Snail away....

For dinner we had these new Pillsbury crescent rounds. Super yummy and Miss A said they looked exactly like a snail! So we saved one for her lunch. We have a hot dog and crescent round snail next to a green bean and bow tie pasta tree. We have some grapes for filler and the extra pieces of the hot dog along the bottom!!! Miss A did mention that the tree looked kind of sad but she would fix it at lunch...that kid kills me!! haha

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well....after a week off of school for Miss A we are back! Thanksgiving is over we had many many things to be thankful for. Christmas has been in full swing for almost a month now in all the stores, and finally this weekend we got into the Christmas spirit and decorated most of our house. For Miss A's bento we also tried to get into the Christmas spirit. We used some of our left over fried rice and did a turkey Christmas tree with peas and carrot decorations! We added a cheese star on top and she wanted some popcorn in there as well. She told me the tree was unrecognizable at lunch but she turned it into something fabulous as she always does!! haha.

Yeah...not the most creative Christmas tree...definitely not the best lighting. Not to make any excuses but we woke up late and Mighty Max is eating solids now so it put a major cramp in our morning routine! ha ha! But he sure is cute! 

This is the fireplace. Just need to get our stockings embroidered.... :)

We had to go for tall and skinny tree instead of wide and squatty...I must say I kind of like it!!

This sadly is all the other crap that has not quite found a home....still have the kitchen, kids game room, and most importantly my Department 56 Snow Villages!! Miss A is super excited!

Make it a great week....see you tomorrow!! 

REDO!!! Chocolate Pumpkins and Sweet Potato Cookies

Well just a quick recap. I added a few more accents to the chocolate mini pumpkins. I also did the second batch of sweet potato cookies. These came out MUCH better and definitely the right shape!!! Have a great turkey day everyone!!!

Chocolate & Pumpkin Mini Bundt Pumpkin Shaped Cakes

Yeah...that is a long title. Hopefully it makes sense. Soooo not exactly the way I wanted them to turn out. I should have put orange food coloring in the glaze so it would be pumpkin orange instead of white. BUT, my daddy-o is a diabetic, cancer survivor, and has a whole list of other health related concerns. So keeping things as simple as possible is always best. The less preservatives or additives the better! The stem and leaves I made out of fondant. They kind of look like apples, because I did not have teardrop leaf cutter. Well..you live and you learn. I must say the cake still tastes scrumptious!! It was just a chocolate cake mix and a can of pumpkin to replace the oil!

Sweet Potato Pie Cookies

Mmmmmm sweet potato pie makes me so happy I could cry!!! 

Sweet potato pie COOKIES make mes crazy happy kooky!! 

My hubby Hungry Hank was watching the food network and came across this little gem of a recipe!

Here are the pictures of our cookies...I could have done a nicer job on the glaze application but it was 2:30am in the morning and this was one of 4 projects. 1) slow cooker tequila cilantro lime chicken 2) chocolate pumpkin mini pumpkins 3) fondant stems and leaves for mini pumpkins 4) preparing to freeze the 14 pureed sweet potato servings. 

We may need to make these again tonight because they are flying off the plate pretty darn quick!!!!

Sweet Potato Pie Cookies with Orange Glaze

Recipe courtesy The Neelys

Prep Time:

25 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

18 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

24 to 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sweet potato puree
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Orange Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and adjust racks to the middle position. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and salt.

Using a hand held mixer cream together the butter, granulated sugar and the brown sugar until light and fluffy and the volume has increased. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix until incorporated. Stir in the sweet potato puree and blend until smooth. Beat in the dry ingredients in increments and combine well. Stir in the pecans.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges and they spring back from the touch, about 18 minutes. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets before glazing.

For the glaze:

Combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, and vanilla in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies and let harden for 1 hour before serving.

Cook's Note: If you need to thin the glaze, add more orange juice. If you need to thicken it, add more confectioners' sugar.

 Copyright 2011 Television Food Network G.P.
All Rights Reserved

Where there is birthday there is cake!!!

Miss A of course is a product of her environment so my little baking hobby obviously affects her. If someone has a birthday she feels the impulse to bake something special for them! One of her amazing teachers was having a bday and she really wanted to make her cupcakes. So we made flower cupcakes with butterflies on top! Miss A took a butterfly cutter and cut out all the butterflies out of fondant. I took a piece of cardstock and fanned it like the letter M. After the butterflies were cut out Miss A placed them in the valley area of the cardstock to allow the butterflies to dry with their wings at an angle. Then after they were dried Miss A brushed pearl edible dust and make them sparkly! I wanted to make the icing on the cupcakes different so I learned a new technique on you tube!!! haha. Using a petal tip I learned on how to make the icing look like a flower. Not perfect but practice makes perfect!

Thankful Bento #6

Well only two more bento's for Miss A before she is out next week for Thanksgiving. When we picked up her little brother Mighty Max at the babysitter's house Miss A saw a single yellow rose in her front yard. She thought it was so beautiful! So when she woke up this morning she said she was thankful for the beautiful flowers God creates like the yellow rose. So for today we have a ham rose with a green bean stem and carrot petals. Then we have a mandarin flower with lima bean stem and carrot petal. Then we added some grapes to fill in the empty spaces. She is such a sweetie!!!