Cooking, Kitchen

This past weekend our 25 year old "baby" made a bowl of a heavenly Avocado Salsa that was awesome. I said, "See, this is the benefit of allowing the children in the kitchen... they grow up to be great cooks!" This reminded me of a post first published on my blog One Generation to Another, back on October 30, 2007. I shared it again here on Wee Folk Art the summer of 2010. For all of you that might have missed it, you can read it HERE. And here is Mike's recipe for delicious Avocado Salsa. Three cheers for Kids in the Kitchen!!!

AVOCADO SALSA
 
Serves 8-10
 
Ingredients:
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed well)
1 can fiesta corn (corn and peppers) (drained)
2 or 3 tomatoes, chopped (Romas work too, just make it 4 or 5 to make up for the size difference)
1/4 c. chopped sweet onion
3 green onions, chopped
2 avocados, diced
A pinch of rainbow and sunshine (my son had this as an ingredient :)
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. Balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 package Good Season Italian dressing (dry seasoning mix)
 
Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients together, cover and refrigerate for 2 - 3 hours before serving.

Photo: 7/31/2012

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Materials:
You can purchase a tin kit here or you will need...
16" long, 1/2" wide food safe tin
Non-toxic metal bonding (3M tape)
and
Old kitchen shears or tin snips
Print out a pattern at actual size (Ice Cream Cone pattern can be found HERE)
Various objects for forming shapes (cans, pencils, spools, etc or the kit includes some shapes)
Yarn or Pipe cleaners
Ruler
Clip

First measure the outside edge of your object by wrapping yarn or even better... pipe cleaners around the edge of your shape. Straighten the pipe cleaners and measure to get the perimeter length.

Add one inch so the edges can overlap. (The ice cream cone requires about 16"). Cut your tin with the shears or tin snips. You can trim the corners on an angle to reduce scratches. Be careful, the tin edges can be sharp.

Start your cookie cutter on a straight edge if possible. I lined it up starting in the middle of a cone edge. Then bend the tin to follow the perimeter shape. You can use various household objects to help you follow the outline of the ice cream cone. If you bought the kit it should come with a few shapes to get you started. A Klean Kanteen bottle worked great for the rounded top of the ice cream. Remember, you should have about 1 inch of overlap on a straight edge side.

Once you have finished bending your cookie cutter into shape clean the tin with dish soap and water. When it has dried completely adhere a 1" piece of the 3M tape on one side of the open edge. Peel back the other side of the tape, carefully line up the overlapping edges, and stick them together.

Use a clip to hold the piece together while it sets up.

Once it has set up you can do minor adjustments to the shape.

Here is a fun treat to share with your loved ones. Using a specially designed cookie cutter adds a personal touch to your basic sugar cookie. Also be sure to try our favorite Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe which goes great with coffee, tea or hot cocoa.

For a special afternoon treat we made our own Ice Cream Cone Tin Cookie Cutter to create our Ice Cream Cone sugar cookies. Once you learn how to make your own cookie cutter you can create custom cookies for all your holidays and special occasions. It is a great way to personalize your child’s birthday party. We decorated our cookies using simple tools found in the average kitchen… and let the kids do most of the work. We will also be sharing our favorite Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe. Yum!
 
Stay tuned this week for the appliqué pattern. The rest of the project will be shared throughout the month. From felt to sugar cookie… remember to keep thinking Out of the Block.

Click here for the applique pattern.
Click here for the cookie cutter directions.
Click here for the Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe.

Nothing beats that smell, or the sensation of eating a warm cookie with a tall glass of cold milk. Because of that, I usually only bake as many cookies as we plan to eat right away. Then, I form the rest of the cookies into balls, place them close together on a cookie sheet, and freeze them. When frozen, I throw them into a Ziploc, pop them back in the freezer, and remove just a few at a time when our stomachs are in need of a little tickling :) And while they are baking, sit back and enjoy the intoxicating aroma of fresh baked cookies... better than any scented candle you'll ever light :) For more on freezing cookie dough, read our article, The Magic Cookie Bag.

Over the years, my favorite cookie has changed. All the standards like peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies made with milk chocolate, and oatmeal cookies with pecans, have held that place of honor. Right now, my "favoritest" cookie is the Grape-Nuts Cookie. My mom first made these 20 years ago. She got the recipe off the back of a Grape-Nuts box. They are crunchy AND chewy! Yum! This recipe makes 6 dozen cookies. Enough to fill your house with the wonderful smell of fresh baked cookies many times. Enjoy!

GRAPE-NUTS COOKIES - Makes 6 dozen

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) margarine or butter
2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 c. Post Grape-Nuts cereal
2 c. oatmeal
1 c. dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc.)

 
Directions:
Mix flour and baking soda in small bowl.
 
Beat margarine or butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed to soften.
 
Gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy.
 
Beat in egg and vanilla.
 
Gradually add flour mixture, beating well after each addition.
 
Stir in cereal, oats and fruit.
 
Use a cookie scoop and place on an ungreased cookie sheets.
 
Bake in a 375 oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
 
Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire racks.

What cookies are you munching on these days? If you'd like to include a recipe, feel free to include it in our comments! Always looking for my next favorite cookie, hehe!

Over the last couple weeks we have had our share of this nasty heat wave. We came home from the cool mountains of Vermont to sweltering heat and humidity. Of course, the heat helped ripened the all the berries a bit early and we were left to pick in the worst of the heat. We choose an overcast morning to head out to the fields. We were armed with several bottles of water and blessed with a bit of breeze.

 

The kids are becoming quite the pickers and we were able to pick all the raspberries and blueberries we needed before the sun broke through from the clouds. The heat seemed to scare many away and we were left with the fields almost to ourselves. We all relished the quiet of the fields and nobody wanted to break the silence. The kids commented on how peaceful it was as they happily and quietly worked their way up and down the rows.

We enjoyed some cider and donuts before heading home with our newly picked loot. Raspberry jam, blueberry cobbler, raspberry sauce with chocolate over ice cream, fresh berries and cream... YUM!