Epic Cake Decorating Day

Beanstalk Stump Cake

Our school has a fair every October, but because we just joined the school last January we have never been to the feté.  One of the requirement for every class is to bake a cake for the cake walk.  There is also a friendly competition for the snazziest cake, so naturally I wanted to enter.  I immediately started thinking of something to make and as usual my mind was blank. I usually don't have a clue what I will make but I got lucky here. Our class booth is the "sleeping giant," you know the Jack and the Bean Stalk story.  I figured I'd make a beanstalk themed cake, the ax was an afterthought but my favorite part!!  

My eight year old wanted to make a cake too she went with the draw bridge theme, I love her cake! She made a sitting night at rest with his helmet off hanging out by the river.

We worked, mostly in silence sharing tools, ideas for hours. 

 What a treat to be able to sit with my daughter and craft something that we are both totally absorbed in.  Who knows if either of our cakes will win a prize but I know someone lucky cake walk winner will be taking them home for sure!

Claire's drawbridge and Knight cake

UPDATE
Claire took first place in her division!!!
YEA CLAIRE!!
I won nothing.....

Batter Up... It's Breakfast Time

Arrowhead Mills Multi-Grain Pancake & Waffle Mix

Pancake batter that is, I know nothing about baseball! With school in full swing, make sure your kids are getting a healthy breakfast.

Recently I was asked by www.mambosprouts.com review a new product from Arrowhead Mills. We love pancakes in our house any kind will do, so we were thrilled to help out. We usually make homemade but having a nice bagged mix on hand is always nice.

This is what the product info said…

Arrowhead Mills Multi-Grain Pancake & Waffle Mix is made with a nutritious blend of organic whole grains including whole wheat, brown rice, yellow corn and rye. The delicious balance of wholesome grains bakes up into scrumptious muffins and more. Easy to prepare – just add water – delicious and nutritious pancakes and waffles are ready in minutes.

This is what we found out…

The product says it is 70% Organic, the main flours are organic. The lesser ingredients such as baking powder and corn starch are not organic but it is a good start for people switching over from completely non organic products.

They are full of multi grain but the prominent taste and texture from our perspective is corn. The texture is very much like a corn meal pancake, which we happen to love.

These are so easy, just follow the directions on the bag, add oil and a liquid, in our case we added water so that we could really taste the grains.

The first batch looked very thick, the batter was stiff and the pancakes came out too dense. My daughter suggested that we add more water to make them lighter. We added 1/4 cup more water to the batter and cooked a second batch.

The second batch turned out so much better. The texture is more like a light cornmeal pancake, but with structure. They are not sweet, this is nice because when you add a bit of syrup or powdered sugar they taste just right.

We went one more step and added frozen blueberries, this hit the spot! The frozen berries kept the batter from turning blue and they cooked up just right. They added a little sweetness to the not so sweet pancakes.

The outcome, we loved the pancakes and we'd eat them for dinner too. I feel fine about serving these for "breakfast for dinner" because they are a little more substantial than an all white flour pancake. We never did make the waffles, they call for an egg, and honey in adition to the oil and liquid. I think the egg will add a little lightness to them. I will try them in the next few weeks.

My seven year old said, "these are the best pancakes, I love them with the berries."

They are easy, and tasty, want to win a package? Leave a comment telling me what you would add to these to make them enticing for your kids? Would you add savory or sweet ingredients? I will choose at random and e mail you when you win.

Contest end date 9/22 8 AM.

Our random WINNER is...Emily...We did take in to account the Facebook comments too.

Emily B. said...

I second the chocolate chips but I'd go for milk chocolate rather than semi-sweet. Blueberries are always a favorite but maybe a bit too predictable.
If I really wanted to knock someone's socks off, I would add applesauce and/or mashed banana (along with a dash of cinnamon) to the batter. mmmm... super yum!
(And my two year old will think I'm God!)

School Year's Eve- well, afternoon....

I was so sad to hear Cookie Magazine has closed. I looked forward to working with them and feel for all the hard workers who have lost their jobs.

There was always a buzz around school starting when we were kids. We would go to the mall and pick out school clothes, a pair of shoes and new supplies. Maybe it is because I grew up in a very cold dark place and we needed clothes to stay warm. Living in Northern California we don't seem to do the big back to school shop like we did as kids. Maybe it is because Bubbi (grandmother in Yiddish) sends clothes to kidlet, or maybe it is because the sun is still burning brightly and the kids are still wearing their summer duds? For what ever reason we needed a reason to get excited about the new school year California style and Cookie Magazine gave us one.  I recently started working with Cookie and am loving it. They sent me a School Year's Eve Pack, basically a party in a box. School Year's Eve™ is a

 new holiday developed by Cookie magazine and PTA to help get families ready and excited about the new school year.

 I thought, why not try,and win 1500.00$ for my PTA, it would be super to be able to had over a check like that in these times.

My daughter was so excited when the box came and instantly started planning the party. The kit included some goodies like pencils and blowers, a very cute banner, napkins, recipes, and other goodies.

I added socks for each girl and cute pencils, and tissues for their desks at school.  Another great item I added was a discount card from a local art studio called Studio For Art.

You can help out local businesses by promoting them as easily as adding a business card to your birthday gift bags.

To make the cake I bought 3 pieces of cut frosted cake at the store, added green coconut and made quick Rice Crispy treats formed into little apples.

It took about 20 minutes to decorate the 

cake and it was very cute. I stuck with the apple theme after a friend suggested it, you know, - an apple for the teacher.

To make the apples, I made 1/2 a batch of Rice Crispy treats and added red paste coloring just after the marshmallows had melted. I spread the mix out on a buttered sheet pad and let it cool slightly. With buttered clean hands make apple shapes. I just happened to find some green shoelace candy and used that for the stems. My preference would have been to use rolled gumdrops for the leaves but I didn't find them until well after I made the cake. Instead I picked out the green leaves from my Autumn sprinkle mix and added them to the top.

To make the "grass" add shredded coconut and a few drops of green food coloring and shake. 

I noticed that in the party recipe book that Cookie sent was a recipe I have in my book.  Waffle Grilled Cheese, couldn't be easier just toss your sandwich in a waffle iron and press down until it is crisp and melty.

We also had a game or two, the pass the orange game is fun, the girls were having a great time with it. They had to pass it from under their necks with no hands, it was a good laugh.

I can always count on 6 year olds to find a game or make one up, like bowling for chalk.  They stood up the sidewalk chalk and used the oranges from the previous game as bowling balls. It was so cute they "kept score" with hash marks it was adorable.

The day of the party it  was so hot here and I got really lucky and found a Hawaiian Shaved ice machine unopened at Goodwill for ten dollars. I made sure to snatch that goodie up right away. The girls were beside themselves with frosty icy goodness, as was my husband! 

We made the snow cones and used thick mango nectar as the flavoring. 

Being a back to school party I did try to incorporate some reading and problem solving like the pass the orange game and reading the signs and napkins.  They are headed for first grade and all worked on reading the signs as a group, they did great.

overall it was a very fun way to kick off the school year. 

So I hope our photo can win that 

1500.00 for our PTA but even if we don't win it was worth it.

A Quick and A"peel"ing Snack

How to make a fun interactive snack when the cupboards are bare you ask?
Well, maybe you didn't ask but I will tell you anyway.  I am always looking for fun ways to make the same old thing feel new, so if you have and aging banana and peanut butter you have it made!  If you look carefully you can see the banana peel under the slices, just for fun.

I am not a lover of bananas (I know, I know how could that be?) but I am trying hard not to impose my culinary dislikes on my child's pure palate. I always say, "never let them see your reaction to a food, let them judge for themselves," but I don't think you have to do much convincing to get kids to eat bananas. 

Disliking the banana has been a bit of a hardship for me, missing out on shared desserts like banana cream pie, Bananas Foster, smoothies heavy on banana, it has been tough. (tears)

Lucky for me I happen to love peanut butter so I have found that the two together are quite good. I think most of you would agree with that statement, or at least be happy for me that I can enjoy a banana with my daughter now and then. Here is an easy idea for a quick snack.
Read about the contest below and see past winners too!

Back to the task at hand.

Banana Dots on a Peel Plate

1 Banana, save 2 strips of peel for serving on

peanut butter, smooth 

shredded coconut, cereal or cracker crumbs

All we did here was to slice a banana in rounds on a plate, use a plastic knife and make sure to let the kids do it.

Give them a baggie with a tablespoon of peanut butter in it, cut off the tip to create a small piping bag. Let them squirt the peanut butter on the rounds, this will make a mess. 

Place the rounds right on top of the inside of the peel  (hard to see here) it gave it a nice curve and the girls thought it was really silly. 

Let them sprinkle the coconut or topping of choice on the rounds and eat.

Read below and enter the contest, get the kids involved and have fun.



One Kid Chef Will Win a $25,000 Scholarship Fund

Making a peanut butter sandwich has never been more rewarding. The makers of Jif(R) peanut butter, the number one choice of choosy moms, announced today a call-for-entries for the Seventh Annual Jif(R) Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest(TM). The grand
prize is a $25,000 scholarship fund with four runners-up receiving a $2,500
scholarship fund. Parents can help their kids (ages 6-12) enter this
nationwide contest between August 4, 2008 and November 14, 2008.

Moms Voice Their Choice Contest

Through the Jif® Moms Voice Their Choice Contest™, one lucky mom will win a 4-day, 3-night trip to New York City and a seat at the judging table at the 7th Annual Jif® Most Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest™.

The Toddler Café Tips and Tricks Contest- WINNERS

I would like to thank you all for the entries we received for our Toddler Café Tips and Tricks Contest, which was so generously supported by Boon Inc. and Chronicle Books!!

Here are the top ten tips and the grand prize winner!! Congratulations and thank you for all the lovely compliments on my book.
To view the winners go here.

We received a huge amount of entries that were all so inventive and wonderful! It’s amazing that there are so many of you out there who take the time to eat and play with your kids in creative ways! It was difficult to choose a winner, but after a LONG deliberation, I was able to narrow it down.

Just as a reminder, the people who submitted the top ten tips (presented in no particular order) will each receive a Boon Feeding Product and a signed copy of The Toddler Café.

The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a full line of the Boon Inc feeding utensils and dishes and the super-popular Animal Bag, along with several best-selling parenting books from Chronicle and the signed copy of The Toddler Café.



Keep on Cooking!

Jennifer Carden
Author of The Toddler Café

The Toddler Café Tips and Tricks Contest

How many times have parents worked hard to make a new dish for their toddler only to have them throw it on the ground or refuse to eat it? Every mom has been there, and they all want to know how to get their kids to develop into healthy eaters that actually enjoy their time at the table. While there is no easy answer to this question, author Jennifer Carden and her photographer husband Matthew have created a cookbook to get parents started in the right direction. They learned with their own daughter that creativity, involvement, and fun are the keys to keeping kids curious about food.



The Toddler Café
By Jennifer Carden :: Photography by Matthew Carden

Check out the Toddler Café video to learn more about
their philosophy for feeding toddlers.
http://www.bookvideos.tv/2008/02/toddler-cafe.html



So now, we’re asking parents:

What are your favorite tips or tricks to get your toddler to eat?

Some tips Jennifer and Matthew Carden suggest are:
Putting the food in creative containers, like brown paper bags, an ice cream cone, or a teacup
Create creative dish names and stories when introducing new ingredients. For example, pasta with a creamy pea sauce is now Monster Mash and your little ‘monster’ can gobble it right up to get monster strength!

THE CONTEST

Chronicle Books and Boon, Inc. are sponsoring a CONTEST to find the best ideas for getting kids to eat. Whether it’s trying new foods or just getting them to sit still at the table, what works for you?

WHO WINS?: From your entries, author Jennifer Carden will choose the top TEN entries, who will all receive a signed copy of the book and a Boon Inc. feeding utensil for their child. Plus, will post all TEN winning tips here so everyone benefits from their brilliant tips.

Of the TEN, a GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a full line of the Boon Inc feeding utensils and dishes and the super-popular Animal Bag, along with several best-selling parenting books from Chronicle and the signed copy of The Toddler Café.

TO ENTER: Send an email to author Jennifer Carden at toddlercafe@gmail.com

WHEN: The contest lasts from April 1 until April 30! Winners will be announced on Mother’s Day!!! How appropriate!