Little Pretties

Yumm! Cookies! These were some of my favorite cookies as a kid. Very easy to make and kid-friendly b/c there's no oven involved--admittedly a hot waffle iron isn't exactly kid-safe, it's still fun. We got to make these at Mom and Dad's b/c we lack a regular sized waffle -iron. Ours is Belgian style. The squares are too big for my liking for a good old waffle cookie. Hmmm....I should put that on my thrifting list...
Anyway, these were a bit hit. Here's the recipe:

Waffle Iron Cookies (aka Turtle Cookies)

Use an electric mixer. Cream together:

1 1/2 C. Sugar 1 C. Shortening (yikes!!)

ADD:
4 eggs, beaten well 2 t. vanilla

Add:
2 C. flour
1/2 C. cocoa 1/4 t. salt

Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together. Mix well--thinck, fluffy dough. Grease waffle iron for fist time. Drop dough on waffle iron in small drops (rounded teaspoonfuls). Put lid down; bake short time;watch closely as burns easily. Very soft cookie at first--firms up as they cool. Frost with chocolate butter frosting and top with a pecan half. Enjoy!!

Labels: cooking, cooking with kids, recipes

Am I really posting about Valentine's Day shenanigans? But, it's Feb. 27th or sthg. Feb.'s last gasp--it's death rattle, so to speak. Well, I guess this post is an homage to the shortest/longest month we've experienced this year. (We'll just frame it up thusly since it's really all my own fault for not posting these pics sooner. I'm gonna learn how to upload pics from the camera. Really, Michael, I'm gonna learn.)
Anyway, seems this month has been full of hits and misses--mostly misses to be honest, but that's ok. The cupcakes are from a "Cupid's Tea"/playdate we were hosting, but had to postpone b/c of the blizzard that hit the Chicago area the previous day. (see illus. upper right.)
The 2nd uppermost pic (don't really like the placement, but not sure how to change it) is from our "seasonal table". Can you guess it's the season of love??? Well, now that I've shown you that, I gotta think about changing it for spring already. Sheep? Lambs? Bunnies? hmmm.
And on top you see the pretty vases and roses that my Valentine gave me. It was totally unexpected and so sweet. I was planning on a nice meal for my Valentine (steaks, potates--go straight to a man's heart--literally and figuratively, right?) But, that, too went pear-shaped b/c of the weather. I think we had casserole. Isn't that romantic?
We never really make a big deal about V-Day, so all in all it was a success.

Labels: cooking with kids, winter

Well, it's Friday Night (capital letters), or, as it's called around here, "Pizza Night, Best-Night-of-the-Week, Family Fun Night" (usually in one breath). It's time to snuggle in, put soft-pants on, slam in a movie from Netflix (when the kids are scrubbed and tubbed) and relax. The whole weekend is outspread before us.
It's also time to make pizza! Franny likes to make her own "Baby Beepa" as you see in the upper corner.
Here's my mom's totally yummy recipe for pizza sauce:


Mom's Pizza Sauce

In a medium saucepan, combine:
8 oz. can tomato sauce
7 1/2 oz. can undrained tomatoes (dice them if they're whole)
1/2 C. chopped onion
1 T. dried basil
1 t sugar
1 t oregano
2 cloves garlic
1/4 t pepper

Boil, then simmer about 10 min. or until onion is tender.

I usually make a double batch and then use it for next week's pizza night. Or, we make a really saucy pizza! This sauce is good b/c then you don't have to bother putting onions on the pie. Yum!

Happy Friday!

Labels: cooking with kids, recipes

In an effort to make lunch time (and fruit) more appealing to Frances, we made a "Mous-y" salad. Totally inpired by this cookbook I had when I was a kid. (well, technically, I had the '80's version of the cookbook, but the same recipe is in there,)
Diagnosis: Really wanted to eat the mouse b/c it looked fun, yet, didn't want to "wreck" to mousy, b/c he was so cute. What a quandry!

Labels: cooking with kids, food