Green Eggs and Ham

 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! #greeneggsandham twitter.com/Elizabelle17/s…

— Elizabeth Cook (@Elizabelle17) March 2, 2013

 

Since Saturday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, we celebrated at home with a little whimsy.

First, since I couldn’t find our copy of Green Eggs and Ham, I had Brian show this to the kids while I made brunch. 

I used an obscene amount of green food coloring to produce our green eggs and ham.  Anything for the kids, right?  So, to make green eggs is kind of obvious.  Drip the food coloring into the scrambled egg yolk mixture before cooking.  For the ham, I melted a little butter in the pan and then added the food coloring.  Mix it up then add the ham, stirring around till the ham is nice and green.  I used deli sliced ham, but I would so much have rather used some spiral cut ham.  I can honestly tell Sam-I-Am that I do not like THAT kind of green ham.  Sorry, it’s the truth.  I don’t like fried baloney either, that’s just the way it is folks.

 

Sophie was hilarious. She saw the green eggs and ham and freaked out!  She told me she did NOT like green eggs and ham.  She was not going to eat it.  I asked her some of the questions from the book, (in a box? with a fox?)  If I remember correctly, there were even tears.  But eventually, she did try it.  And she liked it.  She ate it all, (even though it was probably cold by then.)  Liam did too, but without the drama.

Celebrate Read Across America every year to promote reading and celebrate the life of Theodore Geisel.  But don’t wait until March 2nd to enjoy some Seussical fun!  See my board on Pinterest where I will continue to add great Seuss ideas, (feel free to link to your favorites in the comments below.)

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My Little Valentines

Yesterday was our Homeschool Support Groups Valentine's Party.  I had recently found some Meyer Lemons (love them!) and decided to use them to make the lemon bars The Food Librarian made here.  Myer lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange.  It’s skin is thinner than a regular lemon and it has a milder, sweeter flavor too. 

I cut these smaller than The Food Librarian did.  I wanted them to fit into mini cupcake wrappers.  I just love tiny desserts:

Cute + Portion Control = Awesome!

The first thing we did at the party was decorate our bags or boxes. 

Everyone brought whatever supplies they had and we shared.

Later, after we ate, we lined the bags along the wall in the hallway. 

We got in line.

And we put a Valentine into each bag.

When that was done, we went back to our table and checked out the loot.

For the party, and many other kids we know, Liam and Sophie gave store bought Valentines.  But they also handmade a few for some family and friends.  I’ve said these are the Valentines to make people think I’ve got it all together.  Because, surely, if she has time to make those, she’s got everything else under control.  Feel free to think that if you wish. I’ll allow it.

For this cute owl, I printed the text and glued it and the body of the owl onto a 4x6 unlined notecard.  Sophie then glued the parts on.  She decided to use two patterns for each owl, which gave us several combinations.  To make the pattern, I drew the owl pattern pieces on a blank piece of paper. Then I just trimmed my scrapbook paper to fit my printer and scanned the pattern onto the backs of my scrapbook paper.  Then I cut the pieces out, (no small feat!) Sophie did a pretty good job gluing if I do say so myself.

For Liam’s Valentines, it couldn’t be more appropriate than to use the sign, “I Love You”.   To make these, just trace a hand print onto flesh colored paper, cut out and glue the middle and ring finger down.  You could fold the paper at the “knuckle” but I just let it bend slightly.  You can glue these to whatever heart shape your heart desires, but store bought paper doilies was the easiest thing for me to do.  After cutting out all those owl bits, I was ready for easy!

The kids are learning Sign Language from Pop and the Old School Sesame Street books you can find here and here. These are the same ones I had when I was a kid, and I found them used for a great price.  The kids are enjoying learning to sign.  Pop is an interpreter, so he is a great teacher!  Liam is really picking up on it and loves to sign, “I Love You.” 

Hope you are having

a lovely

Valentine’s Day!

 

Not Back To School Part 2

 

Last month I mentioned that I had brought two dishes to our Homeschool Support Group’s Not Back To School Party.  I almost forgot to tell you about the dessert!  But first, some more pictures of my cuties from the party.

Liam really wanted to slide.

It was a really big slide.

But Liam had some help.

Maybe a little too much help.

So, here it is.  Chocolate Cake with Biscoff Cream Cheese Icing. This recipe came from The Food Librarian.  She had me at Biscoff.  I love those little cookies, and am so glad that not only they, but also the spread made from them, have made it to local grocery stores. 

I followed the two recipes The Food Librarian used but alas! I do not own any of those lovely chocolate sprinkles.  I think I need to check World Market for them.  So, instead, I crushed some Biscoff cookies and sprinkled on top. 

My assessment: the chocolate cake is a good one.  It is very easy to make.  It also stayed moist for me.  The icing, oh the icing!  I don’t know what magical properties this concoction created, but this is a very unique icing.  There was a smoky flavor and the tang from the cheese.  It seemed to have a mature flavor, so do not hesitate to make these with grownups in mind.  But, hey, it’s cake, so kids will dig it too.

P.S. If you are not already following The Food Librarian’s blog, you really should. 

Forever Nigella: Packed Lunch Stars

 

Well, it’s official, we’re homeschoolers.  Yesterday we went to a Not Back To School Party with our newly joined Homeschooling Support Group.

I brought two dishes; one I will showcase here and one I will save for later.

 

These started out as cheese crackers, but turned into little cheese puffs.  More on that later.

Aren’t they cute?  You know what else is cute?  My kids, that’s what.

We made lots of new friends yesterday.  Sophie was all over the playground with her friends.  Here she is sliding down the pole all by herself.  I wonder if it is the same pole that I slid down when I was little.  Anybody know?

Liam was a little easier to photograph during this excursion, since I didn’t let him leave my side.  He’s getting so big!

 

Liam loves riding this elephant.  While he was riding it, he kept saying, “I happy.”  He’s so sweet!

 

Now that school (of all kinds) are starting back this fall, perhaps we could use a little lunch time inspiration.  Forever Nigella #19 is being hosted by Nazima of Working London Mummy. This month’s challenge is to prepare and blog any Nigella Lawson recipe suitable for a packed lunch. (Forever Nigella is organized by Sarah at Maison Cupcake.)

I started out planning on making these cheese crackers, (or cheese biscuits as Nigella calls them, but that is a different thing here in the U.S.)  I planned on using a lovely star cutter to go with the theme even better.  Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get the dough to roll out nicely.  In true Nigella fashion, I lost patience and did my own thing, rolling the dough into 1/2 teaspoon balls and dropping them on a pan. As I was out of parchment, I just hoped they wouldn't stick to the pan, (they didn’t!)  Some of them I left as balls, some I slightly smashed, and others I flattened quite a bit.  I like the ones that were left round.  They reminded me of gougères a little, in that they were round and slightly puffy.  Hmm, let me add gougères to my To Bake list.

Since I made these with both kids and adults in mind, I used half mild cheddar and half sharp cheddar.  But next time, I will use 100% sharp and add a dash of cayenne pepper for a little heat.  This size only took 10 minutes to bake.  I stored this is a baggie with a paper towel to soak up any moisture.  I wanted to keep them as crisp as possible.

So whether your kiddies are eating lunch at school or at home, at the park, or wherever, these little beauties are a perfect addition to your lunchtime go-to goodies.

Forever Nigella Rules

1. Blog your entry by 28^th of the month showing:
a) the current Forever Nigella badge
b) a link to this announcement post
c) a link to the Forever Nigella page at Maison Cupcake: http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella

n.b. posts must have been published since the announcement post. Archived posts need to be re-published afresh if you wish to submit.

2. Remember copyright.
You must NOT reproduce Nigella’s recipes verbatim. Tell us which book it is from and/or link to it online. If you’ve adapted the recipe in some way i.e. changed at least two ingredients or amended the method then it’s ok to publish the a recipe in your post but you MUST write directions in your own words.

3. Submit your post
Use the linky tool or email the host cc’ed to sarah AT maisoncupcake DOT com.