Cheddar Bunnies

I hope you had a very Happy New Year. Perhaps I’m already tired of my New Year’s resolution to keep a clean(er) house? We had a snow day (yippee) which gave us a 4 day weekend with MLK being Monday.  We baked, took the dogs for walks, watched movies, and played board games…made some "Chedder Bunnies". I've been meaning to make these for a while as the real ones are so darn expensive but just didn't have the time. Perfect for a snow day.

Since we had a snow day I decided to make my own crackers, I figured it couldn’t be that hard.  I ran across a recipe and saw that I needed six ingredients, all of which I had and didn’t require a trip to the store which was good since the roads were icy and my kitchen was so snug.

With the long weekend and the beautiful snow we had a great time. I threw a b-day party for myself with GROWN UPS and then a pizza party for Hannah Rose’s band buddies and her new boyfriend. She is 15. He is not. He is older. Yes she is “dating” and Stephen is turning NINETEEN in February. Yes, he is old enough for a tattoo and to go to basic training in the spring for the service. At first it took The Husband and I a while to get over the “sticker shock” but it turns out he is a very nice, respectful and kind young person so we just drag him along with us and he doesn’t seem to mind. We took him geocaching, to the Art Museum and have plans to take him camping when the weather gets nicer.

Homemade Cheddar Bunnies

8 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into cubes
1 cup Flour (I used whole wheat because it is what I had)
¾ teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons Cold Water

Directions:

Mix everything (except water) together in the food processor.
Pulse in water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough resembles sand.
Wrap dough in parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
Roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick and make your daughter cut into squirrel shapes. Place on a lined cookie sheet
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
 

Cereal Mom and Blonde Brownies

Having a bad day? I’d be glad if it was only a day.  It’s been rough at work. Actually, it was a terrible week. Every piece of news I got was disappointing. Mom A called her kid swallowed a plastic ring and we were supposed to look for it if it passed. I said no. Mom B called wanted her kid's breakfast, lunch and snack fixed special ways the way "she likes it." I told her no, sorry but  we have a small staff and a lot of mouths to feed in a short time we can't fix 136 meals 136 ways just to coax everyone to eat.  She went bananas. Called everyone but my mother and the President. For Mom A, since you were decent I hope everything comes out all right. As for Cereal Killer mom..... I have kids with actual allergies and real religious issues.

She called the kid’s doctor demanding I fix her kids food any way the child wanted it and to sub anything she didn’t want for something she did. This is putting a stress on our budget and our staff. It's not that I want to make anyone upset or see a kid not eat, we have limited resources. Does that matter? Not to some one demanding. And now I have a medical form pretty much telling me I'm a short order cook. Is there a mid- way for this? I guess not.

We served snack today Picky Pants with her whole milk on the side. This was part of the request. "I want my food a special way and my mommy will make you give it to me that way……".ok. Here is your special snack with your special milk. She immediately wailed that she didn’t want cereal but wanted a granola bar instead. The note says “allow individual meal patterns to increase food intake” since I already had a teacher out and was covering a classroom I was not able to run to the lunchroom to get her one. So she sat, pouting and then threw all of her breakfast away.

Did it affect me? Yep. Did I yell at The Husband for saying something as stupid as “where’s dinner?” when I got so tangled up in work crap that I came home nearly an hour late with a crabby kid who missed his PBS show? Yep. Was it really bad?  I still have bruises from the rock I tried to hide under. Which is sad because I have a super nice staff this time around. All smart, sensible and super workers. I should be happy. In that way I am. I’m not UNHAPPY. I’m cranky because I’m work with a generation of folks that are raising bratty kids. It’s true. Generation D for Demanding and golly I sound like my grandmother. I’m sometimes afraid of the next generation. The get mad they have to wait for the internet, if they can’t have their cell phones on constantly, they want to pick the gender of their children. You know what I want? A bottle of Scotch and a Blonde Brownie. I don’t even drink Scotch, it just sounds I don’t know…tough I guess. These are rich, chewy brownies with chocolate chips on top. I prefer the chocolate chips to be mixed IN instead of on top, but it's all about preference!

Blonde Brownies

Ingredients

·         1 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat flour

·         1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/8 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 cup chopped walnuts

·         1/3 cup butter, melted

·         1 cup packed brown sugar

·         1 egg, beaten

·         1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

·         2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan.

2.    Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Mix well and set aside.

3.    Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and mix well. Cool slightly.

4.    Mix the beaten egg and vanilla into the brown sugar mixture. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing just until combined.

5.    Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

I still love Mr. Rogers

Things are going well at the preschool. I have a nice batch of teachers who treat the children well, get along and come to work. I don’t ask for much. We had some fallout from the Sandyhook shootings. DHS has required us to come up with a plan should something like that happen here but I don’t see how any facility can be prepared for something like that. We have no closet or bathroom to hide all the children in and the first person to have access to any or all of the doors is me. Although there are those who find me menacing I doubt a person with a jimmy rigged gun collection is going to find me very scary and that’s really all we have between him and the others in my wing. We have a security system at the preschool but honestly it was very upsetting to those who care for small children everywhere.

Like other parents, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the first news alert that a school shooting happened – in Newtown, Connecticut – at an elementary school. Its' shocking. It's devastating. It's unreal. Who would take anger like that out of little kids?

Then we had some of the children hear enough of adult conversation or news at home to come to school with questions. Lots of them and some of them made me want to cry. These are children I see every day sometimes more than they own parents. What do you tell those upturned faces with those eyes filled with trust? Especially since I myself was having a hard time with it all?
It’s unimaginable. It’s heartbreaking. Just every emotion comes to attention and has been experienced by so many. Stories and images of the various, many adults who suddenly were named heroes even though they likely were unsung champions before December 14th – school staff, community volunteers, neighbors, police and rescue workers from around the state and beyond – each headline more emotive than the last. The magnitude of the sense of community compassion is simply unbelievable. You are not alone is a sentiment I keep seeing from our communities to others, all faiths, all kinds of families, all kinds of expressions of love and kindness. I keep thinking of Mr. Roger’s quote “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” So I focused on that with the preschool children and with my own at home. There are more good people in this world than bad and I have to believe it myself so I can tell them the truth.

So today at least for now I have no recipe to share just a warm thought of my very first crush, Mr. Roger’s.

2013 is tomorrow......

2013 is tomorrow.

New Years is a funny thing. All about fresh starts and new beginnings. Just like last year. Resolutions almost always transfer from year to year, unfavourable self-reflections which become too hard to confront and are postponed until some generic later date; whether it be ‘a few weeks’, ‘a couple of months’ or the extra vague ‘someday’. I’ve over the years threatened to diet, to give up swearing or booze. This year I’m undecided because I think I set myself up for more failures.

I mean when you run a preschool and spend most of your time dealing with parents who have some sort of issue or kids who also have some sort of issue. Then the toilet gets backed up because a teacher let a kid go potty with a collect of army figures that are now navy seals. So basically I do nursing, plumbing, policing and accounting all while trying to look cheerful. Did I mention I make a fraction of what any of those other professionals make? Yes so most of my day is spent dealing with someone who is unhappy. Do I need to make a resolution to swear less? To drink less? To exercise more? Sure I do. I know it but do I need to put more pressure on myself or set myself up for yet more grief? Doubt it. So instead I’m going to focus on the here and now while I’m here and can still focus. Right now I’m focusing on my 15 year olds annual New Year’s Eve slumber party. Champagne and caviar at my house? Nope, pasta and punch for a dozen hungry teenagers. They are good kids and yes, 3 guests are male but they leave at a reasonable hour. It’s just a lot of cooking and cleaning. The next morning is a snap though with my overnight French toast casserole. This is so simple to make-and it can feed a crowd.  I especially like that it is prepared the night before and then just placed in the oven in the morning-great for when you have overnight company! The hard part is getting the kids to leave the next day so I can take a nap!

Overnight French toast Casserole
Ingredients
1/2 C Butter
12 slices Whole wheat or white bread (leftover anything bread works)
1 C Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
5 eggs
1 1/2 c Skim Milk
Directions

-Melt margarine & pour in a 9 by 13 pan (I melt it in a measuring cup in the microwave)
-Mix together brown sugar & nutmeg, cinnamon
-Wisk eggs, milk & vanilla together
-Layer bottom of pan with half the bread
-Sprinkle half brown sugar mix over the bread
-Layer second half of bread
-Pour egg mixture over all then sprinkle remaining brown sugar
-Cover & refrigerate overnight
-In the morning, cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes
-Uncover and bake 15 about more minutes (should be browned and set)

Christmas Turtle Candies & The The holiday music...

To the spirit of Christmas. I'm sorry. I only found 3 of my Christmas CDs and after 3 weeks of Julie Andrews, Perry Como and Celtic Christmas I pulled out The The and yelled "Merry Christmas" over the swear words. I'm sorry but I couldn't take it any more......I was finally reduced to listening to the local radio station for my Christmas music. After 2 days of Alan Jackson & Alison Krauss - "The Angels Cried" and "Christmas in Dixie" by Alabama. Finally the day before Christmas  The Husband found my holiday music stash on top of the TV!!!! It's a Christmas miracle! I was too damn short to see the top of the TV and there they were the whole time. I did enjoy listening to The The though. Maybe they need to produce a Christams Album. I'm sure they'd do a great job. I can imagine they’d do wonderfully covering Hard Candy Christmas. I can just hear Matt Johnson singing out “Maybe I'll hit the bars, Maybe I'll count the stars until dawn, Me, I will go on….” Fa la la la..... I was facing my last batch of popcorn. Really. I have popped nearly 14 pounds of it and used up 27 bags of red hot candy. I don't even want to think about how much butter I melted.....since we had company for Christmas dinner I  to whipped up a batch of candy that wasn’t  red or hot to add to my cookie tray. These are nice since you can just make one small batch and be done with it.  I cheated and melted the caramels on the stove while I was sorting out the pecans. Melting the caramel on the stove takes a bit longer, but it's worth it. I also recommend using Kraft caramels. Normally I buy the store brand but the cost was pretty much the same and the Kraft brand melted better.

Fa la la la.....

Christmas Turtle Candies

Ingredients This recipe makes 24 candies

4 ounces pecan halves

24 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

1 teaspoon shortening

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Cover cookies sheet with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Lightly grease foil with vegetable oil spray.

2.    Place 3 pecan halves in a Y shape on the foil. Place 1 caramel candy in the center of each Y. Bake just until caramel is melted, about 9 to 10 minutes. I found these didn’t melt very well & then tried melting the caramel on the stove and drizzling it over the pecans.. IT WORKED. You try it and see which works for you.

3.    Heat shortening and chocolate chips over low heat just until chocolate is melted. Spread over candies and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 

Beth’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ok I admit it; I'm not as young as I used to be. So after weeks of making popcorn, cookies, tofu moose, Crunchy Asian salad, cookies and bread for bakes sales, Christmas gifts and food for parties the idea of making cookies for the Boy Scout's party made me want to cry. I let The Husband in my kitchen. The cookies were burnt, hard and the kitchen was a mess. But I did get to clean up the Mailing Station, which is a table set up in the dining room covered in holiday paper, ribbons, boxes, bows, bubble wrap….you get the idea. This was important since The Relatives are coming for Christmas dinner. A week early. Holy Shit!! Yes, I nearly fell to the floor- a week early in the middle of Christmas Rush is not exactly what I wanted but if sacrificing the Boy Scouts’ cookies for their Christmas party was the price I had to pay I can live with that, after all they camp outside and eat dirt. Since The Relatives are coming early I had to pull together a menu fast and saw Brussels sprouts on sale at the organic grocery near my house. I hope they like Brussels sprouts! If not we have a few cookies from Ken’s batch left over.

Beth’s Roasted Brussels sprouts

I’ll make a double batch since I’ll have 8 for dinner.

Ingredients

· 2 small red onions, sliced into 1/4-inch wedges

· 3 tablespoons olive oil

· Coarse salt and ground pepper

· 2 pints Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss onions with 1 tablespoon olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Spread onions on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast until translucent, 15 to 20 minutes.

2.    In same bowl, toss Brussels sprouts with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Add to baking sheet with onions, and toss to combine. Roast, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are tender and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes. Serves 4.

 

Chocolate dipped pretzels

We make chocolate dipped pretzels that are so delicious they’ll melt your brain. The ingredients are all easy to get and fairly inexpensive, so they’re super frugal. I enjoy making candies that feel special, but aren’t very expensive. One year we made chocolate dipped pretzels we let them “drip” on a cooling rack w/ waxed paper underneath. I’ve chocolate-dipped pretzel rods, too, always popular! I’m from Western PA and mixing salty and sweet is a popular PA German practice.

CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS

·         semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 bag

·         pretzels, twists, rods etc. 1 bag

·         3 “blocks” baking chocolate (chocolate bark)

Heat semi-sweet chocolate chips/chocolate  in a double boiler or heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. I then transfer it to the crock pot filled with hot water in a glass bowl, when I make a double batch.

To microwave, place chocolate in a microwave proof dish and melt 1/2-1 cup chips on medium (50%) 3-4 1/2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Dip pretzels with a fork and remove to wax paper. Refrigerate uncovered until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Store, loosely covered in a cool, dry place or freeze in an airtight container.