Day Three Hundred Fifty One: Tied Up In Knots

While many kids will only eat the toppings from a pizza, my three-year old daughter only likes the crust.  She will forgo all the greasy goodness of the cheesy toppings for the yeasty castoffs any day.  For her I made Martha's Garlic Knots.  They are just like that really fattening (and amazingly yummy) bread sticks you buy at a pizzeria...only you made it so it's better.

You can make your own dough, or use ready-made pizza dough from the freezer section. Roll it out and then cut it into narrow strips. 

(This is where the photo of the narrow strips of dough should be.  It's currently missing.)





Then tie the narrow strips into little knots (kids LOVE this part) and throw on a baking sheet.

Once they are golden brown, toss them with a mixture of garlic and olive oil.

Fresh from the oven, these are de-vine and probably illegal in California and New York.  

Day Three Hundred Forty Three: Chocolate Fun-due

As a little treat for my kids I made Martha's Chocolate Fondue on Tuesday.  I had not thought of it before, but what could be more fun for kids than dipping fruit into melted chocolate?  That has to rank up there with making your own ice cream sundae.

Fondue is simple enough to do:  just melt chocolate with heavy cream. It turns into a lovely, glossy chocolate-y dip.  I served a few spoonfuls with some dried peaches, strawberries and marshmallows.  The kids were overjoyed at the prospect.

If you try this at home, fair warning:  It took about four minutes for my middle daughter to be completely covered in chocolate....and she's usually a pretty pristine eater.

In addition to nearly ruining a darn cute cardigan, she also managed a pretty impressive chocolate mustache.  She was so covered with chocolate that afterward, I undressed her and hosed her off in the shower.

The kids found the whole chocolate business very entertaining.

Day Three Hundred Thirty: Won't You Be My Valentine Garland?

Valentine's Day is coming soon and my kids and I are getting ready to celebrate.  Wednesday we made Martha's Valentine's Day Heart Garland and check out how adorable it turned out.

It was super easy:  after printing out the template, we cut hearts from four different types of paper.  When finished, the hearts are linked through a small slit in the bottom of the heart.  Glue the bottom of the heart back together and you have one adorable Valentine's Day decoration.

Day Three Hundred Twenty Five: Gemelli Greatness

Last week I made Martha's Gemelli with Yellow Squash, Peas and Basil.  Not only did I want to (figuratively) throw a new pasta dish at my kids, but also I wanted to use that adorable gemelli pasta.  Seriously, has a double-helix ever been so cute?

This dish is easy to make:  cook the pasta until it's almost done, then add the veggies until they are tender.  Drain, then put everything back in the pot with a little butter and cheese.  It's easy and you only need to dirty one pot!  My kids loved it, despite the fact that peas and squash rank pretty low on their list of Tolerated Veggies.

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Nine: Candy Cane Mice

My kids are out of school for the holidays.  This means that for the next few weeks I am the Entertainment Director for my household.  On Thursday, I decided to make Martha's Candy Cane Mice with the kids.  Martha made hers with felt, but we used paper and a glue stick. I printed out the template and helped the kids trace it onto the paper.  They cut out the pieces and assembled with my help.  

Aren't they cute?  We cut out so many Cinderella would have been jealous.

In the end, there were small pieces of paper everywhere.  My daughter had a piece glued to her face.  But, they had more fun playing with these little mice than should be legal.  And they ate the candy canes.  A toy that's also a sweet treat?  Santa was listening.  

Day Two Hundred Eighty-One: Grilled Mozzarella

I served dinner for my Book Club on Wednesday.  I made tomato soup with Martha's Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches. I've never used mozzarella for grilled cheese before, but these were delicious. They are assembled then dipped in an egg/cream mixture before being cooked.  It's sort of like a really large, flat, fried mozzarella stick.  

It's delicious.  Martha says it's her favorite way to make grilled cheese sandwiches and I am totally on board.    

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Nine: You Say Tomato...

Monday night I tried a new pasta dish with my kids in mind:  Martha's Shells with Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella.  I figured it would be a hit.  They like pasta.  They like chicken.  They like mozzarella.

They do not, however, like cherry tomatoes...a fact I wish I had known before making this dish.  Because once the pasta had been infected with the tomatoes, there was nothing I could do to make the rest of the dish palatable to them.  The tomatoes had to be removed.  Now.  And, even after they removed the offending tomatoes (with the speed and thoroughness of a Haz-Mat team), they still were suspicious.

I'm suddenly a shady character trying to push colorful vegetables on them.

Day Two Hundred Forty-Five: Veggie-Lover Spaghetti

I'm always looking for dinner recipes for my children...especially those that add veggies to the mix. I found Martha's Spaghetti with Peas and Zucchini and decided it was time to add zucchini to the mix.

Or "chew-kini" according to my daughter.

It's a pretty simple recipe and surprisingly good. The sauce is made with yogurt and is nice and creamy.

For the record:  my kids ate both the peas and the zucchini.  And asked for seconds.  Turns out the chew-kini is pretty darn kid-friendly.

:high five:

Day Two Hundred Forty: Chocolate Burn-Your-Thumbprints-Off Cookies

My son's birthday is Saturday and today we had a little celebration with his class. He wanted to serve cookies, so on Thursday we made Martha's Chocolate Thumbprints.  These were super to make with kids since they can help roll the cookies into small balls.  It's like playing with edible play-doh.  Just make sure nobody sneaks off with a handful of dough.  It will stick in your rugs.  Trust me.

Once the cookies are formed and cook for a few minutes, take them out of the oven and stick your thumb into the cookie to make the indentation.  I had never made these before so I was a little surprised when I nearly burned my thumb right off following these directions.  Seriously.  My kids were watching the process and when I was done asked me:  "Mom, what does 'Son-of-a-bunny' mean?  Who's bunny?"

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Eight: Candy-Corn Cookies

Today is Halloween and my kids have a Carnival at school.  (They are always doing such fun stuff. When do they go to class?)  I signed up to make a treat for the kids, so yesterday I made Martha's Candy-Corn Sugar Cookies.  I'm not a big fan of candy corn, but the recipe is simple and the cookies look really colorful and cute.

The recipe is simple: take a basic sugar cookie.  Bake it.  Immediately upon taking it out of the oven, smack a candy corn right in the middle.  Let cool and serve to all your goblins and goblin-ettes.

I sent these to school in a little box, just big enough to fit into a backpack...and be hand-delivered by a three-year old.

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Seven: Sweet Bones for Sweet Boys

On Tuesday I was the parent-reader for my son's Kindergarten class, so on Monday I made them a Halloween-themed treat to go along with the Halloween books I read them.  I made Martha's Sweet Bones, which is a simple meringue recipe piped into bone shapes.  There are so many adorable Halloween cookies, but I chose this one because there are several kids with allergies in my son's class.  This recipe is nut- and gluten-free. (I'm so thoughtful, I know.)

These came out super-realistic looking. One of the boys actually asked me where the bones came from....I told them they were the ribs of a small little boy.

I think he knew I was joking.

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Five: Not Your Mama's Paper Chain

My kids woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday.  They were unbelievably excited for my son's birthday party that morning. All that energy had to be channeled somewhere, so I had them help me with Martha's Curled Paper Chain that I planned to use for decoration at the party.  "Plan" is probably a misleading word, since I just decided to make it around 6:15 that morning.  Before coffee.

It's basically a regular paper chain you used to make as a kid, but every alternating chain is curled to give it a festive look.  My son cut, I curled and my daughter glued.  It took us about an hour to make forty feet of chain.  I suspended it from a tree that hung over the main table. It moved in the wind and made lots of satisfactory swishy sounds.

So cute and festive.

Day Two Hundred Twenty-Four: Chocolate-Covered Bananas & Kids

The other day I was looking for an easy dessert for my kids and found Martha's Chocolate-Covered Bananas.  As the name explains, this is simply a banana dipped in chocolate with chopped nuts sprinkled on top.  Had to be one of the easiest dessert ever...especially if you have a nut allergy in the family and skip the last part.

This also happens to be the messiest dessert ever.  I gave these to my kids to enjoy after dinner and walked to the front door to check the mail.  When I returned approximately forty seconds later, there was chocolate everywhere.  Everywhere.  I was like a HazMat team trying to contain the mess.

Them:  Mom!  These bananas are awesome!
Me:  Don't. Touch. Anything.
Them:  Oh, I dropped some chocolate on my lap.
Me:  And on the floor. Don't step in it. You'll track it around the house... And keep your hands out of your hair.

When the kids were finished eating, I escorted them directly to the shower where I hosed them both down for bed.

Day Two Hundred Twenty-Two: Perfect Pita Pizza

There is one thing my kiddos like more than pizza:  making pizza.  Martha's Pita Pizza is perfect for kids.  The crust is doughy pita bread.  The tomato sauce is delicious, but not too spicy for little kids' taste buds.  My kids each made two six-inch "pizzas" and were tickled with the process.  One caveat:  I didn't include the yellow bell pepper.  When I suggested they sprinkle a few bell pepper slices on the pizzas, there was a little glimmer of revolt in their eyes....

And I was not a confident general.

So we ended up with cheese pizzas.

But my kids loved those cheese pizzas. They were a perfect dinner...and I was able to take advantage of my in-house child labor.

Day One Hundred Eighty Seven: Fraternizing with the Vegetables

Other than sweets, desserts or candy, there are a few things my children will eat without comment or complaint:  chicken, pasta, corn, fruit, broccoli, rice, yogurt, cheese and bread.  If served on a plate, however,  each food must be treated like a prison visitation:  no touching.  No mingling.

But when I saw Martha's recipe for Orzo with Chicken, Corn and Green Beans, I thought I would give it a try.  The kids love these things separately.  Would I be able promote some food fraternization?  That was the question.

This recipe was super easy to make.  I used a grocery-cooked rotisserie chicken, so I didn't even have to cook the chicken beforehand.  It only took about 20 minutes to make and here's what it looked like:

When presented with this bowl, my kids initially started to complain:  Yuck!  It's all mixed up!  My daughter actually started to separate the food into little groups. I oh-so-sweetly reminded them that they liked everything in the bowl.  That didn't help.  Then I oh-so-impatiently informed them that the food gets all mixed up in your tummy anyway.  My son was amused by the thought and quickly got over his issues.  Seeing that her brother had broken rank and abandoned her, my daughter grudgingly proceeded to eat...but only one group at a time: first she ate all the chicken, then the corn, then the orzo.

Divide and conquer. It works with your children too.

Day Forty Four: Making Pizza 101

When I left home for college, my mother made sure I knew how to cook a chicken.  I don't recall exactly her instructions (calling it a "recipe" would be a stretch), but I'm sure she said something like, "cook at 350 degrees until the meat is no longer bloody, or you'll die."

Needless to say, I didn't cook many chickens.

Luckily I went to school before the low-carb craze really hit, so I subsisted on baked potatoes, granola bars, pizza and plain pasta. It's hard to die from undercooked pasta.

When my kids leave home to start their lives, I want them to know how to cook.  I don't expect anything fancy, but I want them to be able to make a few of their favorite recipes. I try to explain to them how things are made, but I can tell it's not really getting through:

Me:  See this pasta?

Three-year old daughter:  Yes, mommy, I see it.  :Takes one look at pasta then down at doll in hand:

Me:  When this pot of water boils, I'm going to put the pasta inside.  When the pasta is soft, it will be ready to eat!   :trying to sound excited:

Three-year-old daughter:  Ready to eat?

Me:  Yes!  All ready for you to put in your tummy! :pats child's tummy:

Three-year-old daughter looks at me, looks blankly at pot of water, then back at me and says:

Mommy, I want to play princess!  Cinderella!!   :runs into next room:

I'm left standing in the kitchen, cooking lesson in tatters, wondering what happened to my fairy godmother.

So today, instead of just telling them about how things are made, I let them make pizza.  We made Martha's Three cheese pizza.  It was complete success, except for the part when they started fighting over the cheese and proceeded to wrestle over the pepperoni*, until we almost launched one pizza onto the floor. Luckily, I have cat-like reflexes was lucky and managed to save the pizza from ruin.

*Pepperoni not in the recipe.

Fixings:
I used naan bread, which for the uninitiated, is an Indian flatbread.  If you've never had naan, try it.  I will preemptively issue an apology, because once you try naan, you will love it, and it will quickly become one of the Things You Try To Avoid.  Sorry about that.

My son sorting through the pepperoni...and sneaking some when he thinks I'm not looking.

Spreading the sauce on the naan:

 Mozzarella application:  (I let them eat any they spilled on the counter...so they were not exactly careful in this process.  I'm rethinking that rule for next time.)

 Pepperoni on top (with a few in the mouth for good measure):

Delicious pizza.  They were so proud of themselves.

Pizza's finished now and I'm still waiting on my fairy godmother...but the kids have already asked what they can learn to make next.  

That glow you see on the horizon?  That's me.  I'm beaming I'm so proud. 

Day Forty Three: Don't Bug Me Anymore Cupcakes

I made a mistake the other day.  After the Honey Lace Cookies nearly set off my smoke detector, I decided insect-themed treats were not my gift.  My son won't be bringing them to school. My mistake was not informing my son about this realization.  He was disappointed that he would not be the bearer of sugary delights and he let me know it:  By asking me over and over and over and over when could we bring treats to his class.  I relented and (with permission from the teacher) decided to try Martha's bug cupcakes.  They are achingly cute but the directions don't look that hard. (Yes, I know those are famous last words.)

Cupcakes:

Tops of the cupcakes removed and cut in half:

Beheaded cupcake with frosting:

The cupcake tops turn into (ta-da!) WINGS:

Seriously, how clever is that?


One could stop there, but Martha wouldn't, so neither will I....


Creating the bug heads with gumdrops and licorice:

The trickiest part of the whole operation was getting that licorice to stick into the head.  Curse you, bug anatomy.


Decorated cupcakes:

I cannot express how excited my son was to bring these cupcakes to his class this morning.  They fit almost all  the favorite criteria for boys' favorite things:  1) bugs, 2) sugar, and 3) a high potential for getting dirty.  If these cupcakes could also make a lot of noise and glow in the dark, they would be prefect.

Day Thirty Nine: Do-Over Sugar Cookies

After the disastrous birthday Puzzle Cookie yesterday, I woke up ready to tackle another, if much simpler, cookie gift. I was half expecting Oops, I did it again to become my theme song.  I had some of the sugar cookie dough left and a cute little box, so I thought I could make some little cookies to fit inside. *  I could make recruit my kids' help with the sprinkles, so it would be a success from one point:  it would give them something constructive to do inside on a rainy humid day. Mommy has her hair to think of.

Roll of sugar cookies with sprinkles

 Child labor: Sprinkling the cookies.

Cookies ready for the oven: 

Delicious cookies straight from the oven:

Cute little box:

Cookies in the box:

*In truth, it was blind luck that the cookies fit so perfectly into the box.  Had I tried to make them fit into this box, you would be reading an amusing account of how I broke all the cookies trying to fit them in. :Thank you, cookie fairy:

Now this is a gift I can be proud of:  a dozen little sugar cookies in a ridiculously cute box.  :pats self on back:  They look so good, I'm glad I have this proof that I made them.  No one will believe me.

Happy Birthday, little guy.

Day Thirty Eight: Puzzling Cookie

We are celebrating a little boy's birthday tomorrow.  This little boy is the son of a very good friend.  He is turning four and his mother has asked that in lieu of toys, we bring one kids book that will be donated to the childrens' hospital.  It is such a sweet gesture and one that we should all emulate...But I sort of feel bad for the little boy:  what four-year old understands philanthropy? Poor kid is probably coming to his birthday expecting a toy-a-palooza and he's getting...books.

Books that he's going to donate.

So I'm not buying a gift for him.  I'm following directions...but I am going to make a gift, which was not mentioned at all by his mother.  (If you are reading this, please forgive me, B.)  The lawyer in me says that if it was not explicitly excluded,  it's an exception.

Gift-giving being rationalized, I'm off to buy the ingredients....

I'm going to make Martha's Cookie Puzzle, which in addition to being edible is also educational (you have to solve the puzzle), so it's not all bad, right?  (This is where the readers are supposed to agree.)

I happen to know that this special boy is crazy about dinosaurs, so I decided to theme my cookie puzzle on dinosaurs.  I baked the (really large) cookie and divided it per Martha's instructions.

 Then, I put a background of white icing:

Since I have a dinosaur-loving son of my own, I have to admit that I am pretty good at drawing dinosaurs.  Many an afternoon have I sat with a kid on my lap drawing the things.  So it was with some surprise that my dinosaur turned out like this:  

Not fantastic.  It looks like someone hemorrhaged on the cookie. You can hardly tell it's a dinosaur.  I thought about including a note explaining it was a dinosaur, but figured if I had to do that, then the dinosaur must really stink.  

And when I tried to make it better by outlining it and drawing in some details, it only got worse:

A photo of the handsome face:

And the tail, complete with spikes:

At this point, I'm pretty sure Someone is trying to teach me a lesson.  (Next time, I won't try to be clever, I promise.  I will follow all gift-giving directions, explicit or implied.) 

But now, I have a gift that needs a-fixin'.

I decided to abandon the dinosaur shape (a stegosaurus for those of you who were wondering) and just draw the number four.  That's easy.  Never mind that the sugar cookie now has approximately seven inches of icing on it.  Kids like icing.

With the number four:

Ever wish you had an "undo" button for your life? That's how I feel about this cookie. I'd like to start at the beginning.  Right about at photo #1.

This is the finished product:

I sort of swirled all the icing together to make an abstract image.  The puzzle is really more about shapes, than a specific image, anyway.

You might notice how this cookie is substantially smaller than it was originally.  That is because during the process, the bottom part of the cookie cracked.  So, I abandoned it.  There was also a large mouth-shaped bite out of another piece.  I'm still not sure who is the culprit.  But a smaller cookie is actually better.  We wouldn't want to give the birthday boy a a tummy ache.

Sort-of cool, abstract design:

Cookie puzzle in gift box, ready for solving:

A note inside says:

Happy Birthday!

Don't cheat, solve the puzzle before you eat!

I think it will look better when the icing dries.
:skeptical:

In the end, unless I wake up tomorrow and the cookies look like this:

I probably won't be giving the puzzle to the birthday boy.

I'll just show up with my book and hope his mother didn't read this entry.