought out the beading supplies yesterday they were so excited. The pipecleaners worked perfectly as they were able to string the beads on without them falling off. Maggie made 2 'bracelets' and Zack made 1. We sure are having a lot of fun this summer so far!!