Category: Holidays

National April Food Holidays

Apr 1- Wed

Apr 2- Thurs- National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day

We made PB&J’s for lunch today.

Apr 3- Fri- National Chocolate Mousse Day

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 8 oz semi sweet mini chocolate chips
  • berries

Directions:

  1. Heat 3/4 cup of the heavy cream in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Remove once is starts to simmer.
  2. Add the chocolate chips to the hot cream and whisk until smooth.
  3. Let it cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
  4. Whip the remaining 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes.
  5. Once is starts to peak, fold in half of it to the cooled chocolate.
  6. Then gently fold in the remaining cream to the chocolate until it is smooth.
  7. Place in 6 serving bowls and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  8. Top with berries.

Apr 4- Sat- National Ramen Noodles Day

We made Ramen Noodles for lunch today.

Apr 5- Sun- National Deep Dish Pizza Day

We tried some frozen personal deep dish pizzas.

Apr 6- Mon-National Caramel Popcorn Day

Ingredients:

  • 10 cups popped corn
  • 2 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup corn syrup (Karo)
  • 1 cup btter
  • 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

  1. Boil the sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a small sauce pan.
  2. Add the sweetened condensed milk and cook to softball stage.
  3. Add vanilla.
  4. Put the popcorn into large bowls and pour the caramel over it. Mix until the popcorn is covered.

To reheat, place in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes.

Apr 7- Tues- National Coffee Cake Day

Cake Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups milk

Topping Ingredients:

  • 1 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 TBSP flour
  • 1 TBSP cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients:

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix the cake ingredients one at a time stopping when you get to the milk.
  3. Add in the milk slowly while it is mixing.
  4. Pour the cake mix into a greased 9×13 cake pan.
  5. Mix the topping ingredients with an electric mixer.
  6. Drop spoonfulls of the mixture evenly over the batter in the pan, then swirl it around with a butter knife.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Whisk together the glaze ingredients, adding more milk if needed.
  9. After the cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, drizzle the glaze over the cake.
  10. Allow it to set, but serve warm

Apr 8- Wed- National Empanada Day (mini meat empanadas)

I used this mini Empanada recipe from the Landscape Insight blog.

Apr 9- Thurs- National Chinese Almond Cookie Day

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup soft butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • sliced almonds
  • 1 TBS milk
  • 1 egg

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare 2 baking sheets.
  2. Mix the ingredients well, adding 1 at a time starting at the top of the list and stopping with the extracts.
  3. Scoop the dough, adding 1 tablespoon at a time to the cookie sheet. Place them about 2 inches apart.
  4. Place 3 almonds in a star shape on the top of each cookie pressing them slightly in to flatten a bit.
  5. Mix the milk and egg and gently brush on the top of each cookie.
  6. Bake for 18 minutes unitl the edges are golden brown.

Apr 10- Fri- National Cinnamon Crescent Day

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 TBS sugar
  • 1 TBS yeast
  • 2 TBS soft butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 TBS cinnamon
  • 2 TBS soft butter
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Mix the sugar and water. Sprinkle the yeast on the top and let it rest for 5 mintues.
  2. Add the butter, salt, cinnamon, and flour (one cup at a time).
  3. Knead for 5 minutes, cover and let it rise for 20 minutes.
  4. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and roll them out into 15 inch circles.
  5. Cut each circle into 8 triangles and roll them from the large side in to the smaller side.
  6. Place on the baking sheet and let rest for 20 minutes.
  7. Brush with melted butter and cinnamon.
  8. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 13 mintues.

Apr 11- Sat- National Cheese Fondue Day

I used this Swiss & Cheddar Cheese Fondue recipe from the Butter with a Side of Bread blog.

Apr 12- Sun- Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Ingredients:

  • bread
  • butter
  • cheese (any kind you like)
  • garlic salt

Directions:

  1. Place a pan on medium heat.
  2. Lightly butter 2 slices of bread.
  3. Place one slice of bread butter side down on the pan.
  4. Place the cheese on bread.
  5. Place the other slice of bread on top of the cheese with the butter side up.
  6. Sprinkle garlic salt on the butter side.
  7. Once the bottom is golden brown, flip the sandwich.
  8. Once the second side is golden brown, remove from heat.

Apr 13- Mon- National Peach Cobbler Day

Ingredients

  • 4 Cups fresh sliced peaches
  • 1 Cup sugar for peaches
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

  • 1 Cup flour
  • 1 Cup sugar for batter
  • 1 Cup milk
  • 1/2 Cup melted buter
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 10×13 inch baking dish.
  2. Mix the peaches with 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice and let them sit while you prepare the batter.
  3. In a mixing bowl, add the ingredients 1 at a time starting with the flour.
  4. Spread the batter in the baking dish.
  5. Spoon the peaches and their juices over the batter, but do not stir it. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the peaches.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.
  7. Cool for 15 minutes before serving warm with cool whip or vanilla ice cream.

Apr 14- Tues- National Pecan Day (pecan pie muffins)

I used this pecan pie muffin recipe from the No Dash of Gluten blog.

Apr 15- Wed- McDonald’s Day

We had lunch at McDonald’s today with a play place.

Apr 16- Thurs

Apr 17- Fri- National Cheeseball Day (Onion Ranch Cheese Ball)

Ingredients

  • 2 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup of dry ranch mix
  • 12 green onions (thinly sliced)
  • plastic wrap

Directions

  1. Mix the cream cheese with a hand mixer until creamy.
  2. Mix in the ranch mix and 1 TBS of the green onions.
  3. Wrap the cheeseball in the plastic wrap and form a ball shape.
  4. Unwrap the ball and roll it in the extra green onions.
  5. Re-wrap the plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  6. Serve with crackers, pretzels, and chips.

Apr 18- Sat- Animal Crackers Birthday

I found a small package of Animal Crackers for the kids. They like to dip them in peanut butter or Nutella.

Apr 19- Sun- Garlic Day (Garlic Butter Chicken, Garlic Butter Rice & Garlic Parmesan Rolls)

Chicken Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb chicken breast ( 1 in pieces)
  • 1 tea Italian Seasoning
  • 1/4 tea salt
  • 1/4 tea pepper
  • 1/8 tea paprika
  • 1 TBS olive oil
  • 3 TBS butter
  • 2 TBS minced garlic
  • 1 TBS minced parsley

Chicken Directions:

  1. Heat the pan and add the oil and 1 TBS of the butter.
  2. Add the chicken pieces and cool thoroughly, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and paprika.
  4. Add 2 TBS of the butter and the minced garlic, cook for 1 more minutes.
  5. Add the parsley and serve.

Rice Ingredients:

  • 1 TBS butter
    • 1 TBS olive oil
    • 1/4 Cup chopped onion
    • 2 TBS minced garlic
    • 1 1/2 Cup white rice
    • 3 Cup chicken broth

Rice Directions:

  1. Heat pot to medium heat and add the oil and butter.
  2. Add the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add the rice and chicken broth.
  4. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat until the liquid is gone.
  5. Remoted from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
  6. Fluff with a fork and add more butter, salt and pepper.

Rolls Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 Cup warm water
  • 1/4 Cup sugar
  • 2 TBS yeast
  • 1/3 Cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
    • 4 Cup flour

  • 4 TBS butter
  • 1 TBS garlic salt
  • 2 tsp parsley
  • 1/4 Cup parmesan cheese

Rolls Directions:

  1. Mid the warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let rest for 10 minutes.
  2. Line 10×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
  3. Whisk in the oil, salt, egg.
  4. Add the flour and mix well.
  5. Separate the dough into 15 balls.
  6. Place the balls on the pan 3×5 rows.
  7. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 10 minutes.
  8. Heat the oven to 375 degrees Ferenheit.
  9. Melt the butter and add the garlic sat and parsley.
  10. Brush the butter on the dough and bake for 18 minutes.
  11. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Apr 20- Mon- National Cheddar Fries Day

Ingedients:

  • Frozen Fries
  • Cheddar Cheese
  • Bacon Bits
  • Olive Oil Spray

Directions:

  1. Spray your baking sheet and spread the fries on them.
  2. Bake the fries according to the directions, spraying them before putting them in the oven.
  3. Place shredded cheese and bacon bits on the fries and put in the oven for 5 more minutes to melt.

Apr 21- Tues- National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day

Ingredents:

  • 1 10 oz bag of dark chocolate chips
  • 1 8 oz can of roasted cashews

Directions:

  1. Heat some water in a pot on the oven, placing a glass bowl on top of the pot.
  2. Turn off the heat once it starts to boil, and place the chocolate in the bowl.
  3. Gently stir for a few minutes until it is melted and smooth.
  4. Remove from the heat and add the nuts.
  5. Place some wax paper on a baking sheet.
  6. Place spoonfuls of nuts on the baking sheet and chill for half an hour.

Apr 22- Wed- National Jelly Bean Day

We found Starburst Jellybeans for today!

Apr 23- Thurs- National Cherry Cheesecake Day (Cherry Cheese Pie)

Ingredients:

  • 9 inch Graham Crust
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 14 oz sweetend condensed milk
  • 1/3 Cup lemon juice
  • 1 tea vanilla
  • 1 can cherry pie filling

Directions:

  1. Beat the cream in a large bowl until fluffy.
  2. Beat in the remaining ingredients until smooth.
  3. Pour into the graham crust.
  4. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
  5. Top with cherries.

Apr 24- Fri- National Pigs-in-a-blanket Day

We wrapped crescent roll dough around our hot dogs and baked them according to the directions on the crescent roll packaging.

Apr 25- Sat- National Zucchini Bread Day

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Cup vegetable oil
  • 2 1/4 Cup White Sugar
  • 3 Cup Four
  • 1 tea salt
  • 1 tea baking soday
  • 1 tea baking powder
  • 1 TBS cinnamon
  • 3 tea vanilla
  • 2 Cup grated zucchini
  • 1 Cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour 2 bread pans.
  2. Beat the eggs, oil, and sugar.
  3. Mix in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the zucchini and nuts.
  5. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 60 minutes.
  6. Cool in the pans before you remove and eat.

Apr 26- Sun- National Pretzel Day

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 Cup warm water
  • 2 TBS sugar
  • 1 TBS instant dry yeast
  • 4 Cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tea salt

  • 1 Cup water
  • 2 tea baking soda
  • coarse sea salt
  • 1/4 Cup melted butter

Directions:

  1. Combine the warm water and sugar. sprinkle the yeast on top and let rest for 5 minutes.
  2. Mix and add the flour and salt, knead in mixer.
  3. Grease a bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 baking sheets.
  5. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a 24 inch rope and from into a pretzel.
  6. Bowl water and baking soda in a shallow pan. submerge each pretzel in the water and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
  7. Bake for 11-12 minutes and the brush with melted butter.

Apr 27- Mon

Apr 28- Tues- National Blueberry Pie Day

Ingredients:

  • 2 pints fresh blueberries
  • 2/3 Cup sugar
  • 1/4 Cup corn startch
  • Lemon Zest from 1 lemon
  • 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tea cinnamon
  • 1/8 tea salt

  • 2 TBS butter (cut into tiny squares)
  • 2 Pie Crusts 9 inch
  • 1 Egg for wash

Directions:

  1. Refrigerate pie dough for at least an hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat.
  3. In a large bowl coat blueberries with sugar, corn starch, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt.
  4. Let that sit while you prepare the crust.
  5. Spray and flour the bottom of a pie plate. Place one pie crust in the pie plate.
  6. Pour the berries in the pie plate, and spread the tiny butter pieces on top.
  7. Cut the second pie crust into strips and weave it on the top of the pie. Crimp edges and trim any crust hanging off around the pie plate.
  8. Brush with egg wash.
  9. Chill for 20 minutes.
  10. Place the pie on the heated pan, and bake at 425 for 20 minutes.
  11. Reduce heat to 375 and keep baking for 35-45 minutes until it is golden and bubbling.
  12. Cool on a rack for 3 hours.

Apr 29- Wed

Apr 30- Thurs- National Oatmeal Cookie Day (Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies)

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup shortening
  • 1/2 Cup butter
  • 1 1/2 Cup peanut butter
  • 2 Cu brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tea vanilla
  • 3 Cup oats
  • 2 tea baking soda
  • 1 tea salt
  • 10 oz peanut butter baking chips

Directions:

  1. Cream the shortening and butter. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  2. Mix in the rest of the ingeredents.
  3. Chill for 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 350.
  5. Drop teaspoonfuls onto a treated baking sheet.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Thanksgiving Turkey (fruit & vegetable) Platters -25

Storm loves fresh fruits and vegetables, so we made turkey platters to snack on while Thanksgiving dinner was being made. We also made a meat, cheese, and cracker platter as well.

Fruit Platter

We placed half of a pear on the bottom of the platter for the turkey body, with sliced olive eyes and cut carrot feet and beak. Then we placed strawberries, orange slices, and grapes around the platter for the turkey feathers.

We also used waffle cones for the kids to make their own cornucopia’s with their fruit.

Vegetable Platter

I cut the top off of a red pepper and cleaned our the insides to make a bowl for the turkey body. We placed it near the bottom of the platter. I used the end that I cut off for the turkey’s head, with sliced olive eyes and cut pepper feet and beak. I also cut yellow peppers into strips coming out the of top of the turkeys head like feathers. Then we placed cucumber slices, baby carrots, celery sticks, and more pepper strips around the platter for the turkey feathers.

To make the ranch, I used 16 ounces of sour cream and a ranch dry mix packet.

Meat & Cheese Platter

We placed a cheese ball on the bottom of the platter for the turkey body, with sliced olive eyes and cut carrot feet and beak. Then we placed cheeses, crackers, meat slices, and honey candied almonds around the platter for the turkey feathers.

Gingerbread Castle

I found an Oreo cookie castle kit for our Thanksgiving Gingerbread House Tradition. We added all kind of Oreo’s and Christmas candies including Mini Oreo’s, Christmas lights sprinkles, spice drops, snowflake sprinkles, pull and peel Twizzlers, and mini candy canes.

We used the icing that came with the kit as the glue for the cookie pieces, but I made my buttercream icing for the decorations on the bottom. Then she used my piping bags to put icing wherever she wanted it.

Buttercream Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon milk (if thick)

Buttercream Directions:

  1. Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
  2. Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
  3. Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.
  4. Color with yellow food coloring.

Here are some of our other Thanksgiving Gingerbread posts:

Gingerbread House -23
Thanksgiving Baking -20
Kids Thanksgiving Treats -19

And here are some of our other Family Holidays:

Pumpkin Party

We had a “Pumpkin Party” today with fun food, games, and pumpkin carving. We got many of our activities from FREE Preschool Pumpkin Activities (shapes, counting, name) Homeschool Toddler and Fall Fun Pumpkin Preschool /Toddler Math & Literacy Activity Pack Worksheets ZIP . We also used some of the pumpkin pages of I SPY Halloween Alphabet Coloring Pages Fall Autumn Long & Short Vowels.

Pumpkin STEM

We used the Jack -o- Lantern STEM worksheet to measure, weigh, and count the seeds of our pumpkin. We also used the Pumpkin Life Cycle poster to learn about how pumpkins grow.

Pumpkin Carving

The kids wanted to help with the carving, so I found some kid safe scooping tools for them to use. I always use a drywall saw to carve my pumpkins, it makes it so much easier. After we carved a face and counted the seeds, we fed the insides to the pumpkins. Then Storm put our tiny white pumpkins inside the mouth of the jack-o-lantern and put our small flat pumpkin for the hat.

Then she wanted to weigh the pumpkin again to see if it was less now that we took out the insides. It was 2 pounds less!

Counting Pumpkin Seeds

I laminated this Counting Pumpkin Seeds page for her to place the correct number of seeds on each pumpkin.

Pumpkin Lunch

For lunch we had quesadilla cut into a pumpkin shape with my Wilton Pumpkin Cookie Cutters. We also had cheese balls, an orange, and a candy corn pumpkin all served on Jack-o-lantern plates.

Pumpkin Coloring

We got our worksheets from FREE Preschool Pumpkin Activities (shapes, counting, name) Homeschool Toddler and Fall Fun Pumpkin Preschool /Toddler Math & Literacy Activity Pack Worksheets ZIP . We also used some of the pumpkin pages of I SPY Halloween Alphabet Coloring Pages Fall Autumn Long & Short Vowels. I let printed out a few for the kids to choose from and they used an assortment of Twistable crayons, Erasable colored pencils, and Skinny markers.

Pumpkin Fluff

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz. frozen whipped topping
  • 5 oz. package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 15 oz. can pumpkin
  • 2 teas pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

  1. Whip together the pudding, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice.
  2. Fold the whipped topping in with the pumpkin.
  3. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
  4. Serve with apple slices, Vanilla Wafers, Graham Crackers, or Ginger Spice cookies.

Pumpkin Playdough

We used the Pumpkin Playdough recipe and printed out and laminated the Pumpkin Playdough mat for the girls. We used my Gourmet Food Coloring to make it more orange, and our Wilton Pumpkin Cookie Cutters to make pumpkins. I also found some Pumpkin Shape Playdough Cards for the girls to review their shapes.

Five Little Pumpkins

We read the Five Little Pumpkins poem and then the girls glued their pumpkins on the fence with the letters of their name on them.

Pumpkin Games

We played Pass the Pumpkin and also did the Pumpkin March. The kids continued to play the Pumpkin March over and over for at least half an hour.

You might enjoy some of our other party posts:

3 Year Old Flowers Photos

Éowyn is 3 years old now, and is growing and learning so much each and every day. She loves spending time with her family, playing with her baby dolls, eating sweets, and water play.

Éowyn is very excited for her birthday party… this is the first year that she understands that the day is all about her. She talks about opening her birthday gifts and being 3!

She wore a brightly colored dress with flowers on it, and we took advantage of the Easter flower display at church to take her pictures.

Her are some more of my toddler and preschool photoshoots:

Valentine’s Day Preschool

My 4 year old wanted to have some fun this Valentine’s Day. I printed out Valentine’s Day Preschool / Toddler Math & Literacy Activity Pack Worksheets from Teacher’s Pay Teachers, which had lots of fun activities.

Strawberry Shapes Cut & Glue

Storm cut out the strawberry shapes. She told me the name of each shape as she glued it to the Strawberry Patch. The shapes included circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, diamond, star, heart, crescent.

Flower Colors Cut & Glue

She cut out the flower colors. She told me the name of each color as she glued it to the Flower Garden. The colors included red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, white, gray.

The Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack also included many other cut and glue pages that she enjoyed.

Painting Ceramics

She got a ceramic butterfly bank to paint with acrylic paints.

Flower Play Dough

We made this homemade flower play dough using the recipe from the Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack. We added lavender essential oils and glitter to make it more fun. Then Storm rolled out the dough and used my Wilton heart cutters to place hearts on the Flower Play Dough Mat.

Heart Colors Matching Game

I printed out and she helped me cut up the colorful hearts from the Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack to play the heart matching game together.

Butterfly Life Cycle

We printed the butterfly life cycle and the 2 Corinthians 5:17 Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack. Then we got out our Butterfly Life Cycle Stages figurines for her to play with as well.

Coloring Pages

Here are a few of the coloring pages from the Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack. These covered shapes, colors, and numbers. There are also some Bible Verse pages too.

Valentine Volcano

This was one of her favorite activities today. We made the volcano in a clear glass heart dish and added glitter. After we made the volcano she played with it for a long time. We got this Valentine Volcano from the Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack too.

Trace & Color Pages

Here are a few of the tracing pages from the Valentine’s Day Preschool Pack. These pages covered the shapes and the numbers.

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Valentine’s Day Baking

I love making food for my family, so we did some homemade baking for Valentine’s Day this year. The girls loved helping and the boys loved eating!

Cream Puffs

Puff Pastries Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cup frozen butter
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1/4 teas salt
  • 2 cups all purpose flour

Puff Pastries Directions:

  1. I used my food processor with the metal blade and the shredding disk.
  2. Place the flour and salt into the food processor.
  3. Slowly add the frozen butter through the shredder as the food processor is pulsing.
  4. Add the cold water and pulse until a ball of dough forms.
  5. Place dough on a clean and floured surface. Roll out dough until it is about 12×18 inches.
  6. Add more flour to the dough and fold it into thirds. Add more flour and fold that in half. Place in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cream Puff Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line to baking sheets with wax paper. Spray lightly with baking spray.
  2. Wrap forks with aluminum foil to resemble a cone and spray them too.
  3. Unfold the puff pastry and cut it with a pizza cutter into long 1 inch strips.
  4. Start at the small end of the fork mold and wrap the strip of puff pastry around it overlapping each layer by 1/4 inch. Place on the baking sheet.
  5. Prepare an egg wash with egg and water. Brush each horn with the egg wash.
  6. Bake for 15-17 minutes turning half way though.
  7. Allow them to cool for a few minutes and then remove the aluminum foil fork to finish cooling.
  8. Fill with the following Whipped Cream Recipe and dust with powered sugar.

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream chilled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

Whipped Cream Instructions:

  1. Add the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
  2. With the mixer on medium speed, whip the cream until it begins to thicken.
  3. Continue whipping for several minutes until the cream is fluffy (medium peaks) but not too firm.
  4. Use immediately or cover tightly and chill for up to 36 hours.

Heart Pizzas

Ingredients:

  • 2 teas sugar
  • 1 teas dry active yeast
  • 2/3 cup warm water (105 degrees)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teas salt
  • 2 TBS olive oil
  • Pizza Sauce
  • Pepperoni
  • Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

  1. Mix sugar and warm water. Then sprinkle with yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Add in the flour, salt, and olive oil and mix with dough hook in electric mixer.
  3. Once it is well mixed knead for 5 minutes.
  4. Divide dough into 2 pieces and place into an oiled pan. Cover and let it rise for and hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 475 degrees and roll out dough. I cut mine into heart shapes.
  6. Spread the pizza sauce and cheese then bake for 12-15 minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake

Shortcake Ingredients:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup butter softened
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg

Strawberry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups strawberries hulled and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:

  1. Start by preparing the strawberries. Add sliced strawberries to a bowl and sprinkle them with sugar. Stir to combine. Let them hang out on your counter for about 2 hours and they will create a delicious juice. I recommend stirring them every half hour or so.
  2. Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Spray the heart shaped cupcake mold generously with baking spray. Then, add some all-purpose flour to the molds, shake it around, and discard the excess.
  4. The next step is to whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Then add the vanilla, softened butter, milk, and egg. With an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for about two minutes.
  5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared heart shaped cupcake mold . Each mold should be about three-quarters full. In case there are any drips, set the pan on a baking sheet while spooning the batter into the molds. Then place the shortcake pan in the preheated oven.
  6. Bake the little cakes for 18-20 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pan before attempting to remove them. Gently loosen each cake with your fingers: then invert the pan to release the cakes.
  7. While the shortcakes cool, prepare the whipped cream (I used the left over whipped cream from the cream puffs).
  8. Spoon a generous amount of the strawberries and juice on each shortcake. Top with a dollop of Homemade Whipped Cream. Garnish with a sliced strawberry and sprig of fresh mint, if desired.

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Christmas Tree Teepee

This year I really wanted to make a Teepee Tree for my girls to play in. The idea is that the kids can play inside of the Christmas tree for a month and then Santa puts the gifts inside of the Teepee on Christmas morning.

I really had no idea how to build it, and I couldn’t find any satisfactory directions. So I decided to go at it one step at a time (which took much longer than I wanted and was very much frustrating at times).

I started by purchasing a 5 foot Teepee. I put together the Teepee and saw that it was saggy since I wasn’t able to attach the corner stakes that go into the ground that hold it firm.

I decided to get some 1/2 inch PVC pipe to form the bottom boarder of the inside of the teepee. Since the teepee is 5ft x 5ft I made the PVC square, but the corner pieces that hold it together add about and inch on each side; so I had to cut an inch off of my 5 foot pieces.

Next I folded the flaps back, but I needed something sturdy to attach my garland to. So I got 2 six foot pieces of PCV pipe and a three foot piece to form a triangle door for my Teepee. I attached the six foot pieces to the three foot piece with 90 degree corner pieces. (The PVC pipe is much cheaper at Lowes or Home Depot.)

I used zip ties to attach the triangle PVC to my 5 foot square PCV. I also zip tied the top of my PVC triangle to the top of my teepee poles.

I used 250 feet of green Christmas garland for my teepee. I place the first row of my garland all the way around the teepee, securing it in the 4 corners with a safety pin where the tent stake goes through.

After the first wrap or two around the entire teepee, I needed to wrap the garland around the PVC triangle opening to my teepee every time I came around to the front to create the opening.

I noticed that the garland was sagging, so I used binder clips on the corner teepee poles to hold the garland tight.

I continued wrapping the garland back and forth around the teepee using the clips on the corners until I got to the top of where I wanted the door opening to be.

The PVC triangle doorway was showing quite a bit of white pipe through, so I wrapped some smaller pieces of garland around it to cover the pipes.

I then started wrapping the garland all the way around the teepee top to close up the top of the door.

I had extra garland and the top of my tree looked a little scrawny, so I used the rest of my garland and wrapped the top part of my tree t more times. Then I wrapped the top of the teepee poles with the last bit of garland.

For the lights, I just zig zagged them back and forth on the side of the tree that showed. I used the binder clips that were already on the tree to keep the lights in place. When the lights got to the top of the tree, then I could wrap the lights all the way around the tree.

We decorated the tree and put a tree skirt in the bottom of the tree.

The girls liked to take their stuffed animals into their Christmas tent.

Merry Christmas!

Here are some of my other Christmas DIY posts:

DIY Christmas Fruit Basket & Crafts

We made a variety of different DIY gifts this year for Christmas. We made Christmas carol canvases and fruit trees. We also made little Christmas bulb trees to put in the fruit basket. These were so fun to make with the little girls.

DIY Christmas Bulb Tree

We made these little Christmas trees out of 1.5 inch Christmas blubs. I made about 30 of these because I wanted to keep a few for myself. We put the trees in the teacher fruit baskets with nuts, pine twigs, and chocolates.

I got a 1×2 board and cut it at 5 inches (you may need to cut yours longer if you have larger bulbs). Then I found some old letter blocks in the basement to use at the tree stand. I got black spray paint and sprayed all of the wooden pieces.

Once the spray paint dried for 24 hours, I used wood glue to glue the block to one side of the board. Then I used my hot glue gun to glue 4 bulbs along the board, be sure to place the ornament hook in the back of the tree. Then I glued 3 bulbs on top of the 4, and 2 on top of the 3, and then 1 on the very top of the tree.

I had some gold sparkle cardstock and I used my start punch to make a star to go on top of the tree.

I just loved the way these turned out and they were small enough to fit in my fruit baskets perfectly.

Teacher Fruit Baskets

We made these Christmas fruit baskets for teachers, coaches, car pool drivers, neighbors, pastors, and coworkers.

I found these baskets at the consignment store. I wanted to use bigger basket for my coworkers, and I love the way that they turned out.

I needed about 10 smaller baskets for my sons teachers and coaches. I always save the Velveeta Cheese boxes for the past 10 years or so. I had about 30 of them, so I glued them together in threes and then wrapped them with Christmas paper. Then I stuffed the bottoms with brown packing paper to help hold the fruit up.

Next I added tissue paper and I went out to our yard to get some sprigs of evergreen tree. I placed my Christmas Bulb Tree in the middle and added the fruit around it. I wanted to stick with red and green fruit, so I chose red and green apples, pears, kiwi, and limes.

Next we added small pine cones, mixed nuts, cinnamon sticks, mini candy canes, and Ferrero Rocher.

Last, I placed our family Christmas card in the box and wrapped it with cellophane wrap. I used tiny clear elastics to hold the cellophane closed and added a Christmas ribbon around it.

I took about 7 baskets to church pastors and friends as well. For their baskets I found these super cute boxes at the Dollar Tree and placed the tissue paper inside. Then I added the pine twigs, my Christmas Bulb Tree, fruit, and nuts.

Finally, I placed our family Christmas card in the box and wrapped it with cellophane wrap. I used tiny clear elastics to hold the cellophane closed and added a Christmas ribbon around it.

I used a large bowl from the Dollar Tree to make these last two baskets for our neighbors. I placed a Christmas candle in the middle and used up the rest of my supplies for these.

Here is our family Christmas picture that I put in the cards with the fruit baskets.

Kids Christmas Carol Canvas

The girls made Christmas canvases for their Grandparents gifts. We used 11×14 inch canvases and put Christmas Carols on them. The girls used different shades of green acrylic paint (Hunter Green and Spring Green) to paint the entire canvas.

After the paint dried, I printed out some old Christmas Carols and used Mod Podge to sponge brush it onto the canvas. I put the Mod Podge under the carol and on top of it.

After that dried, the girls used gold sparkle paint to paint the boarder of the carol paper.

Last we used red Dot Daubers to make the groups of 3 dots around the painting.

Then I hot glued a fabric holly leaf to the top of the canvas.

I really love how they turned out, and the girls grandparents loved them as well.

Here are some of the other DIY Christmas posts…

Thanksgiving Gingerbread Nativity -24

Every year we make gingerbread houses on Thanksgiving. We made a Nativity scene with graham crackers and gum drop people. We used coconut for the hay and animal crackers with candy canes as well. We tried something new this year, using peanut butter instead of icing; but it wasn’t sturdy enough so the gumdrops kept falling over. Next time we will have to add some powdered sugar to the peanut butter to thicken it up.

We also got this Gingerbread Train to try.

Homemade Apple Cinnamon Play Dough

We made some homemade Apple Cinnamon Play Dough, it is included in my Teachers Pay Teachers Fall Fun Autumn Preschool Pack. I also laminated the Apple Tree Orchard Play Dough Mat that is included in the pack.

Ingredients:

Directions:

  • In a small saucepan, mix together 1 cup of water, 1 TBSP vegetable oil and a few drops of red food coloring.
  • In another small bowl mix together 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup salt, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice.
  • Turn the stove on medium heat and slowly mix your flour mixture into your water mixture.
  • Continuing mixing until the color is fully blended and the playdough begins to pull away from the saucepan. The batter will be lumpy but as you stir the playdough begins to form and sticks to itself.
  • Place the playdough on a piece of parchment paper and allow it to cool a bit.
  • Once it’s cool to the touch knead for a few minutes until soft.

Here are some of our other Thanksgiving Gingerbread posts:

Gingerbread House -23
Thanksgiving Baking -20
Kids Thanksgiving Treats -19

And here are some of our other Family Holidays:

Talk Like a Pirate Day
Easter Minute-to-win-it
Christmas Fireplace & Crafts

Talk Like a Pirate Day Lunch

September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We made a fun pirate themed lunch for the kids at school. The lunch staff also wore pirate hats and we bought eye patches for the kids.

Sea Shaped Fish Nuggets

Our food supplier doesn’t have fish sticks, but they do have fish nuggets in the shape of sea creatures.

Treasure Map Cheese Sticks

We just used Sharpies to draw a red X on the cheese sticks with black dotted lines for the trail.

Pirates Booty Puffs

We bought small bags of Pirates Booty Aged White Cheddar corn puffs. The kids laughed when we announced “Pirates Booty”!

Pirate Ship Jello Cups

We placed blue Jello in the bottom of clear plastic cups and added an orange wedge on the top. Then we added a Pirate Flag to the orange wedge to look like a Pirate ship.

Carrot Stick Planks

We cup up carrot sticks and called them “Carrot Planks”.

You might enjoy some of my other party posts:

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