A Mermaid Picnic

To go along with our mermaid theme this week, I made my girls a surprise mermaid picnic.

With a little bit of love... and whipping cream

We made these sweet little cherry pies last night, but first, the book that inspired them!

Marshmallow Cereal Wreaths

These were a staple of my childhood Christmases! This year I wanted to share the sticky, gooey joy with my girls, so we made up a small batch of Marshmallow Cornflake Wreaths after school.

Ingredients:
- 6 cups cornflakes
- 1 bag marshmallows
- 1/3 c butter
- green food coloring
- vanilla (optional)
- M&Ms

These are made just like rice crispy treats. Start by melting your butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the food coloring. Now add your cornflakes and gently stir to coat.

Place mixture by 1/4 cupfuls onto wax paper. Form into wreaths with buttered hands and add M&Ms for decorations. Yields around 18 wreaths.

I think they made the perfect finishing touch to our cookie tins! These are going out to the neighbors this afternoon.

We also included spritz cookies, orange spritz cookies, chocolate crinkles, and toffee bark.

Of course, we saved a few for ourselves...

Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal 


I love Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her cookie series are absolutely darling. The cookie books don't tell a story, rather they use cookies as a way to define certain concepts, in this case, Christmas-y concepts like anticipation, charitable, and moderation.  The illustrations are just as sweet as the cookies they depict!

Who needs Peeps?

When you've got bizarre mutant monster marshmallow chicks to eat?

I'll admit it. I almost didn't do this post because these little guys turned out so... odd. But I've been yelled at by my friends for only posting my successes, so here you go. How to make weird-looking marshmallow Easter chicks:

First, be inspired by this post at Living Locurto. Think to yourself that those look adorable and easy and decide to try them, only without the edible markers (because how often do you draw on marshmallows anyway?) and the frosting (because there's no way I'm whipping up an entire batch of frosting for this little craft).

Next, smoosh a jellybean into a marshmallow, hard.

Now melt some chocolate chips and "draw" your eyes and wings with a toothpick.

Break a toothpick in half and insert both pieces into the marshmallow as legs. Now all you need is the "feather" on top. Mix powdered sugar, milk, and food coloring together to form a thick icing. Blob on top.

And there you go! An odd-looking but definitely delicious sugary treat sure to please your kids.

As long as you don't try to take their picture!

Be Patient, Little Chick by Claude Clement

I was pleasantly surprised by this library find. From the moment Little Chick is born he is impatient to do more and be more than a little chick. His mother preaches patience and after several scrapes, he learns his lesson and appreciates his mother.

It's a very straightforward story with a clear moral, but I think that's what makes it so charming. It has a vintage feel of the type of story I might have been read as a child. The illustrations are warm and lovely. Definitely worth a check-out if you happen upon it on your own library shelves!

Guest Post: Silly Eagle Books

When Vanessa @ Silly Eagle Books heard about my car accident, she offered the blogger equivalent of bringing me a meal: a guest post! While I'm doing much better, I still feel like I got hit by a truck (or a very large, out-of-control van) so I was thrilled with the offer. If you're unfamiliar with Vanessa and her artsy, book-loving little girls, you're going to love her blog! Take it away, Vanessa...

How to Make Swamp Slime

Lately, my daughter and I have been having a lot of conversations inspired by the book I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt. Basically, she comes up with several questions a day along the lines of, "But mama, but mama! What if I were a giant and was so tall I couldn't fit into the house--would you love me then?" (If you haven't read the book, the little boy in the story asks his mom over and over again if she would still love him even if he were a hairy ape, swamp monster, green alien, etc.)

Since her favorite thing to do is make a mess and she's particularly in love with the swamp monster in the book, I thought we would make swamp slime together. The recipe is very simple and it's surprisingly fun to play with even if you don't consider yourself the swamp monster-type!

Here's what you need:
Cornstarch
Water
Green Food coloring (optional)

Essentially you mix 2 parts cornstarch with 1 part water. We just sort of kept adding water and cornstarch until we got the right consistency. You'll know when it's perfect when it feels somewhat solid in the bowl and then turns to liquid and drips out of your hands as soon as you pick it up. (It's freaky, but fun!)

At this point, we added some green food coloring (to make it more swamp-ish), but you don't have to if you are afraid of dying your hands green for the rest of the day. (The sticker lady at Wal-mart looked at us kind of strangely when we walked past her...)

I Love You Stinky Face
by Lisa Mccourt

If you haven't read I Love you Stinky Face yet, it's a great one to read with your children this week with Valentines Day coming up. And slime-making? That's good any day!

Whoopee! Whoopie Pies!

Have you heard? Cupcakes are sooooo 2010. This year it's all about the whoopie pie! It's been years since I tasted one, but when my sister Kim @ Sand and Sisal posted her Red Velvet Whoopie Pies I was inspired to pull out my Mom's old recipe. 

Whoopie Pies

Cake:

1/2 c shortening

1 c sugar

2 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 c cocoa

1 egg

1 c milk

1 t vanilla

Filling:

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c butter

1 c powdered sugar

1/2 c marshmallow fluff

1 t vanilla

1. Cream shortening and sugar.

2. Add egg, milk, and vanilla.

3. Gradually add dry ingredients.

4. Spoon batter onto cookie sheet (flattening slightly).

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

6. While cakes are cooling, beat the filling ingredients together.

7. Sandwich cakes with filling. Add sprinkles if desired.

And of course, hand the beaters to your babies...

While you dig into the real thing!

Henry in Love by Peter Mccarty

This is one of those stories that parents will probably enjoy more than kids, but with understated text and adorable ink and watercolor illustrations, it will be a welcome break from Disney Princesses and Dora the Explorer. Henry is a little boy cat who goes to school hoping to woo the little bunny girl Chloe. When showing off doesn't work, Henry discovers that sacrificial giving is more successful. The story is short and sweet, and the illustrations are brilliant. I loved it and think you will too!

Peace on Earth... and cookies.

Christmas in the Forest by Jan Wahl is a classic I just recently discovered. 

Along with Eleanor Schick's lovely artwork, Jan Wahl's poetic language gently narrates each page as the animals work together to celebrate Christmas.

The story is old-fashioned, quiet, and oh so magical!

And to go along with such a peaceful story... World Peace Cookies! Another classic in cookie form, Doris Greenspan's famous recipe might not bring peace on earth, but it's sure to bring a smile to the chocolate lovers in your life.

1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 stick plus 3 T unsalted butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t sea salt
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Beat butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Incorporate until just mixed. Fold-in chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half and form into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Wrap in saran and allow to chill for 3 hours.

When you're ready to bake, slice every 1/2 inch and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Reshape any slices that crumble. Bake at 325 for 12 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk!

Donut Acorns

Scrumptious acorns are popping up all over the blogosphere. I adore these buckeye acorns @ The Stories of A to Z and these hershey kiss acorns @ Lipstick and Laundry are so cute! But it was donut hole acorns which spoke to me today. So we swung by Dunkin Donuts after school and bought a bag of munchins for our afternoon snack.

I love this treat because it is easy and fast. Just spread a little peanut butter on the end of the donut to make a "hat." Dip the peanut butter end in a bowl of chopped peanuts.

Insert a piece of pretzel stick into the peanutty end for the stem.

Voila! An adorable, edible acorn even a child can make! And let me tell you: they were delicious!

Dot & Jabber and the Great Acorn Mystery by Ellen Stoll Walsh

You'll recognize these little guys from Mouse Shapes and Mouse Paint. They are just as cute in this "mystery" story about an acorn and an oak tree.

Dot and Jabber need a mystery to solve. When they see a young oak tree far from the great oak tree, they try to discover how the acorn which sprouted the young oak traveled so far. After some investigation, they determine that a squirrel carried the acorn... then they snack on the evidence!

The story is simple but engaging enough for toddlers and young preschoolers. It's the illustrations, however, that make the book. I just can't get enough of Walsh's torn-paper mice!

Easy and YUMMY little pumpkins

Here's an easy and festive after-school snack even little ones can help make: rice krispy treat pumpkins! I'm honestly not sure how pumpkiny they really look, but they're cute and full of sugary goodness.

To make your own, simply mix up some rice krispy treats according to the directions. Butter any little hands that might be helping and roll the treats into small balls. Add a candy corn for the stem and roll in orange sugar crystals to finish.

No need to wash those buttery mitts, just snatch one up and dig in. Yum!

It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall

Here's a colorful Halloween book perfect for preschoolers and toddlers. Forget ghosts and witches, this holiday book starts in the springtime as two children plant and tend a pumpkin patch, eagerly awaiting their future jack-o-lantern to grow. Painted paper collages will capture the attention of even very young children while the simple and educational text will introduce kids to the life-cycle of our favorite fall squash!