Audrey's B~Day Cake

Audrey kept telling people she was getting a "pluto" cake for her birthday party;) I got this idea from a Family Fun magazine. I was worried about getting the shape right because I had never cut cake before. But it was all surprisingly easy. I did have to angle the legs a bit because my tray wasn't quite wide enough to place them like it was shown in the example. We, of course, had to go with strawberry (pink) cake and I tinted both the vanilla icing and pink coconut "fur". Frosting the cake was time consuming as I had to dirty ice and and then re~ice the entire thing. I was trying to be really careful not to smear frosting all over the serving tray, too. I used pink and orange gumballs for the poodle's pearl necklace collar, fruit roll~ups for the eyelashes and mouth, and a malted milk ball for nose.

Austin's B~Day Cake

This was a basic yellow cake with vanilla frosting. I split the cake and filled it with chocolate "mousse" (chocolate pudding {made with less milk than called for} and cool whip mixed together), so the cake was pretty thick and heavy. I used fruit roll~ups for the keys and center court and outlined and wrote with a black decorating gel. The finishing touch was m&m's pressed into the sides to resemble fans in the bleachers.

Merry Mice

So simple....

1. drain and pat dry 24 cherries with stems
2. melt a couple cups of semi sweet chocolate chips (follow instructions on chip bag)
3. dip cherries into chocolate and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet
4. immediately "attach" hershey kiss head and almond slice ears
5. pipe confectioners sugar icing (a cup or so with a few tsps. water~ you want this icing thick so that it doesn't run down the "faces") for eyes (save a bit and mix with black and red food colorings for pupils and noses) I spooned my icing into little ziplock baggies and snipped a tiny hole in the corner.
6. refrigerate until serving
   
   
   
   

Thanksgiving Menu

Today we're starting a new tradition at home. We're staying home. Just the 5 of us. All day. Today I will attempt to roast a turkey for the very first time. I am slightly nervous something will go horribly wrong and I will ruin Thanksgiving;) I am as excited for the leftovers as I am for today's dinner. We're keeping things simple and traditional with the menu today. Most of the work is done, just the turkey awaits. Dum, dum, DUM!!! What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

• turkey
• stuffing (the only time of the year I nix Stovetop and go for homemade, yum!)
• mashed potatoes
• green bean casserole
• corn
• mandarin orange jell-o salad
• fresh baked rolls
• pumpkin pie with real whipped cream
• strawberry cheesecake
• Pepsi (Austin's request)
• cider (the girls' request)
• cranberry wine (mommy's request;)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Halloween Faves

2 days after Halloween, Hosmerville is still going strong on a sugar buzz. In honor of trick or treating here's my

Fave 5 treats:

1. Twix
2. Dots
3. Rolos
4. Whoppers
5. Skittles

And although sugar is sugar (and I'll probably eat it when I'm really desperate for some chocolate or a sugar high) here's my

Yuck! The kids can have those. Bottom 5 Treats:

1. Nestle Crunch
2. Butterfinger
3. KitKat
4. DubbleBubble gum
5. Smarties

Cookies For Breakfast

Mmmm! I just made these cookies for the first time and lost count of how many I ate! They're so good and even better, healthy! I can't wait to serve the kids cookies for breakfast! I'll be the coolest mom ever;) (I pulled this out of a Nick Jr. magazine.)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 &1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 &1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup store bought applesauce

1/4 cup orange juice

3 tblsp unsalted butter, melted

3 lg egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

Heat oven to 350*. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the applesauce, juice, butter, egg whites, and vanilla. Mix with a spoon to blend; stir in raisins and apricots. For each cookie, drop 2 generous tblsp of batter onto baking sheets. Bake 10-11 minutes, until just set and lightly browned around the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Nothing Says Fall Like Homemade Applesauce

When I did my student teaching, the teacher I was working with had a ton of fun fall activities to do with the students. One math activity we did involved apples and graphs (what's your favorite apple: red, yellow, or green?) Then we cut up all the apples, added some water and sugar and voila! Applesauce for our afternoon snack. I've added a few more ingredients so that the sauce tastes more like apple pie without the crust! I love making this on a rainy fall day. By the time I'm done my whole house smells like baking apples and spices. Yum!

8-10 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar (you can add more to make a sweeter sauce)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tblsp butter

Place ingredients in a crock pot and simmer on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours.