Pumpkin Cake

So it is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  There are people all over America cooking and making preparations for tomorrow.  My mom has hosted Thanksgiving dinner my entire life.  She has always made the entire meal from scratch.  She is a wonderful cook and baker.  Even as a little girl, I have never liked pumpkin pie ---- I know I know -- some of you are bugging your eyes out at the computer screen.  I am sorry but it is just not my dessert of choice.  SO if I ever blog about a great pumpkin pie recipe, you will know I found the BEST recipe out there -- and I promise I will share it.

Now although I have never really enjoyed pumpkin pie, I do love the taste of pumpkin.  My mom found this recipe, that I am about to share, years ago.  I really don't remember a Thanksgiving without this pumpkin cake.   It is moist, yummy, and pumpkiny -- and it goes great with a cup of coffee in the morning on the days following Thanksgiving.  It is not overly sweet, it is not had to make, and it is not pie.  This year I have the pleasure of making the pumpkin cake for our celebration because my mom asked me to help her.  I decided to have the kids help me with making this easy recipe.

Kids mixing dry ingredients.

Here is my favorite pumpkin recipe

Pumpkin Cake

3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 cups of oil
2 cups canned pumpkin (1 can)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs

Aidan's face after cracking his first egg -- "it's yucky mommy!"

Zuzu's face after I asked her if she wanted to crack an egg -- "yucky!"

Preheat oven to 350.  Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.  Then place all wet ingredients in another bowl and mix them.  Finally add the wet to the dry and mix just until blended.  Place the mixture in a well greased bunt pan.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Before serving sprinkle with powder sugar.  Told you it was easy.

Licking the bowl clean

Smiling next to their finished cake -- so sweet!

Happy Thanksgiving 2012.

Halloween Photo Memory Tree

Ever since I was a kid, my mom puts up this cute white branch Halloween tree.  She hangs white light on it and places it near a black caldron with cob webs coming out.  It is very festive.  I always liked it. Since I have had kids, I have looked to buy something similar.  This year I found a tree, a bit larger than I had in mind, at Micheaes.  It is black with purple LED lights.  It can be used outside or inside. I was excited because I got it for 50% off -- which is always nice.  The best part is how I decorated it. I took a picture from kids' past Halloweens, at this point that isn't a lot of pictures, and glued each picture on some felt.  Leaving enough felt along the edges to write in marker the year the picture was taken and put a hole punch on the top.  Through the hole, I put ribbon -- cute Halloween ornaments right?  I even put a few pictures up of my husband and I from Hallos past.  The tree turned out cute, and I look forward to watching the ornament collection grow throughout the years.  I have to say that the kids love stopping and looking at themselves and showing guests when they arrive.

Happy Halloween 2012.

Halloween Jack-o'-Lantern Cake

My kids are so excited about Halloween this year; they are four and two years old.  They helped me decorate, they have asked if it is Halloween everyday for the past two weeks, and they randomly yell boo at people in public.  My mom hasn't helped the situation .... she has had candy sitting out in a bowl in her foyer since October1st, so my kids have been trick or treating at her house ever since; hence, they have spend the month in a bit of a candy/sugar high.  My son will be a pirate again for the second year and my daughter will be a lady bug.  My son just barley agreed to let her be a lady bug.  I say this because last year he wanted her to be Sneed to his Captain Hook, which she agreed to of course. This year he asked for the same combo, but she had lady bugs in the brain and wouldn't give into him and his desires.

They are both looking forward to their preschool Halloween party and at some point a few weeks ago my son started talking about having a party at his home. My son is quite the entertainer; he loves inviting people over.  This worked out perfectly this time because my girlfriend Marian, her husband, and their daughter are coming over to trick or treat on Wednesday.  Marian's daughter Alessandra is three, so I figure the three kids (4, 3, and 2) will only trick or treat for a little while in this chilly weather.  Then the plan is to bring them back to our home, play some Halloween games, have some chili, and eat cake. Sounds like a toddler style Halloween to me. 

I have already shared my crock pot chicken chili.  It is super easy and very yummy.  Key mommy words easy and yummy.

But I thought I would also share the cute cake idea  -- a Jack-o'-lantern cake -- I got from Disney Family Fun magazine.  I made it last year for the first time and the kids loved it.  How could I not make it again?  It is easy and looks so cute.  The kids can even help you decorate it.  All you do is make two bunt cakes. Place the first cake upside down (flat side up) and place the second cake on top of it flat side down -- and you have a pumpkin. I stuck an ice cream cone, minus the ice cream, upside down in the center to create the stem.  Then I frosted it dark green.  Some orange frosting on the cake and black frosting for the jack-o'-lantern parts and that is a cute cake for a Halloween party.   Thanks Disney Family Fun -- great idea -- it will part of out Halloween tradition for years to come.

Goldfish crackers on a Cream Cheese Pond -- Great Kids' Snack

I first saw this idea in my favorite kid magazine Family Fun.  And it is so cute.  It can easily be adapted into many different food arrangements.  The basic idea is cream cheese with a bit of blue food coloring -- the pond.  Then you spread the "pond" cream cheese on a small rice cake.  Lastly, place a Goldfish cracker or two on top -- cute senerio right? Goldfish on a pond.

The base they showed in the magazine was a rice cake, but you could use a small pita.  Or you could place the blue cream cheese on a small plate and place the fish on top of the water and have the kids "fish" the fish and water out with a carrot stick or celery stick "a fishing pole."  The ideas are limitless -- just be creative and let the kids have some some with their food.

To say the least, Aidan was surprised when he saw his snack.
The simple joys of life.

Toddlers and Rainy-Day Activities

It was a rainy day yesterday; I had to come up with several activities to keep the kids' attentions.  I know everyone has done this before.  This is just a journal of what the day looked like for my kids and me this time.

5:30 am
Everyone is awake.  I am not saying this with a smile on my face. It is just a fact of life; I am raising farmers for children.  They like to wake with the sun; however, I always lament that I don't have chickens for them to feed.  If I had chickens, at least my kids would have something to do that early in the morning.  Since there are bi-laws against chickens where I live, I tend to relay on the Disney channel that early in the morning.

6:15 am
Breakfast
Daddy leaves for work, and the kids get instantly hungry watching him driveway.  It always amazes me how dirty the floor gets after oatmeal, pancakes, and fruit. Crumbs and more crumbs -- and two of the three food items cannot even make crumbs.  I have determined kids are just crumb-makers; they can make crumbs out of a banana.

7:00 am
Dress-Up

Aidan wants to dress up like a pirate. Madeleiene, Zuzu, wants to do anything he wants to do.  So pirate day it is; the house is immediately filled with Arrrrrs. *mommy/teacher hint: dress-up is great for developing a child's imagination.









7:15 am 
Science Play

I set up a fun activity I saw on Pinterest.  Put baking soda in a flat container with sides.  Place a small amount of white vinegar in several small bowls and put a bit of food coloring in each of the bowls.  Place a kid's medicine dropper or a kid's medicine syringe in each bowl. Put your kids in ponchos -- and stand back and watch the fun ensue.  When the colored vinegar hits the baking soda, the chemical reaction is lots of fuzzy colored bubbles.  The kids loved it. Aidan is almost four and it kept him entertained almost an hour and half.  Zuzu is two so it kept her going for about an hour.  Anyway I call that a success.  And at this point, it is ...

*mommy/teacher hint: this activity is good for teaching cause and effect

8:45 am (Only 8:45 am)
Snack Time
This past Christmas, my mom bought me an air popcorn machine.  I thought it would be healthier for me and the kids, they would enjoy watching the popcorn pop out of the machine, and I could put olive oil and salt on it.  Another fabulous use for olive oil --- trust me you have to try it.

9:30 am 
Cooking Play
I thought....... only 9:30am..... what to do... what to do.... ? Let's make pudding.  It is easy, it will keep them on a task, and it will give them something to look forward to eating after  dinner.  They were super excited when I told them we were making pudding. They yelled,"Yeaaaaaaa!"  Then Aidan asked, "what is pudding?"  Once again I realize that my highly healthy eating standards have held the kids back a bit on the spectrum of normal American eating habits; I am not saying that is a bad thing -- but I just cannot help but notice. I explain that it was creamy, light, and yummy.  That is all the kids needed to know.  They enjoyed sticking their tiny fingers in the pudding and sampling the yumminess that they were going to endulge in after dinner.
*mommy/teacher hint: cooking helps kids learn to follow directions

10:30 am
Reading Time
We went up to the kids' rooms and read a bunch of books.  They love taking tuns to pick books out to read.  I am so happy that they have the reading bug; now I just have to keep that momentum going as they continue through their childhood. *mommy/teacher hint: this one is a no-brainer -- reading is wonderful -- teaching kids to appreciate the joy or reading is life changing.

11:30 am
Art/Letter Practice/Stamping
The kids love drawing; most kids love drawing.  They like using those big dot markers, pip-squeak markers, and stamps. I have regular stamps, letter stamps, and stamps that I have made.  I keep those big caps that are on the kid's milk jugs at most restaurants.  Then I glue two of the same foam stickers on the back.  Instant stamps. *mommy/teacher hint: art/ letter stamping inspires creativity and starts kids thinking about and using letters.

12:00 pm
Lunch Time
I put on a little good old fashion Tom and Jerry.  Nothing gets the kids attention as two animals going after each other like cat and mouse -- literally.  This wonderful show allows me enough time to make lunch.  Ahhhh it is so quiet that it is almost scary how much attention the kids give to the TV. About 12 pm Nonna stops by to visit and have lunch with me and the kids.  It is always a  treat to have Nonna come by -- the kids squeal with delight when she walks into the kitchen.  She happily sits down and eats with us.

1:00
Nap Time
Zuzu goes upstairs and after a half hour of fighting her sleepy feelings, she surrenders.  Aidan says he is a big boy now, so he wants to take his nap on the couch in the family room.  Nap time today ... it is so quiet in the house that I hate to even breath too loudly.  Most of the time the kids take naps at different times, which is good and bad.  Good because  I get alone time with each of the kids.  Bad because I don't get any down time for myself.  But soon they will be big and they will not want to spend all their time with me and I will have so much down time that I will not know what to do with it.  So for now -- I don't care about my down time.  But today -- they happen to asleep at the same time.  The quiet house and the sound of the soft falling rain is beautiful.

2:00 pm.  At this point, there is still a lot of day left.
Sorting Game
This game keeps their attention for awhile.  I bought a large divided dish at the Dollar Store, a bunch of colored pom poms, and a couple of tongs.  I give them some of their bowls.... and they are off and running having a good time.  At first I ask them to follow my directions, put all the blue pom pom here and all the yellow there .... you get the idea.  Then after awhile, they start to create their own plan.  It is amazing to watch how they think and the patterns they see. *mommy/teaching hint: sorting and creating patterns with color is the beginning of mathematical skills, literacy skills, organizational skills.

3:30 pm
Pirate Dress up (again)

4:00 pm
Mommy starts to make dinner
The rest of the day is filled with playing in the family room, basement, and mommy making dinner.

After dinner, it is bath time, reading time, snuggle time......whoooooo.... bed time.

Hope tomorrow is not rainy; cannot wait to get outside and play on the swing set.

Zucchini Bread

August 8th is National Zucchini Day (aka "sneak a zucchini on your friend's porch day"); this day was established by Tom Roy a Pennsylvanian who thought it was a good way to spread out the overwhelming amounts of squash being harvested at this time of year.  Tom Roy wanted to encourage the sharing of the overzealous vegetable crop.

"Sneak a Zucchini on your Friend's Porch Day" was a big success this year for my family.  My son is almost four and my daughter is two; they really got into it this year.  Aidan wanted to make a pirate zucchini man.  Which was not a big surprise, since he has been dressing up as a pirate at least twice a week since last September when Target starting selling Halloween costumes, and I bought his pirate costume.  He has actually gotten to the point of introducing himself as Pirate Aidan, Arrrrrr.  And it is always at that point where I happily say, "yes, my son is a pirate." And my daughter decided she wanted a Mee Mee (aka to the rest of the world as Minnie Mouse) zucchini girl. So the three of us were off to crafting a pirate and a Minnie.

We put a pirate scarf on one and Mee Mee (Minnie) ears on the other one. A sword and a couple of sets of eyes and we had accomplished our task; they turned out adorable. It was time to make the zucchini bread. This is the recipe I used; I found it on www.allrecipes.com. It had all sorts of great reviews, so I thought I would give it a try. The only tweek I made was adding some nutmeg. I cannot make a recipe without adding something. Nutmeg was an easy no-brainer to add. I have to say the zuuchini bread turned out moist and yummy; I would make it again.


Zucchini Bread 

3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg (this is what I added)
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups of graded zucchini (I chopped it finely)
1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and nuts.  Mix all wet ingredients: zucchini, eggs, oil, and vanilla.  Mix wet and dry just until combined.  Place batter into greased and floured pans.  This will either make 2 loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 40 - 60  minutes.  I made 4 mini loaf pans and it took 55 minutes.  They turned out perfect.

Back to the Zucchini Day...

My kids were so cute as they creeped up our neighbor's driveway to leave Pirate Zucchini, Ms. Minnie Zucchini, and the mini zucchini bread.  They were very proud of themselves as they ran back to the car.  The only glich in our plan was my daughter; she started to run back to the car with her beloved Minnie Zucchini still in her tight little grasp.  I had to pry it out of her hot little hands.  A few hours later, our neighbor, my kids call her Ms. Dawn, called to say she knew only two little kids who would leave a little pirate and Minnie zucchini on her front porch.  The kids laughed with delight as she teased them and told them how much she appreciated the squash people and the zucchini bread.

Another successful year celebrating August 8th, Zucchini Day.  But it's not about the silly "National Holiday;" that is just my excuse today.  It is about creating traditions and memories with my children who have stolen my heart and soul and filled them with love.  I adore spending time with them; and on that note, I'm closing the laptop so I can go and play with them.

Sneak a Zucchini on your Friend's Porch Day is ALMOST HERE!

It is almost here --- August 8th.

Wednesday, August 8th is National Zucchini Day -- otherwise known as Sneak a Zucchini on your friend's pouch day.  My kids and I had a ton of fun celebrating last year and making our zucchini people. We left our zucchini people on the Weihe's, our dear friends, porch.  We loved making the zucchini people, and our friend's loved receiving them.

To read the whole story and see the zucchini people we made see my entry from September 3th 2011  or look under my Craft Tab and find "Sneak a Zucchini on your Friend's Porch."  I will be posting our cute zucchini people from this year later this week.  If you are a close friend of mine, be on the look out --- you may be the lucky recipient this year.   We are also making zucchini bread this year to go along with the people -- yummy.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Whose porch will you be putting your zucchini people on?