Acorns

My mom bought mini vanilla wafers, and hershey kisses. Melt some chocolate chips and stuck it together and added a little for the top. We ate them too fast to take a picture. :) So this is from http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2008/11/chocolate-kiss.html This lady used peanut butter instead of chocolate chips to stick it all together, which sound just as yummy.

Frosting

Haven't found one I like, I'll want to try these when I need them. Never tried something remotely like this. Wait, maybe it will be a little like the Texas sheet cake frosting....

Chocolate Frosting
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Sugar Plum

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup milk
1 cup real butter, softened
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Optional: Additional cocoa powder as needed

Melt your chocolate chips if you haven't already and set aside to cool. You obviously don't want it so cool that it hardens, but you can get it close to room temperature and still have it be soft and stir-able.

In a small saucepan, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, and milk; bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Boil 1-3 minutes or until thickened like a thinned pudding. Remove pan from heat and strain mixture into a small bowl. Cool completely in the refrigerator or freezer.

When chocolate flour mixture is cooled, beat the butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until well combined fluffy, about 1 minute. Finally add in melted chocolate and beat again until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. If desired, add additional cocoa powder to taste, up to 4 tablespoons more. Spread or pipe frosting on to cupcakes or cake.

Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes.

Storage: Store unused frosting in fridge and bring to room temperature before using again. If needed, beat with an electric beater before using.

Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
recipe by ourbestbites.com

3 T Flour
1/2 C milk (whole milk is best, but I used non-fat when it's all I have and it's actually fine)
1/2 C real butter
1/2 C sugar (that's granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
1 t vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. I think this is the critical point for any of you who have had problems with this recipe. I have a feeling people are under-cooking this part. Let it cook, while stirring, until it looks like pudding (you should be able to see the bottom of the pan when you stir it). Even though it's thick, you can still it through a mesh strainer (just whisk the mixture in the strainer to push the thick stuff through) and then let it cool completely to room temp. or chill it in the fridge. It needs to be cooled completely. If you don't let it cool completely, it will melt the butter and you'll have runny frosting.

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You'll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat on the highest speed you can get to without it spraying all over the place for 7 minutes. Yes, 7 whole minutes, maybe even 8 or 9. I know that seems like a long time, but that's when the magic happens!

You will be scared because it will look like a weird goopy mess at first and you'll wonder what on earth you did wrong. Keep beating and something amazing happens. It goes from that goopy mess to something thick, velvety smooth, and perfectly fluffy.
Use it to fill cupcakes or other pastries, or as a frosting on top. You can't go wrong putting this on just about anything :)

One batch makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes with BIG tops (like the one below, or larger). If you're just spreading a little on top, it will do 24.


After trouble-shooting with a lot of people, here are some helpful Notes:

1. Use real butter, and a good name-brand. Cheap butter does weird things.

2. If you beat for the 6-8 minutes and the mixture still looks strange, beat longer and at a higher speed if you can. It should come together, but it takes a little patience!

3. Store at room temperature in a sealed container. Frosting may separate in the fridge, but you can store it overnight if left at room temp and in a well sealed container.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with White Chocolate

I changed up the recipe, a little for what I had, but the original is here at http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/cinnamon-caramel-corn-with-pecans-white.html

8 C popped popcorn (one bag popped, could use more it was really too sugary, and I only had butter flavor, I think it would be better with a lighter popcorn)
1/2 C peanuts
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Light Karo syrup (or honey-didn't try that)
1 stick real unsalted butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
White chocolate chips melted

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped peanuts in a large bowl and set aside. And by large bowl, I mean like, twice as big as you think you really need.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, microwave-safe bowl. Like a 2-quart bowl or Pyrex measuring bowl. Again, use a bowl larger than you think. It's really important to incorporate the cinnamon into the brown sugar at this point.
Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup (or honey) over the top of everything.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.
Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. (Longer if needed)
By this point it should be nice and bubbly.beware that if you over cook it, it will reach the hard candy stage and you'll end up with a giant clump of tasty concrete-like substance with little popcorn pieces stuck to it. Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Spread over popcorn, stir. Place in pan, place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Take out drizzle chocolate over and yummyness.

Apple Streusel

from Our Best Bites.. It really is yummy. I used the 3 granny smith apples, but I think I might want a little more apple next time. Extremely sweet, need milk to wash it down. ;) But seriously, just like a donut, or better. I also didn't have almond extract, I just used vanilla.

SWEET PASTRY:

2 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. real butter, softened (no substitutions!)

1 egg, beaten

APPLE FILLING:

1/2 c. white sugar

1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 c. (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples (I've used Granny Smith in the past, although this time around I used Gala and they were fabulous)

GLAZE:

2 c. powdered sugar

About 3 Tbsp. milk (whole milk is best)

1 tsp. almond extract

To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles. (totally used my hands) Gently mix in beaten egg.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. Preheat oven to 350 and set aside.

To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon and toss with apples.

Spread apples out on prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
When finished, allow to cool completely. (of course I didn't let them cool completely ;))

To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract, and enough milk to achieve desired consistency.

Place glaze in a Ziploc bag and cut off a very small portion of one of the corners. (Or just use a fork(Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden (you can place it in the freezer to hurry things along). Cut into bars and serve.

Homemade Marshmallows

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/12/homemade-marshmallows.html

Thankful Pumpkin Pie

Got this cute idea from blogs. I say blogs b/c it was on several, but I ended up on Parents.com. SO, thx for sharing, super cute idea! Maybe for FHE! :) Last week we traced our hands and made them into turkeys, fun!

How cute is this idea? Scavenger hunt for nature.

Quinoa

I'm so glad that I found a recipe for Quinoa. I bought a big bag at Costco, Because I heard how good it is for you (protein), but plain it's not so tasty. It has an unusual taste and texture.

This one is kinda similar to the avocado, black bean dip. (Not quite as good, but still good.)

So flexible, you can also add garlic, agave nectar if you like it sweeter...

Recipe from Chenae Duerden
1 cup Quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1-2 Limes
Cilantro
Olive Oil
Salt

Lettuce or Spinach
Avocado, diced
Red or Green Peppers, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Black Beans, rinsed

Rinse quinoa well under cold, running water. You'll need a fine, mesh strainer for this or you can place a paper towel in a colander. Quinoa has to be rinsed because it has this funny taste/scent if you don't. Pour rinsed quinoa into 2 cups of boiling water and turn down the heat to medium. Cook for about 10 minutes and then turn off the heat and let it sit. When you turn off the heat it might look oatmeally, but give it 15+ minutes and it will become light and fluffy. Transfer quinoa to a large salad bowl.

Chop cilantro and throw into quinoa. Squeeze fresh lime into quinoa mixture. Add salt and olive oil to taste.

The rest of the ingredients can be thrown into the quinoa, according to personal preference.

http://probertrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/11/quinoa-and-black-bean-salad.html

My friend is cool.

This is her granola rounds I want to try out. She has now become Editor of Natural Parents Network.

http://naturalparentsnetwork.com/harvest-spice-granola-rounds/

Way to go Beth!

http://recipesviabeth.blogspot.com/

This is her healthy, pumpkin muffin. I rate it around a 7. It's really good, but I probably prefer a bran muffin. It isn't addicting, but leaves you satisfied. I thought I had gotten everything I needed, but came to find out I had naturally sweetened cinnamon applesauce, so I used it instead and used a little less than 1/4 cup nectar and did a pinch of cinnamon to kinda counteract my substitute. I used mini chocolate chips too. What I really like is how filled with nutrition they are. ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 c. pumpkin puree
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. agave nectar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/3 c. unbleached white flour
• 1/3 c. wheat flour
• 1/3 c. wheat germ
• 1/2 cup oats (thrown in a blender until fine)
• 1/2 T. gluten
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
• 1/4 t. allspice
• 1/4 t. ginger
• 2 dashes of nutmeg
• 1 dash of black pepper
• 1/2 c. walnuts (thrown in a blender until fine)
• 1/3 - 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In one bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips (and nuts) and toss. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Fold the dry into the wet, being careful not to over-mix.
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes.

Pinecone Turkey