Favorite Food Friday: Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons are my all time favorite cookie. I love them, so you would think by now I would have figured out how to make them, but no. I have been destined to eating them only when I go to a coffee shop and only if they carry them. Well no longer, I have finally found out how to make them and make them I will. There are lots of recipes out there for coconut macaroons, some that call for sweetened condensed milk other that don't, the recipe I ended up using was found on the NPR site. This recipe looked simple and only had a few ingredients all of which I had on hand so I would say at this point I am "WINNING" (sorry couldn't resist the Charlie Sheen joke.) Here is how I made them.

Measure out your ingredients, there is only 5 ingredients so pretty darn easy

Mix them all together in a stainless steel bowl

Set over a double boiler and cook while stirring until the egg whites thick and turn opaque, see how they are no longer clear in the picture and are sort of a creamy white color, that is what you are going for.

Don't forget to let the mixture cool so that all the liquid absorbs into the coconut, if you don't you may have runny cookies or really dry ones if you leave it in the bowl. Spoon onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. As you can see I used my Silpat but you could use parchment if you don't have a Silpat. Let cool and than drizzle them with chocolate if you want or eat them plain, I prefer plain.

I totally could eat them all but I know better than that so I decided to package some up as little thank-you gifts for some really great people around my children's school, people who may not always get recognized or thanked such as the the janitor, the lunch lady, the librarian etc. This would also make a very cute teacher appreciation gift, they are very cheap to make but have a wow factor to them. I'm hoping they will brighten a few people's day tomorrow.

Lacing Cards

My kids love lacing cards, oh boy do they ever. The problem is most of them are really pretty flimsy and get bent and ruined pretty quickly, plus it is hard to find ones that are cute or in a theme that your kids may be into. So of course my "em-agination" was sparked and out popped this idea for what I think are some pretty cool lacing cards.

 

Oy Vay...this one wrinkled and tore so much,
I am hoping that with a clear coat it won't be so noticeable.

 

How did I make them you are wondering, well they are really easy and really cheap. First off, I picked up a piece of basa wood at Micheal's that was 4 X 24 X 1/4 inch thick and cut it down into 4 (4 x 6) pieces. I then used my favorite tool, say it with me, the Silhouette craft cutter to cut out my images. The Olivia images are from a new line they just released oh my gosh how cute are they. I simply chose the size I wanted, printed it out and then fed it through the Silhouette where it cut out my image, easy peasy. I did the same with the trucks, another image I bought from the Silhouette online store, print and cut. I then used Modge Podge to glue a 4 x 6 piece of scrapbook paper and my image onto my basa wood and let dry. Once they were dry I measured out my holes and drilled right through all 4 pieces at once. I haven't sealed my cards yet, but I will just to give them a finished look and longer durability, I will probably used a gloss finish such as Diamond Glaze.

I plan on wrapping them up when the clear coat is dry and giving them as a gift. To who you ask??? Well my son's kindergarten teacher gave out a letter at the beginning of the year and asked that through out the year if we wanted to give gifts that we try and give gifts that can be used in the classroom such as donating a book to the classroom library or buying new pencils or markers that often get used up as the year progresses. A great idea I thought and we have done those things for Christmas and such but Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up May 2-6 with May 3rd specifically being Teacher Appreciation Day, so my son will be giving these to his teacher as an appreciation gift, one that can be enjoyed by the whole class.

Pillow Animals

Tutorial now posted here

You've seen these all over the stores and on the T.V. and my kids fell in love immediately however I didn't fall in love with the price (remember I am frugal or cheap depending on who you are talking to) 3 kids times $20 each makes for a total of $60, I just wasn't willing to pay that and most importantly I thought that there was a crucial design flaw with the name brand "pets." These pets needed to be made with a removable cover so that as they are used and flatten out, the pillow can be replaced and secondly so that if kids are sick and don't make it to the bathroom on time (just like my kids always seem to do), I can throw away the pillow and wash the cover. So I set out to make my own pets that are cheaper and with my change in the design. By the way, I spend just under $20 for the supplies and was able to make 3 pets, here is what I came up with.

My kids are so happy with them, they sleep with them every night and carry them around. I am also pretty happy with how they turned out. Instead of using the fake fur to make these I used fleece not only to cut down on the cost but also I wasn't sure how washable fake fur is and I wanted, no strike that, I needed them to be washable.

My favorite is the turtle, what's yours? I am working on a tutorial to show you guys how they are made, I will post it when it is done, hopefully later this week.  

Easter Banner

Life has been busy this week so not a whole lot of crafting has been going on, boo hoo hoo. Yeah, I know you are playing the world's smallest violin for me, thank you by the way, I appreciate the sympathy. No but seriously creating for me is a stress reliever. I always seem to be thinking up new projects or getting inspired by other peoples projects so inspiration is not a problem, it is time that is my problem, I need more time, who doesn't, right? In the little time I had this week, I did manage to make this small Easter banner to hang above the fire place, nothing fancy, but cute none the less.

Again I used my favorite crafting tool the Silhouette Craft Cutter to cut  the shapes out of scrapbook paper. (Side-note: This little machine is so great, seriously it can do so much and has so many uses, in all my free time this week, I managed to put names on jerseys and hats for my daughter's softball team, how cool is that and no I am not getting paid to endorse them, I just love it.) I then used the best glitter around yep, Martha Stewart Glitter to bling my letters, strung the little eggs on some ribbon and it was done. Just a little project to work on while my cute hubby and I watched an episode of Dexter.

The Best Banana Bread

I love to bake and this banana bread recipe is one that I get asked to share all the time. I can't take credit for coming up with this recipe, I came across the recipe years and years ago but unfortunately I don't remember where it is from. One thing that makes it unique is the addition of a little bit of maple syrup, making this bread spectacular. The recipe also includes a recipe for a maple glaze but this is something that I never add to the bread, it is sooooo good without it but if you want to make it extra decadent, add that glaze! Full recipe at the end of the post.

Here is what you will need:

The recipe actually calls for brown sugar but I was out so I just went with all white sugar

Cream the butter and sugar

Add the egg and beat until it is incorporated

Mix the bananas into the butter and sugar mixture until smooth

Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon (if you choose)

Stir in the maple syrup and nuts (if you choose), I left them out because of nut allergies in our house.

Pour into a prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

Banana Bread
 
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 whole bananas)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup maple syrup
 
Cream butter with sugars.  Add egg.  Add banana and mix until smooth (I just add the whole banana to the mixer and mix until it is smooth)  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to banana mixture and stir until moist.  Add nuts and maple syrup mixing until smooth.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan, bake at 350 for 70 minutes.  cool 10 minutes pour on glaze.  (I don't normally put the glaze on but you can if you want)
 
Glaze
 
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup maple syrup

Cascarones "Confetti Eggs"

A few years ago a friend of mine who grew up in Mexico with her parents who were missionaries showed me how to make these "Cascarones" or confetti filled eggs for Easter. She said as a child in Mexico, the mothers would make hundreds of these eggs and then hide them for the children to find on Easter morning. Once found, the children would then run around cracking them on other children's heads. I am sure there is more significance to this tradition than I know about, all I know is that my children loved doing this and that our family has started making and hiding these confetti eggs every Easter. Here is how we make them.

Through out the year as I use eggs and remember to do it, I cut the ends of eggs off and rinse out the eggs and set them aside to color later.

As Easter nears, I color all the eggs I have collected using any egg coloring set you find in the grocery store around Easter.

Once colored, I take them out of the dye and allow to dry over night.

Then fill them with paper confetti which you can buy in any party supply store.

To cover the hole and keep the confetti inside, cut a small square of tissue or crepe paper and glue it over the hole using a little bit of watered down Elmer's glue.

Let dry and then hide them as you would an Easter egg.

Then let the fun begin as you watch your children crack the eggs on each other's heads. In our house, the whole family joins in when it comes to the cracking of the eggs. It really is a lot of fun and a good way to get everyone involved in the Easter fun. I don't know about you but as my oldest has matured, I have found it harder and harder to find things to hide in eggs other than money and candy and these eggs have given me yet another thing to keep him entertained and engaged on Easter.